All seats up for grabs

Stability. Accountability. Big-picture perspective.

Those are a few of the traits that parents and community members are hoping to see from the Birmingham City Schools Board of Education members who are elected later this month. 

The Board of Education election will be Aug. 22, the same day as City Council and mayoral elections, with a possible run-off date of Oct. 3 for close races. 

All nine districts’ seats are up for election on the board, with four incumbents — District 4’s Daagye Hendricks, District 6’s Cheri Gardner, District 7’s Wardine Alexander and District 9’s Sandra Brown — ready to fight for another term and five seats open to newcomers.

The field of candidates includes former teachers, former BOE candidates, parents and community members with school system involvement. The nine candidates who win the election have a host of issues to tackle in their four-year term. 

Superintendent Lisa Herring, hired in May, will start her first full school year with Birmingham City Schools as the 10th superintendent in 18 years. Four-year graduation rates have risen during the past few years but currently hover at around 80 percent, according to a 2015 report by chief financial officer Sharon Roberts. The Alabama Department of Education’s most recent report puts 13 Birmingham schools in the “failing” category due to test scores. And charter schools continue to loom as a possibility that could change the face of Birmingham education.

Support for the new superintendent is a core concern for several members of Birmingham’s school community. 

Avondale Elementary parent and PTA member Juliet Easlick said the lack of leadership continuity has caused the whole school system to suffer, and she would like to see a commitment to keep Herring in her position for at least three years.

“There are excellent teachers and bright students at each of Birmingham's 43 schools. They need consistent guidance and leadership from their superintendent, who needs the guidance and support of the BOE,” fellow Avondale parent Laura Gallitz said. “It is my opinion that our current superintendent seems to be on the right track, although the process by which she was chosen was farcical at best.”

“Her [Herring’s] success is our success,” said JW Carpenter of the Birmingham Education Foundation. Carpenter said he believes giving the superintendent time to lead is the key to better results.

Outgoing board member Randall Woodfin, who is running for mayor, agreed that the new board’s “commitment to stability” for the superintendent is the “number one issue.” He added that having longevity for Herring will mean better accountability from each school’s staff and less time spent on a learning curve.

Charter schools, which are publicly funded schools that operate independent of school systems, are also top of mind. BCS has resisted charter schools’ entry into the city so far and is suing to block STAR Academy’s opening in East Lake after the board’s original denial of the charter school was overturned by the Alabama Public Charter School Commission.

Charter school supporters say they give parents more choice in their children’s education. Opponents say they take away resources from existing school systems and can lead to schools with students concentrated by academic performance level.

“I think they create a separate and unequal issue,” Woodfin said.

“If five members who are favorable to charter schools are elected, there will be a push to convert an entire school to a charter school and may be a push to convert the entire district to charter schools,” Easlick said. “The problems that Birmingham students and parents face now in terms of quality education will become worse if public schools are converted to charter schools.”

Gallitz said she feels charter schools may be the No. 1 issue for the next board.

“I see no evidence that charters will be held to the same standards of accountability as our public schools, and I don't believe they will cure any of the ills created by systemic racism and classism,” Gallitz said.

Birmingham’s “failing” schools — those at the bottom 6 percent in standardized reading and math tests statewide — and individual low-achieving students will also need support and action from the new BOE. 

Carpenter said that setting a high bar and listening to educators within the schools will help achievement levels rise. Woodfin said he felt the state defines failing schools poorly, but said the “achievement gap” in any school can be addressed by more time and programs — such as after school, early learning or summer classes — spent on kids that need it.

“What are we prepared to do differently? … Because what we currently have is not getting us where we need to be,” Woodfin said.

Booker T. Washington K-8 School mother Vonterica Davis said students would benefit from alternative lesson plans and training for teachers to fully use the technology in their classrooms.

Gallitz said that elementary schools seem to retain students fairly well and she supports efforts like the high school career academies and early college programs, but “middle school is where kids get ‘lost’” and move out of the system.

Other issues affecting the school system include socioeconomic differences across the school system, technology needs, overcrowded classrooms in some schools and finding enough funding to implement new programs and maintain existing ones.

The attitude of the candidates is critical, too. Davis said the current board seems “full of animosity” and have “collectively lost their way.” Davis said she would like to see more honesty and cooperation from the board to do away with some of the negativity.

Easlick said she wants to see board members who think about the school system as a whole, not just the district they represent. She believes that mindset would lead to better consensus and trust when hard decisions come up.

“Fighting over territory in a specific voting district has kept the board from being productive in the past and will potentially continue,” Easlick said.

Politics is inevitable in an elected board, and one recent superintendent candidate even attributed the political climate as part of his reason for withdrawing from consideration. Woodfin encouraged parents to hold the new board members accountable.

“Politics trump educating our children too much in our city. At some point though, people are going to have to get loud about that,” he said.

Carpenter, Woodfin and Gallitz all noted the need for “child-centered” approaches to education.

“Keep kids at the center. When we’re at our best, that’s what we’re doing,” Carpenter said.