REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: Blueprint Birmingham correctly pins school woes as an economic problem

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: Blueprint Birmingham correctly pins school woes as an economic problem

Published: Sunday, October 03, 2010, 3:00 PM

Count U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus as among those who are glad that the ambitious Blueprint Birmingham plan included improving public education as a top priority. The educational disparity in metro Birmingham’s urban school systems is an issue Bachus urged area business leaders to address head-on in a November 2007 speech to the then-Birmingham Regional Chamber.

Count U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus as among those who are glad that the ambitious Blueprint Birmingham plan included improving public education as a top priority.

The educational disparity in metro Birmingham’s urban school systems is an issue Bachus urged area business leaders to address head-on in a November 2007 speech to the then-Birmingham Regional Chamber.

At the time, Bachus, a Republican from Vestavia Hills, said he wasn’t referring to schools in his hometown, Mountain Brook or Hoover, systems he says are OK.

“I’m talking about schools like Ensley High, Jackson-Olin. They need our help,” Bachus said in his speech.

Last week, Bachus said he still believes “too many of our schools are failing our children, especially minority and lower-income children.”

He hopes that area business leaders will put a major focus on the Blueprint Birmingham’s Objective 4, which calls for the creation of a Public Education Committee at the BBA to explore funding and promote partnerships between the business community and public school districts.

“Education is the great economic equalizer,” Bachus says. “The main problem in Birmingham is that some schools are providing a path up to a better life while others are not.”

The perceived lack of a quality education in Alabama’s largest city can be a hindrance to economic development, making it more difficult to recruit new employees, Bachus says.

The Blueprint Birmingham report comes at a pivotal time for the Birmingham school system, which continues to lose more than 1,000 students a year. A Sept. 19 report on black flight to Shelby and St. Clair counties in this newspaper revealed that Birmingham’s public school system lost nearly one-third of its students, a decrease of 11,117, over the past decade.

L’Tryce Slade, chairwoman of the BBA’s African American Business Council, applauded business leaders for making education a priority. It is a subject that will be addressed at the council’s Oct. 14 annual luncheon at the Sheraton Birmingham, when education reform advocate Steve Perry, founder of the Capitol Preparatory Magnet School in Hartford, Conn., will be keynote speaker.

Education, Slade says, is not a black-white issue, but an economic issue. Birmingham has lost millions of dollars in public funding annually as students flee for other systems.

“Public education has always been at the heart of America,” Slade said. “As we push forward to a greater economy, we must first commit to fixing and improving our public schools.”

That’s why Slade this year organized a Youth Mentoring Program, partnering with the Birmingham’s youth services department to help students find summer jobs. Her council is also partnering with Junior Achievement to provide financial education for Birmingham middle-schoolers.

Despite all of its problems and financial challenges, magnet schools such as Ramsay High and Phillips, EPIC and W.J. Christian are shining examples how many students in Birmingham schools can thrive if given top-quality teachers and active parent involvement. The current financial crisis, however, puts all Birmingham schools at risk, especially as they lose millions of dollars a year as students leave for other systems.

Bachus brought up another valid point: To get business and community financial support, Birmingham school leaders are going to have to earn their trust. He said new Birmingham Superintendent Craig Witherspoon is on the right track, with his efforts to rein in spending on outside lawyers and tackle the city schools’ high dropout rate.

“High school dropouts are four times more likely to end up on welfare and to have jobs that don’t allow them to be self-sufficient,” Bachus says.