Source: Montgomery Advertiser, Ala.mini storageAug. 20--On the first day of school for many Alabama children, the Southern Poverty Law Center took aim at one of the most controversial measures to come out of the Alabama Legislature's 2013 regular session.The SPLC filed suit in federal court Monday morning to enjoin implementation of the Alabama Accountability Act, saying it does not extend its benefits equally to all students in schools designated as failing.The suit, filed on behalf of eight Black Belt elementary and middle school students, ages 5 to 14, says that the plaintiffs cannot afford private school tuition, even with the tax credits and scholarships extended under the law.The suit also says that even if they could afford it, there are no participating private schools available in the area, nor is transportation available to other schools.In many cases the nearest private schools to the plaintiffs are not participating in the Alabama Accountability Act, or are so far away some families would have to travel up to 120 miles a day to and from school, the suit contends.Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, said at a press conference Monday that the law created "two classes of students" in the state. By diverting money from the Education Trust Fund to tax credits or scholarships, Cohen said, the effect of the law would be to make schools listed as failing worse."It will siphon away millions of dollars from public schools and not help the failing ones," he said. "It will make the failing ones worse than they are today."The suit names Gov. Robert Bentley, State Schools Superintendent Tommy Bice, Revenue Commissioner Julie Magee and Comptroller Thomas White as defendants.In a statement released Monday afternoon, Bentley did not comment directly on the allegations in the lawsuit, but also stressed provisions in the legislation which allow schools to apply for waivers from certain laws governing schools."We have Torchbearer Schools that are doing very well," Bentley said in the statement. "These schools are not wealthy. But they have developed the ideas and approaches that are needed to help their students overcome challenges and succeed."The governor's statement did not mention the tax credits or scholarship-granting organizations in the law. Bentley pushed for a two-year delay on the tax credits in the last Legislative session, a delay that was rejected by lawmakers. The lawsuit does not address the law's flexibility components.Supporters of the law have said it will foster competition and give students a chance to escape failing schools. Sen. Del Marsh, R-Anniston, who was the driving force behind the tax credit portion of the law, said in a statement that it "made no sense" toself storagechallenge the law on the grounds that it limited options."This is more of the same from those who would rather maintain the status quo," said the statement from Marsh, who is not a defendant in the lawsuit. "We will continue working to make sure students and parents in failing schools have options to receive a quality education."Nearly 40 percent of the schools designated as failing are in the Black Belt, according to the suit. In the complaint, the suit cites numerous instances of poor supplies and inadequate textbooks in the schools.One plaintiff said they were unable to take textbooks home from the Camden School of Arts and Technology in Wilcox County. Another said a teacher held up a microscope to demonstrate the instrument to students at Russell County Middle School; the students were not allowed to use it.Mariah Russaw, a Barbour County resident whose 12-year-old grandson, a student at Barbour County Middle School, is a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said at the press conference that she wanted her grandson to get "the best possible education he could get."The closest non-failing school is 19 miles from his home, which would require Russaw, his guardian, to travel 76 miles each day, according to the complaint. Russaw, the complaint says, has Bell's palsy and had until recently made ends meet through disability payments, which have been discontinued."I want every child that's in a failing school to be able to finish school and get the opportunity I didn't get, to get an education for themselves," she said. "My grandson needs to stay where he is, because I don't have the transportation to get him to another school."Additional FactsABOUT THE ACCOUNTABILITY ACT? It passed in February amid chaotic scenes in the Alabama Senate and was later amended.? The law creates a definition of a "failing school" as one that has been in the bottom 6 percent of reading and math scores for three of the preceding six years through 2017; after that, schools will be evaluated on a grading system under development by the Alabama Department of Education.? Students in a failing school can opt to transfer to a non-failing school in their own district if they so choose, or one outside their district if the outside district agrees to accept transfers.? Families of the students can also apply for a tax credit, worth over $3,500 a year, applicable to the cost of private school tuition. Students who qualify would also be able to apply for scholarships from groups called scholarship-granting organizations to assist with tuition.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, Ala.) Visit the Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, Ala.) at .montgomeryadvertiser.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉
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