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Charter schools in Alabama: How many and where?

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Selena Rodgers Dickerson said i3 Academy was exactly the type of school she hoped to find for her daughter. 

“I wanted to be in a situation where my daughter could be exposed to not just a great education, but a great group of people from different backgrounds,” Dickerson said, “and I didn’t believe that I needed to pay a fortune in order to provide her with a quality education.”

“I didn’t believe that kids should be penalized for where they live. Kids are smart regardless of where they come from.”

Dickerson now serves on the school’s board of directors. She and other i3 Academy parents spoke Tuesday evening as part of the process to get the school’s charter contract renewed for a second five-year term. In order to get the charter renewed, though, i3 Academy had to show they had support and success. 

Alabama’s public charter school landscape continues to grow according to latest numbers provided by state charter organizations. That trend holds true nationwide as well. 

Charter schools are tuition-free public schools that are open to all students within a set geographic area. If the number of student applicants exceeds the number of available spots, students are chosen by lottery.

“Our focus initially was to open a high-performing K-5 elementary school,” Head of School Martin Nalls said Tuesday evening. 

i3 Academy’s Head of School Martin Nalls speaks to the Alabama Public Charter School Commission during a renewal hearing Tuesday evening in Birmingham, Ala.

The school opened with 400 K-5 students at the start of the 2020-21 school year – the first full school year during the pandemic. 

The school, located east of downtown Birmingham, has added one grade level and about 100 students each year, and this year has 850 students enrolled in kindergarten through ninth grade. Eighty-five percent of students at the school are Black and 8 in 10 students are considered economically disadvantaged. 

Official numbers won’t be out till November, but somewhere between 7,500 and 8,500 students are estimated to be enrolled across Alabama’s 17 public charter schools. 

That’s up from 6,700 enrolled in 14 charter schools last year, but still a small portion of all public school students. Statewide, that’s fewer than 2% of all 720,000 public school students. Around 85,000 Alabama students are enrolled in private schools, according to latest estimates from a trade group that tracks private school enrollment nationwide. 

With that growth in charter school enrollment – at least one more charter school is set to open next year – comes the need to reevaluate how charter schools are funded, particularly when it comes to school buildings, Alabama Families for Great Schools Executive Director Emily Schultz said during a recent appearance on Alabama Public Television’s Spotlight on Education.

Charters and traditional public school districts have access to federal and state funding, but local property tax proceeds only go to traditional public schools, she said. Many districts use that local tax money to build and improve schools, she added.

“Charters don’t have access to those flexible dollars,” Schultz said, “and they still have to provide a physical space to educate kids.” 

“Charters are having to dip into their state resources or spend a lot of time fundraising to be able to just provide a school building,” Schultz said. “These are not fancy buildings that a lot of them are opening in.”

I3 Academy Head of School Martin Nalls told state commissioners that while they have been successful at raising money – $3.6 million over the past year – sustaining the school financially while adding students and services every year has been a challenge. 

“We’re in an emerging charter market in Alabama,” Nalls said. “And when you’re in an emerging market, there’s not a lot of resources available, and that’s compounded by the lack of funding.” 

Schultz said the new school funding formula lawmakers are studying – which would base per-student funding on what needs a student has – would be better for all schools, charter or traditional. 

“The weighted student model would honor some of those needs that kids are coming into charters with, as opposed to assuming that every kid has the same amount )of needs),”  she said. 

Schultz’s group is working with other organizations to get lawmakers on board with the new funding model, which could be up for discussion during the next legislative session, which starts in February. 

This map shows the location of all of Alabama’s operating charter schools, and also I Dream Big Academy, which is a partnership with Stillman College, that will open next fall. 

i3 Academy is a public charter school located in east Birmingham, Ala.

Local school boards can become an authorizer, thereby giving them first right to accept or deny an application, and only 16 of 139 traditional school districts have chosen to become authorizers. 

A charter school operator can apply directly to the Alabama Public Charter School Commission if they want to open in a district without a local authorizer. 

The commission also hears appeals from charter schools that have been rejected by their local charter authorizer.

As for i3 Academy’s charter contract, the commission voted unanimously to approve it. The room full of supporters erupted in applause.

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