wbhm.org http://wbhm.org NPR News and Classical Music en-us Copyright 2003, wbhm.org info@wbhm.org info@wbhm.org daily 1 wbhm.org http://www.wbhm.org/pics/smalllogo.gif http://www.wbhm.org Magic City Marketplace http://wbhm.org/News/2010/Magic_City_Marketplace.html The Birmingham marketplace is connected by people who have to grapple with numbers and projections and spin. We try and slice through the psychobabble that can be business news with our occasional segment featuring the editor of the Birmingham Business Journal. Legislative Review and Preview http://wbhm.org/News/2010/legislature.html The Alabama legislature begins its 2010 regular session tomorrow. Legislators will be meeting in the midst of a weak economy with lower tax receipts. It's also an election year. Birmingham-Southern Political Scientist Natalie Davis previews the session with WBHM's Andrew Yeager. Charter Schools: The Texas Example http://wbhm.org/News/2010/tx-charter.htm Alabama is one of only ten states that don't allow charter schools. Many states, including Texas, adopted charter schools in the 90s. Today, more than 113-thousand Texas children attend charter schools. OTL: Charter Schools http://wbhm.org/News/2010/charterschools.html This week on WBHM we're exploring Charter Schools: how they operate, whether they're effective, and what political forces shape the debate over legalizing charter schools in Alabama. Friday (3/12) at noon on WBHM we discuss all this and more during On The Line: Charter Schools. John Archibald http://wbhm.org/News/2010/archibald.html Our weekly segment features The Birmingham News columnist John Archibald, discussing the city politic (and county and state politic too). Instead of being unplugged as he is in the newspaper, we offer him a bullhorn. Sort of. Charter Schools: Politics http://wbhm.org/News/2010/charterschools-politics.html Advocates of charter schools in Alabama are getting a do-over. A bill to authorize such schools has been reintroduced in the state legislature after lawmakers killed a similar proposal last month. But if the topic of charter schools weren't controversial enough, mixing it with Alabama politics makes for a potent combination. WBHM's Andrew Yeager continues our look at charter schools by examining the political context. Charter Schools: Do They Work? http://wbhm.org/News/2010/charterschools-efficacy.html There are nearly 5,000 charter schools across the country. They educate more than 1.5 million students. And President Obama wants more. But do they work? There are a handful of charter schools in wealthy communities and, perhaps not surprisingly, they tend to have high test scores. But most charter schools are in low-income, often minority neighborhoods. How do they fare? WBHM's Tanya Ott has our report.