Alabama: Charter schools idea out in state

A Senate committee Wednesday effectively killed legislation that would have authorized charter schools in Alabama, a cause championed by Gov. Bob Riley.

In a 13-4 vote strictly along party lines, the Finance and Taxation Education Committee voted to indefinitely postpone the bill. A House committee had done the same last week.

Leaders on both sides of the issue - Dr. Joe Morton, state school superintendent, and Dr. Paul Hubbert, executive secretary of the Alabama Education Association - agreed the bill is dead for the 2010 session.

Democratic opponents on the committee argued that Alabama was unlikely to receive much in education stimulus money because the state's Republican-dominated congressional delegation steadfastly opposed it in Congress.