Alabama school board elections, 2017
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Elections
A total of three Alabama school districts among America's largest school districts by enrollment held elections in 2017 for 24 seats. The elections had various election dates.
Here are several quick facts about Alabama's school board elections in 2017:
- The largest Alabama school district by enrollment with an election in 2017 was Birmingham City Schools with 24,449 K-12 students in the 2014-2015 school year.
- The smallest Alabama school district among the nation's largest with an election in 2017 was Dothan City Schools with 9,390 K-12 students in the 2014-2015 school year.
The districts listed below served 44,088 K-12 students during the 2014-2015 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.[1] Click on the district names for more information on each one and its school board elections.
| 2017 Alabama School Board Elections | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District | Primary Election | General Election | Runoff Election | Regular term length | Seats up for election | Total board seats | 2014-15 enrollment |
| Tuscaloosa City Schools elections | N/A | 3/7/2017 | N/A | 4 | 8 | 8 | 10,249 |
| Dothan City Schools | N/A | 8/1/2017 | N/A | 4 | 7 | 7 | 9,390 |
| Birmingham City Schools | N/A | 8/22/2017 | 10/3/2017 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 24,449 |
Academic performance
- See also: Public education in Alabama
The sections below do not contain the most recently published data on this subject. If you would like to help our coverage grow, consider donating to Ballotpedia.
| Education terms |
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| For more information on education policy terms, see this article. |
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NAEP scores
- See also: NAEP scores by state for a full comparison of all states
The National Center for Education Statistics provides state-by-state data on student achievement levels in mathematics and reading in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The chart below presents the percentage of fourth and eighth grade students that scored at or above proficient in reading and math during school year 2012-2013. Compared to three neighboring states (Tennessee, Georgia, and Mississippi), Alabama's eighth grade students fared the worst in mathematics, with only 20 percent scoring at or above proficient. See the table below for a full comparison.[2]
| Percent of students scoring at or above proficient, 2012-2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Math - Grade 4 | Math - Grade 8 | Reading - Grade 4 | Reading - Grade 8 | |
| Alabama | 30% | 20% | 31% | 25% |
| Tennessee | 40% | 28% | 34% | 33% |
| Georgia | 39% | 29% | 34% | 32% |
| Mississippi | 26% | 21% | 21% | 20% |
| U.S. average | 41% | 34% | 34% | 34% |
| Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables" | ||||
Graduation, ACT and SAT scores
The following table shows the graduation rates and average composite ACT and SAT scores for Alabama and surrounding states during the 2012-2013 school year. All statements made in this section refer to that school year.[2][3][4]
In the United States, public schools reported graduation rates that averaged to about 81.4 percent. About 54 percent of all students in the country took the ACT, while 50 percent reported taking the SAT. The average national composite scores for those tests were 20.9 out of a possible 36 for the ACT, and 1498 out of a possible 2400 for the SAT.[5]
Alabama schools reported a graduation rate of 80 percent, second highest when compared to surrounding states.
In Alabama, more students took the ACT than the SAT, earning an average ACT score of 20.4.
| Comparison table for graduation rates and test scores, 2012-2013 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Graduation rate, 2013 | Average ACT composite, 2013 | Average SAT composite, 2013 | ||||
| Percent | Quintile ranking** | Score | Participation rate | Score | Participation rate | ||
| Alabama | 80% | Fourth | 20.4 | 78% | 1,608 | 7% | |
| Tennessee | 86.3% | Second | 19.5 | 100% | 1,709 | 8% | |
| Georgia | 71.7% | Fifth | 20.7 | 51% | 1,452 | 75% | |
| Mississippi | 75.5% | Fifth | 18.9 | 95% | 1,673 | 3% | |
| United States | 81.4% | 20.9 | 54% | 1498 | 50% | ||
| **Graduation rates for states in the first quintile ranked in the top 20 percent nationally. Similarly, graduation rates for states in the fifth quintile ranked in the bottom 20 percent nationally. Sources: United States Department of Education, "ED Data Express" ACT.org, "2013 ACT National and State Scores," accessed May 28, 2015 The Commonwealth Foundation, "SAT scores by state, 2013" | |||||||
Dropout rate
- See also: Public high school dropout rates by state for a full comparison of dropout rates by group in all states
The high school event dropout rate indicates the proportion of students who were enrolled at some time during the school year and were expected to be enrolled in grades nine through 12 in the following school year but were not enrolled by October 1 of the following school year. Students who have graduated, transferred to another school, died, moved to another country, or who are out of school due to illness are not considered dropouts. The average public high school event dropout rate for the United States remained constant at 3.3 percent for both school year 2010–2011 and school year 2011–2012. The event dropout rate for Alabama was lower than the national average at 1.4 percent in the 2010-2011 school year, and 1.4 percent in the 2011-2012 school year.[6]
State profile
State profile
| Demographic data for Alabama | ||
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | U.S. | |
| Total population: | 4,853,875 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 50,645 | 3,531,905 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 68.8% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 26.4% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 1.2% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 0.5% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 1.7% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 4% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 84.3% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 23.5% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $43,623 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 23.3% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Alabama. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
Presidential voting pattern
- See also: Presidential voting trends in Alabama
Alabama voted Republican in all six presidential elections between 2000 and 2020.
More Alabama coverage on Ballotpedia
- Elections in Alabama
- United States congressional delegations from Alabama
- Public policy in Alabama
- Endorsers in Alabama
- Alabama fact checks
- More...
See also
| Alabama | School Boards | News and Analysis |
|---|---|---|
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Footnotes
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed November 22, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables," accessed May 13, 2014
- ↑ ACT, "2012 ACT National and State Scores," accessed May 13, 2014
- ↑ Commonwealth Foundation, "SAT Scores by State 2013," October 10, 2013
- ↑ StudyPoints, "What's a good SAT score or ACT score?" accessed June 7, 2015
- ↑ United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data (CCD), State Dropout and Graduation Rate Data File, School Year 2010-11, Provision Version 1a and School Year 2011-12, Preliminary Version 1a," accessed May 13, 2014
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