BIRMINGHAM, AL– Birmingham City Councilors, new School Superintendent Dr. Kelley Castlin-Gacutan, and Birmingham School Board members sat down for a discussion today and the message was clear: we must continue to make the education the focus of our city. In knowing how important education is, both parties agreed that the focus on education must be reflected in the new budget. Specifically, discussion was held around funding for community schools and police officers at athletic events, two areas that councilors say they will definitely address in the budget they are sending to the Mayor by the end of this week.
“It is our responsibility as elected officials to be the voice for those students and to make sure that they get a world class education,” Council President Johnathan Austin said. “Our goal is to be a city that’s best in class, and in doing that we must provide the best for our students.”
As both the Council and School Board look to continue working together, both parties say that they are interested in holding more meetings like today, as they look at ways that they can enhance their relationship, citing that they are on the same team with the same objective. Superintendent Castlin-Gacutan expressed that she was glad to be apart of the discussion and echoed some of the same sentiments as Councilors in ensuring that students should be afforded the best education possible.
“When you look at communities that are continually progressing you will see that education is key,” Councilor Marcus Lundy said. “When we start to show more emphasis on our education, we will begin to see even greater success in the area of economic development for our city.”
