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Accountability Act Goes To Court And Helping Veterans

The Alabama Supreme Court will hear arguments next month on the state government's appeal of a judge's ruling striking down the Alabama Accountability Act.
alabamaschoolconnection.org
The Alabama Supreme Court will hear arguments next month on the state government's appeal of a judge's ruling striking down the Alabama Accountability Act.

Supporters of Alabama’s Accountability Act may soon learn the measure’s fate. Alabama Public Radio’s Pat Duggins reports the state Supreme Court will soon hear arguments over the plan…

The Alabama Supreme Court will hear from supporters and critics of the Accountability Act on December third. The case will decide whether a lower court judge acted properly when he struck down the measure. The appeal of that earlier ruling is the third case Alabama’s high court will consider that day. The Accountability Act provides state tax credits for parents to move children from public schools rated as failing to private schools. It also provides tax credits for individuals and businesses that contribute to scholarships for low-income students to attend private schools rather than public schools. The state teachers' organization challenged the law in court. Those arguments convinced Montgomery County Circuit Judge Gene Reese to rule the law unconstitutional in May. Critics have also complained that students in low income areas of the state may not have equal access to private schools in sparsely populated communities.

A federal judge has rejected a call from BP to fire the administrator of damage claims arising from a settlement that followed the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier issued the ruling today, turning back BP's arguments that Patrick Juneau should be removed for a variety of reasons. Among BP's reasons for seeking Juneau's ouster: They says he once represented Louisiana in talks setting up the claims process and had pushed for favorable terms for those with claims; and that Juneau improperly expedited the processing of some claims.

The University of Alabama Student Government Association is helping veterans this Veteran’s Day. The SGA is raising funds and awareness for Honor Flight. The program sends veterans of World War II and the Korean War up to Washington D.C. so they can see their war memorials. The SGA set up a website to collect money and even asked for donations on campus to help raise awareness and dollars. Branden Greenberg is the University of Alabama SGA Speaker Of Senate. He feels that the SGA is doing something to help out our veterans around Veterans Day.

“The West Alabama Tuscaloosa Rotary Club is really there main sponsor and they really help facilitate everything that goes into getting them to our nation’s capital. What we have done as a SGA, is try to help them out with their sponsorship and continue to help out, continue to fundraise money and just make sure they have that opportunity, to go up to our nation’s capital and see their memorials.”

To get more information on the efforts of the University of Alabama’s SGA to help Honor Flight you can go to their Facebook page.

Ryan Vasquez is a reporter and the former APR host of All Things Considered.
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