Alabama House Passes Bill for School-Job Alignment

0:00It's April 2nd. This is Birmingham News today, driven by AI. Alabama's House of Representatives just Greenlit House Bill 604, creating an Accountability Council to ramp up oversight and boost results in. Public schools stay wide. Sponsored by State Rep. Terry Collins from Decatur, the bill sets up a system to track student data tied to college and career readiness indicators. The council pulls together five members picked by the governor, plus key legislative chairs from education and finance committees, the state, superintendent, workforce secretary, and reps from teacher groups, and minority leaders in both chambers. It teans up with the workforce board, education department, and higher ed commission to make sure kids are prepped for real-world jobs. On the floor, most Republicans back this strong, but a few Democrats pushed back, like Rhett Mary Moore from Birmingham, who said similar setups already. Exist at local levels and leave out broader input. Collins jumped in agreeing on some points, but after tweaks for more appointments,

1:03it sailed through. The vote was 93 in favor, just one against for more, with six abstentions, showing solid bipartisan lean despite the debate. Now it heads to the Senate for review, with only three days left in the legislative session. Leaders got a hustle to pass it before time runs out, potentially locking in better alignment between schools, jobs, and higher ed for Alabama's next generation.