May 20, 2013
Attorney General Luther Strange and the Alabama Board of Education have filed a lawsuit against the Birmingham's school board and its members.
Strange, the state school board and State Superintendent of Education Thomas Bice filed the lawsuit Friday.
The lawsuit claims Birmingham's school board is in a state of financial and political crisis.
The lawsuit asks the court to affirm that Bice and the state school board have complete authority and the responsibility to manage the financial operation for Birmingham's school board.
The board on Tuesday was expected to consider a state financial plan that would have cut more than $12 million from the district's budget, mostly through layoffs and demotions.
Instead, the board heard from audience members, then fired the superintendent Craig Witherspoon. Witherspoon was reinstated by a judge Wednesday.
