The Mobile County Public School System is the oldest in the state and encompasses five separate school districts. The system educates 65,000 students and employs more than 7,000 people. The school system completed the largest building program in its history with the opening of Spencer Elementary School in the fall of 1999. Spencer Elementary was the last project in the Phase I Building Program that consisted of one high school, two middle schools, five elementary schools, and six additions to existing elementary schools. The school system then began another aggressive building program that includes several new elementary schools. In 2001, voters passed a bond to increase funding for the school system.; currently the systems' budget exceeds $400 million yearly.
The school system, the Mobile Chamber of Commerce, and area businesses and training organizations work together to provide vocational training for Mobile students. Programs include Family and Consumer Sciences Education; Health Science; Agriscience and Technology; Business/Marketing Education; Career/Technical Cooperative Education; Career Technology; and the School-to-Work program. One of the few of its kind, the Environmental Studies Center offers more than 500 acres of woodlands and teaches students and the community about the natural environment.
The following is a summary of data regarding Mobile's public schools as of the 2002–2003 fiscal year.
Total enrollment: 65,000
Number of facilities
elementary schools: 55
middle schools: 16
senior high schools: 14
other: 15 magnet, vocational and other
Student/teacher ratio: 16:1
Teacher salaries (2004-05)
minimum: $29,538
maximum: $48,832
Funding per pupil: $3,955
In addition to the many parochial and private schools in Mobile county, the Alabama School of Mathematics and Science is a residential high school educating sophomores, juniors, and seniors in advanced studies of math, science, and technology.
Public Schools Information: Mobile County Schools, PO Box 1327, Mobile, AL 36633; telephone (251)221-4000
Two private institutions and one state-supported school offer college degrees in the Mobile area. The University of South Alabama is a state school that offers bachelor's and master's degrees and enrolls more than 13,000 students. The University of Mobile, a private institution, is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Church. Spring Hill College is a private Catholic institution. Mobile is also served by three technical and trade schools, including an aviation school; a branch of Montgomery's Faulkner University offering 2-year degrees; and four campuses of Bishop State Community College.
The Mobile Public Library maintains seven branches, bookmobiles, and a collection of more than 400,000 volumes, as well as CDs, films, and tapes. In 2005 major renovations were underway of the library's main branch, bringing about a temporary location move to the Mobile Civic Center's Expo Hall. Much of the material in the library's special collections focuses on regional history. The system's specialized libraries in the area maintain holdings on fine arts, banking and finance, law, sports, and health sciences.
Research centers in the Mobile area include mineralization and primate research laboratories at the University of South Alabama, which also supports a Center for Business and Economic Research. On nearby Dauphin Island, 22 Alabama universities and colleges maintain a Sea Lab research complex for marine studies. Paper and pollution are among the subjects studied at the Erling Riis Research Laboratory. When completed in 2006, the University of South Alabama's new USA Cancer Research Institute (USACRI) is expected to serve an estimated 2.5 million people in 42 Gulf Coast counties of Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida.
Public Library Information: Mobile Public Library, 700 Government St., Mobile, AL 36602-1403; telephone (251)208-7106