Owning the Skies

Growing up in Birmingham, AL, Ruben Morris loved going with his uncle to the Birmingham airport on Sundays and watching the airplanes take off and land. While he did not attain his childhood dream of becoming a fighter pilot, Morris has created that opportunity for students in nearby Bessemer by founding the Alabama Aerospace and Aviation High School (AAAHS).

In Fall 2022, AAAHS welcomed about 100 ninth and tenth-grade students, known at the school as “young aviation professionals.” The school provides a hands-on, rigorous college preparatory curriculum to prepare students to be leaders in the classroom and in the aerospace and aviation industry as pilots, NASA engineers, aircraft maintenance experts, and air traffic controllers.

Beyond the classroom, the school offers internships, apprenticeships, and training opportunities with Delta Airlines, the Bessemer Airport Authority, and other local military and aviation partners. Long term, Morris seeks to diversify the pipeline of pilots and where his mostly Black students do not see enough role models who look like them. “With this new high school, we are inspiring students to soar and giving them the wings to do it,” Morris said.

When looking for a financial partner to fund the outfitting of this unique school, Morris turned to HOPE because of its funding partnership with the U.S. Department of Education and the credit union’s long track record in financing charter schools in the Deep South.

Alabama provides operational funding to public charter schools, but the schools do not receive municipal or county funding, resulting in 30% less revenue. This lack of state facility funding also makes it difficult to open a school since most Government operating money for public charters is available only after students are enrolled and the school year begins.

To address this funding gap, most charter schools fundraise, apply for private grants, and take out loans to secure school buildings. But they often have little to no cash on hand for a down payment toward a loan, and schools opening in economically distressed areas may also have low appraisal values. These schools are thus challenged in obtaining financing from traditional commercial banks.

Recognizing these difficulties, HOPE partners with the U.S. Department of Education to provide credit enhancements that can be used for leasing, buying, building, or renovating a charter school facility. HOPE utilizes this funding to fill a gap created by the lack of state/local facility funding. Once the loan is repaid, the credit enhancements are released and can be assigned to another qualifying charter school. To date, HOPE has supported 31 charter school facility projects with no defaults. AAAHS sought a loan from HOPE for improvements to a building it will lease for the next several years, allowing AAAHS time to plan for its permanent home closer to the Bessemer airport. At scale, AAAHS will enroll up to 500 students.
“Aerospace and aviation are the poster children for opportunity gaps,” said Morris, who believes that the school’s investment in the community, which currently has a 31.7% poverty rate, will lead to upward mobility for the students and the community at large.

Morris also intends to apply to funding sources not available to most schools, such as aviation education grants from the Department of Defense, the Federal Aviation Administration, and private sector support from major aerospace, aviation, and defense companies.

“We have high expectations. We want our students to be champions of excellence,” Morris said, adding that in flying a plane, designing a rocket, or fixing an aircraft, there is no margin for error. “You can’t wake up at age 35 and say, ‘I’m going to be excellent tomorrow.’ We have to cultivate this attention to detail and excellence if we are going to live up to our commitment to our partners.”