The majority of Republican sheriffs have been elected in the more rural counties with lower population The state of Alabama has and 11 African-American sheriffs Federal elections The state's two U.S senators are Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville, both of whom are Republican Together, 1,496 individual schools provide education for 744,637 elementary and secondary students Public school funding is appropriated through the Alabama Legislature through the Education Trust Fund In FY 2006–2007, Alabama appropriated $3,775,163,578 for primary and secondary education That represented an increase of $444,736,387 over the previous fiscal year In 2007, more than 82 percent of schools made adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward student proficiency under the National No Child Left Behind law, using measures determined by the state of Alabama While Alabama's public education system has improved in recent decades, it lags behind in achievement compared to other states Census data (2000), Alabama's high school graduation rate (75%) is the fourth lowest in the U.S (after Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi) The largest educational gains were among people with some college education but without degrees According to National Assessment of Educational Progress (NEAP), Alabama ranks 39 in reading and 40 in math among fourth-grade students in the rankings from 2022 The rate of school corporal punishment in Alabama is surpassed by only Mississippi and Arkansas Colleges and universities Alabama's programs of higher education include 14 four-year public universities, two-year community colleges, and 17 private, undergraduate and graduate universities Public, post-secondary education in Alabama is overseen by the Alabama Commission on Higher Education and the Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education Colleges and universities in Alabama offer degree programs from two-year associate degrees to a multitude of doctoral level programs The largest single campus is the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa, with 37,665 enrolled for fall 2016 The oldest institutions are the public University of North Alabama in Florence and the Catholic Church-affiliated Spring Hill College in Mobile, both founded in 1830 News & World Report, Alabama had four tier one universities (University of Alabama, Auburn University, University of Alabama at Birmingham and University of Alabama in Huntsville) Media Major newspapers include Birmingham News, Mobile Press-Register, and Montgomery Advertiser Sports Professional sports Alabama has several professional and semi-professional sports teams, including three minor league baseball teams The Talladega Superspeedway motorsports complex hosts a series of NASCAR events It has a seating capacity of 143,000 and is the thirteenth largest stadium in the world and sixth largest stadium in America Also, the Barber Motorsports Park has hosted IndyCar Series and Rolex Sports Car Series races The ATP Birmingham was a World Championship Tennis tournament held from 1973 to 1980 College sports College football is extremely popular in Alabama, particularly the University of Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn University Tigers, rivals in the Southeastern Conference Alabama averages over 100,000 fans per game and Auburn averages over 80,000—both numbers among the top twenty in the nation Bryant–Denny Stadium is the home of the Alabama football team, and has a seating capacity of 101,821, and is the fifth largest stadium in America Jordan-Hare Stadium is the home field of the Auburn football team and seats up to 87,451 Protective Stadium is home of the UAB Blazers football program and the Birmingham Bowl Rail For rail transport, Amtrak schedules the Crescent, a daily passenger train, running from New York to New Orleans with station stops at Anniston, Birmingham, and Tuscaloosa I-22 enters the state from Mississippi and connects Birmingham with Memphis, Tennessee In addition, there are currently five auxiliary interstate routes in the state: I-165 in Mobile, I-359 in Tuscaloosa, I-459 around Birmingham, I-565 in Decatur and Huntsville, and I-759 in Gadsden A sixth route, I-685, will be formed when I-85 is rerouted along a new southern bypass of Montgomery A proposed northern bypass of Birmingham will be designated as I-422 Since a direct connection from I-22 to I-422 will not be possible, I-222 has been proposed, as well Highways also pass through the state, such as U.S Route 11 (US-11), US-29, US-31, US-43, US-45, US-72, US-78, US-80, US-82, US-84, US-90, US-98, US-231, US-278, US-280, US-331, US-411, and US-431 Ports The Port of Mobile, Alabama's only saltwater port, is a large seaport on the Gulf of Mexico with inland waterway access to the Midwest by way of the Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway The Port of Mobile was ranked 12th by tons of traffic in the United States during 2009 The newly expanded container terminal at the Port of Mobile was ranked as the 25th busiest for container traffic in the nation during 2011 The state's other ports are on rivers with access to the Gulf of Mexico Alabama: The History of a Deep South State (1994) Alabama in the Twentieth Century (2004) History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography (4 vols, 1921) Inside Alabama: A Personal History of My State (2004) "Latinization in the Heart of Dixie: Hispanics in Late-twentieth-century Alabama" Alabama Review (2002, 55(4): 243–274) The Deep South States of America: People, Politics, and Power in the Seven Deep South States (1974)