Larry Lee reports here about the departure of StudentsFirst and the Black Alliance for Educational Options from Alabama.
They set up camp in Alabama to advocate for charters and vouchers. Not to advocate for children, but to advocate for alternatives to public schools.
They met with some success. The appeal of charters and vouchers in the Deep South is a restoration of segregation, while claiming it is “all about the children.”
They left. They packed their bags and went away. They had no roots in Alabama. They didn’t stay to advocate for the children.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Big success was passage of enabling legislation to create charter schools.
Now the money can flow in from the foundations and the feds to the charter operators. Those were the real clients all along.
AL Dept of Ed has applied for some amount of the $160 MILLION available from Charter School Program this year. And if they don’t get awarded this summer, there is always next year.
See: http://innovation.ed.gov/what-we-do/charter-schools/charter-school-program-state-educational-agencies-sea/