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GUEST EDITORIAL - By
Mr. Billy Godfrey Republicans don't know 'hoodoo' about education I am 94 years old and have spent 47 years in education—35 as a teacher and another 12 as a member of the Board of Education. I can say with experience and certainty that the Alabama Legislature should not be considered an authority on education by anyone. They don’t know hoodoo about education. I taught good kids and bad kids, and I’ll bet it’s still the same way now as it was then: 80 percent of kids are good kids who want to learn and they do learn; 10 percent don't care about learning as long as they pass; and another 10 percent that could attend Harvard and not learn a thing. It doesn’t matter where they go to school, they are going to fail. The Alabama Accountability Act takes money from the 80 percent--the smart kids--and give it to the 10 percent. That's not helping education. It’s the worst piece of legislation ever to come out of Montgomery. It’s like buying a cantaloupe. It looks good at the grocery store but when you cut it open it is not fit to eat. This bill is the same way. It may look good on the outside but they have not thought about what's going to happen when they cut it open and get to looking at the inside. A lot of problems are coming and it's going to cost a lot of money. The Republican Legislature is doing this because they don't know any better. Last year they couldn't even pay for education; they ended up throwing the education budget into our laps and we had to vote to bail them out. In all the years Richard Lindsey and the Democrats were in charge, we never had to worry about there not being money for education. Lindsey has forgotten more about writing budgets than the Republicans in Montgomery will ever know. The Republicans say they are not for the “big man” but anyone who sees what they do in Montgomery can see that this is not the case. All you have to do is listen to them, watch what they do in Washington. They were going to let the whole country go under so they could help the filthy rich. Unless you're a millionaire you have no business being a Republican. The Republicans' attacking the Alabama Education Association bothers me. Before the AEA, I taught with a piece of chalk and a textbook, both of which I bought myself. Then we got organized and began to get what we needed to teach. Before that, it was an empty plate. After we organized, we began to have a little say-so. The Republicans envy that, and when you envy something it's usually because you want it for yourself. To me, AEA did more for education than anyone else, and the Republicans are doing everything they can to fight AEA. But they will not break AEA, we are 100,000 strong. Everything the
Republicans have done to AEA will work against them. They will never break
AEA. I believe we have learned our lesson. From now on, we have to get
together and be one against them. Gov. Bentley has said he thinks there will
be no consequences for the way the Republicans passed the new education
bill. He's wrong. You just wait. I might not be living to see it, but
remember this: there is a better day coming. Forty percent of teachers in
Alabama voted for Republicans in the last election, and they sure are sorry
for it now. They won't do it again. |