Like you, I get tons of email (and I send tons as well).  I try my best to "screen" it.  Like the notes from a foreign country saying their great-grandfather was the prime minister of such and such and if I respond I will be fabulously wealthy.  Those get deleted...

While I was hopeful that Amendment One would fail, never did I imagine that it's defeat would be so overwhelming.  A 10 point defeat of 55-45 is considered decisive. But a 50 point shellacking of 75-25 like the voters gave to Amendment One is virtually unheard of....

As I write this late on Tuesday night, March 3rd, Amendment One is losing by a margin of 76 percent to 24 percent. That is not just a defeat, it is having your heart jerked out and stomped flat. From one end of the state to the other, folks said emphatically that they...

Alabama voters have been bombarded incessantly for weeks by politicians screaming about our low test scores and how the sky is falling. HOWEVER,  not one of these lawmakers who are so quick to throw stones at school teachers and administrators have been honest enough...

The March 3rd vote on Amendment One, that will switch Alabama to an appointed state school board if approved, is not about education. It is about control. The old-fashioned kind that is fueled by lots and lots of money. How else do you explain that special interests,...

Editor's note: Earlier this week the Coffee County school board passed the followwing resolution: Resolution Recommending “No” Vote On Amendment One Whereas, Alabama voters will be asked to approve or disapprove Amendment One during the Presidential primary of March...

Since I hit the ripe old age of 21 in 1964, Alabama has had 10 governors.  George Wallace, Lurleen Wallace, Albert Brewer, Fob James, Guy Hunt, Jim Folsom, Jr., Don Siegelman, Bob Riley, Robert Bentley and now Kay Ivey. Of those who have completed their time in...

"Amendment 1 proposes to amend the state’s constitution to replace the state’s elected school board with a board made up of appointees, chosen by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate. Proponents say this will give the board stability and help improve...

Jacqueline Brooks is superintendent of the Macon County school system.  Below is a letter from her that relates to her background as an African-American and her family's struggles for the right to vote.  This is a powerful statement. "Dear Citizens, Friends, Family,...

A few days ago we told you that a handful of special interests had raised $225,000 to fuel a campaign to get Amendment One passed.  But as of Feb. 24, the Secretary of State's web site shows this has now grown to $446,000. Why are these people trying to buy a new...

When I did the recent post about the Big Mules rounding up hundreds of thousands of dollars to try to pass Amendment One and interject even more politics into our public schools, I immediately thought of a piece  I did last fall with the title, George Wallace Was...

Until a few weeks ago, Amanda Coffman was an eighth-grade teacher at Indian Woods Middle School in the Shawnee Mission school district in Kansas. Then she resigned, effective immediately.  During a school board meeting. Here is how the Shawnee Mission Post reported...

It was bound to happen. "It" being a campaign fueled by mega bucks from some of the state's major political action committees in an effort to pass Amendment One. The Alabama Farmers Federation organized "Yes For The Best Education" effort.  They kicked things off with...

These eight words are the essence of an in-depth report by the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama on Amendment One. PARCA often takes a close look at issues impacting the Alabama political landscape.  This time they not only reminded us again that we have the...

If Amendment One passes on March 3, the legislature, more specifically the state senate, will control public education.  That's because while the governor will appoint state school board members, they must be confirmed by the senate. And if you want to see what whacky...

As already mentioned here, Sunday afternoon Feb. 9 I participated in a League of Women  Voters forum in Dothan to debate the pros and cons of Amendment One.  I opposed the measure.  Senator Greg Albritton from Atmore supported it. I had done my homework and so had...

Editor's note:  Genesis tells us the story of Joseph looking for his brothers and being told that they went to Dothan.  So, like Joseph, Sunday afternoon Feb. 9 I went to Dothan.  But I was looking for a forum conducted by the Southeast Alabama League of Women Voters...

The Dothan Eagle put in a plug for the forum the Southeast Alabama League of Women Voters held Sunday afternoon, Feb. 9.  They urged locals to turn out to learn more.  (I was honored to be one of the two presenters.) However, the newspaper made no bones about the fact...

There are 138 school systems in Alabama.  All 67 counties have one, then there are another 71 local community systems.  All are different.  All have different resources and different challenges. They range from Mobile County with an enrollment of 52,741 to Linden with...

Alabama voters will be asked to approve or disapprove Amendment One on March 3.  A YES vote will switch us from an elected state school board to one appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state senate.  A NO vote will keep our present system of electing state...

Right now prominent members of the Republican party in the state legislature are trying to hijack public education by taking control of the state school board.  Their very tired mantra is that our schools are not performing as they should. However, they cast all the...

Editor's note:  The following article was first posted last November.  It is a look at why we went from an appointed state school board to an elected one.  It is a history lesson that bears repeating. So the legislature wants us to vote on March 3 to switch from an...

Alabama voters will go to the polls next March 3 to decide the fate of amendment one.  At the heart of this amendment is an attempt to deny all citizens the right to vote to elect their state school board members. The irony of this vote is that 55 years and four days...

A few days ago I posted the names and email addresses of the 30 senators who voted last May for an amendment that will replace our elected state school board with an appointed one.  A number of readers wrote senators and asked them why they voted as they did. Someone...

As discussed here many times, on March 3 voters will vote YES or NO on going from an elected state school board to one appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate.  A YES vote will mean you lose your right to vote, a NO vote means you will keep it. ...

State school board member Jackie Zeigler of Mobile is an outspoken opponent of the effort to change from an elected to an appointed state school board. So much so that she is challenging the wording in the constitutional amendment that will be voted on March 3. Here...

The state school board has elected members representing eight different districts.  Members serve four-year terms.  Since terms are staggered, four of these seats come up every two years. The 2020 election cycle will be for districts 1, 3, 5 and 7. The present...

With 1,000 responses to our recent survey about an appointed vs. elected state school board, let's take a final look at the numbers. And the one that jumps off the page is that 96 percent will vote NO on amendment one to switch from an elected to an appointed state...

For some of us who are long in the tooth, we can recall that when George Wallace ran for president as a third party candidate, he often said  "there was not a dime's worth of difference between Democrats and Republicans. And looking at Alabama today, it's hard to...

Former state senator Phil Williams of Gadsden is Director of Policy Strategy for the Alabama Policy Institute.  He recently sent an article to state media pounding his chest about how Alabama has fallen behind Mississippi on National Assessment of Educational Progress...

So the legislature wants us to vote on March 3 to switch from an elected state school board to an appointed one.  But you have to wonder how many supporters of this change know that we once had an appointed state board that was deemed to be failing us--so we changed...

Within the last few weeks, Alabama educators have been bombarded by test score results that do precious little to advance progress in our schools and have given politicians and non-educators ample opportunity to wring their hands and declare the sky is falling. First...

Bless his heart, senate majority leader Del Marsh just can't stop talking to reporters and proving that he is clueless abut our public education system.  You can read his latest examples of just plain dumb statements in this article. As expected, Marsh tries to...