What Kay Ivey has right and wrong about Amendment 1
I’ve held a strong opinion about Amendment 1 since the first day I heard about it. Let’s make no mistake about what this is – a power grab. This amendment would take away the voters right to elect their own member to the state board of education and instead make each commissioner a gubernatorial appointment. Now the language is nice, fluffy and misleading as hell as it doesn’t come out and say that’s what they’re doing. They sell it as a way to get better-diversified representation, add term-limits, and rename the board, but truly I’m going to say it again. This my friends is a what? Oh yeah, a power grab. The vote should truly be a no brainer for everyone. The answer is no. I mean, not just no, but heck no. What in the world are you people thinking? NO. Are you kidding me? For real? NO. What are you trying to say? Your constituents are too stupid to pick a good candidate themselves? Still, NO. I’ll come back to that though. We, the voters, may be partially to blame for our state’s education problems, but that’s not quite the end of the story. The buck doesn’t stop there. Imagine my surprise when during the State of the State speech last night Governor Kay Ivey made this point for me. Thanks, gov. No really. Thank you. Here’s the line from her speech: Ask yourself this question: Is there any high school in Alabama, much less any college or university, that would continue to keep a head coach who produced teams that were consistently dead last? Would Auburn or Alabama? Well no, Governor. I don’t believe they would. We love our football like we love our, wait for it, kids. Which is why we should get rid of the “head coach” of the Alabama Board of Education. Let’s see, who that would be? Wait, I have an image from their website. Looking at the titles, looking at the titles, wait, who’s “President?” Oh, yeah. Hmm. So about that head coach analogy, it doesn’t really work the way you intended it to, does it, Ivey? After all, there’s no way you would have called us voters, your constituents, the proverbial head coach or insinuated that we needed to be fired. No! You would not have dared to put it that way. Would you? But the more I think about it, it seems clear that’s exactly you’re saying there. So allow me to address that. What the governor and the legislators who support this amendment have said, repeatedly, is that it’s necessary to pass Amendment 1 because we have failed. In her state of the union, Ivey all but blamed us voters for the failures of our current education system and to some extent she’s right. They’re right. Let me explain. To be honest, up until the time this amendment came up in the last six years I’ve lived in Alabama, I haven’t spent a lot of time worrying about the SBOE. I was guilty of not recognizing the importance of the board. I think it’s because my three children are still so young, only one is of grade school age and she attends a private school. The reason for that is because the school we are zoned for is failing. Not only is it failing academically, but it is also failing in every other imaginable way, including failing in providing a safe, nurturing and engaging environment and there is no continuity in administration. So, yeah, that’s a no go. No one should be forced to send their child to a school like I’m zoned for, which is why we need school choice but I digress. I wasn’t paying attention to the system quite yet because I was overwhelmed by it’s failing results in my own world. Let’s take a second to read what the governor had to say in her speech: But first, I want to, once again, level with you, the Members of the Legislature, and perhaps more importantly, with the people of Alabama. During last year’s session, the Legislature gave the voters of Alabama an opportunity to help move our education system in a bold, new direction, by having an opportunity to vote on AMENDMENT ONE, which will be on the March 3rd primary ballot. Unfortunately, we’ve gotten all-too-complacent to being at or near the bottom of national education rankings. Ask yourself this question: Is there any high school in Alabama, much less any college or university, that would continue to keep a head coach who produced teams that were consistently dead last? Would Auburn or Alabama? Sadly, too many of our third graders are not proficient in reading. In fact, according to the Nation’s Report Card, we are 49th in the nation in reading and we are 52nd in the nation in math! And it only gets worse as they get older… too many of our high school graduates simply aren’t ready for college or a career. Let me be abundantly clear… this isn’t the fault of our hard-working teachers, principals or local superintendents…Folks, it starts at the top. Alabama is one of only six states that still has an elected state school board and this board has selected 5 State Superintendents in the past 5 years. Very simply, Amendment One will create term limits for the State Board and no member will serve more than two six-year terms, thus bringing fresh new ideas to the commission every few years. Equally important, the newly constituted board will reflect the racial, gender and geographic diversity to reflect the make-up of students in our public school system. There’s no other way to say it but our current system isn’t working. Page 5 of 10 For us to prepare today’s students for tomorrow’s opportunities, it is time we get serious: It’s time for creativity. It’s time for accountability. It’s time for stability. It’s time to vote YES for Amendment One on March 3rd! She lost me when she gave the coach analogy because SHE
State incumbents overwhelmingly hold seats in Super Tuesday contests
While the state’s attention was likely on the presidential race and state races for U.S. Senate and House of Representatives seats, many state leaders were on the ballot and sailed to easy victories over their political opponents. In the race for Public Service Commission president, incumbent Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh trounced her Republican rival Terry Dunn. Cavanaugh claimed just over 63 percent of the vote, with just over 200,000 more votes than her opponent. In a decidedly closer vote, Jackie Zeigler won her bid to represent District 1 on the State Board of Education. Zeigler defeated her closest opponent, Republican Matthew Brown, by only 10 percentage points. Stephanie Bell won her bid for the District 3 seat on the State Board of Education over Justin Barkley, 59.75 percent to 40.25 percent. Perhaps the widest margin of victory in the State Board of Education race was claimed by Democrat Ella Bell, who was running for the District 5 seat. Bell dominated the race with more than 85 percent of the vote. The closest number in the Board of Education race came from the District 7 contest, in which Jim Bonner bested Jim Newman by less than 8 percentage points. Amendment 1, which is designed to require newly appointed circuit court judges and district attorneys to pay into their retirement fund, was also approved by voters. More than 62 percent of state voters said yes to the measure, with 37 percent voting against it. A local referendum in Shelby County, which would allow alcohol to be sold after noon on Sundays, was approved by nearly 70 percent of the county’s voters.
Jim Zeigler says vote for Amendment 1, despite faults with ballot language
State Auditor Jim Zeigler came out with a statement in support of an upcoming ballot initiative known as Amendment 1, despite some misgivings about “misleading” language voters will encounter at the ballot box. The state constitutional amendment says it authorizes the legislature to provide a retirement for new District Attorneys and Circuit Clerks. Not exactly, said Zeigler in a release Monday. Zeigler contends the amendment would “abolish a pension program the officials already have, to which they make no contributions from their pay,” replacing that so-called “supernumerary system” with a standard retirement like that offered to other state employees, which require contributions from their paychecks. The state auditor said the amendment would save the state substantial sums – his figures show it would save taxpayers $291,000 a year starting immediately, growing to $8.4 million a year in 30 years – but worries “the inaccurate wording is likely to get Amendment One defeated when it would actually save millions for Alabama taxpayers.” “Citizens are against giving a new pension or any other benefit to politicians at this time. Because the wording says that a retirement is ‘provided’ to these officials, it could draw a no vote,” continued Zeigler. “Whoever wrote this wording should be fired. They did a horrible job. This proposal reads like they took Common Core grammar. The wording is almost opposite of what the amendment would actually do.” “I am coming with legislation to turn the wording of ballot propositions over to the State Auditor — an elected, constitutional, statewide official. I can write the measure accurately in 30 minutes, costing taxpayers nothing. I will do this for free,” Zeigler said. “I will cast a ‘Yes’ vote on Amendment One, which is the conservative, waste-cutting thing to do,” concluded the self-styled Alabama “Waste Cutter.”
Statewide amendment could save Alabama millions
While the presidential and senate races are garnering the most attention in the state, a proposed statewide constitutional amendment may well be Alabamians’ one opportunity to assist in helping to fill the state’s budget gap. Amendment 1 will appear on the ballot like this: Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, to authorize the legislature to provide a retirement program for district attorneys and circuit clerks of the state who are first elected or appointed on or after November 8, 2016. (Proposed by Act 2015-342) While Secretary of State John Merrill condemned the wording of the amendment, which was drafted by the Fair Ballot Commission and does little to describe the intention of the legislation, the new law could save the state as much as $200 million over the next three decades. Merrill said the language as it appears on the ballot gives the impression that a new system is being created when, in fact, it is simply making changes to the current system. Currently, district attorneys and circuit clerks do not pay into the retirement benefits they receive. The new law would require new appointees to pay 8.5 percent of their annual salaries into the retirement fund and would raise the minimum age for retirement to 62. “They’re going to get their money either way,” Merrill said. “It’s just a matter of if you want them to pay to get that money.” The amendment has widespread support among state lawmakers, as well as the Alabama District Attorneys Association. Shelby County residents will also be voting on an amendment which would legalize the sale of alcohol on Sundays after noon.
