Government lobbying government?
Sounds odd, but it is a regular occurrence every day during the legislative session, in most cases supported by taxpayers and not necessarily in the taxpayers' best interest.
During an appearance on Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5's "The Jeff Poor Show," Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth revealed his intentions to expose and potentially end the practice.
Ainsworth was drawn to the issue after the State House Government Committee voted down an effort to allow public school students to participate in off-campus religious and character instruction during school hours on Wednesday.
The lieutenant governor argued that the committee vote and a similar vote last month in the State House Education Policy Committee were the result of a lobbying push by the School Superintendents of Alabama.
"[T]here are so many lessons. right?" Ainsworth explained. "And so the fact that they come out against this, I really believe the School Superintendents association has become what the AEA used to be. And I'm so disappointed in them. They lobbied our members, and you know, it's frustrating to me that they, you know, took this whole crusade. There are a lot of issues right now going on in school, right? I mean, look at just what superintendents make in Alabama — average salary, $175,000. In Mississippi, they make $124,000, but yet our NAEP scores are lower in Alabama than Mississippi, and Georgia and Tennessee. But yet, our superintendents make more. So you know, I'm looking forward to launching a commission in our office, and we're going to start looking at, you know, what, in my opinion, superintendents need to be focused on."
"They, for some reason, have enough time to come down to Montgomery, and might I mention that they're using taxpayer dollars, which I don't think should be legal to fund, you know, this association they have got and hire lobbyists. And so there are a lot of things I think we need to look at that, you know, probably should have been looking at before. This wasn't on my radar. But the fact that they're sitting there and not one time this entire session have they talked to me about anything we can do to improve public education. But yet, they want to attack and kill a bill that could help thousands of children in this state. It really frustrated and made me mad."
Jeff Poor is the editor-in-chief of 1819 News and host of "The Jeff Poor Show," heard Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-noon on Mobile's FM Talk 106.5. To connect or comment, email [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @jeff_poor.
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