President Donald Trump is reshaping America at lightning speed. He’s issued more executive orders (EOs) in his first few months of his term than any other president in history. He campaigned on saving our country and returning it to We the People. He’s fulfilling those promises daily, slashing the size and scope of our government, dismantling the Department of Education, and signing EOs that protect our parental rights and the innocence of children.
Yet here in Alabama, it seems not everyone got the memo. While Trump is dismantling the federal Department of Education and cutting waste, the Alabama State Board of Education is considering a whopping 55% raise for State Superintendent Eric Mackey!
You read that correctly. The proposed raise increases the superintendent’s salary by $135,000 over his original one.
I’m all for rewarding hard work and for pay raises that adjust with the cost of living. When our country experienced record-setting inflation the past few years, many of us suffered from minimal pay increases that didn’t even match the rising costs of groceries. My primary issue with the recently proposed superintendent’s astronomical pay raise is the justification behind it.
The logic behind the increase is due to local superintendents making more than the state superintendent. Based on articles I’ve read, District 4 board member, Yvette Richardson, stated that the state superintendent should make more than local superintendents because “he’s responsible for overseeing all of them.” Basically, hierarchy and oversight are the justification for this proposed pay increase.
Under the proposed salary increase, Mackey would make around $380,000. To put that salary into context, consider what other executives make:
- Vice President of the United States: $235,100
- United States Secretary of Education: $250,600
- Alabama Governor: $131,800
- Alabama. Lt. Governor: $71,900
- Attorney General of Alabama: $201,444
The problem with this rationale is the funding structure. Local superintendents are paid based on local tax dollars. Madison, Ala., prides itself on its school system, so its school board offers a higher salary, and local citizens pay that cost. That’s also what happened in Baldwin County and Mobile County. Those districts made a local decision to pay a higher salary to get highly-sought superintendents. How did the decisions by these local boards create a problem that all Alabama taxpayers are now responsible for fixing? Local superintendent salary decisions should not be the driving force of salary discussions at the state level.
But the logic that our state superintendent should make more than his “subordinates” should also apply to his superiors. If we increase the superintendent’s salary, are we, the taxpayers, then going to be forced to increase the salaries of the governor and lieutenant governor? Again, Trump and his administration are cutting costs at every turn, yet Alabama is pushing for increased spending simply to “keep up with the Joneses.”
Another issue with this proposal is accountability or lack thereof. We’ve all followed Trump’s various EOs impacting our public schools, which clearly state non-compliance could jeopardize federal funding. One of those EOs addressed Title IX, specifically restricting males from participating in female sports. While Alabama does have a law that prevents this, most of our public-school systems still have Title IX policies that specifically call out the protection of a person’s “gender” or “gender expression.”
Another EO prohibited radical ideologies in our public schools. Again, Alabama has a law prohibiting “divisive content” in our state, but nearly every school laptop provided to a child comes with EPIC and SOAR apps installed.
Below is just one example of a book I found on EPIC entitled “Pride Puppy!” This book is written for three-to-five-year-olds and pushes the LGBT agenda on every single page. Not only does it violate state law, it also violates multiple federal directives.
This isn’t anything new. These issues have been around for over a year, yet there is zero accountability correcting them. Why would our State Board even consider a massive raise to the superintendent when he’s not engaging enough to realize our entire state is out of compliance with Trump’s directives?
My final issue with this proposed increase is poor performance. WalletHub released their Most and Least Educated States in America report last month, ranking Alabama #43 out of 50 states in terms of quality education. The National Assessment of Educational Progress recently recognized Alabama for leading the charge in post-Covid recovery in 4th grade math. We made a huge jump from 52nd to 32nd. This huge increase indicates we are trending in the right direction, but we also need to look at the entire report before claiming victory in our improved ranking. In the same report, 8th grade reading is ranked 47th while 8th grade math is ranked 49th. Has our overall state performance really improved, or have we figured out one small area that excelled beyond all other metrics?
I’m all for improving our public-school systems to ensure our children have a high-quality education. Alabama made a great gain in 4th grade math, but those improvements were clearly based on teachers in the 4th grade classroom working diligently to improve academic understanding. Overall, Alabama public schools are still in need of major improvements and that should start with improving the classroom, not another bloated salary in Montgomery.
Emily Jones is a native of North Alabama and the content contributor of The Controversial Mom podcast on Right Side Radio. She is the founder of the first Moms for Liberty chapter in the state seeking to fight for the preservation of parental rights and the protection of our children. She is currently running for the State Board of Education in District 8.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please email your name and contact information to [email protected].
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