In a recent guest opinion piece for Alabama Political Reporter, Angelo “Doc” Mancuso wrote an article entitled, “Why Does Rep. Ernie Yarbrough Loathe Public Education and Teachers So Much?” Ironically, two days after that article went live, I received an email from a public school teacher telling me, “You are always so great to help and support our school system. We appreciate you and your dedication to our school system.”
It seems that Mancuso is out of touch with what dedicated service to public schools actually looks like in this cultural moment – both in grassroots service and in how we have a responsibility through legislation to fight for Alabama values and the future of our children in education.
In his piece, Mancuso criticized a piece of legislation I filed, HB666, which is desperately needed for practical as well as principled reasons.
I’ve talked to many teachers who have left the Alabama Education Association (AEA) and don’t want to be involved in aiding and abetting liberal politics – or even politics in general. Turns out, liberal teachers’ unions are funding far left liberal and political causes. It also turns out that Alabama Democrats benefit from National Education Association (NEA) and AEA dues, alongside radical pro-abortion, LGBTQ+ and DEI groups.
Instead of supporting these causes, these teachers want to focus on returning to Alabama’s values of faith, hard work, a commitment to excellence, and a vision for the future that rings true with who we are. They don’t want to be pressured into a membership whose finances support things that have done great harm to Western Christian civilization.
Practically speaking, under existing law, state employees only have a 10-day window annually to stop payroll deductions for membership dues. HB666 gets the state out of the membership dues collection process altogether for public unions relating to education – AEA and the like can handle that on their own. HB666 ensures that state employees can leave any public union whenever they want, and they can opt out of having their paycheck deducted for those same membership dues whenever they want. It’s just that simple – any public and professional association should handle its own membership dues, especially any organization that sends money to the NEA – a group that celebrates the violation of our conservative legislation that protects our children from sexual perversion and DEI mind virus.
Public school – like any school choice – should be a choice for the family because it best suits the needs of the family. Alabama families shouldn’t have to worry about whether their dollars or the institution they send their children to is supporting the anti-American, anti-God, anti-family mental delusions of the NEA or any group that sends them money. Not to mention helping an organization that gave $100,000 to a Democrat for the Mobile mayoral race. Money is the lifeline by which they accomplish their liberal agenda. You get more of what you fund. I think Alabama’s schools should teach Alabama’s values, promote true educational excellence, and spend Alabama’s education dollars for the true good of Alabama’s teachers and students.
Education is, after all, not simply the learning of facts. It is the passing down of a way of life, a way that has been under attack, but a way that warriors are now rising to defend – with our dollars and our actions. Now THAT is what the doctor ordered.
State Rep. Ernie Yarbrough serves in Alabama's Seventh District.
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