A sneaky bill, a sneaky process!
Montgomery Co. Circuit Judge Charles Price issued an order on
yesterday halting a controversial school choice bill from becoming law by the
sneaky works of the Alabama majority lead Republican legislature and being
signed by Republican Governor Robert Bentley.
On today Judge Price upheld that order until a March 15
hearing. If the educators, school districts, and Alabama Education Association
didn’t step in, the bill was headed for the Governor desk yesterday afternoon for
his official signature regardless of what the people and taxpayers think.
The Alabama Education Association filed a lawsuit
Monday night seeking to stop the legislation that would give parents zoned
for "failing" schools an estimated $3,500 income tax credit to help
pay for tuition at a private school or another public school. So far the AEA is
on the right track and the Republican lead legislature is not.
The lawsuit filed by AEA claims that the Republican lead legislature
violated the “Open Meetings Act” when the so called tax credit program was
added to the original bill in conference committee and did not allow much
discussion on the amendments to the original bill.
The process and bill seems to be a sneaky process and smells
funky.
Why would you take hard working taxpayers money away from
public education, and pay for private tuitions? Republicans have always wanted
this type of legislation and they are finally trying to have it their way, but
in a sneaky way.
Republicans have come out against the lawsuit, because they
know it exposes their wrong doings and non fairness. They also began to notice
that a majority of the citizens, school districts, parents and educators are
with the lawsuit to end this sneaky act by the sneaky lead Republicans. Governor
Bentley himself who leads this state also approves of this sneaky act and its
process by which it passed.
Parents of children zoned for failing schools could receive
an income tax credit equal to 80 percent of the average annual state cost for
attendance of a public K-12 student to offset the cost of private school or a
transfer to another public school. This is simply not accountability! According to the bill sponsor Rep. Chad
Fincher, a Republican from Semmes, estimated that the tax credit would equal to
about $3,500. He said it could be used by families at a failing school now and
also used by families zoned for failing schools but who have their child
enrolled in a private school already.
Already Rep.
Fincher, really already? Is this another sneaky way to separate a certain group
of kids from the others?
According to the lawsuit Republican members of the
conference committee, Sens. Marsh and Gerald Dial and Fincher and Jay Love,
"met amongst themselves" to discuss the bill during the recess to the
conference committee meeting. How sad? The lawsuit also claims that the meeting
of the four lawmakers during the recess was a violation of the state's Open
Meetings Act.
The lawsuit doesn’t stop there. The lawsuit claims that the
Republicans violated Rule 21, which requires that meetings be posted at least
one hour before the meeting.
This is indeed a sneaky act by Republicans to push through a
favoritism bill designed to help a certain group of communities or families.
And use tax dollars to do so, how ridiculous can they be with this bill?
