Last week was a dark episode in Alabama’s fight to cleanse itself from corruption. Monday, a Montgomery County judge ruled against the Alabama Board of Education’s mantra to ban legislators from holding jobs within the two-year system. The ban was put in place as numerous legislators used the college system to beef their own bank accounts, taking from the public coffers of our already embattled budget.
Then Thursday, a bill that would give legislative control over the two-year college system — even more control than the school board itself — avoided a Republican-led attempt to block the legislation.
Let’s see, those using the two-year college system to give jobs to family members and draw salaries for work not completed want to do whatever it takes to make sure they can remain in control of their cash cows.
It’s a system they have abused for years rather than the school board which is desperately taking measures to clean the system and turn it into one we can respect.
For anyone who wields power and truly cares about education and fighting corruption in the state of Alabama, what needs to be done is beyond obvious.
After the level of corruption has been revealed between legislators who abused the system, the board’s decision to ban legislators from holding jobs within the system is a no-brainer.
Alabama’s two-year college system was designed to educate. The system should not be another pig trough for a few hungry legislators.
It’s disturbing to see a judge rule that legislators should continue to be employed by the very system they were abusing.
It’s disturbing that any elected official in the state of Alabama who claims he or she truly cares about higher education in this state would create a bill that would give control of the system into the hands of the ones who abused it. It makes us wonder about their priorities, what’s best for the state and their constituents or what’s best for themselves.
The double-dipping ban should remain and the two-year college system should be governed by the board of education, not a board of legislation.
It’s disgusting that politics has to play this much of a part of Alabama’s education process.
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