Alabama board won't change teacher ethics proposal

MONTGOMERY — The Alabama Legislature is facing a showdown over teacher ethics in an election year.

Two weeks ago, a Democrat-controlled committee called the Legislative Council rejected a plan by the State Board of Education to put a code of ethics in the state administrative code. At the urging of the Alabama Education Association, the council called the code vague and recommended the school board rewrite it to remove several rules.

The board on Thursday said it would stand by its proposal and not change it.

Now, the full Legislature will have to decide when it returns in January whether to back up the Legislative Council’s decision or go along with the ethics code as it is written.

The code will be considered at the same time as Republican Gov. Bob Riley’s legislation tightening the ethics rules for public officials.

Mike Hubbard of Auburn, the House minority leader and state Republican Party chairman, said the code of ethics was never intended as a campaign issue. But he said, “It’s a great opportunity to see who’s for ethics and who’s not.”

State Democratic Party Chairman Joe Turnham said some Republicans are trying to “politicize ethics” for their benefit in the 2010 election.

He said everyone involved wants a code of ethics, but that will require all sides sitting down to compromise.

“If people want to be bipartisan and work together, we can,” he said.

After the legislative session ends in April, all 140 seats will be up for election. Democrats will try to maintain their control of the House and Senate, while Republicans seek their first majority since the 1870s.

State Superintendent of Education Joe Morton, the driving force behind the ethics code, said it was never intended as an election issue. “I don’t do politics,” said Morton, who is appointed rather than elected.

The proposed code outlines acceptable and unacceptable conduct for education employees.

The Legislative Council wanted to remove several sections, including one that defined unethical conduct as harassing colleagues, misusing tests, using inappropriate language at school, and failing to provide appropriate supervision of students.

Morton said he was most troubled by the suggestion to remove a section saying that educators “should refrain from the use of alcohol and/or tobacco during the course of professional practice and should never use illegal or unauthorized drugs.”

“The one on drugs and alcohol blew my mind,” Morton said after Thursday’s board meeting.

Mary Bruce Ogles, AEA’s assistant executive secretary, said the organization supports an ethics code, but wants one that that is clear and concise.

She said the proposed code had two sections prohibiting educators from using alcohol or tobacco at school or at school-related events. The Legislative Council recommended leaving one section that was clearly worded and taking out the one that was not as precise, she said.