Letters: Much more to chancellor salary story than what was reported

Much more to chancellor salary story than what was reported
Many newspapers recently ran an article by AP reporter Desiree Hunter about the Alabama Community College System’s proposed search for a new chancellor. Apparently it generated several editorials. I would like to clarify what happened regarding former Chancellor Roy Johnson’s pay raise.

In 2005, a committee of several state school board members (including Dr. Mary Jane Caylor) was appointed to make a recommendation for a salary increase for Johnson. Dr. Caylor presented what I thought was a very vague recommendation to the board (it had no precise amount of the total, which included deferred compensation). Justification offered for the large raise included a comment that if he didn’t get the raise, Johnson might leave us to accept the headship of AEA. All voted for it except Stephanie Bell and myself. When I explained my negative vote, I turned to Mr. Johnson to say that I was voting ”No” because the pay raise was excessive and sent a bad message to the taxpayers and would be better used in the classrooms.

A year later Stephanie Bell and I tried to pass a motion to fire Johnson but no one would vote with us. Later in the year there was a motion to put Johnson on administrative leave with pay. Bell and I were unsuccessful in our attempt to convince others to fire him without pay.

I agree with you that “we should weigh options, come to the best conclusion on what the new chancellor’s salary should be and pursue the best person for the job while keeping future pay raises to a minimum.” And yes, as you pointed out, that 2005 raise, which was recommended by the committee and presented by Dr. Caylor, did not work out very well. And two of us knew it would not.

Betty Peters
District 2 Representative
State Board of Education

Planned Parenthood key in prevention of unplanned pregnancy

With the recent murder of Dr. George Tiller, the issue of abortion has once again been thrust into the spotlight. Planned Parenthood knows that in order to reduce the need for abortion we must focus our efforts on the root of the problem – unintended pregnancy. Prevention is the key to reducing unintended pregnancies.

To prevent unintended pregnancies we should use common sense practices, such as ensuring that all people have access to affordable birth control and providing our youth with medically accurate, age appropriate comprehensive sex education.

Each year, Planned Parenthood provides approximately four million women, men and adolescents with the keys to prevention at our clinics around the nation. A recent study done by the Guttmacher Institute noted that between 2003 and 2007, teenagers were just as likely to have sex, but less likely to use contraception. The authors suggest that this is due to more than a decade of abstinence-only sex education programs, which have been proven ineffective by multiple studies. The American people are looking for a future guided by common sense solutions to the real problems we face.

No organization does more to prevent unintended pregnancies and the need for abortion than Planned Parenthood, and we hope that you will join in our work to increase access to affordable birth control and comprehensive sex education.

Jessica Seales
Alabama Field Organizer Planned
Parenthood of Alabama