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Note: This the second in a series of posts looking at how the candidates compare on issues.
Education has been a polarizing issue in Alabama for years. Let’s consider the positions of Alabama gubernatorial candidates Ron Sparks and Robert Bentley.
Education Lottery
Ron Sparks has been adamant about the need for an education lottery to fund Alabama schools. On his website, he touts the potential for $418 million dollars of projected annual revenue to the state by instituting a lottery. Last year, Sparks told OurPrattville.com, “Less than 7% of our children get pre-K, we’re only graduating 60% of our children, and those who do graduate only 16% are going on to get a college education.” Sparks calls his initiative the LifeStart Education Lottery.
At a debate in Arab, Bentley made controversial remarks about opportunities for children to get a college degree. Sparks responded in a TV ad saying, “Not every child will get a college degree, but every child rich or poor deserves a chance to go to College.”
At the same Arab debate, Bentley said he is personally against the lottery and reminded attendees, “We have a governor sentenced to jail as a result of things he did connected to that lottery.”
For those of you that haven’t yet decided how you feel on the lottery, Walt pointed out a great series by Left In Alabama on the issue that plays it straight throughout. Give it a read if you’ve got some time.
Charter Schools
Just Monday, Ron Sparks had an op-ed piece in the Montgomery Advertiser outlining initiatives, including his position on charter schools. In it he states the following:
I am the only candidate for governor with the courage to stand up and protect our public school system from being raided by those seeking charter schools. Any movement in support of charter schools supports a movement to set up dual public schools at the expense of an already underfunded public school system.
Charter schools have failed to be both innovative and visionary and have not produced results that justify such risk.
Studies show that 85 percent of charter schools perform at the same level or below the level of our public schools. Charter schools are at best a mediocre experimental program.
Charter schools are not the answer for public education in Alabama. We must focus our time and energy on developing new revenue sources and building a world-class education system for all children in Alabama.
Robert Bentley has not been as straightforward as Sparks against charter schools, but has shown us that he is skeptical that they are the end-all-be-all answer to fixing the Alabama education system (from his website):
On February 10, 2010 I voted to indefinitely postpone considering charter school legislation because it was inadequate for Alabama and needed improvement. While I prepared two amendments to improve the bill so I could vote in favor of it, the committee did not consider either one. My first amendment limited the initial number of initial charter schools to ten, five for technical schools and five for local community schools. This initial limit would allow the state to test and evaluate the effectiveness of charter schools before implementing it statewide. My second amendment gave local school boards sole authority on whether to establish charter schools in their communities, instead of the State Board of Education. I support maximizing local authority and providing increased flexibility to local school boards, and believe local communities can better assess their own needs than the State Board of Education.
Bentley also expresses his lack of desire to fund charter schools simply to achieve Race to the Top funding. Both Robert Bentley and Ron Sparks opposed Bob Riley’s spring bill to legalize charter schools as a part of the effort to score better in the second round of Race to the Top. According to the AP, Alabama is one of 11 states without charter schools, and if the legislature had passed Riley’s bill, Alabama would have gone from last to next to last in the quest for Race to the Top funding.
PACT
In an April interview with the University of South Alabama newspaper, The Vanguard, Sparks said in regard to Alabama’s Prepaid Affordable College Tuition Program, “If you bought it you ought to get it. I’m not as concerned about the PACT as I am about the lottery. I would like to refund the PACT, to be perfectly honest with you.”
Robert Bentley sponsored HB 775 to amend Alabama’s constitution to guarantee existing PACT contracts are funded. Bentley says that Alabama “has a moral and legal obligation to honor 100% of these contracts.” While the bill passed the house unanimously on April 13, 2010, it will not make it to the ballot on November 2nd.
Following the money
When you talk about education in the state of Alabama, it’s nearly impossible not to center the conversation around the 100,000+ member strong Alabama Education Association (AEA). Paul Hubbert has been the AEA’s Executive Secretary since 1969, and was also the Vice Chairman of the state Democratic party until July 15th of this year (He resigned two days after the Republican runoff between Robert Bentley and Bradly Byrne). While AEA maintains good relationships with some Republican elected officials (and Republican teachers), it’s fair to say that the organization is an archenemy for many in Republican Party leadership.
AEA was very involved in the primary season. Ron Sparks has over $210,000 in AEA donations on record from his primary run against Congressman Artur Davis. Robert Bentley denied receiving any direct support from the AEA in his runoff bid against Bradley Byrne, which has turned into quite the ongoing debacle that Hillary and Danny have detailed. No matter who was aware, or unaware, of the anti-Bradley Byrne runoff ads, Hubbert has admitted AEA’s involvement in the runoff and Byrne has speculated that more than $500,000 dollars was spent against him.
However, Hubbert has said the AEA is not getting involved in this general election, as the AEA considers both Robert Bentley and Ron Sparks, “decent supporters of education.” Despite that September 12th statement, the Fair Campaign Practices Act (FCPA) 45 day report shows that A VOTE PAC (which is controlled by the AEA) gave Ron Sparks $106,334.15 between August 27th and September 10th. No A VOTE contributions were shown in Bentley’s 45 day report.
Not enough spent vs. not spent well enough
Are we spending enough money on education? Are we just not spending what we have well enough? Or both?
We know that Alabama is 34th in the nation in dollars per pupil in elementary – secondary schools ($9,103 2007-2008), spending a little more than $1,000 less than the average state. Notable states around Alabama that spend less are Florida ($9,035), Kentucky ($8,686), Arkansas ($8,541), Texas ($8,320), North Carolina ($7,996), Mississippi ($7,901), and Tennessee ($7,739). Three of these states received grants from Race to the Top: Florida ($700 million, round 2), North Carolina ($400 million, round 2), and Tennessee ($500 Million, round 1). Criteria for funding for Race to the Top can be found here.
According to teacherportal.com, Alabama ranks 43rd in average teacher salary ($40,347), 25th in starting salary ($31,368), 27th in a 10 year salary increase rating (28.9%), and 13th in Salary Comfort Index (salary vs. cost of living). Alabama’s students per teacher ratio is better than average (14.9) and 33% of the education budget is spent on teacher expenditures (compare to 39% in TN and 37% in GA).
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First! I saw an article somewhere that said gambling revenue would only be about $120 million, not the $418 million Mr. Mustache promises.
Oh ! You saw an article somewhere. Glad you said something because that changes everything.
commontater: the sarcasm is not necessary or appreciated. I am trying to find the article. Keep your britches on.
Hope Sparks is planning on huge uptake in out of state lottery ticket buyers, $1.76G / ~3M adults is a lot of money not buying Alabama produce, cars etc.
More Spending vs not well spent – when you look at outcomes, graduation rates, test scores, the teacherportal numbers, you realize, “… its self-evident we do more with less.” so, according to some, there is no need for either more education revenue or to question how its spent. Yet those with poor eyesight would say our schools produce Kia Rio’s at the price of a Ford Ranger. However, the supply of myopes looking at education matters is small and tends to squabble amongst themselves.
waltm, count Mr. Conservative as one of those who say lack of funding is not our greatest problem with education. (You’re shocked, waltm, I’m sure.)
Look I have seen education from every angle: Attended post-integration public schools my whole life, taught a year in privatge school, we home-schooled my kids a few years, and sent them to private schools the rest, my wife is currently a private school teacher. My mom taught for years in public schools.
I have had classes in old buildings, buildings without air conditioning, in trailers, my kids have had classes in trailers, our school has no gym, and you know what—none of that makes a hill of beans difference when it comes to learning. The biggest factors predicting educational success are DNA and family culture (stability, placing value on education, motivating children to want to learn, etc.) Good teachers and strict school discipline certainly help. The rest: Fluff!
Waltm, do a litle research. Gambling built Macon County a new school (probabably several new schools) a few years ago. Did we see any change whatsover in test schools, graduation rates, etc. I think you know the answer. The school system that spends the most in education funding, D.C., is the worst in terms of outcome.
To use your car/truck metaphor–why would I spend money on a Cadillac Escalade if I knew it was going to be chained to a tree in Paul Hubbert’s back yard. Instead, I am going to going to buy (or build) a Honda Civic that I am free to drive wherever I want to go and I am going to support every other Alabamian–black, white, rich, poor, Jew and Gentile–having that same opportunity.
FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Okay, I know I need to cut down on the diet cokes._
The AEA’s A-VOTE PAC has given Sparks money for the fall campaign. And so have several PACs that are primarily funded by A-VOTE:
Alabamians for Conservative Leadership
Alliance for Conservative Leadership
Energy PAC
Each of these got almost 90% of their funding from A-VOTE.
In turn, the first two are the primary funders of Franklin PAC and Growth PAC.
When you look at a candidate’s FCPA reports, watch for these names. Especially if the candidate is one who likes to talk trash about AEA in public while lining his/her pockets in private.
We followed some of the money in this recent LIA post:
http://www.leftinalabama.com/diary/7177/aeas-pac-family-tree-a-tale-of-nine-pacs-stan-pate
Analyzing teacher’s salaries without considering their pensions and insurance benefits is worthless. We pay well for a poor product. More money for education without education reform will only sink more money into unsustainable teacher/support worker’s benefits packages.
Mr Conservative, I see you failed to catch who wrote the column I linked to and unaware that most (if not all) state reps have their columns ghost written “with the assistance of the House Democratic leadership” and thus miss the point senior leaders in Sparks’ party fail to see a need and Alabama schools do real good with what they got.
Then seen the MSRP of a Rio, (~13k) vs a Ranger (~$17). We take the money that could produce work ready vehicles and wind up with fragile, grocery getting wheeled shoe boxes.
Waltm, I guess I missed the nuance–but I was trying to respond to your last comment and not the main article. I guess I read your comment to be the opposite of what you were trying to say. My bad.
So, do you agree with my last rant or where do you disagree?
Fair Dismissal REFORM NOW!!!
Ok, I’m better now…
CountryCat, this isn’t new knowledge that AEA–more specifically Hubbert–has been setting the stage for political neutrality in this election, hence is support for both Bentley and Sparks (abeit a great deal more for Sparks). My guess would be that it has something to do with a potential loss of control of the legislature.
As for the heart of the article presented by Brian. I have adamantly argued against the statistics presented for years. Namely because I know of several schools that misreported the number of students in an effort to get more federal funding. The other flaw with the drop out rate is that students who transfer out of the system will be counted as drop outs until such a time that a request for paperwork is filed from the new school district. Should that request not be made, or a fumble occur at anytime within that timeline, that student is accounted for as a drop out.
Also, of my graduating class, roughly 80% went to some form of post secondary education: community college, state university, etc…Of those that did not, many went into the military and are now seeking that level of education. The posted statistics provided by my school DO NOT reflect that percentage. Why? The short answer is paperwork. The school’s guidance counselor was not notified, or at the time that the state BOE solicited students for the information those graduating seniors had not recieved acceptance letters, marching orders, etc.
In essence a failure on the part of the state to accurately account for the progress of each student (holy cow we’re talking big brother here) we as a state are ranked lower in terms of our educational success. Money won’t solve the problem as our current statistics show, better record keeping would, atleast in the interim, show the most improvement.
YAY COMMA SPLICE!
I will admit that grammar was never my strongest subject. Logic and Math were my poisons of choice.
One more thing…Danny, did my email address result in even a slight chuckle?
I am sure that whatever difference Bentley and Sparks may have about education, they will BOTH defer to Paul Hubbert on anything related to schools.
@Michael – Sparks’ website has a fairly reasonable explanation for their anticipated revenue, and you may find more at the LIA link provided in the post to compare lotteries in multiple southeastern states.
@CountryCat – I actually did note that A VOTE has given Sparks $106,000 since the primary. I did not however, due to the scope of the article, attempt to break down PAC to PAC possibilities… so thanks for the link!
@Kluger – I understand your displeasure with a lack of quality control on the statistics… unfortunately there is only so much we can go off of. I guess my hope is that other states are equally terrible at reporting (as you claim Alabama is) so that at least our state to state comparison is reasonable.
Brian, I did see that you’d noted the contributions from AEA. Just added my comment because there is extra money flowing from AEA that’s not immediately obvious and it’s something look for when you’re scanning the contribution reports.
And the same appears to be happening with other “powerhouse” PACs allied with business interests.
Mr Conservative, agree in part disagree in others. I’d put the burden on the our inability to develop, enforce and measure a state wide curriculum, efforts by school administrators to place parents in the “pray and pay” category and penny wise, pound foolish things like reading specialists when there are no books in the library, etc. These are all things that can’t be fixed by more revenue but rather questions of politics and resultant policy.
DNA and family stability are problematic if viewed as something a democratic State should address. Does Brave New World ring a bell?
Waltm, I would say most things that are really broken with our educational system cannot be fixed by more money. I would also say that the need for more money is WAY down the list of what we need to improve education in Alabama. I think you somewhat agree with that.
BUT, your two last sentences is what intriques me. If I read you right, you are assuming that I think that government can solve every problem (i.e. DNA and family stability). Of course, that would present HUGE problems–Brave New World-wise, 1984-wise, etc.
Of course, I am not saying that and do not believe that. Like every true Mr. Conservative, I believe that more often government is the problem not the solution. What it really needs to do is get out of the way–reduce its “footprint” not increase it.
What does that look like—incrementally–in terms of education? Public school alternatives that can avoid the “chains which keep us tied to a tree in Paul Hubbert’s yard”–as I said above. Create real competition with public schools.
We have to get back to a mindset that education is a privilege that you have to grab onto it and make your kids grab onto it–something of great value that you sacrifice for. Discipline is a key here. Kids that act up in school, don’t want to be there–fine, let them go. Let them drop out and work for a living, get a taste of how hard the real world is and maybe that get their GED at 18 or 19 or 25 or 30 or 40 and then go to community colllege or an on-line degree program but the difference is they want to learn now.
Just a little more–I’ll close with my favorite education quote: EDUCATING A CHILD IS MORE LIKE STARTING A FIRE THAN FILLING A BUCKET. Somehow our public school bureaucracy has developed a system that just tries to fill the bucket–get as many kids to survive 12 or 13 years and pass through a certain circiculum and ta-da, that is success–all the boxes are checked (although truthfully they are failing at this too.)
Where I have seen education work is where the parent/teacher/school lights a fire in the child’s mind that begins as a small ember and then grows into an inferno–you can’t stop that child from learning, growing, thinking. This miracle has been accomplished in private schools, charter schools and religious schools all over the nation. (I’m sure in some public schools too–it just has to be done in spite of the public schools mentality and bureaucracy).
And don’t tell me it won’t work for minority students from poor neighorhoods–it was in D.C. until Obama killed the charter school there. Read Clarence Thomas’ autobiograhy–his mom was a drug addict and his father hardly knew him–but his grandparents sent him to a Catholic school which demanded success and his grandfather made sure he took advantage of it.
I’ve gone on too long. Thanks for listening (if you are).
I care. That is way bigger than politics to me. I love Alabama and her children and I weep for the fact that our school system is not doing a better job.
Amen, Mr. Conservative.