Like previous attempts, hollow scare tactics don’t ring true
By State Representative Blaine Galliher
Just like Aesop’s The Boy Who Cried ‘Wolf,’who failed to realize his continued falsehoods would make people distrust him, the Alabama Education Association and its new chief, Henry Mabry are once again sounding a false alarm on a key economic development bill, and the move is backfiring.
You see, the AEA leadership has continually scared its members into believing the Legislature is out to get them:
- They said last year’s tenure reform bill would strip teachers of tenure. That never happened.
- They said the new Reduction In Force language would lead to widespread layoffs of education personnel. It never happened.
- They said 6,000-10,000 teachers would retire in a “mass exodus” because of adjusted insurance premiums. Only a few hundred actually did retire early, it turns out.
- Years ago they said programs like ARI, AMSTI and ACCESS Distance Learning shouldn’t be fully funded because it would “siphon off” education dollars. Now those programs are helping students all over the state.
Over and over again, the leadership of this education workers union has tried to scare its membership into believing they are being harmed when, in fact, they are not. Now they are trying to frighten teachers into believing an economic development bill is somehow bad for our schools. You can only cry “wolf” so many times before folks stop believing you, and that’s where AEA finds itself.
The House of Representatives is considering a bill that would allow voters to give the Governor and the Alabama Development Office the authority to offer incentives like those used on the Mercedes project to recruit new industry to Alabama and prevent existing industry from leaving the state. HB159 is a good bill. It has bi-partisan support. It’s companion bill, HB160, passed by a margin of 69-19, with 13 Democrats voting yes.
AEA has stooped to employ scare tactics in its opposition to the bill, telling members the bill would result in teachers being fired and education funds being drained. These attacks are untrue, of course, because new jobs grow the economy and allow us to add even more to our education budget. In fact, every time we reduce unemployment by one point it renders approximately $160 million in education dollars for our state.
However, because AEA’s similar fear-mongering efforts failed to ring true on other debates like tenure reform, reduction in force policies, retirement and insurance changes, etc., the misinformation campaign is actually backfiring. Teachers are growing tired of continually being told to fear for their livelihoods only to find out the fears are unfounded.
Just as the truth eventually revealed itself on the previously-mentioned issues, I am confident the truth with prevail this time as well. And truth, Scripture tells us, will set you free.
HB159, the Alabama Job Creation and Retention Act, is a good bill. It means bringing in new jobs and keeping existing jobs for our citizens. I’m voting to send this constitutional amendment to the ballot and let the people of this state have the final say.