The County Line - Pre-Convention Issue 2002

November Elections About More Than Just Education

There are, one must suppose, many stumbling blocks to progress in our state -- however one defines progress in our state. Lack of preparation, lack of dedication, lack of financial resources, lack of vision, lack of community support -- are some of the first to come to mind. But there are certainly many others.

As Alabama embarks on a new election -- one that includes not only the selection of new statewide leaders, but also new county officials and, therefore, new members of this Association -- it is hard not to wonder if this election will really impact our state's future in a positive way. Not an optimistic view, but one that history says is realistic.

Much of the political focus is now on the funding of education in our state. A debate fueled in major part by the organizations that were created to promote some aspect of education in the first place -- teacher's union, school board association and State Department of Education. Funding education is, the line of thinking goes, the solution to all of Alabama's problems. If we only fund education to a more appropriate level, the other state services -- prisons, mental health, highways, services to the poor and elderly -- will somehow be impacted in a positive way.

And even though it may not be politically correct to make this observation, those of us who are charged with worrying about county government can only shake our heads. Certainly education is a major problem in our state. But it is not the only problem by a long shot. And if education is funded to a higher level at the expense of other state services, then our state will not have made any real progress.

As you read this column, hundreds of state-sentenced inmates sit awaiting transfer to an over-crowded, under-funded, under-staffed, poorly-planned state prison system. Today jailers and other workers in all 67 Alabama counties face unsafe conditions created in part because the state prison system is not funded at a level necessary to provide adequate services.

In 2000, a statewide panel was created by legislative act to evaluate our state's criminal laws and to offer solutions to an emergency situation in our prison system. The panel was given two years to conduct its research and offer suggestions for legislative changes.

But two years turned out not to be enough for the group to complete the emergency work. Rather than offering a report during the 2002 legislative session, the panel asked for and was given another 12 months to prepare its recommendations. During this entire time, jail conditions only worsened and Alabama's taxpayers invested more in a decaying system.

Just this year, our state's chief judge ordered the freezing of jury trials all over the state because of budget cuts in his department. Those persons wishing to have relief through the court system or seeking to carry out justice because of criminal acts would have to wait.

During the last few weeks, the financially strapped county governments have been asked to help provide funds to make up those cuts on the local level. And in many cases county governments have pitched in to help keep the court system open.

But all of this has occurred just months before a big pay raise will take effect that makes our state's judges among the highest paid in the land.

Our state's Department of Forensic Sciences, which conducts the medical examinations that assists local law enforcement in solving deadly crimes, has announced massive reductions in services for the next budget year. The cuts will result in long delays for those awaiting the scientific evidence necessary to carry out law enforcement activities.

The problem, it seems, is that the department is funded in major part by the proceeds of fines from those persons convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. So as people have become more aware of the need to stay off the road when drunk, we have lost the ability to operate the Department of Forensic Sciences.

There are other examples, but these certainly make the point. Alabama's education system is not the only thing that needs attention.

Our county governments, the level of government that is the closest to the "people" and the level most likely to confront the problems that people consider really important, lack any real power to solve local problems. Each year hundreds of local bills are introduced in the Alabama legislature because county governments are not empowered to deal with local difficulties. Local citizens must wait on legislative action if they want local problems resolved.

Just this past session, local voters in Franklin County were denied the right to vote on a proposed tax on sand and gravel unearthed in that county because legislators from other parts of the state voted against their local bill. The local bill was necessary because the county lacks even the authority to put such a question on the ballot. So our state constitution allows legislators from other parts of the state to stop a vote in Franklin County but doesn't allow the local officials of Franklin to make such a decision.

During the most-recent legislative session, Gov. Don Siegelman pushed a resolution that would have called for a statewide vote on a constitutional convention. Many have focused the blame for Alabama's lack of progress on its out-dated constitution. The governor's plan was to set-up a process for rewriting the document in a more growth-friendly manner.

But this effort was met with heated and strong opposition, primarily from those who sought to keep our property taxes as the lowest in the country. These well-financed opponents won and the measure was defeated on the House floor. Our citizens were then denied the right to even vote on the issue of constitutional reform.

But one must wonder -- If those opponents of constitutional reform can claim victory, who were the real losers?

The reform-opponents point at waste in our state's education sys-tem and say those hoping to benefit from more waste were the real losers. By defeating constitutional reform they believe they have stopped efforts to waste more money in the education system.

Perhaps this lack of vision and lack of perception is the thing that is really holding us back.

Those who stopped this reform effort did not harm education. The harm inflicted was on themselves, their own businesses, their own families and their own future.

There is a reason that Alabama lags behind almost every other southern state on every ranking one can imagine -- we fail to see the big picture. We do not invest in or trust our local governments, we do not invest in or trust our state government and, yes, we do not invest in or trust our education system.

One can only hope that the set of elected officials voted into office in November will be like no other in our lifetimes -- that this will be the set that will be able to get the "people" of Alabama to support changes that will really make a difference. One can only hope.