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Viewpoints
Renee Culverhouse, the interim chancellor of the two-year college system, refused to recommend for consideration at the April 26th State Board of Education meeting a proposal by Governor Bob Riley which would require legislators to resign their two-year college jobs or resign from the Legislature. This would effectively end the practice known as "double dipping" for legislators working for the two-year college system. Last fall, Brett Blackledge of The Birmingham News reported that from 2002 to 2006 at least 43 state legislators or their spouses were employed by two-year colleges. The article was part of a Pulitzer Prize winning series by Blackledge delving into the corruption and mismanagement of Alabama's two-year colleges. The employment of elected officials, in this case state legislators, by a government entity, in this case two-year colleges, should raise serious questions in anyone's mind about conflicts-of-interest. Many of the legislators employed by two-year colleges have jobs with suspiciously lax work requirements which make it obvious that the legislators are being paid to represent the interests of the two-year college they work for and not necessarily the interests of the people who elected them. To add insult to injury, all but five of these double-dipping legislators voted for the 62 percent pay raise. With the pay increase raising their legislative pay to $49,250 per year, some of the double-dipping legislators are making some pretty serious money. It is not just the money these double-dipping legislators are making that should concern Alabama voters. It is the fact that we have government employees serving the interests of their government employers at the expense of Alabama taxpayers. In other words, in Alabama it is not "government of the people, by the people, for the people," it is "government of the government, by the government, for the government. Or in this case, it is "government of, by and for" the two-year college system. Perhaps this conflict-of-interest involving elected officials and their two-year college employers helps explain why Alabama is ranked as one of the worst managed states in the nation. Governing Magazine, which publishes the state rankings, has Alabama tied with California for being the worst managed state in America. In their summary of our state, Governing included a quote from an unnamed Alabama state government official which sums up the problem with our state Legislature. "We have a lack of capacity to make good decisions here," says one highly placed observer. "The Legislature just brokers between opposing interests. And nobody is paying attention to minding the store, because there isn't any institutional capacity to do that." In other words, too many legislators are looking out for their own interests or the interests of whoever is writing them a check. Many in our Legislature are not interested in doing what is best for the people of Alabama. They are only interested in what they can get for themselves and those they work for. There is no question that our two-year colleges are vital to the future of this state. With a high school dropout rate of about 40 percent and with about 30 percent of those that do graduate from Alabama high schools needing remedial education after graduation, Alabama's two-year colleges play an important role in maintaining a viable workforce in this state. In addition, our two-year college system also provides workforce training in vocational and technology fields which helps Alabama offer a well-trained workforce that in turn attracts new industry. While the two-year college system is a vital part of Alabama's education system as well as being vital to the state's continued economic growth, it is also a big business with big money involved for those who run the system. Alabama has 26 two-year colleges with an additional 32 satellite campuses for a total of 58 two-year college facilities statewide. Many of the people running our two-year colleges are solid people, dedicated to their schools and dedicated to doing a good job. It should be stressed that not every twoyear college president has gone out and found a legislator or legislator's spouse to put on their school's payroll. Those presidents and their trustees should be commended for their restraint. But they should also be challenged to take a stand to restore the integrity of their system by calling on the State Board of Education and interim Chancellor Culverhouse to implement Governor Riley's proposal to put an end to double-dipping by legislators. At this point, no two-year college president has stepped forward and called for an end to the practice of hiring elected officials and ending the double-dipping abuse. With legislators holding so much power over the finances of two-year colleges there are few if any, two-year college presidents that can afford to take a stand. Alabama's two-year colleges are valuable enough to stand on their own merits; they do not need to hire elected lobbyists. There is no question that the practice of doubledipping should be brought to an end. The only question is how long will it take?
Gary Palmer is president of the Alabama Policy Institute, a non-partisan, non-profit research and education organization headquartered in Birmingham.
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