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State Rep. Jackson and others fighting 'double dipper' label
Jackson, D-Thomasville, is one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed by the Alabama Education Association seeking to overturn the state board's ruling. Jackson, director of the Upward Bound program at Alabama Southern Community College in Thomasville, said last w e e k ' s actions were not unexpected. "We knew the board was going to vote against us [legislators who are educators]. Their train was on the track and the grease had been applied." He called the prohibition "undemocratic and unconstitutional." Jackson is a longtime educator and was initially employed by the Clarke County Board of Education when he was first elected in 1994. He later attained a position with Alabama Southern. "I applied for this job in 1996 [at Alabama Southern] and I wasn't hired until 1997," he said, insisting that his status as a legislator had nothing to do with his hiring. The state board's ruling on the matter came after publicity revealed many legislators who are on community colleges' payrolls. Some perform little, or questionable work, investigations have revealed. Jackson agreed that there are problems with some legislators who work for two-year colleges. "But we shouldn't all be painted with such a broad brush," he argued. Problem employees should be dealt with on an individual basis, he said. Two-year colleges' chancellor Bradley Byrne, who gave up a state senate seat for the job, recommended the ban on "double dipping," that is the drawing of two state paychecks. AEA and the affected legislators argue that the legislators do not draw their college pay when they are working as legislators. At least one legislator is being scrutinized though for turning in college time while she was in Montgomery. Rep. Terry Spicer, D-Elba, told the Associated Press, "We're just trying to get a definition. We're concerned that this is infringing on our Constitutional rights and we also have concern about the disenfranchising of the voters… we represent." The ban is to begin in 2010. The lawsuit says that if the ban is allowed to stand, "the taxpayers of this state will be forced to pay for thirteen special elections to replace legislators who were elected less than ten months ago." Mary Bruce Ogles, AEA executive secretary, said, "We just think it is unfair for any group of people to be selected and say they cannot run for public office and at the same time hold their jobs. Educators deserve the right to serve just like anyone else." The ban does not extend to employees of four-year educational institutions or to employees working in other areas of state government. That bothers Thomas Jackson. He mentioned teachers and employees who get a check for driving school buses. "Is that double dipping?" he wondered. There are legislators who work in four-year colleges not affected by this ban and legislators who work in other areas of state government, he pointed out.
Jackson didn't go as far as Joe Reed in calling Bradley Byrne the "Fuehrer," a comparison to Adolf Hitler that caused a furor, but did say Byrne's actions and that of the board was like a dictatorship.
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