By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – A proposal on the statewide ballot in Alabama today would remove an old state constitutional amendment that requires separate schools for blacks and whites and creates poll taxes that in years past kept many blacks from voting.

Sounds like a slam dunk, right?

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But not a single black member of the state legislature voted to put Amendment 4 on the ballot, and the state teachers union is fighting it tooth and nail.

How could that be?

The Alabama Education Association and its allies believe that by removing sections of Amendment 111 from the state constitution, voters would also be removing a section that guarantees a free public education for the children of the state, according to a news report form TheRoot.com.

They fear that could lead to the introduction of charter schools or a private school voucher system, and they hate both ideas.

The amendment was proposed by state Sen. Arthur Orr, who says he simply wants to remove racist wording from the constitution that continues to embarrass the state. He notes that the removal of the racist language would be largely symbolic, because federal courts long ago struck down school segregation and poll taxes.

“I’ve been told on several occasions by people in economic development that this language works against us because it dredges up stereotypes of the past,” Orr was quoted as saying.

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We see his point. We’ve also read several articles on this topic, and we’ve yet to see any definitive evidence that the proposed amendment would strip away the right to a free public education. We don’t believe the people of Alabama would stand for such a thing.

And as Orr pointed out, state lawmakers are free to pass laws legalizing charter schools or a voucher system without making any changes to the state constitution.

The Alabama Law Institute, a nonpartisan organization, says “Amendment 4 makes no change to the state constitution other than striking the racist language,” according to the news report.

This controversy seems like pure nonsense drummed up by a teachers union that’s paranoid about getting a little competition from charter schools. The union’s fears were sparked by recent attempts in the legislature to legalize charter schools.

That means Alabama probably will eventually have charter schools, and perhaps even a state voucher program. That would hardly be a bad thing. Experiences in other states have demonstrated that increased school choice is good for students, particularly minority students who were previously stuck in sub-par traditional public schools.

It does not mean that traditional public schools will cease to exist, unless the public gets so tired of them that they refuse to enroll their children. As bad as some of these schools are, we don’t see that happening.

Shame of the Alabama Education Association from trying to scare voters about a harmless proposal that would actually accomplish something that’s long overdue.