This is a joke, HONEST being used by somwone who has to be told how and what to say by someone else. She doesn't know the meaning of the word!

Strangling public schools is no way to improve them. There are reasons Hoover has good schools; among other things they are consistently well funded. There are reasonable approaches to "we simply can't afford to keep doing nothing" -- HB84 is just the opposite.

A turning points are generally difficult to place with any precision as the changes are underway long before the dramatic events that makes them apparent. They are, however, a useful device for the historian and a necessary adjunct to historical discussion. In the years to come, Alabamians will look back and mark this pivotal legislative session as the turning point in the lives of their children's education. The bold and courageous action taken by Representative Collins and others in the face of withering criticism from those charged with the failure of the public school system will be celebrated as the time when, for once, the community escaped its government bonds and gained a measure of freedom. Control of the curriculum in sight, Alabamians are turning away from the A.E.A., the Democrat Party, and the Decatur Daily en masse, their antiquated view and marginal influence now alien to those who have turned their eyes to the future. At long last, the community is accorded an opportunity to shed the racial barriers and sordid debauchery for years championed by the Decatur Daily and imposed by the A.E.A. and the Democrat Party. It is incumbent on all to heal the division, join hands regardless of race and economic status, and unite based on the content of our character. In the immortal words of Dr. Martin Luther King, "Free at last......free at last.........thank God Almighty we're free at last." Let us take up this challenge, cast off the miserable Decatur Daily portrayal.............. and step into the future. Thank you Representative Collins.

Oops! Remove the "A" at the beginning, capitalize the "T" in "turning." My apologies.

Hear! Hear! OTIS! RIGHT ON!

OTIS, I always enjoy your eloquent statements, keep it up!

Can we get a picture of Rep. Collins up? She is a cutie.

I know for a fact Mrs. Collins can't even tell you how a school qualifies as a failing school because she doesn't know anything about the goals a school has to meet or how the goals are set. She is a LIAR just like HENRY, ORR, and all the other republicans. This has just become nothing but a witch hunt and is Party Politics as usual. Enjoy your time left Mrs. Collins, and Mr. Henry and ORR because it is quickly drawing to and end!

I have a question for Otis. If we get rid of the teachers at the failing schools and the school continues to fail, who is the continued failure on then. The teachers, the students, THE PARENTS? What say you OTIS, solve the problem for all us ignorant folk.

ANY kind of bill supported by the Heritage Foundation IMMEDIATELY needs to be suspect.

Very few low income students will actually benefit from this "opportunity" to move from a failing school. This "opportunity" is a FALLACY. Low income parents can't afford to pay private school tuition up front, and then wait a whole year to get the tax credit, even IF they do get some scholarship money. And, in many cases, the remaining tuition still to be paid, is beyond what they can afford.

But many of the kids who WILL benefit for sure will be those ALREADY in private schools, in CHURCH schools, who happen to live in a district with a failing school, because they CAN claim the tax credit even if they are not "suffering"-all they have to do is have been "assigned" to a failing school. AND their daddy can make donations to the school "non-profit" and get a full STATE tax credit, PLUS tax deductibily for FEDERAL income taxes. Is there anything in the bill to prevent the school from LOWERING the tuition for that child to match the amount of the donation? Or to keep the THAT child from directly receiving THAT donation as a scholarship for his tuition? If not, then HOW is that allowing the chance to give ANY NEW students the opportunity to escape a bad school?

AND - if Senator Marsh has his way with his SB360 (and you KNOW he will) - these private schools can REFUSE to accept students they don't "like" - i.e. "Nothing in this act shall be construed to force any school, whether public or nonpublic, to enroll any student.". So if the child IS a low achiever, IS a special needs child, IS a discipline problem,can't have the required parental involvement, or DOESN'T meet the other "high" standards of the private/church school...including religious practices, then these kids will be DENIED the opportunity to participate. ONLY those deemed "worthy" will be accepted.

So, not only will you continue to strip away funds from public schools, but you ensure that their downward spiral, "justifying" the program, while dooming those who remain. And of course, all of those tax credits/vouchers suck money out from the remaining ETF budget, leaving even fewer resources to deal with the toughest problems.

Public schools are NOT like a business! You don't get to pick and choose the best input, the "best blueberries"! You have to accept ALL of the fruit, even the blemished ones, and produce the best product you can. Private schools get to pick the students with the least problems. If you are hoping to move YOUR child to a better school, you better PRAY HARD that you are the RIGHT kind of parent, with the RIGHT kind of child, or you will just be stuck with the rest of the fruit.

State of Alabama 1950s style... Yeeeaaaah buddy

Term limits across the whole political board... Good ole polyticks!

If public schools aren't doing well, HOW can they do better by removing money from them? Someone tell me that.

Has it occurred to the critics that by removing the horrific Democrat Party social agenda from the public school system and raising the academic standards, the community would flock to enroll its children. The values taught in the public school system produce academic and social failure. It is for this reason that much poorer teachers and students of the past routinely met with higher standards for far less money.

I think if you check the record Charter Schools cost alot more than our public schools, how many public school principals make in the 1/2 million dollar range!

Has it occurred to the critics that organizing against the citizenry and adopting a curriculum riven with American "failure," might not endear them to the community?

Brookhaven - you certainly did drink the Kool-Aid that the AEA has served up! Mrs. Collins knows enough about the goals of a school to speak intelligently about this bill. I believe that time will prove her and the other Legislators to be courageous and bold in their attempt to make positive changes for our students. Only the AEA would promote the status quo that we have had for decades in Alabama. If you think this is Party politics, then what do you think we have experienced for all of the 136 years that the Democratic Party was in control in Montgomery? Party politics - while Alabama slid to near bottom in many areas of education and poverty. Changing the status quo will be hard and scary for the teachers and the school administrators, and that takes leadership. It's not supposed to be easy. Change never is. I look forward to seeing positive results from this landmark bill and watching the accountability that comes with it make significant differences for our school systems.

Ms. Collins can whine about the injustice of the public's opinion or the media's opinion, but the facts are the public, her constituents, were denied representation when this bill pushed through legislation that the voters already turned down.

Who did get a voice? One of the very young followers of Michelle Rhee, a train wreck of a "reformer" whose claims to fame include taping her students' mouths shut and firing large groups of people. Ms. Collins and her fellow conspirators pulled a fast one, and they're giddy with success. They have openly stated that the public will forget.

I don't think so, Ms. Collins. Not in Alabama. We don't forget.

I have noticed that the opposition offers no new ideas, only shrill criticism. For them there remains nothing else.

I have new idea: hold parents accountable for their child's education. Make them responsible for their child's behavior and effort put forth at the school. Give incentives to parents who have students with passing scores and who volunteer at the schools. It's hard to accomplish much when parents, and the community, are teaching children not to respect teachers and not to value education.

A good idea, Evie, though not so new. Holding parents accountable is currently accomplished through what are called truancy laws. Parents who exhibit only marginal control of their children and are jailed soon acquire new ambition to control their children's education. For those unruly children who will not respond to parents who have been jailed, there is juvenile court, not a school student body.

As a teacher, I can say that this does not actually happen. Teachers held accountable for student achievement, even when those students do not come to school. Parents are rarely punished for student absentees or behavior. If only it were as simple as you make it out to be...

couldn't children already go from a "Failing School" to another without moving such as Brookhaven students did to start the year?

Larry D . I think you have been drinking Otis' Kool-aid. You'll be waiting for years for any improvement in child performance with this bill. We need to hold parents just as much accountable as we do the teachers, and I don't mean like Otis' uneducated information about truancy. Just because you make a parent make sure their child is at school doesn't mean their job stops there!!! Get a grip Larry D and Otis!

Otis, I believe instead we should turn completely in a new direction. You might try a Google Search for information on "why Finland's schools are successful." You might not agree with me that it is what the United States should switch to, but I think you would find it interesting. Our American systems of education has pushed data and competition as keys to instruction. The Finnish system concentrates more on providing for the needs of children.

Evie, you seem refreshingly rational, please forgive any unintentional condescension as clearly you, much more than I, are aware of truancy. Please permit me a polite inquiry. I have been posting comments over the last few weeks expressing my thoughts on the current school controversy and what I believe lies at the heart of the matter. I am a life long resident of the community, the product of twelve years of a wonderful Decatur City Schools education. Will you please read my comment in today's, (3/21/13), issue under the short editorial entitled, "Schools improving," and tell me if, from your perspective, my assertion has merit?

"M," thank you for your consideration. I would be delighted to review the information you suggest. Would you mind narrowing the search a bit and steer me toward a few poignant articles? Will you please read the comment above, and the referenced comment, and share your thoughts also?

Otis, your post is a thoughtful one and certainly has merit, though evidence suggests that private and charter schools generally under serve special needs and minority populations. However, one cannot play the violin and simultaneously conduct the orchestra. Teachers in the classroom have only one way to be heard in the legislature. That is through the AEA.

I am not certain if the Daily's terms of service permit referring to another publication by name. You could try a Google search with something similar to "Why are Finland's schools so good?" or "Why is the Finnish education system successful?" and then pick a couple of sources you trust to get different perspectives.

Thank you, "M," for your kind words and your recommendation, to which I will devote due diligence.

otis why don't you go and praise that group of putz you praise so much.

And quit drinking so much of that Kool-Aid you & Larry D. brewed.