It’s been years since I’ve voted in a state election.  Not because I don’t value my community.  It’s because I haven’t seen a relatively close race in a long time in which my vote would make a difference and my time working is worth a lot within my community.  Voting isn’t necessarily the only way a citizen can make a difference with his time, and it’s only sometimes the best option.

But this time I’m going to vote Bradley Byrne for governor.  It’s not just that he strikes me as less corrupt than most politicians (he cleaned up the two-year college “employee” scam here in Alabama), but he’s for charter schools and he’s lined up against the AEA (teachers union).

The AEA is once again showing its political stripes.   During a year when schools cannot afford basic supplies (due both in part to sagging tax revenues and absurd contracts designed by the AEA), the AEA just spent $15,000 on fireworks for the fourth of July here in Birmingham (while the city of Birmingham spent that money on a bicycle race).  Politics is the AEA spending priority.

I’m not a Republican, but the Democratic leadership in Alabama often make me feel like one (until I remember how many differences I have with most Republican politicians).

If the AEA gave me the money they spend stocking Alabama with friendly public “servants”, I would make Alabama the nation’s model in math education.

Really, I’m only arrogant if you don’t stop to compare me to the average politician.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 30th, 2010 at 9:28 pm and is filed under Alabama, Education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.