School board president joins other districts at education rally
Mountain Brook’s new school board president Brad Sklar joined school board presidents from 13 school districts at a rally Saturday morning.
The rally was organized by Hoover Board of Education President Derrick Murphy as a way to kick off discussion about education funding and to oppose efforts in the state Legislature to move $80 million from the Education Trust Fund to the state’s general fund.
“As everybody knows, we’re going through a very challenging period in Alabama dealing with education, and currently the Education Trust Fund has been utilized for the general fund,” Murphy said. “We’re at a critical point because we can’t go through that every single year.”
The goal of the rally, Murphy said, is to bring together the school systems of Central Alabama and work on a solution to the problem. The rally showed a unified front, Murphy said, and he hopes to work with the legislature in the future.
“We want to partner with our legislators and the governor to make some really good decisions,” Murphy said. “I’m glad we have AASB, the Alabama Association School Board, that has been an advocate for us, working along side by side with the legislators and the governor.”
Hoover Superintendent Kathy Murphy was also at the rally. She said move of funds from the Education Trust Fund is a cause for concern in regard to the financial success of Alabama’s school systems.
Richard Franklin, president of the Birmingham American Federation of Teachers, said he was glad to see so many school districts come together. While teachers unions have spoken out in Montgomery before, Franklin said bringing together school board presidents and superintendents helped strengthen the message.
“This time, what got me really excited, is when you bring Central Alabama and the school boards, superintendents and everybody together and we take a stance and hold hands, you can’t call anybody a special interest group,” Franklin said.
Murphy took down the names and email addresses of those in attendance at the rally. He said the next step is a series of meetings in order to discuss potential solutions and to have discussions with legislators.
For former Birmingham teacher and Hoover resident Dan Fulton, keeping class sizes down is an important reason for education funding. He said when class sizes increase, teachers lose the ability to connect with and assist students. Fostering students is an investment in the future, Fulton said.
“On a personal level, I’ve been on chemo for three and a half years,” Fulton said. “And out there, there’s a student who’s going to have the cure for cancer. We can’t neglect that student.”
Jefferson County Board of Education President Dean Taylor said bringing local voices to the issue of education funding puts power behind the message. He also said those in attendance at the rally showed the connection between school boards and their students.
“We are local. We are the closest to the people that they’re representing in Montgomery, and it’s our children in these classrooms,” Taylor said. “We know what funding is. My son is in the second grade, and at a Jefferson County school, and when they drop that funding and we have to make it up as parents, we feel that hardship.”
Following the rally, Murphy said he was proud of the turnout. He also said he hopes conversations will lead to solutions to help education to keep students competitive on a statewide, national and international level.
“We had a strong representation of our 14 districts here, so I’m excited,” Murphy said. “I’m so proud because one thing that we can all come together on in this great state is our kids. This meeting is a starting point to discuss, have more conversations down the road, to come up with real solutions – not just talking points to say we did.”