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Proposed Zoning Changes For Baldwin County Schools
By Steve Alexander Reporter
Published: Fri, May 23, 2008 - 7:56 pm
Steve Alexander
He wants them to meet in Montgomery Tuesday at 4 pm.
Riley said, "Every senator should look at every teacher in the state of Alabama and every kid and apologize for what happened."
What happened was legislators adjourned Monday night without passing an education budget.
The big sticking point: some lawmakers wanted an extra $25 million for higher education.
Others thought that money would be better spent on kindergarten through 12th grades.
At the time, the governor said he intended to call a special session.
On Monday, Riley said, "I want to do it as quickly as possible, but I don't want to do it until I'm reasonably sure that we're going to be successful coming back."
On Friday, the governor said, "Put the differences between higher ed (education) and K through 12 aside and come down here and pass a budget. We are this close to making it happen."
Statements like that led some to start talking about progress.
Danny Goodwin with the Mobile County Education Association said of the announcement, "It was quick, and we hope a compromise has been reached."
Republican State Senator Rusty Glover of Semmes said, "I hope this means that they have met together and they've come up with some sort of a compromise."
So how long should legislators plan to camp out in Montgomery?
Riley said, "This should be a one week process, but if they come down here with the same attitude that they had last week, I want them to know that we're going to stay all summer."
Glover said, "I'm hoping it will be five days."
Goodwin said, "The taxpayers are going to pay for every day the senators and house members are up there."
Legislators may have more to talk about than just education at the special session.
The governor's office says other items will be included for discussion during the session, but those will be announced later.
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I expect It’ll be more of the same as the regular session but at least it will be a inconvenience for them and keep them tied up during the summer months and promote a will to be more compromising. GETT’M COWBOY BOB!