“Best and Worst Week in Montgomery” is a weekly feature on Yellowhammer Politics when the legislature is in session. We recognize the people or organizations who had the BEST week or WORST week in town.

House Republicans

House Republicans wasted no time in advancing their “We Dare Defend Our Rights” agenda in the first week of action in the 2013 legislative session. Every bill on the House GOP’s agenda passed out of committee this week, and the full House voted to repay the $437 million moved from ATF last year to shore up the state’s General Fund budget.

Of particular note was The Local Control School Flexibility Act (HB 84 Sponsored by Rep. Chad Fincher). Governor Bentley praised the bill in his State of the State address on Tuesday night, and it ultimately passed out of Rep. Mary Sue McClurkin’s House Education Policy Committee. The committee room was packed as they considered the bill, and it passed in spite of heavy opposition from the usual suspects.

Alabama Education Association

The AEA has made it clear that The Local Control School Flexibility Act is their number one target this session. They tried to stop it from passing out of committee in the House this week but their efforts were to no avail. The AEA had some success last year in fracturing Republicans when it came to education policy. Early indications this year are that they will have a tougher time blocking what Republicans want to do. Several members of the Senate expressed to Yellowhammer this week their eagerness to allow local school systems to innovate and break the status quo for which the AEA continues to advocate.

The teachers’ union won’t give up easily though and their propaganda machine is just starting to get cranked up. Yellowhammer has already received multiple emails and comments this week from AEA members claiming the School Flex bill will “end education in Alabama as we know it.”