The Alabama Republican Party and Alabama Education Association leadership have become increasingly at odds with one another over rules and legislation that has been proposed recently.
The rule change at the center of the latest debate has been suggested by ALGOP Chairman John Wahl. The new rule, if enacted, would prohibit campaign contributions from state and national teachers groups for some GOP candidates.
“The Alabama Republican Party is strongly committed to protecting our children from indoctrination in the classroom by left wing groups like the NEA (National Education Association) and its affiliated organizations,” said Wahl. “Parents should decide what their children learn about divisive concepts, not education unions that have lost touch with the values of the American people.
“Transgender ideology and other woke policies have no place in our schools, period.”
Wahl said that he wants Alabama educational representatives to be beholden to parents, not special interest groups.
“It’s a blatant conflict of interest, and something that needs to be addressed,” he said. “Our elected school representatives must be responsible to Alabama parents, not special interest groups. My proposal would stop this conflict of interest, and is no different than the state’s prohibition on members of the Alabama Public Service Commission accepting donations from the utilities they regulate.
“The bottom line is it’s time to get woke agendas out of our curriculum and out of our classrooms.”
In the past 24 hours alone though the argument has increased with AEA Executive Director Amy Marlowe disputing Wahl’s “false accusations.”
“It is irresponsible of ALGOP Chairman John Wahl to make false accusations of the Alabama Education Association’s standards and mission,” she said. “The ‘A’ in AEA stands for Alabama – and we take pride in Alabama’s values. Our voluntary membership comprises almost 90,000 Alabamians, with 72% identifying as conservative Republican voters.
“Our focus is on education with no partisan perspective or fringe ideologies. We do not feed into the narrative of the baseless culture wars expressed in Wahl’s press release – and we ask that he or other party leaders bring forth any person who has said they have been lobbied by AEA advocating for the concepts referenced in his release.
“Republican leaders have expressed a desire for the party to be focused on the ALGOP’s core values and the upcoming 2024 election. As always, AEA will continue with its primary mission to advocate for all Alabama teachers and educators.”
Wahl, however, questioned if the organization was truly interested in promoting “Alabama values.”
“It’s ironic that the AEA would take offense to my comments regarding woke policies, considering they are affiliates of the NEA (National Education Association), who make no secret of their promoting transgender and woke policies,” he said. “If they are serious about supporting Alabama values, they are free to disassociate from the NEA at any time.
“It’s also important to remember that just a few weeks ago, they sent an update to their members promoting that a divisive concepts bill was defeated, and bragging about how they killed school choice, and opposed the Republican-led effort by the state legislature to cut the state grocery tax.”
Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News.
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