Elected Officials Can’t Be Hired at Alabama Community Colleges
The Alabama State Board of Education has barred state legislators from working for public community colleges after 2010. Amid scandal—and some legislative lawmakers doing double-time as college employees—the Board moved for a change that would uphold stronger ethics within the system.
According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, “Bradley R. Byrne, chancellor of the community college system, pushed for the new policy, arguing that many of the legislators employed by the system weren’t devoting enough time to their campus jobs and that it was clearly inappropriate for lawmakers to [do] double-time as college employees.” Byrne further asserted that the policy was needed to help the system recover from scandals that involve allegations of nepotism, fraud, and political patronage.
The Alabama State Board recognized that it had an inherent conflict on its hands with lawmakers who set their budget also being employees of the system.
According to the Associated Press, there are 13 legislators who will be impacted by the new policy. One of them, Yvonne Kennedy, the former president of Bishop State Community College, has resigned from her position amid her own scandal. While she has not been implicated personally, the college is currently being investigated by state and federal officials regarding fraud that occurred during her tenure at the campus.
However, the Alabama Education Association, the teachers’ union, plans to fight the policy in court, claiming it targets “pro-education” legislators.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Hatch Act, a long-standing federal law, prohibits certain state employees from holding elected office if their jobs are with agencies that receive federal funds. The law specifically excludes people who work in education.
Alabama is the not the first state to move forward with this policy. Arkansas banned state lawmakers from working at state colleges and universities in 1999 amid state and federal investigations.
In an effort to sustain
institutional integrity and strong ethics, this is a policy that could find its
way to other states.
--Jamillah Moore, Ed.D.