Recent Alabama newspaper editorials
The Anniston Star on the NTSB report on Huntsville's fatal schoold bus wreck:
Families of the four Lee High School students who died in the 2006 school bus crash in Huntsville expected revelations in last week's National Transportation Safety Board report. They didn't get them.
Instead, those families and state education officials heard much of what already was known: The crash probably occurred when a car driven by another Lee student collided with the bus while traveling on Interstate 565. No hidden cause was uncovered. The basic facts of the tragedy remain the same.
But don't believe the NTSB report was a wasted effort.
If anything, the government investigation proved that oversight of school bus operations must be stringent and airtight. Nothing else is acceptable. Any lapse in supervision of those who drive school buses, manage bus plans or coordinate bus repairs is a danger to the safety and the lives of children.
In its report, the NTSB said the bus' driver, Anthony Scott, was not wearing his seat belt. The crash ejected Scott from the bus meaning no one was at the controls to attempt to stop the bus after it impacted a retaining wall on the interstate.
The NTSB report also said Scott had used marijuana within a week of the accident, but that he wasn't impaired by the illegal drug on the day of the crash.
No criminal charges were filed against Scott. Given the report's findings, that seems the appropriate decision. Positively, the crash has already led to several changes in national regulations for lap-and-shoulder belts and higher seat backs for certain buses.
However, the report does underscore the need for school officials to assess all aspects of bus operations. Scott wasn't wearing his seat belt which didn't cause the crash, but certainly played a factor in his inability to control the bus after it hit the wall.
Additionally, the report's inclusion of marijuana use was troubling. Scott may not have been under the influence on the day of the Huntsville crash, but it is not a comforting sign for parents when they hear that an Alabama school-bus driver was linked to illegal drug use.
The actions of one person do not tarnish the collective reputation of the state's school bus drivers. Their dedication to the safety of the children they transport should not be questioned.
But parts of the NTSB report on the Huntsville crash give us pause. Checking the state's school bus operations seems a wise choice. We can never be too careful in protecting children's safety.
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The Times-Journal in Fort Payne on the Alabama Supreme Court's bingo ruling:
Instead of making things more clear, the Alabama Supreme Court only seems to have muddied the gambling waters in Alabama. That makes stronger the calls to define, regulate, tax and allow the public a voice in Alabama gambling.
It
Late last week the Supreme Court gave its opinion on machines at White Hall, and it said, according to the Associated Press, those machines operate "almost exactly like slot machines," which are illegal in Alabama.
Gov. Bob Riley, who continues to lead crusades against gambling in Alabama, hailed those words as a victory. He wants the machines and gambling gone from our state. We understand his concern, but do not agree with either his methods or his conclusions.
Neither do many others.
The massive country-music and bingo operation planned for the Dothan area continues full-speed ahead for its December opening. Obviously, one Supreme Court ruling has not settled things in terms of gambling.
Our issue is not whether gambling should be in Alabama. We have long since passed that concern. Now, we as a state should focus on how to handle it, how to benefit from it and how to regulate it. We are wasting precious time if we believe we can exterminate it.
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The Gadsden Times on county-by-county obesity rankings:
We still can say thanks for Mississippi, but we may have to do it around a mouthful of food.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week released its first county-by-county survey of obesity, and it highlighted what we already knew a whole bunch of us are fat. Two of the top five fattest counties were in Alabama. Mississippi had the other three.
Southern and Appalachian states are the nation
The top five counties all had obesity rates around 43 percent. The national obesity rate is 26 percent.
Dr. Jim McVay, director of health promotion and chronic disease for the Alabama Department of Public Health, questioned the accuracy of the CDC estimates. He said the Alabama counties at the top of the list Greene and Dallas are low-income, mostly African-American communities that probably ended up on the list because the CDC estimates assumed higher rates of obesity and diabetes in counties with those demographics.
Even if the CDC figures are off a bit, they are reason for concern and should serve to prompt local officials to act. Lower-income people may not have access to gyms or other fitness facilities. They also may lack information about proper nutrition. We know demands for funds are tight all over, but there are low-cost options such as education programs and facilities such as walking trails. The money spent on them, statistics show, will be offset by savings in future health-care costs. And the study shows, we should start now before we get any heavier.
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The Birmingham News on state educator health insurance and retirement programs:
Imagine your rich uncle taking you out to dinner, month after month, year after year, for more than two decades. During that time, all he asks of you every monthly dinner is that you throw in $2 for the tip, even though the cost of food has skyrocketed over those 20-plus years. In fact, he is paying more than 1,150 percent more for dinner than when you started chipping in $2 all those years ago.
Now, your rich uncle says he can no longer afford to pay any more for the cost of dinner than what he does now, and just in the next year, that cost will climb 32 percent. He'll keep paying what he did this year, but starting next year, you either have to fork over some more money, or you're going to have to find a way to cut the cost of dinner, like doing without some of the usual offerings.
That is the prospect facing state teachers and other school employees when it comes to their benefits. Recently, the state Board of Education voted unanimously to support Superintendent Joe Morton's recommendation that the state education budget include no increase for health insurance and retirement benefits. That means the state health insurance program would have to raise the amount education employees pay or cut benefits. Educators have paid $2 a month for single health insurance coverage since 1986.
The school board also adopted Morton's proposal to have educators start paying 6 percent of their salary toward retirement instead of 5 percent.
While the Alabama Education Association complains that requiring educators to pay more for retirement and health insurance amounts to a pay cut for teachers, something has to give. In 1986, when educators began paying $2 a month for health insurance, the state's cost per employee was $60 a month. This fiscal year, it is $752 each month for each employee. In the 2011 fiscal year, the cost of health care for educators is expected to rise to $995 a month, which comes to another $283 million.
That is money the state just doesn't have. Since fiscal year 2008, the Education Trust Fund, which pays for K-12 schools, colleges and universities (and for educator benefits) has lost more than $1 billion in tax collections because of the sagging economy. The education budget suffered 11 percent, across-the-board cuts in fiscal year 2009, and already, Gov. Bob Riley ordered this year's budget trimmed by 7.5 percent.
An education budget that two years ago was about $6.7 billion is down to about $5.3 billion after the most recent cuts. While stimulus money brings total education spending this year to roughly $5.8 billion, the federal dollars disappear after this year.
During the roughest economy in decades is a tough time to ask educators to contribute more toward their benefits or make do with less. But look what has happened in the private sector: layoffs, pay cuts, frozen pensions, rising health insurance premiums and/or cuts in benefits, and even doing away with health insurance in some instances.
Times are tough all over. A modest increase to $25 a month for single coverage and co-pays, such as what a recent bill defeated by AEA had proposed, would raise $47.5 million if applied to educators and state employees, the Legislative Fiscal Office estimated. That's not nearly enough to cover next year's rising cost, but combined with some selected benefits cuts, maybe it would help tide over state government until better times.
Truth is, the rich uncle of state government never has been very rich. Just look at Alabama's per-capita ranking on tax collections (50th). The rich uncle has just been overly generous when it comes to benefits for educators and state employees.
Tough times force tough decisions. Even AEA's Paul Hubbert is beginning, finally, to recognize reality. "The AEA will ask the Legislature to increase the state contribution in insurance coverage, but may accept a freeze," he said.
AEA members, and lawmakers, really don't have much choice.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
