Staff Report
It’s three days before Christmas, public schools in the state have closed for the holidays, teachers have received whatever gifts they are going to get from their students under the new ethics law, and guess what — Alabama hasn’t imploded.
You would have thought from all the brouhaha over teacher gifts being limited to a value of $10 to $15 per student, Christmas would have to be canceled.
Last year, the Alabama Legislature passed the toughest ethics law for public employees and officials in the nation. That’s actually something to be proud of doing. Now, after a little complaining, some legislators are falling all over themselves trying to carve out an exclusion for teachers.
Please note that despite some of the grousing, teachers were not singled out by the new ethics law. All public employees are covered. Under the law, teachers are treated just like every public employee. Those who are trying to get teachers exempted are, in fact, trying to single out teachers for special treatment.
