Alabama Senate passes budget with one-time teacher bonus
By Tim Lockette, The Anniston Star, Ala. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Meanwhile,
"Right now, there's no tuition increase on the table," JSU President
Senators voted 21-11, largely along party lines, for the budget, which sets aside
The budget heads to the
Supporters of the one-time bonus said they wanted to give teachers more, but had to set aside money to pay off the remainder of a
"We wanted to do something, but still be fiscally responsible, and the 1 percent was the way to do it," said Sen.
Democrats objected to the lack of a permanent raise, arguing that the one-time bonus added up to a single check of
Lawmakers approved a pay raise for education employees last year, the first since 2007. Still, Democrats argued, with increased requirements to pay for their own health care and retirement, teachers have seen their take-home pay shrink since the recession began.
"Think of what the price of gas was in 2007," said Sen.
The cost of health care was a worry for some universities, too. Earlier this week, Meehan told The Star that JSU would lose as much as
Meehan said Thursday morning that he had discussed the bill with senators and legislative staff and found that the health insurance increase was no longer in the budget. Marsh confirmed that the increase was not in the budget bill.
That leaves JSU with only a slight decrease in state funding in the budget proposal. The
"The
Meehan was in
Speakers at the rally led the crowd in a chant of "one third," a reference to
"I think it should be more than a third," said
The split is important because of the peculiar way in which
K-12 schools saw some increases in the
Universities overall saw about
The power to release those revenues is in the hands of Gov.
"I want you to know, students, I am on your side," he said.
Black lawmakers have questioned the proposed cut, which would hit one of the state's best-known historically black colleges far harder than all other state colleges combined.
"We don't need to treat HBCUs like that," said Sen.
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