Alabama State Senator Thinks Increasing Teacher Pay Goes Against A ‘Biblical Principle’

By Amanda Peterson Beadle/Think Progress

According to Alabama state Sen. Shadrack McGill (R), the Bible says that increasing teacher salaries would only lead to less-qualified teachers. McGill said at a prayer breakfast that doubling teachers’ salaries — starting pay for Alabama teachers begins at $36,144 — would not help education. In fact, he said that keeping teacher pay low is a “Biblical principle“:

“If you double a teacher’s pay scale, you’ll attract people who aren’t called to teach.

“To go in and raise someone’s child for eight hours a day, or many people’s children for eight hours a day, requires a calling. It better be a calling in your life. I know I wouldn’t want to do it, OK?

“And these teachers that are called to teach, regardless of the pay scale, they would teach. It’s just in them to do. It’s the ability that God give ‘em. And there are also some teachers, it wouldn’t matter how much you would pay them, they would still perform to the same capacity.

“If you don’t keep that in balance, you’re going to attract people who are not called, who don’t need to be teaching our children. So, everything has a balance.”

McGill found justification in the Bible for not increasing teacher pay, but he evidently found nothing in scripture preventing him from approving a 67 percent pay increase for legislators in 2007, which increased annual salaries for the part-time legislators from $30,710 to $49,500. He said that the higher pay helped to stop corruption.

A 2011 report showed that while Alabama teachers have the highest starting salaries in the nation, the state lags far behind the national average for teacher pay. Currently, a part-time legislator in Alabama is making more than a full-time teacher with a Master’s degree and 15 years of experience.

Motor City Liberal: Right wing Jesus sez thou should work for free.

"Right to Teach?" Not Fooling Anyone.

By Joshua Pugh/Progress Michigan

After spending the last few months demagoguing about introducing so-called  “Right To Work” laws that would destroy what’s left of the manufacturing base in this state and pull down the wages of the middle class, the state Senate, led by Sen. Randy Richardville, has introduced “Right To Work” legislation, with a devious twist.

The law is aimed specifically at teachers, and is nothing more than a blatant attack on those who are educating our state’s next generation of leaders. 

There is no economic case that can be made to defend singling out one profession, and no precedent for the legislature attacking working Michiganders in this way. This can only be seen as serving one purpose: furthering the personal and political goals of Sen. Richardville and Michigan Republicans.

Republicans claim to be focused on job creation and “reinventing” Michigan, but are obviously distracted by an opportunity to play politics with legislation. Instead of laying out a real plan to promote our state’s economy and create jobs, Sen. Richardville is trying to use teachers as scapegoats for Michigan’s economic problems and to justify his own misguided legislative priorities. 

Sen. Richardville is on record saying he doesn’t support "Right To Work," but is willing to support it when it entails legislative payback, singling out one group of people - apparently for nothing more than their political opinions.