And they wonder why American schools are declining? Who the hell is going to want to be a teacher in this environment?

From the Miami Herald - see link at bottom of post.

In Ala., GOP dictates new landscape for education

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Self-declared education reformers have had considerable success across the country over the past few decades, from charter school expansion and private school tuition vouchers to new limits on teachers' job protections. But perhaps nowhere have the triumphs marked a bigger political upheaval than in Alabama, where the new Republican supermajority is dominating the state teachers' organization that was long the epicenter of power.

Alabama Education Association chief Henry Mabry accuses Republicans of hurting public schools with changes to teacher tenure, tax breaks for private school tuition, and limits on AEA collecting dues through the state payroll system.

"There seems to be an unspoken agenda to change the public education system to where it's not even recognizable," Mabry said. He called it "right out of the playbook" of a national movement to eviscerate government in favor of private and for-profit enterprises.

GOP leaders frame their efforts as improving a broken system more concerned with public employees than with children. "It's not that we're punitive toward AEA," House Speaker Mike Hubbard said. "We're just doing the right thing by the taxpayers, and they don't like that."

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/04/27/3367933/in-ala-gop-dictates-new-landscape.html#storylink=cpy