MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Alabama Republican Party leaders on Saturday will consider banning GOP candidates for state and local school boards and county school superintendent from accepting campaign donations from the National Education Association or the Alabama Education Association.
The proposed standing rule change, sponsored by ALGOP Chairman John Wahl, would not apply to candidates for the Alabama Legislature or statewide constitutional office like governor and lt. governor.
“The Alabama Republican Party is strongly committed to protecting our children from indoctrination in the classroom by left-wing groups like the NEA and its affiliated organizations,” Wahl said in a written statement. “Parents should decide what their children learn about divisive concepts, not education unions that have lost touch with the values of the American people.”
AEA Executive Director Amy Marlowe called Wahl’s comments irresponsible and a mischaracterization of the organization’s mission.
“The ‘A’ in AEA stands for Alabama – and we take pride in Alabama’s values,” Marlowe said in a statement. “Our voluntary membership comprises almost 90,000 Alabamians, with 72% identifying as conservative Republican voters. AEA prioritizes all education employees working to teach children in Alabama’s local schools. Our focus is on education with no partisan perspective or fringe ideologies.”
In its current bylaws going back to the early 2000s, the ALGOP discourages the acceptance of AEA donations, but does not prohibit them.
The bylaw change, if approved, would not apply to state lawmakers or state constitutional officers. Last year, Alabama Daily News reported on the AEA’s recent changing relationship with Republicans in the State House after decades of hostility.
The AEA PAC spent about $2.9 million on legislative races in 2022. About 65% to 70% of that went to Republicans, Marlowe said last year. That was enough to make AEA the largest single donor to Republican candidates in the 2022 election cycle.
Spending about $3.2 million from May 2021 to November 2022, almost all AEA’s spending power was directed at the State House. By comparison, the Business Council of Alabama and the Alabama Farmers Federation, through their PACs, each spent about $1.6 million.
Information on how much money the AEA has given to local education leaders in recent years wasn’t immediately available Tuesday.
But campaign records filed with the Alabama Secretary of State records show the organization has less interest in the state board of education. In three contested races last year, the organization made three donation of $15,000 each to incumbents.
A review of campaign records going back a decade show that of the eight elected SBOE members currently serving, four, Tonya Chestnut, Yvette Richardson Tracie West and Wayne Reynolds, received money, a total of $90,000, from the AEA.
Gov. Kay Ivey is, by her position, president of the board. She’s never taken AEA money, per online records.
Previous battles between Alabama Republicans and the AEA were mostly about political control of the Legislature, teacher tenure policies and school choice. Now, the ALGOP wants to shift the narrative to the battle over ‘woke’ policies and tying the AEA to its National Education Association counterpart.
“So many of our parents and local teachers want to see change in our education system, but how can we expect our superintendents and school board members to stand up against teaching these woke concepts if they are afraid of the money and financial power coming from liberal unions responsible for pushing this type of curriculum? It’s a blatant conflict of interest, and something that needs to be addressed. Our elected school representatives must be responsible to Alabama parents, not special interest groups,” Wahl said.
Marlowe again disputed that characterization and challenged the party to offer an example or AEA’s indoctrination activities.
“We do not feed into the narrative of the baseless culture wars expressed in Wahl’s press release – and we ask that he or other party leaders bring forth any person who has said they have been lobbied by AEA advocating for the concepts referenced in his release.”
Later, Wahl responded saying the AEA is free to disassociate with the NEA. He also pointed to some of the organization’s recent efforts in the State House that he said they were later “bragging” about, including opposition to a divisive concepts bill and school choice efforts. He did not reference any AEA efforts at the local school board and state board levels.
The ALGOP Executive Committee will also outline Saturday how Alabama’s presidential delegates will be apportioned in the Super Tuesday Primary.
ADN’s Todd Stacy contributed to this story.