Speak Out

Tis a lesson you should heed:
Try, try, try again.
If at first, you don't succeed,
Try, try, try again.

I learned this lesson early from my mother, so the comment made by Nathaniel Davis, chairman of the Anniston Board of Education, in The Star on May 30 is a moot topic.

"It will be next year's legislation or another issue.

"It's like beating a dead horse."

It is said that a cat has nine lives; maybe my dead horse will have even more lives in future legislative sessions. We as elected officials need to hope that our constituency will wake up and realize that some live horses are needed to represent them.

Some horses that can run faster; horses that are in tune with new ideas and are willing to try new methods and strategies to improve the system. If you need a model, take a few steps to the Talladega County Schools system: Munford High and Elementary and Lincoln Elementary. A Chinese proverb states: The journey of a thousand miles begins with one single step.

The real issue is not how Anniston's Next Start scholarships are funded; on the contrary, it is who should decide how the tax money should be spent: the Anniston City Council or the Anniston Board of Education?

The focus should be who will benefit from these scholarships in years to come.

Power struggles are the obstacles that I face each session in the Alabama Legislature. The Model City can avoid these conflicts by compromising, communicating and by tearing down fences.

After 35 years and six months in public education, from junior high school, senior high school, two-year and four-year college systems, and 10 years in private education at a historically black college (Miles College), my experiences have taught me to put my personal agenda aside and work for the issues that affect those I represent.

My dead horse has arisen as Christ died, and it will march to a different drumbeat. A drumbeat of hope, a drumbeat of courage, a drumbeat of educational opportunities and additional funding for the Anniston City Schools.

In previous years, Anniston High School, Anniston Middle School, Constantine Elementary School, Randolph Park Elementary School, Cobb Elementary School, Tenth Street Elementary School and Golden Springs Elementary School have consistently received funding from my Community Service Grants. This year, Next Start received $10,000 and the Anniston Board of Education received $35,000 for projects in the schools from these funds.

These funds in various amounts have been provided for all of my constituency in House District 32. No communication was needed from the Anniston Board of Education to provide these funds because it was the right thing to do.

If you really believe in public education, scholarships, not ownership, give me some new ideas to revive this dead horse as the board president has described.

Rep. Barbara Boyd, D-Anniston, is a member of the Alabama House.