The Alabama Voter 
Winter 2010 Edition
Published February 17, 2010

• President's Paragraphs
  

• Education Committee Report
  

• Citizenship with a New Twist
  

• Are You on Facebook Yet?
  

• Attacking the Problem of Declining Membership
  

• Help From Membership Chair Scarlett Gaddy
  

• Constitutional Convention Bill and Resolutions Introduced
  

• Public Transit News
  

• Constitution 1901 Film Debuts
  

• Letter to the Editor on Health Care
  

• LWVAL Joins Protect Forever Wild Coalition - You Can, Too!
  

• Energy Efficiency Workgroups Invite Your Participation
  

• LWVUS Selects Global Climate Change As 2010 Legislative Priority
  

• Help Needed for Online Appellate Court Judicial Voter Guide Project
  

• LWV of Baldwin County "Special Recognition Award"
  

President's Paragraphs

Education Committee Report

by Laura Hill, LWVAL Education Committee Chair
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At the 2009 state convention, the LWVAL board was tasked with reviewing the current education positions (last updated in 2003) to see if additional updates were needed. The directive turned out to be a timely one. Legislation (HB189 and SB202) was introduced at the beginning of the 2010 legislative session that would enable local school systems to establish charter schools. The LWVAL’s education positions do not address charter schools and the LWVAL cannot comment on the proposed bills. The emergence of charter schools as a legislative issue merits study and a recommendation for an emergency study on the topic will be presented at the upcoming state council meeting.

Charter schools are described by State Superintendent of Education Joe Morton, in a November 29, 2009 Birmingham News editorial, as “public schools governed by a group or organization under a charter with the state and most often granted by the local school board. They do, however, operate without having to adhere to some of the regulations that apply to traditional public schools. The educational requirements are the same -- the same level of rigor, academic yearly progress and state-approved curriculum.” The regulations that charter schools don’t adhere to are one of the reasons for opposition to them.

The current push for charter schools in Alabama is tied to the federal “Race to the Top” education funding, which will give priority to states with charter schools. Alabama is one of 10 states that do not have charter schools and officials fear the state could lose out on education funding. Should the enabling legislation not pass this year (the Alabama Education Association opposes charter schools), the issue may return in 2011 for fiscal reasons. Because of this possibility and the current inability of the LWVAL to comment on a significant educational issue, the state board recommends an emergency study on charter schools. This recommendation will be presented for approval at the state council meeting in May.

A preliminary survey of other LWV education positions was conducted as part of the initial review of the LWVAL positions. Charter schools were addressed in several of them, including California, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Phoenix (Ariz.), Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, and New York. The Auburn (now East Alabama) League undertook a study of charter schools in 1999, and its current education position states, “There is a need to monitor carefully any proposed legislation to permit the creation of charter schools.” These positions did not address support or opposition to charter schools, but they do address criteria for them. Areas the study committee may research include: the findings of studies investigating the efficacy of charter schools, the impact charter schools have on existing schools, and what requirements the state should have for charter schools.

There are others areas that an update to the current positions might address. For example, given the expanded use of technology in classrooms, do the current LWVAL education positions need to be updated to indicate that the existing positions on textbooks apply to digital resources as well? The preliminary review did not find technology addressed in other league positions unless in connection to remote classrooms and distance learning, in which cases there was an emphasis on the application of existing positions. There is also a question as to whether the positions should be expanded to include pre-kindergarten programs. However, those questions would not be addressed in the proposed emergency study, expect possibly in the context of charter schools.

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Citizenship with a New Twist

by Scarlett Gaddy, LWVAL 2nd VP & Membership Chair
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How do you teach 11th and 12th graders about the creation and implementation of public policy? While making public policy is just our “cup of tea,” most high school students do not feel the same. As a generation, they are called millennials and their characteristics include a proficiency in the use of technology and all forms of social media. So, back to the original question, how do you teach millennials about the creation and implementation of public policy? The answer is to utilize the tools with which they are most familiar.

My students have for the past four years been using wikis to collaboratively research and explore new concepts. A wiki is a web site, easily created, that enables many people to create, edit, and save data on the same page. You may be familiar with Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia. It is simply a wiki that anyone can edit. My students learn about the Alabama Legislature through the use of a wiki to which they add information about legislation proposed and considered in the Alabama House and Senate. Each student receives one bill from a mandatory list of selected legislation and chooses one more that interests him or her to post and update weekly as the legislation progresses through the House and the Senate.

This year we have expanded our wiki to include students from another school in the Tuscaloosa County School System. Brookwood High School is located approximately twenty-five miles from Hillcrest High School, but with the help of the Internet and social networking tools, we can work on the same project. Altogether we have 70 students researching legislation on Alison (the Alabama Legislative System Online) to keep us all updated. There are other requirements of the project, including writing an elected official at the state level or national level. With a little persistence, perhaps we can include a visit from one of our elected officials, or other political experts either through Skype in person or through discussion on the site’s discussion page. Ultimately, this project accomplishes two goals, engaging students in active learning and providing instruction that encourages good citizenship.

Screen shot of the Hillcrest High School / Hillcrest High School
AP Legislative Wiki

Want to know how a wiki works? Visit this site to see a short demonstration http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=20514

Visit our site and post to the discussion page if you wish. Site address:
http://apgovlegislativeupdate2010.wikispaces.com

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Are You on Facebook Yet?

by Scarlett Gaddy, LWVAL 2nd VP & Membership Chair
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Screen shot of the LWVAL Facebook web page

Have you become a fan of LWVAL on Facebook? LWVAL recently launched its Facebook page and we’re really seeing some interesting results. Our page has 86 fans and the breakdown is Male 17% and Female 81%. A very interesting statistic is the number of fans below the age of 35 at 31%. (Under age 45 – 50%) These are target age groups for the page. The age breakdown is located in the table below:

The city with the most registered fans, Birmingham has 24, followed by Tuscaloosa with 11 (- a number of these are young men and women). We have representation from one end of the state to the other and several out of state fans including two LWVUS officers (Dianne Wheatley Giliotti of Tampa Bay Fl, and Martha Patzer of Washington, DC.). A sampling of the cities represented includes Mobile, Fairhope , Dothan, Montgomery, Auburn, Huntsville, Univ of Alabama, Univ of So Alabama, Samford, Vanderbilt Univ, San Francisco CA and even one in South Korea. This is the beauty of the Internet, you can have fans from anywhere in the world. There is also another LWV chapter registered as a fan. As a comparison to other LWV pages, we are doing quite well. We have less fans than LWVUS (2130 fans), but are in the upper end for the state and local pages. The largest number of fans on any state page is Minnesota (187), followed by Utah (149), and Maine (130). We have more fans than most.

So what does the page contain and why should you join? Facebook is a great way stay updated with the latest information available. This includes information from LWVUS. Action alerts and other information gleaned from the LWVUS web site is posted along with information from other nonpartisan and informative sites. Links to visit these sites are provided. Each state and local Voter published can be posted making it easy to keep up with fellow Leaguers from across the state. Make sure to send a copy of your latest publication to sbgaddy@yahoo.com to have it added to the page.

Joining and participating on the page encourages cohesion within our organization and draws the interest of non-members who may be motivated by what they see to join LWVAL. Help us recruit new members by participating. To join you may go to the LWVAL site and click on the Facebook logo or you may go to League of Women Voters of Alabama | Facebook or http://www.facebook.com/pages/League-of-Women-Voters-of-Alabama/119494879019 . Just click on "become a fan of this page" or follow the directions to sign up for a Facebook page to join. You may only become a fan and receive Facebook notifications of new information posted on the page if you are a member of Facebook. If you prefer to only visit the page and not become an official Facebook member, you may visit it and view the content by searching League of Women Voters Facebook page on your favorite search engine. For questions about joining our page contact Scarlett Gaddy at sbgaddy@yahoo.com . Help us break 100 fans before the next Voter is published!

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Attacking the Problem of Declining Membership

by Scarlett Gaddy, LWVAL 2nd VP & Membership Chair
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How do we attract, engage, and maintain new members?  This is the most difficult task any volunteer organization has in sustaining itself.  The key to attracting members is to be an active organization and invite new members to join.  There are many potential members out there who just need someone to ask them to become involved.  A simple letter inviting someone to a League meeting or social event may be enough encouragement. When you attend other events where you might meet potential members, describe the League and gauge their interest.  If they appear to be interested, a letter of invitation may be sent by the membership chair of your League with more information about the League and how to join. When new members join, a welcome letter suggests you are aware they have joined and provides some basic information that is important for all in League to know. 

Engaging new members in on-going studies and activities is especially important.  Members who feel like they are making a contribution will be likely to remain in the League and their contributions are vital to the health of the local, state, and national LWV.  A simple questionnaire attached to the welcome letter asking for their areas of interest will aid you in determining where the new member will be able and willing to contribute. Once they have indicated their areas of interest it is important to follow up with an invitation to join an ongoing project or program study.  There are so many areas for members to contribute that the level of contribution is easily tailored to the member's schedule. 

We are all guilty of working the most willing to the point exhaustion instead of asking others to contribute because it easier to call on them for help.  Look at your organization.  Do the same members shuffle the leadership roles among themselves?  How often is someone new added to the Board, or heading up projects or studies?  Once new members are added, mentoring is important so they are not overwhelmed with the language, procedures, and processes of League.  Ask them to join in where they are interested, but don't hand over complete responsibility for large tasks in your relief that help has arrived.  Allow time for them to become acquainted with the way League approaches its work.  Once comfortable, they will be more receptive to a request for a more active role and we will have the means to maintain our Leagues. 

The reality for most of our Leagues is they have an aging and often declining membership. For League to be vital in the years to come, we have to increase our recruitment efforts and utilize our long-term members as mentors for younger members. We have to reach out to young women in the workplace and provide them with information via email and social networking tools like Facebook, wikis, and also through our web sites. Just having a web site or Facebook page is not enough. We must use them to relay information to our members and they must be updated frequently to reflect an active and growing League. These are great responsibilities to assign to younger members who may be online and utilizing these types of Web 2.0 tools often.

So how do we recruit, engage, and maintain our membership? We have to be active in our efforts to attract new members and once they have joined we have to engage them in their areas of interest with mentors guiding them. This may mean we extend our reach by engaging younger members on the Internet, in the workplace, on college campuses, or for that matter, on high school campuses. There are many opportunities for recruitment. We just have to take advantage of them.

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Help From Membership Chair Scarlett Gaddy

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Here are two sample letters that any local league might adapt for its own use.
The first is aimed at someone you think might be interested in the League. The second is a follow-up to someone who has attended a meeting or recruiting event.

LETTER # 1 Download this letter

Dear ,

__________________ mentioned you were interested in joining the League of Women Voters.
We would like to extend to you an invitation to come and meet us and give us a chance to engage you in a really rewarding organization. League membership is a great experience that encourages members to be civically active and promote good citizenship in all citizens. The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization that endorses no political candidates but does advocate for positions determined by consensus of its members.  You will find information about our advocacy positions on our national, state, and local web sites and Facebook pages.  We are proud of our distinguished history of public service and advocacy. 
 
The League of Women Voters is where hands-on work to safeguard democracy leads to civic improvement. This means that the League works through the American political process and with the citizens of this country to bring about constructive change. We:

• REGISTER millions to vote
• DEFEND voting rights.
• MONITOR government activities from city councils and school boards to state legislatures and the U.S. Congress.
• TEACH citizens about their rights and responsibilities.
• SPONSOR candidate debates and public issue forums
• INFORM through our in-depth and balanced issues forums
• TAKE ACTION, LOBBY, and TESTIFY on the issues you care about.
• help put LAWS on the books.

Constitutional Convention Bill and Resolutions Introduced

by Nancy Ekberg, LWVAL Constitutional Reform Chair
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ACCR has three pieces of legislation pending:  Senator Smitherman has introduced SB177 that passed through the Constitution, Campaign, Finance, Ethics & Elections Committee, 6 to 1.  It will now go to the Rules Committee.  Speaker Pro Tem Demetrius Newton introduced HJR 54 (House Joint Resolution 54) in the House and it will go to the Rules Committee.  Senator Ted Little introduced Senate Joint Resolution 42 in the Senate.  It will go to the Rules Committee.

All instruments call for the people to vote on holding a constitutional convention to rewrite the 1901 Constitution.  The Bill will require a super majority to pass while the Resolutions will require a simple majority to pass.  The Rules Committee in the Senate is headed by Lowell Barron of Fyffe.  The Rules Committee in the House is headed by Ken Guin of Carbon Hill.
Find your legislator at <http://www.legislature.state.al.us> Please contact your legislators and ask them to vote for HJR54 and SJR42.

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Public Transit News

by Nancy Ekberg
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Alabama Transit Coalition We have compiled the updated list of ride providers from the ALDOT and ALTRANS listings, which will be put into a spread sheet and made available on the Good Government website. That website information will be available within the next few weeks, and ATC plans to provide it to all human service providers throughout the state.  We will provide that web address within the next few weeks..  Next step is to get that information into a software program called RouteMatch so all the 13 call centers throughout the state (the 2-1-1 call centers) can make the information available to those who do not have internet, but call in to ask about ride providers in their area.

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Constitution 1901 Film Debuts

by Nancy Ekberg, LWVAL Constitutional Reform Chair
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Finally, the re-enactment film "Open Secret", created from the official transcript of the 1901 Constitutional Convention, is ready and scheduled for screenings throughout the state.   The film, partly financed by the LWVAL Education Fund, portrays a group of actors, in period costume, voicing the words of the delegates to that Convention. A moderator describes the scenes as they unfold.  A woman, Frances Griffin, pleads with the all male delegates to allow women to have the right to vote.  But she, like poor whites and most Blacks, are turned down.  Each free, half hour film screening is followed by a panel discussion of the need for a new constitution and someone speaking for a convention vs someone speaking for article by article reform.   Screenings are scheduled at the following sites.  Please go to www.constitutionlreform.org  to schedule a screening in your area. If you do so, you are responsible for providing the panel.  You may also e-mail melanie@constitutionalreform.org or call 205 540-7501.   Screenings scheduled so far are: February 23rd at 6:30 p.m. at Department of Archives and History in Montgomery February 26th at 6:30 p.m. at the Historic Carver Theatre in Birmingham March 30th at noon at the State Capitol Auditorium in Montgomery  ACCR Region Chairs are planning screenings in Huntsville, Mobile, Selma and at colleges throughout the state.

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Letter to the Editor on Health Care

by Charlotte Ward, LWVAL Co-President and Voter Editor
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The LWVUS has a strong position on universal health care. The State Board is considering a letter similar to those below to be sent to major state papers. If you have access to a local paper, please feel free to send this letter or an appropriate adaptation of it to your local paper. Remember, all letters stating the League’s position must go out over the name of the local or state League president. If you tailor the letter to your community, your local president should be the signer.

To the Editor:
The League of Women Voters of Alabama supports the following statement from Mary Wilson, LWVUS President:

“We have a health care crisis in America.  Too many citizens lack adequate health insurance coverage and rising costs threaten everyone.  The failure of Congress to act on these issues over decades has simply compounded the problems and undermined faith in government. 

“Both the House and Senate have now passed comprehensive health care legislation, and the bills share many essential elements:  they greatly expand health care coverage to include millions more Americans; they protect the coverage that currently delivers care to most; they contain essential elements to reduce costs over the long term; and they accomplish these goals at a reasonable cost. 

“We understand that there may be a number of ways for health care reform to succeed.  None of these possibilities will accomplish all that needs to be done, and Congress will need to revisit many issues in coming years.  But any of these alternatives moves us toward successful health care reform and thus is better than the status quo.  Congress should not miss this historic opportunity to enact comprehensive health care reform legislation.”

If the letter above sounds too “partisan” for your area, here is an alternative wording:

Although  Alabama does better than many states in providing health care for its children, thousands of Alabamians are without access to adequate health care.  As of 2008, 12% of Alabamians had no health insurance.  A report by Families USA estimates that between 2000 and 2006, approximately 3,400 Alabamians between the ages of 25 and 64 died because they did not have health insurance coverage.

The League of Women Voters of Alabama supports the following statement from Mary Wilson, LWVUS President:

“We have a health care crisis in America.  Too many citizens lack adequate health insurance coverage and rising costs threaten everyone.  The failure of Congress to act on these issues over decades has simply compounded the problems and undermined faith in government. 

“We understand that there may be a number of ways for health care reform to succeed.  None of these possibilities will accomplish all that needs to be done, and Congress will need to revisit many issues in coming years.  But any of these alternatives moves us toward successful health care reform and thus is better than the status quo.  Congress should not miss this historic opportunity to enact comprehensive health care reform legislation.”

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LWVAL Joins Protect Forever Wild Coalition - You Can, Too!

by Joyce Lanning, LWVAL Environmental Chair
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At the board meeting on January 30, our state League voted to help renew the extremely successful Forever Wild funding at its current level by joining the Protect Forever Wild Coalition.

Though money is tight in financial hard times, any plans to divert these designated savings account earnings from public offshore oil and gas royalties for other projects is short-sighted. Forever Wild funding comes from 10% of the annual earnings of the Alabama Trust Fund, not to exceed $15 Million in any year. Funding is estimated at $8.5 Million in 2010.

Created in 1992 by a constitutional referendum that received 83 percent of the vote, Forever Wild is a program “dedicated to preserving Alabama's most beautiful and environmentally sensitive land, while expanding the recreational opportunities available to the public”. Over 200,000 acres in all parts of the state have been protected. This is approximately one-half of one percent of the land base in Alabama, the lowest percentage of public land ownership of any southeastern state.

Forever Wild merits and needs our support. Check out the Coalition website and see how you can sign up to stay informed and help renew funding for this valuable program.

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Energy Efficiency Workgroups Invite Your Participation

by Joyce Lanning, LWVAL Environmental Chair
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On October 13 and 14, 2009, the Interfaith Environmental Initiative of Alabama hosted Energy Forum 2009: Challenges and Possibilities for Alabama to explore sustainable options to meet our growing energy needs. Participants included members of faith, science, education, the arts, environmental, business, government, energy providers, and consumer sectors…all coming together to learn and to encourage informed choices for the care of creation. Results from that forum can be found on their website. Groups formed at the forum are now meeting and you are welcome to join. For more information email info@interfaithenvironmental.org .

Benchmarking is focusing on how businesses can establish a baseline, create goals and tangible objectives, and share best practices for achieving energy efficiency in the workplace. Energy / Water Efficiency at Home and in Faith Communities works to find actionable ways to encourage implementation of existing resources for energy / water conservation and efficiency ideas in faith communities, which can also be applied at home.  Students / New Generation Energy will determine those projects already occurring in colleges and high schools and what can be done to expand energy / water conservation and efficiency.  The group may include students from area high schools, colleges and universities as well as superintendents and teachers.   Water / Energy Efficiency – industrial / business collaborations is identifying major water users in the region and developing productive strategies for water savings and efficiencies that make the connection between water conservation / efficiency / reuse, and energy efficiency and savings.  
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LWVUS Selects Global Climate Change As 2010 Legislative Priority

by Joyce Lanning, LWVAL Environmental Chair
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The LWVUS Board of Directors has adopted the following Legislative Priorities for 2010: Global Climate Change, Health Care Reform, and Money in Elections (campaign finance reform). The LWVUS Climate Change Task Force will host a caucus at the National Convention in Atlanta in July to present the new Climate Change Toolkit and discuss ways to use and refine it. Joyce Lanning, LWVGB and LWVAL Natural Resources Chair is a member of that Task Force.

The LWVUS sent a letter to members of the U.S. House of Representatives urging members to oppose legislation from Representatives Moran and Pomeroy which would overturn the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) scientific finding that global warming pollutants endanger public health and welfare. This would block the agency’s implementation of the Clean Air Act to protect our health and welfare from global warming from greenhouse gases (GHGs).

Another letter was sent to U.S. Senators opposing Senator Murkowski’s attempt to overturn the EPA’s scientific finding that global warming pollution is dangerous to Americans’ health and to their environment.  She introduced a “resolution of disapproval” that, if passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the president, would void the Supreme Court’s landmark 2007 global warming decision and also prohibit using the Clean Air Act to cut the carbon pollution that endangers our health and our environment.   

Contrary to the LWVUS position, the Acting Director of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management has sent a letter to the state Attorney General on behalf of a Commissioner of the Alabama Environmental Management Commission. The letter requests that Attorney General investigate the possibility of appealing EPA’s GHG rule on behalf of the State, seeking to overturn it. The state board will monitor the results of that request and consider submitting information to the Alabama Environmental Management Commission in support of the EPA’s ability to protect us from excessive GHGs under the Clean Air Act.

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Help Needed for Online Appellate Court Judicial Voter Guide Project

by Mary Lynn Bates, LWVAL 1st Vice-President
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Online Appellate Court Judicial Voter Guide project still needs volunteers.  Let us know if you can help by sending an email to admin@lwval.org or contacting Becky Sylvester, Jean Johnson or Mary Lynn Bates."
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LWV of Baldwin County "Special Recognition Award"

by Jeanine Normand, LWVAL Director
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Pictured L-R:  Paulette Fedor, Jeanne Lacey, Pat Laraway, Jeanine Normand

The Environmental Committee of the League of Women Voters of Baldwin County was recognized last fall by the Baldwin County Commission and the Baldwin County Environmental Advisory Board with the Commission’s highest award, the "Special Recognition Award," for our four years of excellence in long-term program dealing with critical water issues and coastal zone management.   We were instrumental in helping to get state storm-water legislation recently in Alabama as we continue with the goal of much-needed legal protections for conserving our water, environment, and natural resources.   President Paulette Fedor and Director Jeanne Lacey also serve on the Baldwin County Watershed Coalition, an advisory board for BC concerning storm-water planning and implementation.

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