Phil Williams Commentary: School choice bill gets 'punked' in Senate committee

Beginning with the early days of television in 1948, the catchphrase, “Smile! You’re on Candid Camera!” became a part of pop culture. An entire genre of prime-time viewing sprang out of that one show, with spin-offs, reboots, syndications and international copycats around the globe. Some have said that “Candid Camera,” with host Allen Funt, was the original reality show.

Amazingly detailed practical jokes can take some time to develop. Planning, staging and orchestrating a scenario that leads the hapless victim down a primrose path of emotion and incredulity takes time and planning. “Candid Camera” turned the practical joke into an art form.

Multiple versions of the gag-oriented hidden camera franchise have appeared on U.S. television for more than seven decades, with the latest iteration being the celebrity focused show “Punk’d”.

For those that don’t track the latest trends in modern vernacular “punked” simply means that someone has been the butt of a well-played and often public practical joke. Punking someone can be done in fun, with smiles all around.

But punking can also be hurtful and spiteful. It can be insensitive and even bullying. “Candid Camera” and its spin-offs have faced multiple lawsuits for everything from bodily injuries, emotional distress, invasion of privacy and more because of punking gone too far.

And let's face it. Sometimes the “punker” just has little regard for the “punkee.” That is exactly what happened in a recent series of events in the Alabama Senate.

Recent polling indicates an overwhelming majority of Alabamians support the concept of expanded school choice. Across the nation, Republican majorities have expanded school choice for their state residents. In 2023 alone, Indiana, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Utah and West Virginia have passed legislation that provides families the ability for universal school choice by allowing parents to have the final say as to what educational environment best fits their child’s needs.

A review of Alabama’s budgets indicates the coffers are full, with the largest education budgets in state history. Despite being flush with cash, Alabama remains at the bottom of the heap in education quality and outcomes. This is a gross injustice to our children, especially given that a number of states spend less per child than Alabama and yet rank higher overall — proof positive that money is not the issue, but rather how we spend that money.

Enter the PRICE Act; Sen. Donnie Chesteen, R-Geneva, chairman of the Senate Education Policy Committee; and the biggest political punking of 2023.

The Parents Rights in Childrens Education Act is a landmark school choice bill on par with those passed in other states. Sponsored by Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia, and other Republicans, it would establish that Alabama believes funds for education are first and foremost for the education of a child, and less for funding the government system we know as public schools.

Nowhere in the nation has such legislation dismantled public education. In fact, the free market principle of competition drives the public school system to improvement. But the teachers’ union and Alabama’s “educrats” fear change, and they certainly fear any loss of power. Follow the money and you will also find that a large swath of Republican legislators have been taking campaign donations from the teacher's union despite the longstanding prohibition on doing so by the state GOP.

And so, with complete disregard, the great PRICE Act punk was orchestrated.

Despite his initial request for assignment to the Education Budget Committee, Stutts was reportedly assured that Chesteen’s Education Policy Committee was the best assignment. Populism runs strong with this bill, so when it was announced that a public hearing would be held, a large crowd of supporters took time from work to travel to the State House to participate in the moment, and support this highly sought and very conservative legislation.

The bill’s supporters and opponents were given an opportunity to speak, with one of the leading proponents being Terry Lathan, immediate past chair of the Alabama Republican Party. At every supportive speech the crowd applauded loudly. The energy in the room certainly favored a vote for a favorable report to move school choice to the Senate floor. And that’s when it happened.

Without so much as a word of consideration, or a sidebar with his colleague, Chesteen inexplicably announced that the bill would be recommitted without a vote to the Clerk of the Senate for referral to the Education Budget Committee, which had originally been sought. The room was stunned. The bill sponsor was caught off-guard and called it a stalling tactic. This is not the usual way of doing things. The PRICE Act had been punked.

At this point, the bill still has not been recommitted, and the legislative clock is ticking.

In eight years of service in the state Senate I saw some hoodoo and backroom finagling. The punking of the PRICE Act ranks as one of the most disrespectful and misleading incidents against the public and fellow caucus members who have held press conferences, done their research and worked their bill ably.

Punking the public is bad form. Punking a colleague is unprofessional. Punking the PRICE Act is bad for Alabama’s children.

Phil Williams is a former state senator from District 10 (which includes Etowah County), retired Army colonel and combat veteran, and a practicing attorney. He previously served with the leadership of the Alabama Policy Institute in Birmingham. He currently hosts the conservative news/talk show Rightside Radio on multiple channels throughout north Alabama. The views reflected are his own. 

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Phil Williams on the PRICE Act