Ft. Payne, AL - Alabama State Senator Shadrack McGill is in the national spotlight this week after making some controversial comments about teachers at a function in Ft. Payne last week.
According to the
Ft. Payne Times-Journal, the first term Republican from Jackson County was asked a question about a recent salary hike for lawmakers, and how it might relate to increasing teacher salaries. According to the Times-Journal, McGill argued that paying lawmakers more made the less likely to accept bribes, but then turned around and said increasing teacher salaries would attract undesirable candidates to the profession. "If you double a teacher's pay scale, you'll attract people who aren't called to teach ... and these teachers that are called to teach, regardless of the pay scale, they would teach. It's just in them to do. It's the ability that God give 'em." McGill is quoted as saying by the paper.
McGill's comments have since been lambasted on message boards aimed at educators, and liberal leaning websites like Huffington Post, Think Progres and Fark.
In addition, McGill has been taking heat for comments he made in
a WAAY 31 FirstNews exclusive story earlier this week about the Jackson County "Bible Man". In an interview with WAAY 31's Ellis Eskew, Senator McGill said "I don't believe you keep God out of state. Church represents the body of Christ, Christ being the head of that body. No, I don't believe in that separation,"
McGill was raked over the coals by commenters here on waaytv.com, and on the nation-wide political sites as well. On Thursday, McGill sat down with WAAY 31 to clarify his remarks, and stand by them as well.
"Some things got taken out of context. I'm not hearing any negative feedback out of those who were there." McGill told us Thursday afternoon.
McGill says that his remarks at the prayer breakfast made sense to those in attendance, but came out wrong when printed in the paper. "The point that I was trying to make in the speech is simply that .. Things ought to be in balance. I believe God made everything to be in balance. He weighed the Earth and the valley and the mountains and the hills on a scale to keep them in balance because he knew he was going to be spinning it real fast, so that's the jist of it."
Still, the comments caught some off-guard. Many commenters online asked if McGill thought he deserved more money, or if there was some irony to saying that paying teachers more will cause problems, but paying legisators more won't. McGill doesn't see it that way. "Legislators pay ought to be in balance. They don't need to make too much, they don't need to make too little, both lead to corruption. Likewise, I think with teachers salaries, things need to be balanced on their education, based on the performance, class size, etc.. Work load.. But by no means was I insinuating that a teacher should make less." Quite the opposite, in fact, McGill says. "I would love to see a system in place where we could reward those good teachers." he told us, adding later "I hope that the economy can turn around, and I hope we can stop having to make cuts to the state, and teachers and public employees. I hope that by the end of this term, we'll see that turnaround in the economy and we'll be able to give raises to these positions."
McGill's thoughts on the separation of Church and State this week also thrust him into the limelight.
On Monday night, the Jackson County School Board was deciding the fate of the "Bible Man", a program that introduces religious scripture into the schools for some students who sign up for the elective. As the Board decided what to do about the issue, Senator McGill voiced his support, dismissing the separation idea. Today, he had no regrets over the statement and remains steadfast. "Separation of Church and state is not in the constitution." McGill said. "I don't believe we need to separate God from government. The Bible even says that one day the government will be on his shoulders, meaning Jesus Christ's shoulders, so I don't know exactly what that means, but I know that we don't need to separate the two, that we are a godly nation and a biblically based nation, so I do not support that separation."
McGill says he's learned from his first major brush with controversy, and he now has a better understanding of why politicians say the things the say. "I have learned from the situation, and I understand why politicians become politicans and how they answer questions. It's hard to be human and answer questions straightforward and truthful with someone because they have a tendency to want to turn that into a dagger and stab you with it. Hence, politicans sidestepping direct questions." McGill said with a smile.
The first term Republican ousted long time Democrat Lowell Barron in the 2010 election. A race that saw sweeping changes in the Alabama Legislature, and the first GOP Supermajority in state history. McGill says he's not a career politician, and that's what drew voters to him in the first place.
McGill admits that his thoughts on Church and State got him a lot of emails and phone calls from constituents. Some in support, others not. "I'd say I've had more positive feedback than I've had negative, but it's amazing that those would claim to be Christians would give me negative feedback in regards to that, so but never the less, it's where I stand."
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