The Tuscaloosa News on teacher raises:

So the Alabama Education Association decided to be magnanimous and ask that its 10-percent raise be spread out over three years instead of two years. ...

"We've been talking about two (years) but because of other revenue situations as well as other needs in education, we've got to be cognizant of needs and respectfully seek raises over three years," said AEA Executive Director Henry Mabry.

Well that's big of them. Who would have ever thought the power brokers, who once played the tune that much of the Legislature danced to ... would set aside their own interests for the good of the state? Taking their money in three installments instead of two sounds like a sacrifice.

Just exactly what pleasure cruise to Lala Land AEA officials think they're on, we're not sure. If we're not mistaken, they're floating around the same leaky dinghy that the rest of the state shares. ...

Mabry gives lip service to the impact that the state's financial woes have had on education since the 2008 recession hit, noting that the state has lost 12,500 teachers and support personnel since then. ...

And that's exactly why this isn't the time to start handing out raises. Increasing salaries right now will do nothing but exacerbate those problems.

We understand perfectly that teachers and support personnel haven't gotten any raises since 2008. Neither have other state workers. Neither have many private sector employees. ...

It's not the time to ask for raises. If the AEA doesn't get that, the Legislature should provide them with a thorough explanation.

The Gadsden Times on the legislative session:

The 2013 session of the Alabama Legislature began the morning after Gov. Robert Bentley's State of the State speech.

It's a crucial one. ... That's why we are hoping the circus, at least in the House, is a brief one.

A few weeks ago, the House Republican Caucus ... pledged that the first vote to be cast in that chamber would be on a bill mandating that money borrowed last year from the Alabama Trust Fund to prop up the General Fund be repaid.

We're on board with that. The constitutional amendment approved by voters authorizing that transfer contained no provision for repayment, but the governor and legislative leaders insisted the money would be repaid. ...

The rest of the House agenda borrows Alabama's state motto "We Dare Defend Our Rights," and has been billed as a response to President Barack Obama's "left-leaning agenda" and an attempt to "repel these attacks on our fundamental rights. ..."

We understand most Alabamians will support if not outright cheer for these bills. ...

We're also aware of Alabama's batting average in its various windmill jousts with the federal government during the past 60 years.

It has yet to change one comma of the concept of federal supremacy that was settled in 1865 and reinforced 100 years later, and that various presidential administrations way to the right of Obama's have never given anything more than lip service to reversing. ...