Green with Slimy

It's known around Lee County that Jamie Franks Jr. and Johnny Green, the County Superintendent of Education, are big buddies. Since Mr. Green didn't have opposition in 2003, he must have thought it was a good idea to butter his bread, by campaigning for Mr. Franks. Hey, that's his right. So is keeping Mr. Franks' wife on the payroll shuffling papers and shooting her big mouth off (I guess). But that's not the issue this time, boys and girls.

See, in 2002, Jeremy Martin served as a long-term substitute at Mooreville High School, his alma mater, working with the Special Ed department for most of the year. The kids loved him, and when he announced his candidacy for House District 19, many of them were in attendance at Hardin's Country Store (a fine eating establishment, let me tell you!). A lot of kids worked for his campaign, making signs, going door-to-door, etc.

The first thing that the esteemed Superior Educator did to sabotage Mr. Martin's campaign was to insist that he wasn't a 'real teacher.' This comes as a shock to Mr. Martin's friends, who knew that he had been employed the year prior at Marks Middle School (you know, the town John Edwards is so fond of-because its' poor), and to the state, which issued him a license (which, by the way, is more than a few employees of Mooreville School can claim, but that didn't stop Mr. Green from handing them some prominent responsibilities).

The second was to help spread the rumor that Mr. Martin preferred the love that dare not speak its name. Judging by the past behavior of the Lee County School District when a teacher was discovered to engage in such, it's a wonder Mr. Martin was allowed to remain there. I guess Mr. Green had better things to do that week.

Finally, the coup de grace. Students were not allowed to display campaign buttons in school. I know, I know, I hear you: What about Tinker vs. Des Moines, you ask? Well, who's to let a pesky thing like Supreme Court rulings and First Amendment rights get in the way when you're trying to keep your party's establishment happy? That's not a can-do attitude, Mister.

Of course, that position was reversed a few years later. I know this, because Mr. Franks got to kick off his campaign at Mooreville High. I'm sure Mr. Green had a good reason to parade the entire school to the gym, disrupt the school day, and allow a person who once said he wouldn't come back to Mooreville High "unless it was to burn it down" kick off his campaign in the confines of a nice, 2,000 seat gym/auditorium (which is structurally unsound, by the way, and has been since it was built in the late '80s-early '90s, but I'm sure Mr. Green will get to that any day-after all, there's only so much time in the day and so many projects at Saltillo/Guntown to oversee). I don't know if he got cheerleaders to do a cheer using his name, and the band to play some Woody Guthrie for him-hey, does Mr. Franks even know who Woody Guthrie is?-while he espoused making our schools better.

If he wants to do that, maybe the students should spend less time as props for political rallies and more in the actual, you know, classroom.

I hope this policy will change, but I doubt it-Mr. Green has basically appointed his successor in the form of Shannon High School Principal Mike Scott, who is running unopposed for the seat. Once again, there's a story that the cheerleaders at the Daily Journal have buried their head in the sand and refused to investigate. Oh, well-maybe they'll look into it after August 7.

I have my doubts, and so should you.