Montgomery, AL – The Democratic leader of the Alabama House is calling remarks by a Republican senator blasphemous.
House Minority Leader Craig Ford reacted Friday to comments by Sen. Shadrack McGill. McGill told a prayer breakfast in Scottsboro, ``It's a biblical principle. If you double a teacher's pay scale, you'll attract people who aren't called to teach.''
The freshman senator said teaching is a calling, and people who are called to teach would do it regardless of the pay scale.
Ford said he doesn't know what Bible McGill is reading, ``but it's not the King James version.''
The Republican chairman of the Senate education budget committee, Trip Pittman, said teaching is a calling, but he hopes to be able to improve teachers' compensation when the economy recovers.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)