Well, we got trouble, friends, trouble right here in Alabama.
If you've read a newspaper or watched the local news, you should be aware of the current $345 million deficit faced by the Prepaid Affordable College Tuition (PACT) account system.
The program has lost big in the stock market and has stopped accepting new accounts, keeping any new cash from entering the system.
The program stands at a crossroads, and unless measures are taken, it will eventually collapse.
This potential collapse would affect account holders, perhaps not some of us, but some of our certainly younger siblings.
A generation of Alabamians would have an unfulfilled promise on their hands, having to shelve dreams of college and higher education because of the faulty nature of the stock market.
Unfortunately, we live in a state that hasn't always placed a high value on the education of its citizens.
Some Alabama schools lack the tax base and ability to fund their schools to adequate levels, as teachers try to scrape together some semblance of a curriculum with the outdated textbooks and meager supplies they have available.
What message does the PACT problem send to those communities?
For those families who have worked hard to try and save their money for their child to have a shot at a better life, a better education, what does this mean for them?
The PACT program was supposed to be a sacred trust.
If these kids worked hard enough, made the grades and got the scores they needed to gain entry to one of our state's public or private universities or colleges, the PACT would help them pay for it.
We worry with the program's failure, we could see a return of an Alabama where higher education is only an option for a privileged few.
We urge our legislators in Montgomery to find some way to honor this commitment they and their predecessors have made to the people of Alabama.
We're used to broken promises and empty rhetoric from Montgomery, but this issue is far too important for us to allow you to try to hoodwink us once again.
We have statewide elections coming up in the next year.
Demand to hear every candidates' opinions and ideas about saving the PACT program.
Hold them accountable, and don't stop asking them until you get an answer.
The future of Alabama is at stake.
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