Professional Learning Update
Law, Language, and Power As a child, I remember waking early on Saturday mornings to begin my cartoon regime. While my parents cooked breakfast or sometimes before they woke up, I would sit on the couch watching the Smurfs or some other cartoon that caught my attention. During the Saturday morning programming block, Schoolhouse Rock would air short educational films. As I write this, I can vividly hear the words, “I’m just a bill, just a lonely old bill…” I learned a lot of information from these videos on grammar, science, math, economics, history, and civics – specifically on how a bill became a law. As I grew up and
developed other interests, these videos became less of my Saturday morning routine, but the premise of them stuck with me for a lifetime. Today, February 2, 2021 is the beginning of the legislative session and like some of you, I need Schoolhouse Rock to help me understand the legislative process!
Demica Sanders, Ed.D. Prior to her appointment as CLAS Director of Professional Learning, Demica Sanders was the superintendent in Midfield City Schools. In addition, her educational career encompassed a variety of roles including special education coordinator, adjunct instructor, staff development trainer and classroom teacher. Demica is married to Tim Sanders and they are the parents of Jaylon (18) and Kameron (14). She enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and shopping.
For you to understand the process, @demica_sanders it is vital that we understand a little about the nature of the lawmaking body, as well as the history of the Legislature. According to the Alabama Department of Archives and History, the 1819 Constitution of Alabama created a General Assembly (known as the Legislature after 1901), which included a House of Representatives and Senate. This group was charged with the writing the laws of Alabama within the framework of the Alabama and U.S. Constitutions. Today, there are 140 members who comprise the Legislature: 105 members of the House of Representatives and 35 Senators. Each member of the Legislature serves a four-year cycle called a quadrennium.
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