$1.5 million a year.

Let me see &045; what could I do with that? A new car. A new house. Clothes

makeup

jewelry.

The list goes on and on, and that’s only with stuff for me.

After I bought my stuff, I’d have to buy stuff for my family and friends.

And of course &045; 10 percent for God. It’s all dreams for me; but it’s not for another, more recent Alabamian.

Dennis Franchione (pronounced French &045; i &045; coney) has recently signed a contract with the University of Alabama for $1.5 million a year.

Wow.

All he does is teach boys to run and toss an oblong, leather thing with tiny bumps in it.

Don’t get me wrong, now. This is not an Auburn-Alabama thing.

Auburn’s football coach Tommy Tuberville gets paid $1.25 million a year.

This is just a totally ridiculous, out-of-control thing that someone should put a stop to.

In a state like Alabama, where the lack of proper taxation has put us in dire straits with the fundamentals such as education, the fact that one man &045; at a university, no less &045; gets paid $1.5 million to toss a ball is ridiculous.

It’s revolting, and it’s no wonder that Alabama comes in last or close to first on every &uot;negative&uot; list in this country.

My father and I had a discussion about this recently, and he contends that, although $1.5 million is an extravagant amount, universities such as Auburn and Alabama must compete with salary amounts across the country in order to have winning football programs, which will, in turn, bring in lots of money.

Daddy says the money brought in by the football program pays the salary of the head football coach and is used throughout the athletic program and much more around the university.

Well, it’s wonderful that the program can be self sufficient; but I still believe paying any one person $1.5 million is ridiculous.

If they paid him only $500,000, for instance, they would save $1 million that could be used in other parts of the university &045; educational programs, maybe.

The next time I hear someone from Auburn or Alabama complaining because of a lack of funding coming from the state, I believe I may get sick.

As a taxpaying citizen of this state and a product of an Alabama education, until those schools re-organize their priorities, I don’t care about their funding problems.

And, aside from that, French &045; i &045; coney and Tuberville should be ashamed. Accepting that money from Alabama and Auburn amounts to no more than embezzling from Alabama’s first graders.

It’s stealing money from Thompson High School freshmen and Oak Mountain Elementary School second graders who have to go to class in trailers.

It’s the reason Elvin Hill Elementary School kindergarteners must bring paper towels and bandages along with their color crayons and pencils on the first day of school.

State funding should absolutely not be pulled from the primary and secondary schools and sent to Auburn and Alabama, who spend their own money so recklessly.

For me, Alabama’s education funding crisis does not involve these two schools &045; at least not until they &uot;fix their own little red wagons.&uot;