shouting match in the state senate and now the legislation is expected to be signed by the governor. we have the executive director of the alabama school boards with us. ms. howell, good morning. thank you for being with us. good morning. i know that this bill in its present form is different from the one you initially supported. so how did it evolve? oh, it is drastically different. and it is a lousy way to make state public policy. the original bill was a school flex bill and it had the support of the school leadership community. and it would allow a local school board and superintendent with permission from the state board and state superintendent to ask for a waiver from state laws for innovative programs. we called it an innovation law or the flex law. its passed both chambers. and went to conference committee and at the conference committee level, a nine page bill became a