From Roane Democrats:

State government would transfer ownership and operation of the Alvin C. York Institute to Fentress County as part of Gov. Phil Bredesen’s budget-cutting plans for the coming year.

State legislators representing the county say the move would violate moral and legal obligations the state assumed decades ago, display disrespect for the World War I hero who founded the school and create a budget crisis for Fentress County.

Are there any real good reasons why Fentress County should be exempted from the obligation shared by the state’s remaining 94 counties? I respect the Sgt. York legacy as much as anyone, but I’m not sure why the taxpayers of Scott, Cumberland, Morgan, Overton, Pickett and Putnam counties should have to share the burden of educating Fentress County’s high school students when each of those other counties take care of their own.