JACKSON -- The Senate debated the charter school legislation for more than four and one-half hours last week before finally passing it.

For a bulk of that about 275 minutes, Education Chair Gray Tollison, R-Oxford, was in the well of the Senate explaining the legislation and answering questions.

People can have differing opinions about the legislation, but I do not recall a committee chair standing before the Senate on any one bill for a longer period of time.

During the debate, Tollison kept the  Senate pages busy refilling his water glass.