State Journal

After trying for years to get Alabama lawmakers to replace thousands of decrepit portable classrooms statewide, Lt. Gov. Don Siegelman decided he would put the problem where they couldn't miss it: a parking lot across from the Statehouse.

Mr. Siegelman, who hopes to secure the Democratic nomination for governor against incumbent Republican Gov. Fob James Jr., rented a particularly dilapidated portable last month from the Montgomery County public schools for $500.

Then he leased parking spaces across from the Statehouse and had the classroom moved there from Houston Hill Junior High a few blocks away. He shelled out a total of about $2,000 for the display, said Paul Hamrick, Mr....