Author Archives: admin

I don’t see a separation —Alex Rowell about CUEE @ LCDP 2 May 2011

Alex Rowell, Lowndes High School student, said he’s been volunteering at S.L. Mason, and:
I’ve been told, “you work better with black students because you’re black”. These kids are working with each other, playing with each other. … Especially in these lower students, I don’t see a separation. I want to know if CUEE…

When I saw your graph… You have Lowndes predominately white, Valdosta predominately black. Is one of your goals to integrate that? Is the goal to have a more integrated racial system, or what exactly do you propose to do?

I think the graph was this one supplied by Dr. George. The question remains.

Here’s the video: Continue reading

Where was the Chamber and CUEE? —George Rhynes on CUEE @ LCDP 2 May 2011

George Boston Rhynes wants to know where was the Chamber of Commerce and CUEE when a judge was locking up people? George provided text for much of what he said in his previous post.

Here’s the video:


Where was the Chamber and CUEE? —George Rhynes on CUEE @ LCDP 2 May 2011
Debate between proponents of school system unification (CUEE) and opponents,
at Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP), Gretchen Quarterman chair,
Videos by George Rhynes, Jim Parker, John S. Quarterman, and Gretchen Quarterman
for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 2 May 2011.

-jsq

The most segregated times —Rev. Leroy Butler about CUEE @ LCDP 2 May 2011

Rev. Leroy Butler, the only CUEE board member from the county outside of Valdosta, talked about his experiences at Pinevale High School and VSU. He agreed with Rev. Rose that there is more camaraderie in homogeneous groups such as Sunday morning, the most segregated times. He said it’s time for a change.
We need to come up with some strategies whereby we get more parental involvement.
He made several other suggestions for improving education, and then he said:
It takes money to do that. And that’s why I’m looking at CUEE.
It seems pretty clear from what several of the speakers said that CUEE’s unification proposal is about getting financial resources from the county. Money’s still no use unless there’s a plan for improving education.

Here’s the video: Continue reading

Rev. Floyd Rose quizzes Mrs. Ruth Council @ LCDP 2 May 2011

Rev. Floyd Rose quizzed Mrs. Ruth Council whether black students got a better education in black schools. She said she has taught in all sorts of schools, black and white. He clarified:
…we were told about the world, where we came from, how we got here.
She answers:
I think we did receive a better education.
Maybe this is part of what Dr. George was referring to when he remarked minority experiences of education might not be what the majority imagines.

Here’s Part 1 of 2: Continue reading

Come to the meeting —Mrs. Ruth Council about CUEE @ LCDP 2 May 2011

Mrs. Ruth Council said CUEE needs “parents, administrators, business people, everybody, city and county”.
Whether we unify or not, we need to improve our educational offerings for our boys and girls. … Will you please come to the meeting on the seventh and provide information that you think will benefit.
The meeting is actually 7-10 PM 5 May 2011 at the Valdosta City Hall Annex.

Here’s Part 1 of 2: Continue reading

Audience interaction about CUEE @ LCDP 2 May 2011

Speakers pro and con school unification assembled up front to talk about procedures, and a listener took exception to that. Dr. Lee Allen said the important thing was “the simple idea of what we want to do” and then talked about the 1960s and what he didn’t want to hear about that. He never did say what he wanted to do now.

Here’s Part 1 of 3: Continue reading

Camera 2: Dr. Mark George about CUEE @ LCDP 2 May 2011

We have complaints that some people couldn’t understand what Dr. Mark George was saying in the previous post of his remarks at Monday’s Lowndes County Democratic Party meeting, so here’s another version from a different camera. Feedback, please.

He said the Chamber of Commerce said schools were not its issue. Dr. George pointed out that it was the Chamber and the real estate industry that largely produced the current situation by funelling people to the county schools.

He said the unification project started with a request from the Industrial Authority, who said it didn’t look good when potential industry saw there was a black school system and a white school system. (The timing of this is interesting, because it comes after Brad Lofton was hired as VLCIA Executive Director, and other people formerly associated with VLCIA say they were never asked by any potential industry how many school systems we have.)

Dr. George discussed many other interesting points, such as CUEE’s terminology drift from consolidation to integration to unification.

Here’s Part 1 of 2:


Camera 2: Dr. Mark George about CUEE @ LCDP 2 May 2011 Part 1 of 2:
Debate between proponents of school system unification (CUEE) and opponents,
at Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP), Gretchen Quarterman chair,
Videos by George Rhynes, Jim Parker, John S. Quarterman, and Gretchen Quarterman
for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 2 May 2011.

In this second video from camera 2, Dr. George noted that the Valdosta school system is internally segregated.

He said both he and Rev. Rose asked to have somebody put on the CUEE council, and that that didn’t happen.

There’s more; you can watch it for yourself. Here’s Part 2 of 2:


Camera 2: Dr. Mark George about CUEE @ LCDP 2 May 2011 Part 2 of 2:
Debate between proponents of school system unification (CUEE) and opponents,
at Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP), Gretchen Quarterman chair,
Videos by George Rhynes, Jim Parker, John S. Quarterman, and Gretchen Quarterman
for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 2 May 2011.

-jsq

Local businesses help the local economy

Here’s a long list of studies that show that:
Independent businesses have been found to generate between 60% and 300% more local economic activity that chain retail stores do.
Somebody remind me why VLCIA’s main efforts are on bringing in big chains?

Or why people are so fascinated with Olive Garden, for that matter?

Well, I suppose if you want lower wages, big box retailers are good for that.

Hm, so the ultimate big box would be a private prison: a literally captive audience paid for by captive tax dollars and hirable at the lowest possible wages.

-jsq

A real national strategy —Jim Dwyer

What say we make a real national security strategy, one based on energy independence and a sustainable economy?

Jim Dwyer write 3 May 2011 in the NY Times, A National Security Strategy That Doesn’t Focus on Threats

“Poorly fitted air conditioners cost New York City 130 to 180 million dollars a year in extra energy consumption,” one of the strategists, Capt. Wayne Porter of the Navy, said Tuesday. “They generate 370,525 extra tons of carbon dioxide.”

Suppose, he says, you fixed them. And then you got the 40 states that waste the most electricity to match the 10 most efficient. The likely benefits are no surprise — less foreign oil, cost savings, job creation, decreased pollution.

Now follow that thread to “A National Strategic Narrative,” a paper written by Captain Porter and Col. Mark Mykleby of the Marines, which calls on the United States to see that it cannot continue to engage the world primarily with military force, but must do so as a nation powered by the strength of its educational system, social policies, international development and diplomacy, and its commitment to sustainable practices in energy and agriculture.

“We must recognize that security means more than defense,” they write. After ending the 20th century as the world’s most powerful country, “we failed to recognize that dominance, like fossil fuel, is not a sustainable form of energy.”

An army without an economy defends nothing. Continue reading

Privatizing water —GA SB 122

Privatizing prisons is not enough; now Georgia wants to privatize water.

Aaron Gould Sheinin wrote in the AJC Monday 2 May 2011, Deal signs bill allowing public-private reservoirs

Partnerships between public authorities and private enterprise to build new reservoirs are now legal in Georgia under legislation Gov. Nathan Deal signed into law Monday.

Senate Bill 122 “is particularly useful at times such as these when budget cutbacks hinder our ability to invest in new infrastructure,” Deal said at a Georgia Chamber of Commerce luncheon in his honor. “This stretches public dollars by attracting partners to move forward with public works projects that will benefit the citizens of the state for generations.”

Lawmakers approved $46 million in bond money in the state budget that takes effect July 1 to help facilitate the construction of new reservoirs. Deal said he hopes to increase that to $300 million over the next several years.

“Increasing our water supply in terms of holding that supply is critical for meeting our future needs,” Deal said.

Yes, but trumping up a fake budget crisis by giving tax breaks to people who don’t need them and then using it to privatize public infrastructure for corporate profit at taxpayer expense is not the way to do it.

Wait, it gets even better: Continue reading