Category Archives: Education

There’s a lot of info I don’t have —Jon Parris

A response to Leigh Touchton. I’ve appended a couple of comments. -jsq
I said I wouldn’t reply… but I am! :-)

Ms. Touchton, your points 1-3 make plain what I mentioned witnessing during my professional experiences. My feeling was that those facts alone presented a strong case for dismantling the city system.

I do understand the desire for a disenfranchised group to avoid becoming even more marginalized… my hope was that equally shared resources and a uniform administrative/infrastructure system would create more parity and greater accountability.

There’s a lot of info I don’t have, perspectives I need; I must say, being a native Valdostan, I was BAFFLED

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Some reasons our members oppose unification —Leigh Touchton

Leigh Touchton, president of the Valdosta-Lowndes NAACP, responds to a comment by Jon Parris. I’ve appended a clarification. -jsq
I can describe some reasons our members oppose unification.
  1. We believe VBOE has discriminated against black students with alternative school referrals.
  2. We believe VBOE has discriminated against black teachers in hiring, firing, promotions and demotions. I can’t describe the details of personal cases, but last year when the RIF directive came down, nearly 60% of those fired were black, and black professionals only represent 20-25% of the employees.
  3. The VBOE system is over 70% black students, yet the black students are not given equal opportunities to achieve. I can describe issues we brought to the Department of Justice, as well as issues about the Alternative school, and a very serious issue about how the Alternative school was given a different school code, which we believe was a ploy to artificially inflate the test scores at the students’ home schools. We have evidence that we gave to the DOJ that students were sent to PLC based on minor infractions.
  4. Many of our members went through the consolidation in the sixties and don’t want to see their children put into a situation where they will be even more of a minority. Our children are in the majority at Valdosta City Schools, but yet we still fight serious issues of discrimination and inequality in education.
  5. Many of us attended the CUEE education session at Serenity Church, and did not hear anything that changed our minds.
  6. Many of us distrust an “education” initiative brought forth from the Chamber of Commerce. Our branch is a member of the Chamber, and we support Chamber events and some policies, but we don’t support this one. I can’t remember a time when “business” thought it knew what was best for education except when school privatization was going on, and the studies indicated that there was no benefit to that direction insofar as student achievement.
Mr. Parris and Mr. Rowell, come to some of our branch meetings and we’ll be glad to talk to you about it, so you can hear directly from us, I am unable to completely explain the many different opinions that were presented at the branch meeting when this came up for a vote. Also, a former teacher named Dr. Marilyn McCluskey has written about many of the issues we were involved in, and these descriptions can be found at her blog TheNakedTruth4U.

-Leigh Touchton

Note it was Alex Jones who commented on this blog today; I’m pretty sure Alex Rowell has a different opinion.

-jsq

Where was CUEE? —George Boston Rhynes

George Rhynes commented on Jon Parris’s comment. -jsq
I will be brief!

Where was CUEE and the people working to bring the two school systems together when local citizens were fighting for change, and seeking answers to the Hiring of Black Educators and the Federal Court Order being complied with that was filed decades ago? Where were they then?

And why can’t we find certain people in our community until the blind god seems to direct them from their hiding place from beneath the clay!

I have not seen these professionals take on

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I’m baffled —Jon Parris

A comment by Jon Parris on a comment. My response is appended below. -jsq
Well-said, Alex. I’m baffled that this website and the local NAACP are against unification… the status-quo has created a haves/have-nots situation that is untenable if we are going to consider ourselves a progressive area. A unified system would bring uniformity to curriculum and scheduling, eliminate redundant administrative positions, and allow (force?) everyone in the county to have a stake in the educational development of all the children in the county. What basically exists now is institutional racism… predominately lower-income minority (& some white) kids attending resource-depleted city schools due to a shrinking tax base, and predominately white middle and upper income kids attending the resource-enriched county schools with an affluent tax base.

I can see the downside for an older,

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I understand what CUEE says —Alex Jones

This comment from someone named Alex Jones came in today on Will school unification improve education? My response is appended. -jsq
Someone pointed me to your blog on the Biomass issue, and I came across your recent post on the school unification issue.

Just curious… have your ever examined the testing data for both school systems? A quick look at the last report card, and you will see why most people in this community believe our public education system is broken and does not adequately prepare our children to either attend college or enter the workforce.

Right now, we have two schools systems

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CCA profits from California private prisons

John Howard wrote in Capitol Weekly 28 January 2010, Private prison company finds gold in California:
In three years, a private-prison construction and management company, the Corrections Corporation of America, has seen the value of its contracts with the state soar from nearly $23 million in 2006 to about $700 million three months ago – all without competitive bidding. Even in a state accustomed to high-dollar contracts, the 31-fold increase over three years is dramatic.

During the same period, the company’s campaign donations rose exponentially, from $36,750 in 2006, of which $25,000 went to the state Republican Party, to $233,500 in 2007-08 and nearly $139,000 in 2009. The donations have gone to Democrats, Republicans and ballot measures. The company’s largest single contribution, $100,000, went to an unsuccessful budget-reform package pushed last year by Gov. Schwarzenegger.

CCA contributed to cutting funding for other services while getting more contracts for itself. Is that what we want in Georgia? Cut education funding while paying private prison companies? Is that what we want in Lowndes County?
Costs vary, but CCA receives about $63 per day per inmate, or about $23,000 annually.
That would pay for a lot of rehabilitation and education. How about we do that instead?

-jsq

Will school unification improve education? —CUEE

The real answer is in the first sentence after A: in this FAQ by CUEE:
Q: HOW WILL UNIFICATION OF OUR SCHOOL SYSTEMS IMPROVE EDUCATION?
A: School unification, by itself, will not improve the quality of education for our children.
Unfortunately, CUEE didn’t stop there. Their FAQ continues: Continue reading →

Valdosta City Governnment 101

Tim Carroll pointed out on LAKE’s facebook page that Valdosta’s Government 101 will be graduating soon. Jane Fleming Osborn remarked that
It is an enlightening and eye-opening class you should not miss !”
According to the city’s writeup about it:
…is designed to give City of Valdosta residents age 21 and older an inside look at how their city operates daily. Participants will be exposed to all city departments according to the following itinerary:
  • April 4 Introduction to Class
  • April 11 Public Safety and Municipal Court
  • April 18 Engineering, Public Works and Utilities
  • April 25 Financial Administration, Industrial and Economic Development
  • May 2 Community Building and Neighborhood Development
  • May 9 Facility Tour and Graduation

Last year’s class was the first, with 23 graduates.

For Lowndes County residents who do not live in Valdosta, the equivalent is… Continue reading →

Executive Director wanted —VLCIA

Get your applications for VLCIA Executive Director in no later than today!

Found on IEDC for 18 April 2011 and also on SEDC with no date, this job posting:

Executive Director, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (Valdosta, GA)
A very exciting opportunity with a successful industrial authority with numerous assets.

Greater Valdosta is the business, cultural, educational, medical, leisure, and retail hub for thirteen South Georgia and North Florida counties and more than 1.2 million citizens. Valdosta and Lowndes County are quickly becoming the fastest growing area in Georgia and are home to Moody Air Force Base; two Regional Medical Centers; and Valdosta State University, a regional university with over 13,000 students.

Starting salary $100,000 to $125,000, DOQ.

See cb-asso.com for a complete Position Profile.

The Authority’s website is www.industrialauthority.com

Digging around on cb-asso.com finds this detailed job description. It’s four GIF images (copies here) of a VLCIA logo and three pages of a four-page flyer.

Brief excerpts: Continue reading →

Public criticism —Leigh Touchton

Leigh Touchton posted a comment with a report from last night’s Valdosta City Council meeting:
I won’t stay to the end in the future because if they are going to make public attacks on citizens and then go into Executive session so they don’t have to hear a rebuttal, then I don’t care to listen to their bombast. Yost apparently thinks your public criticism of the activists not staying (and also the Tea Party left right after one of their members read from the Bible about how laws and regulation are a sin–I had difficulty keeping from laughing out loud—we’re in a recession because laws and regulation were thrown away and banks made a video called Banks Gone Wild…but I digress)…apparently Yost thinks your criticism of people not staying is something he can use to good effect to nullify the need to publicly address citizen complaints. Here’s his position, distilled:
“You won’t stay to the end, I’m offended. You called our important work boring, I’m offended. (much redness of face, some veins popping out) You come in here and talk to us like that then I’m not going to address your complaints, I’m offended.”
Well I’m offended that a grown man elected to represent Valdosta acts like that.

Let me go back and educate the gentle readers out there who haven’t

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