Tag Archives: Carl Vinson Institute

Same old “unification” disinformation from the Chamber and CUEE

This is what CUEE Referendum Supporters apparently support, and why I call on them to stand up and say whether they are for or against it: the same old disproved disinformation sent again yesterday by a CUEE board member from the Chamber’s own email address to Chamber members. If you support CUEE, you support this disinformation campaign instead of real research that shows consolidation would do nothing to improve education, it would raise everyone’s taxes, and it would not help attract industry. Instead, it would seriously damage public education.

This is not a time to be silent. Which side are you on? CUEE and the Chamber’s propaganda campaign? Or public education, and you will vote no?

CUEE Board Member “Jud Rackley, CPA” emailed yesterday from chamber@valdostachamber.com, subject “The Truth About School Taxes and Unification”, including:

I’ve heard several people say school unification will cause a significant tax increase. Yet, no one seems to know why this would happen. It appears this rumor is based on a document circulated by the Lowndes County Board of Education.
Dr. Troy Davis spelled out why taxes would increase, based on actual tax statements, plus information from the Lowndes County Tax Assessors’ office and the actual budgets of the Valdosta and Lowndes County School Systems. See also former Valdosta School Superintendent Sam Allen’s partial list of massive layoffs, service cuts, and school closings caused by reduced income because of less federal and state funding, and increased costs due to bussing. And the formal statements against consolidation approved overwhelmingly by both school boards. In addition to these statements by people with actual experience in school administration, see also the extensive statement against consolidation by the Valdosta City Council, and even the VDT turned against this consolidation effort. If that’s not enough, David Mullis has compiled all the research into a convenient Grassroots Handbook Against School Consolidation.

Opposed to all this evidence, we have this undocumented letter Continue reading →

Why can’t Winnersville have two great school systems? —Sam Allen @ VBOE 29 August 2011

CUEE has lost its framing. Nobody calls it “unification” but CUEE. Everybody else calls it consolidation, same as for the last thirty years. And Sam Allen is turning the tide against it.

Sam Allen, president of Friends of Valdosta City Schools (FVCS) and former Valdosta School Superintendent said:

I promised myself three years ago when I left this place, that one thing I would never do, and that would come and attend another board meeting.
He said he came for a good cause this time.
The CUEE group is calling this unification all of a sudden. And I think that’s just a play on words, and a play on our intelligence. Because for thirty years we’ve called this process consolidation. Now all of a sudden we’re calling it unification.

We’re calling it unification because the only thing that we want to change is the central office. We want all the schools to remain the same. The only thing we want to change is what goes on right here at 1204 Williams Street.

Well if you’re going to unify a community, something has to change. This group has failed to put together a plan that we can follow.

And that’s the point, isn’t it? Continue reading →