Tag Archives: consolidation

School consolidation ordinance introduction @ VCC 25 August 2011



Valdosta City Council began a protracted debate about a school consolidation
referendum, starting with Mayor Fretti, Attorney Talley, and Council Sonny Vickers.

Mayor Fretti introduced the topic.

Here’s

Part 1 of 2:




School consolidation ordinance introduction @ VCC 25 August 2011 Part 1 of 2:

Regular Session, Valdosta City Council (LCC),

Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 25 August 2011.

Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.



Attorney Talley announced that

enough registered voters petitioned for the referendum.
He also read from a Georgia Supreme Court case
that indicated that the council more or less had to approve the referendum.

Sonny Vickers asked what would happen if council did not approve it.

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Tonight: school consolidation referendum vote at Valdosta City Council

Now that

CUEE got its 95 signatures more than 25% for
a school consolidation referendum,
the Valdosta City Council votes tonight on this item which has been
added to their agenda:



5.a) Consideration of an Ordinance for a referendum to allow citizens of
the City of Valdosta to vote on whether to annul and repeal the special
independent school system so that the City of Valdosta public school
system shall become part of the Lowndes County public school system.

This appears to be a pro-forma vote to put the referendum on the ballot.
But you never know what might happen, especially in council comments
or Citizens to Be Heard.
Maybe FVCS will show up.

Thanks to Barbara Stratton for the heads-up.

Here’s

the agenda.


AMENDED AGENDA
REGULAR MEETING OF THE VALDOSTA CITY COUNCIL

5:30 PM Thursday, August 25, 2011

COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL

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Qualifying for local city elections is next week

The VDT

editorialized yesterday:



On Monday, qualifying week begins for candidates interested in running
in the November election for
Valdosta Mayor, City Council At Large and
Council Districts 1, 3, and 5;

Hahira City Council Districts 2 and 3;

City of Dasher
Post 3 and 4;

City of Lake Park Mayor and four council
positions;

Remerton Mayor and five council seats;

Valdosta School Board
Districts 4, 5, and 6.

The VDT points out that city elections usually don’t get much turnout,
but this year there are two referendum questions on the ballot that
may cause record turnout.
They are:

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CUEE filed enough petitions for a referendum


Less than one percent of the registered voters in Valdosta have made
the difference between CUEE’s school consolidation petition getting on
the ballot and not.

According to the City of Valdosta’s website 19 August 2011:

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There is more than one option —Sam Allen @ FVCS 7 July 2011



Sam Allen of Friends of Valdosta City Schools (FVCS) tells us
what CUEE didn’t.

“You can read the billboards, you can look at the pretty brochures,
but that’s all your going to get.”

So what haven’t we been told?

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School consolidation report: can cause irreversible damage

People ask me: why do the NAACP and the SCLC oppose school consolidation?
Well, here’s some recent research that backs up their position, followed
by their positions.
My summary: because it caused great damage last time, and this time would be no different.



Craig Howley, Jerry Johnson, Jennifer Petrie wrote 1 February 2011,

Consolidation of Schools and Districts: What the Research Says and What it Means:

…the review of research evidence detailed in this brief suggests that
a century of consolidation has already produced most of the efficiencies
obtainable. Research also suggests that impoverished regions in particular
often benefit from smaller schools and districts, and they can suffer
irreversible damage if consolidation occurs.

Isn’t such irreversible damage what

Rev. Floyd Rose got Mrs. Ruth Council to admit?

Rev. Rose: “…we were told about the world, where we came from, how we got here.”

Mrs. Council: “I think we did receive a better education.”

They are referring to black schools before desegregation in the 1960s.

Rev. Floyd Rose is president of the local SCLC,
and here is a statement by
Leigh Touchton, president of the local NAACP:

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Lawsuit against school charter surrender

In Tennessee, supporters of education decided to fight a bogus consolidation attempt.

Lawrence Buser and Sherri Drake Silence wrote for the Memphis Commercial Appeal 12 February 2011,

Shelby County Schools files suit over Memphis charter surrender:
Complaint says city shirking duty to kids; rapid takeover ‘impossible’



Shelby County school leaders have taken their fight against consolidation
to the courts, filing a federal lawsuit Friday alleging that the city
school board’s “irrational” charter surrender deprives Memphis students
of their constitutional rights.

In the lawsuit, suburban district leaders also blast the city of Memphis
and the Memphis City Council for supporting “the (MCS) board’s unplanned
and un-thoughtful effort to abandon its obligations to the children
of Memphis.”

Hm, I wonder if there would be
legal grounds for this around here?

-jsq

The end game is …. —Karen Noll

Received yesterday on

“the qualified voters voting thereon in each separate school system proposed to be consolidated”. -jsq



Questions abound: Why is it that Lowndes County residents will not be
voting on the most important issue to face their school system since
its inception in 1950?

If I lived in the county I’d be mad that CUEE and the Chamber of Commerce
chose to leave my vote out of such a very important decision.

Quick fact: Consolidation alone will not save money & Consolidation alone
will not improve academic success, according to

the Vinson Institute report commissioned by CUEE and the Chamber.


Further Query: Why would CUEE and the Chamber of Commerce spend $50
grand to collect the signatures for the petition causing the City of
Valdosta to spend thousands of tax dollars (2 staff dedicated to task &
4 temps hired) to verify the signatures on the petition?

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“the qualified voters voting thereon in each separate school system proposed to be consolidated” —GA Constitution



Justia > US Law > Georgia Law > Georgia Constitution > Art. VIII
EDUCATION




SECTION V.

LOCAL SCHOOL SYSTEMS

Paragraph I. School systems continued; consolidation of school
systems authorized; new independent school systems prohibited.
Authority is granted to county and area boards of education to establish
and maintain public schools within their limits. Existing county and
independent school systems shall be continued, except that the General
Assembly may provide by law for the consolidation of two or more county
school systems, independent school systems, portions thereof, or any
combination thereof into a single county or area school system under
the control and management of a county or area board of education,
under such terms and conditions as the General Assembly may prescribe;
but no such consolidation shall become effective until approved by a
majority of the qualified voters voting thereon in each separate school
system proposed to be consolidated. No independent school system shall
hereafter be established.

dialogue on consolidation was a forbidden zone —Barbara Stratton

Received yesterday on

Videos of CUEE’s idea of a “public dialog”. -jsq


In their minds
every name signed as attending is part of their consensus, which is why
I never sign in. It is also why they keep trying to say
Sam Allen is for
consolidation even though
he chairs the group against consolidation.

I went to the June & July CUEE meetings just to see what they were
doing & to dialogue about consolidation. At both meetings dialogue on
consolidation was a forbidden zone. I keep telling you their game plan is
textbook UN Agenda 21. Debate is not allowed. They manipulate everything
to create what they misname “consensus” which means per their numbers &
statistics everyone who does not speak out against their agenda is for
their aganda including anyone who never shows up at all. In their minds
every name signed as attending is part of their consensus, which is why
I never sign in. It is also why they keep trying to say
Sam Allen is for
consolidation even though



he chairs the group against consolidation. They
made sure they got photos of him at the July meeting to further their
consensus game.

If you live in the city or the county & you want to hear
real dialogue about consolidation

Continue reading →