Tag Archives: consolidation

The Chamber hasn’t spent any money on a consolidation campaign? What’s this, then?



Etta Mims reports that Myrna Ballard told her on the telephone Thursday
a week ago that the Chamber hasn’t invested any money in
the school consolidation campaign.
Myrna did admit that she spent some of her
time and some time of one staff member.
Etta asked Myrna was not time money?
At that point Myrna stated Etta had hurt her feelings,
and she was going to get off the phone.

Etta wonders why, then, do we find the glossy advertisement you see
on the right here at

http:// www. chamberorganizer .com/ valdostachamber /docs/ October 2 News Ad Get the FACTS.pdf,
when www. chamberorganizer .com/ valdostachamber looks like one usual place
the Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce puts web materials it funds?

We already knew Myrna Ballard advised Rusty Griffin
about that notorious fake-Morgan-Freeman radio ad.

I wonder, if the Chamber didn’t pay for that new ad, who did?
Ditto for the radio ad.
And who did Rusty Griffin have to get to sign off on it?

Also, I’m still looking forward to hearing any “FACTS” from the Chamber.
So far every alleged “FACT” from CUEE or the Chamber about “unification” or consolidation has been readily disproved,
and David Mullis has compiled the real facts.

-jsq

A most educational meeting: VSU, Wiregrass Tech, CUEE, FVCS, et al.

Only Lemony Snicket could do justice to the peculiarity


of last night’s
most educational meeting at VSU’s Continuing Education building,
about K-12 education even though neither school superintendent was there,
most of the school board members were not present,
and it was presided over by two very uneasy college presidents.

Who called it was unclear, who was invited even less, for what purpose
there was no consensus, yet there was a decision
by the pair of presiding college presidents.
It was somehow
about the general state of education in Valdosta and Lowndes County, Georgia,
although the topic of consolidation was discussed only by the frequent
admonitions that it was not to be discussed, and for that matter that
nothing else related to educational improvements should be discussed
until after the November 8th consolidation referendum.
Both school system superintendents were elsewhere
at a conference of school superintendents.
A few Valdosta City School Board members were in attendance, although none of them
said anything.
I didn’t recognize any Lowndes County School Board members.
There were no introductions to the group, other than self-introductions by the
two college presidents.
Maybe you can identify some of the attendees.





CUEE Vice-Chair Rusty Griffin near left, Chamber President Myrna Ballard far right,
VBOE Member Jeana Beeland and CUEE Board Member Tom Kurrie near corner of the tables,
SCLC President Rev. Floyd Rose to Kurrie’s right.
FVCS President Sam Allen is near the far end of the left side of the table.
CUEE Board Member Walter Hobgood is near the far end of the right side of the table.

There was no agenda.
There was a document to be presented,
but it was not handed out to the attendees,
and the principal presider, VSU interim president Dr. Louis Levy,
refused

Continue reading →

Why CUEE turned shy

So why did

the list of community supporters disappear from CUEE’s website?
After a most educational meeting this evening so peculiar only


Lemony Snicket could really write it up properly (more on that later),
I found the answer to that question.

First I asked Lee Henderson, who was on that list.
He admitted he knew, but he wouldn’t say.
He suggested I talk to CUEE.

Tom Kurrie walked up at that point, and I asked Henderson if Kurrie was CUEE.
Henderson said I would know that better than he would, which caused me to
refer to Black Crow’s Mr. Henderson as very modest and humble.

Tom Kurrie remarked that he always saw me with a camera,
and at a previous event I’d asked him what was in unification for him.
He reminded me he’d answered there was nothing in it for him,
and I observed that was a good answer.
Anyway, I asked

CUEE Board Member Mr. Thompson Kurrie, Jr.
what went with the list of supporters.
He allowed as how he didn’t really visit the web site very often,
since he wasn’t good with computers.

So I asked who would know?
He said that fellow over there at the table with the sign-in sheet,
Daniel Storey.

Continue reading →

Valdosta graduation rates

In his

updated Grassroots Handbook Against School Consolidation
David Mullis included
as new material

a revised response to CUEE statement #2 for graduation rates,
which contains these percentages:


He then asks:

Therefore, one must
ask, "Why would CUEE say the graduation rate for Valdosta High
School is in the low 50% range for all students and below 50% for
African Americans? The answer is simple. CUEE wants to mislead the
voters into believing that the graduation rate for Valdosta High
School is lower than it actually is. Therefore, not only does CUEE
make false statements, it also fails to state that the graduation
rate has improved significantly over the past 5 years for all
students and for African American Students. Again, this is an
attempt by CUEE to give the appearance that something other than what
is being done must be done. They do not tell us what should be done
other than to consolidate the school systems. The logic is
frightening to say the least.

Here’s a suggestion on
what to do about that.

-jsq

CUEE turns shy?

Does CUEE have defectors?

On

CUEE’s board web page
there’s a link,


See a list of community supporters

which we cited back in August.
It now gets 404 “No Such URL at This Domain”.

However, we know who they used to be, because that list got copied

by Vote No for the Children
to the two very interesting charts below, which show
real estate and
Valwood connections with CUEE.

So what’s going on?
Did CUEE’s website get termites, and we should trust the public schools to a group that can’t keep track of its own supporters?
Or have some of CUEE’s supporters defected

Continue reading →

Update: The Grassroots Handbook Against School Consolidation —David Mullis

Received today. -jsq

Dear Media:

I am sure you are aware that the vote of whether or not to consolidate


the Valdosta City Schools into the Lowndes County School System will be
held November 8, 2011. The City only is being asked to vote on whether
to dissolve the Valdosta City School charter. The proponents of the
referendum had a choice between putting the referendum in front of the
county and city or the city alone. The Lowndes County Board of
Education asked

Continue reading →

Vote NO March & Rally

Text received Monday, poster received today. -jsq

From: JC Cunningham

Please read the message by Rev. Rose and then mark your calendar for
Oct. 22, 2011. On that day we will have the largest March/Rally in the


history of Valdosta. This will be the March that will show
everyone in Georgia and America that we the Citizens of
Lowndes-Valdosta, know how to come together and we will no longer stand
for the Lies, Greed, and Disrespect from Cuee. We will for once and
for all tell Cuee and the Chamber that “Our Children are not for Sale”
This March will show Cuee and the Chamber that when we all stand
together; Democrats, Republicans, NAACP, SCLC, White, Black, Hispanic,
Rich, Poor, Young and Old we show what true democracy is all
about. Cuee has tried everything to break our spirit with negative
campaign ads and misleading information, but they did not. They
cannot break the solidarity that has grown throughout this community
over the past two months.

To watch Republicans and Democrats set aside their

Continue reading →

Vote No for School Consolidation March —Sam Allen

Seen on FVCS yesterday. -jsq

On Saturday, October 22, 2011,

Friends of Valdosta City Schools are
planning a “Vote No for School Consolidation March”


at 9:00 am. The March
will begin at 9:30 am at the Old Tommy Griner Parking lot (across the
street from the Lowndes/Valdosta chamber of commerce – Ashley Street)
and end at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Monument at the corner of MLK
and Ashley. We will have several speakers to encourage our Community
to band together for a Common Cause. Please plan to attend and


invite
everyone that you know to join us as we tell cuee and chamber that we
will not fall for their untruths and misleading ads. Please join in the
March for the Cause. Keep in mind that at the end there is no Runoff.

Keep in mind that the Ballot Question does have “Consolidation” on it now,
but the answer remains the same. NO! NO! NO!



I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final
word in reality. That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger
than evil triumphant.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Please send to your Friends

-Sam Allen

WCTV says Occupy Valdosta made No Consolidation impossible to ignore

WCTV gets it right in most of the story:



A familiar scene from the Big Apple reaches Southern Georgia. It’s called
“Occupy Valdosta.” More than 100 protesters take to the streets to fight
corporate greed and social injustice.

Greg Gullberg wrote Friday for WCTV,

Occupy Wall Street Comes To Valdosta,

Chanting before banks, monuments and courthouses, the rally reached its summit at the Chamber of Commerce.



There the crowd cried two familiar words: ‘No Consolidation’.

In a demonstration designed to fight corporate greed and social inequality, the protest ultimately turned to the fate of the school systems and the children of Valdosta.

“My children go to city schools. I live in the county. I can’t vote. That’s not right,” said Susan Smith.

WCTV’s low estimate of 100 who chanted “no consolidation” on
the Chamber’s doorstep is several times

Continue reading →

Vote No on Unification —Sam Allen @ MLK Monument

Sam Allen spoke at the MLK Monument to say:

Make your taxes go up, and you’ll end up paying more taxes.
This is just one way
that people making minimum wage are going to lose their home.
Don’t be fooled!
If you’re a voting resident of Valdosta,
vote no on November the eighth on school unification.
Thank you.





Picture of Sam Allen at MLK Monument in Valdosta

by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange

Hm, CUEE (or somebody) did

a radio ad with a fake Morgan Freeman pushing consolidation,
using MLK’s name.
Here’s a picture and video of Sam Allen in front of the MLK monument,
If FVCS or somebody wanted to use them….
(As usual, just remember to cite LAKE as the source.)

Here’s

the video:




Vote No on Unification —Sam Allen @ MLK Monument

We are the 99%,

Marching to Occupy Valdosta, Occupy Valdosta,

Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 14 October 2011.

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

-jsq