I talked about the Water Trail that WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc.
is developing on the Alapaha River with a tiny grant from the
Georgia River Network, and how that was a plus for local economic
development that wouldn’t cost VLCDA a dime.
They seemed to like that, at the
19 August 2014 Regular Meeting of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Development Authority.
Here’s
the video, followed by some pictures, links, and notes:
The VDT had a small front page headline yesterday:
“Floridians warned about river contamination”.
That story was also heard in Florida, in
Madison, Gainesville, and elsewhere,
emphasizing something that Valdosta didn’t mention:
people live downstream of Valdosta’s wastewater spill,
all the way down the Withlacoochee and the Suwannee Rivers
to the Gulf of Mexico.
The story also made the AJC.
Green Publishing, Inc, which covers Madison, Lee, and Greenville, Florida, reported yesterday,
ALERT: FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH WARNS OF POSSIBLE WASTEWATER CONTAMINATION:
GA wastewater plan overflow may impact Withlacoochee and Suwannee Rivers.
TALLAHASSEE- The Florida Department of Health (DOH) today issued a
caution to residents in the counties surrounding the Withlacoochee
and Suwannee rivers. The Withlacoochee Water Pollution Control Plant
in Valdosta, GA has overflowed into the Withlacoochee River, which
flows south, connecting with the Suwannee River.
Other news venues carrying the story:
Rania Khalek wrote for AlterNet 29 November 2011,
The Shocking Ways the Corporate Prison Industry Games the System
Just a decade ago, private prisons were a dying industry awash in
corruption and mired in lawsuits, particularly Corrections Corporation
of America (CCA), the nation’s largest private prison operator. Today,
these companies are booming once again, yet the lawsuits and scandals
continue to pile up. Meanwhile, more and more evidence shows that
compared to publicly run prisons, private jails are filthier, more
violent, less accountable, and contrary to what privatization advocates
peddle as truth, do not save money. In fact, more recent findings
suggest that private prisons could be more costly.So why are they still in business?
In a recently published report,
“Banking on Bondage: Mass Incarceration and Private Prisons,”
the American Civil Liberties Union examines the
history of prison privatization and finds that private prison companies
owe their continued and prosperous existence to skyrocketing immigration
detention post September 11 as well as the firm hold they have gained
over elected and appointed officials.
We’d already heard from Bloomberg that
School consolidation would set up an artificial fiscal disaster that
could force the “unified” public school system to turn to private foundations
for funding, at the price of control of public education by private entities.
This is disaster capitalism, or the shock doctrine, right here in
Valdosta and Lowndes County.
What’s the Shock Doctrine?
It’s been around for a long time, but Naomi Klein researched it for
her book of the same name. It’s
“the rapid-fire corporate reengineering of societies still reeling from shock”
She was writing mostly about wars, terrorist attacks, and natural disasters.
Locally here we haven’t had any of those.
But we may be about to create a disaster, a shock,
at the ballot box in November,
if voters fall for the school “unification” snake oil.
What’s the next step after CUEE has accidentally revealed that
Received 6 October 2011 on
LCBOE did its homework about consolidation. -jsq
CUEE has staked their efforts on catch phrases & false promises that look
& sound good. All of their info is at best a half truth. The promises
that are imposible to keep are lies. I was raised believing a promise
broken is a truth untold, which is a lie.Unfortunately this tactic
will work for today’s lazy voters who won’t even take the time to go
to a website where the true facts are posted much less do their own
research. Surely don’t ask them to leave the comfort of their homes &
entertainment & personal addictions to attend any public meetings on
either side when they should be visiting both sides at least once. They
are part of the convenient idiot masses that facilitate take overs by
the clever greedy for money & power few.Both school boards [VBOE, LCBOE]
and their
supporters have done a great job of researching to produce true evidence
that dissolves all the CUEE false rhetoric & print.We cannot assume
that truth will prevail because it is much easier to believe the fast
sell that requires no personal effort. CUEE is banking on this. Most of
the
school consolidations that have occurred
had many that were shocked
when they passed because they did not account for the money/power ruses
of the facilitators working so well with the lazy voter public. Many will
not even show up claiming they have no stake since they have no children
in either system. They are too lazy to check the researched facts to
see they will be paying higher taxes for a handicapped unified system.-Barbara Stratton
Received yesterday on
How did we get here? apparently referring to Barbara Stratton’s comment since reposted as
Hauntingly familiar Tennessee Waltz.
-jsq
After reading the
Ed Weekly article, [slightly earlier version quoted here, referred to
here. -jsq]
I was struck by a very strong
dejavu feeling. I checked the date twice and only to realize ( twice)
that this consolidation went on more than 15 years ago.The city schools were in bad shape financially and educationally in
Chatnooga city. That is the major difference with our situation here.
As much as some want you to believe that Valdosta city schools are not
doing well, there are many that can point to the school improvement plan
and it being recognized as one of the best in the state, or other notable
achievements that differ front the view of VCS propagated by the folks
on CUEE.Other than that we are looking at the same issues; racial segregation,
neighborhood schools, professional development monies in the different
district, curriculum changes, busing to attain integration requirements,
and the concerns about redistricting and moving kids to other schools.Again this was 15 years ago, yet we are now faced with the same issues.
At the time of the article consolidation had passed (19k to 21k).
Teachers and parents Interviewed expressed concern about the poor kids
of the city not getting a fair shake because the county (largely white)
schools had little connection to the issues of the city kids. We would
be faced with that just on a smaller scale.The other strange likeness to this 15 year old consolidation is that
Steve Prigozhy seems to have some very vague notions of school reform
today that he did back then. These notions have been found to be less
than successful in the ensuing 15 years.Distancing himself from his failures does not make him a success at
anything but manipulation of facts. The education of my children is
not going to be reformed by a man that spins the truth and panders to
the wealthy.Thank you for sharing the Edweekly article.
-Karen Noll
Received 3 October on How did we get here? -jsq
Very well said JC.On Thursday 9/29/11 CUEE called a special meeting of their Education
Task Force at the City Hall Annex. Reading on and between the lines of
the VDT article it appears the new, more agressive tactic is to call
into question the conduct and accountability for goverance of education
of the Valdosta City Board of Education. Under the leadership of Steve
Prigohzy they seem to be heading toward usurping this goverance from
the elected school boards to another entity they can control. This is
hauntingly familiar if you read an article titled Tennessee Waltz from
the Education Week Teacher.
http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/1995/10/01/02tenn.h07.html
(If you go to the Education Week Teacher website it will say the Tennesse Waltz article is only available to registered guests, but registration is free.)Leadership for the post consolidation planning was forcibly taken from
the county superintendent and given to the Public Education Foundation of
Chattanooga, TN, which was headed by CUEE’s own Steven H. Prigohzy. His
specialty seems to be powering school consolidations and overseeing the
resulting planning which does little to improve the academic or financial
conditions of the public schools (actually these get worse). It does
however provide the perfect climate for pulling grant monies to establish
the magnet schools he also specializes in.-Barbara Stratton
The Tennessee Waltz article seems to be a slightly later and slightly revised version of the article I referenced in
Steve Prigohzy, guru of Chattanooga-Hamilton Co. school consolidation, as quoted recently by Smart Memphis.
-jsq
We have an all-star athlete class educator advising us,
with an all-star athlete salary!
Hm, I wonder how much CUEE is paying him?
A Sun Life Financial press release of 26 February 2011,
Exceptional Students & Nonprofits, All-Star Team of Pro Athletes, Corporate & Education Leaders Tackle Lagging High School Graduation Rates at Sun Life Rising Star National Summit,
“Steven H. Prigohzy, education advocate and developer of one of the
country’s first open magnet schools.”
Well, that sounds like the
Steve Prigohzy of CSAS in Chattanooga,
whose
Public Education Foundation
advised the consolidated school system there.
What about this, is this just a coincidence of names?
Empire Center for New York State Policy put out a press release of
8 October 2009,
According to the data, the highest paid non-professional school employee
(outside New York City) was Steven H. Prigohzy of the New York Institute
for Special Education, who was paid $230,000.
It turns out it’s not a coincidence.
In a paid death notice in the New York Times,
BLOOM, FRANCES R., 18 January 2005,
The partnership between
Public Education Foundation, headed by Steven H. Prigohzy, and
the consolidated public schools in Chattanooga and Hamilton County, Tennessee
continues.
So, how have all those great plans for improving education worked out?
First, let’s look at PEF’s own
History webpage,
In 1994 Chattanooga city voters voted to turn responsibility for education
over to the county, requiring the two systems to merge. At the request
of the Hamilton County School Board, PEF surveyed 3,300 area residents
and convened 135 community members – educators, civic and government
leaders, residents, parents and students – to help shape the vision
for the new school system. When the newly consolidated system emerged
in 1997, the partnership with PEF continued.
Interestingly, Prigohzy is no longer listed as board or staff with PEF.
Maybe we should ask them why….
So, what came of all this consolidation in Chattanooga?
It must be great, considering PEF’s Board Approved
2005-2010 Strategic Plan for Great Public Schools,
In the years 2005 – 2010, Hamilton County Public Schools will meet or
exceed national benchmarks for excellence with continuous, measurable
improvement in reading, mathematics, and in the numbers of students who
progress smoothly from grade to grade, graduate from high school and go
on to college or career-path jobs. Because of this sustained progress,
Hamilton County will be recognized among the very best mid-sized public
school systems in America. The community will be justifiably proud
and more and more people will understand and support the investment
necessary for great public schools. The Public Education Foundation
will be instrumental in these achievements as a champion of school
transformation and will devote its expertise and fundraising capabilities
to the Hamilton County Public Schools as a catalyst for bold ideas that
create real and positive change.
Sounds great!
But an outside study shows a different result.
Kontji Anthony wrote for WMCTV, 23 January 2011,
Study offers glimpse at possible impact of school consolidation,
We’ve seen that Steve Prigohzy’s magnet school, CSAS,
was started in 1986.
Chattanooga school consolidation with Hamilton County, Tennessee was in 1995.
And look who was waiting to tell them what to do:
Chattanooga, 1995: City Referendum on Consolidating Schools, and No Legislative Interference,
by Smart City Memphis, 1 January 2011,
quoting Education Week 2 August 1995,
A month after the election, the board voted to ask the Public Education
Foundation to help frame the new system. The move was partly on the
advice of educators in Knoxville, who faced a raft of problems after
consolidating rapidly with Knox County eight years ago.The foundation, one of the wealthiest local education foundations in
the country, has worked closely with educators in both the city and
county. Its president, Steven H. Prigohzy, is a dynamo with a clear
vision of where he’d like to take education in the new system.“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a county
