But he doesn’t. Because that theory and those ideas did not hold up.The whole idea was could it help us with economic development in our community. At the same time could we increase student achievement. And could we save the taxpayers money.
Well, I’m here to tell you tonight that I was one of the board members… that if that theory and those ideas had held up after research and study, I would be supporting this idea.
He might have settled for something less than that: Continue reading
Current Lowndes County Board of Education (LCBOE) member
Philip Poole said various members of both school boards have met
with consolidation proponents, and had asked them to involve the
whole community in any decisions.
Since that didn’t happen, there’s been less involvement lately.
And the referendum is solely about dissolving the Valdosta School System,
which would trigger the Lowndes system having to take over.
Which would result in losing federal and state funding due to
the resulting school system being larger.
Here’s the video:
Referendum is to dissolve Valdosta School District —Philip Poole @ LCBOE 4 Oct 2011
Why we oppose consolidation,
Community Forum, Lowndes County Board of Education (LCBOE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 4 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
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Dan Davis suggested letting professional educators deal with education
and let the Chamber attend cocktail parties.
That got a big round of applause.
First he established his credentials in business and education: 20 year veteran of CPIE and of the Chamber of Commerce; has businesses in many countries, but chooses to live here. Having seen the world and many educational systems, he thinks:
This consolidation is really a bad issue; very very bad.He thinks consolidation proponents are
very misinformed and very misguided.He invited CUEE and Chamber members to join him and Jerome Tucker in Community Partners in Education (CPIE).
Here’s Part 1 of 2: Continue reading
He took CUEE’s own figures for how much more consolidation would require
to be spent per each Valdosta City school student, and demonstrated that
not only would that require raising taxes for both Valdosta and Lowndes
County residents to near the state-capped maximum of 21 mils, but even
then there is no way enough tax revenue would be generated to pay for all
the things CUEE proposes to do after consolidation, and probably not even
enough taxes to continue employing all the teachers currently employed
by the two school systems. Oh, plus consolidation would lose state and
federal grant money by increasing the composite school system size, so the
local taxpayers would have to make up that slack, too.
Here are his slides.
Here is a playlist.
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Lowndes Superintendent Steve Smith explained what the Forum was about:
Here are his slides.
Here’s Part 1 of 3:
Telling the truth —Supt. Steve Smith @ LCBOE 4 Oct 2011 Part 1 of 3:
Why we oppose consolidation,
Community Forum, Lowndes County Board of Education (LCBOE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 4 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
He pointed out
consolidation would raise taxes,
would reduce school services,
and would not address the basic issue facing local education,
which is poverty.
Here’s Part 2 of 3: Continue reading
He elaborated:You looking for people who look like you or are you looking for people to do a job?
If you pay enough, I’ll find you people to work. That’s a lie: you can’t find people to work in a business. That’s a lie.He talked about his experience with other schools and the local schools. About business development:
I use the school systems.He concluded:
If you live outside the city limits, call somebody in the city limits, and please, please vote no.
[Applause]
Here’s the video:
People who look like you or people to do a job? —Jerome Tucker @ LCBOE 4 Oct 2011
Why we oppose consolidation,
Community Forum, Lowndes County Board of Education (LCBOE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 4 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
-jsq
He pointed out what most children want: Continue readingThree weeks ago, at JL Lomax, I had lunch at Southeast Elementary Community Partners in Education. I didn’t see a Chamber […] person there; I didn’t see a CUEE member there. How in the world are you going to know what’s going on in school if you don’t go in?
[Applause]
Then he established his personal credentials, stated the truth as he knows it, and issue a challenge.You told me not to cheerlead, but I’ve got the mic in my hand.
I don’t have the right to vote, but I’m encouraging everybody to vote no. I have friends in the city. Call them; tell them to vote no.
[Applause.]
This is too important an issue in our community not to lead a cheer.
First he bragged on the local school systems:
Somebody’s supposed to be about business thinks we don’t have what it takes to compete; somebody make a statement, and I’m an old country boy. My granny told me things that are said are the truth or a lie. The things I say … this afternoon are what I’ve experienced.That’s what I call a primary source. He discussed other places that brag on our school systems, then:
I challenge anybody to have been as involved as consistently and as long as I have in business and community development in and around Valdosta and Lowndes County. I’ve served as chairman of the Industrial Authority. I’ve served as chairman of the Tourism Authority. I’ve served as chairman of the Valdosta Technical Board of Education. I’ve been on the superintendent’s council of schools. A member of CPIE since its inception. I challenge anyone….What’s the challenge? Continue reading
of the Hahira City Council.
Rumor has it they had a, uh, polite discussion about waste disposal at their work session Monday and they will make some sort of decision about that tonight.
I would post the agenda if it was online, but it’s not. They do have minutes online, but the most recent ones are from April.
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Land Development Regulations (LDR) that people ought to pay attention to,
scheduled for tonight’s Valdosta City Council (VCC) meeting.
But the one many people are going to see is this one:
6.a) Consideration of a Position Statement on School Consolidation.Some people are confused, because VCC has no formal authority over any school system. They didn’t have any formal authority to decide whether to put the school referendum on the ballot, either. According to the Lowndes County Board of Elections, once Continue reading