So the state has consistently run down the public education system
in Georgia over the course of the last decade by drastically cutting
funding from programs, but are now complaining because student test
scores and graduation rates have decreased.
The state solution? Allow for basically anyone who has a building to
apply to run a “charter school” that would siphon money
away from public education. Students would be able to choose where
they would go, the parents or community officials would
“run” the schools, and they would not have to meet the
same standards as the current public schools, but taxpayers would
still be forced to pay for them.
State officials are fond of saying that charter schools aren’t
private schools, but when a school gets to pick and choose who they
let in and who they don’t, that’s the definition of a private
school. Only the elite whose parents want to run the schools will
have a chance, and the poor and disenfranchised will have no choice,
will not be accepted, and will suffer even more because the money
will no longer be there to educate them.
Here’s an idea: Restore all those drastic austerity cuts from
education to pre-Gov. “Sonny” Perdue levels, invest in
the public education system which is already in place and doing
quite well in spite of the state’s best efforts to shut it down, and
restore the true value of a public education to the taxpayers of the
state who are footing the bill and seeing fewer results.
I like that idea. Let’s vote No on the charter school amendment in November
so we can get back to funding public education.
The library board heard citizens at length about a problem that was
apparently news to the board,
later considered the problem at length,
came up with an interim solution,
and formed a committee to examine it longterm.
Citizen concerns about rules against after hours library use
Concerns were raised about hours at the southside library at the monthly meeting
of the South Georgia Library Board, 18 September 2012.
Apparently rules have recently been changed for
all library branches
so that meetings can no longer be held after library hours.
This is a problem for volunteer groups composed of working people.
It was unclear what the latest version of the rules is.
And the library board appeared
unfamiliar with the hours of its own libraries.
However, they did at the end of their meeting
extensively consider the issue
and apparently come to an interim solution with
a path to a more general solution.
The rules change may have been due to
one incident at one branch
(not the southside branch)
for which the library board knew the sponsoring organization.
Questions were raised as to why a blanket rules change ensued.
One citizen pointed out that
taxpayers pay for the library buildings
so it’s not clear why they should be prevented from using them;
school buildings, too.
Another consideration was
elderly parent care, because it’s hard to get help for that
any time other than during the day.
Kay Harris wanted to be sure everyone who wanted to speak had spoken.
At least one citizen left
a written statement for the record,
which is always a good idea.
Then all the citizens who had spoken left the meeting,
apparently uninterested in anything else the library board was doing.
Interestingly,
a southside library support group
was in one of the regular report items.
Transparency
After the other citizens left, one of the library board (his nameplate
said Ray Devery)
asked whether Gretchen could stay.
Kay Harris without hesitation said yes and moved on to approval of the minutes.
Congratulations to Kay Harris on knowing the open meetings law
and sticking to it!
Speaking of the minutes, where are they so the taxpaying public can see them?
Regarding the planned Five Points library, Kay Harris clarified
that staff are not supposed to help promote that
“in any way, shape, or form.”
During paid hours.
After hours is different.
South Georgia Library Board
southside library hours,
Monthly Meeting, South Georgia Library Board (SGLB),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 18 September 2012.
The Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber will host a Meet the Candidates
event on Tues. Oct. 2 from 5-7 p.m. at the VSU Continuing Education
Building located on 903 N. Patterson Street.
The event is an opportunity for the public to meet and hear from
contested candidates running in the Nov. 6 general election.
Attendees can speak one-on-one with candidates and candidates will
be given three minutes to discuss his or her main initiatives.
“The election is quickly approaching and it is important to
know who i s on the ballot and their stance on key issues. This
event provides a way for the public to have personal interaction
with the future decision-makers of our community,” said Chair
of the Chamber’s Government Affairs Council, Ron Borders (Real
Living Realty Advisors).
Attendees should look forward to meeting the following candidates:
A captive Public Service Commission that
rubber-stamps costs for Plant Vogtle.
In case there was any doubt as to the PSC’s role in legitimizing those new nukes,
the very next day Fitch reaffirmed Southern Company’s bond ratings.
Southern Company’s regulated utility subsidiaries derive predictable
cash flows from low-risk utility businesses, enjoy relatively
favorable regulatory framework in their service territories, and
exhibit limited commodity price risks due to the ability to recover
fuel and purchased power through separate cost trackers.
A pressure group for privatizing schools is the origin of the jargon
in the charter school referendum on the November Georgia ballot.
And yes, it’s tied to ALEC.
Provides for improving student achievement and parental
involvement through more public charter school options.
Where else is that wording found?
Combinations of the three phrases “student achievement”, “parental involvement”,
and “charter school” actually are not very common, according to google.
But the Parent Trigger wrote in
Empowering Parents,
Policy initiatives that empower parents are likely to increase
parental involvement and satisfaction and raise student achievement
by inviting parents into the process.
What process?
The designers of the California Parent Trigger made a grave mistake
by leaving tepid reform modules in the bill and allowing districts
to override the parents’ reform choice.
The Georgia constitutional amendment wouldn’t leave school districts
any ability to decide anything.
Apparently
WCTV’s “at the South Georgia Medical Center Parking Garage”>
meant actually in the nearby parking lot, because that’s where we found
some city and county employees and a few volunteers
standing in the shade of a Valdosta Police van.
An invocation and six speeches from five speakers ensued,
all in support of SPLOST VII,
the Special Local Option Sales Tax on the November ballot.
Several of the speakers were not so positive off the podium about the
library and auditorium projects, and nobody from the library board spoke.
The major theme of the event was a firm reminder that SPLOST VII is
not a new tax, just a continuation of a penny sales tax that has
been in place since 1987.
Fair enough.
However, Sam Allen’s second talk summed up what’s wrong with SPLOST VII:
Continue reading →
Rubberstamping library architect
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 24 July 2012.
In the same month, both the Lowndes County Democratic Party
and the Valdosta Tea Party
had speakers explaining how bad the charter school amendment is.
Neither group took a vote, but it seemed pretty clear most of the
attendees at both meetings were against that referendum on the November ballot,
and mostly for the same reason: nobody wants an unelected state committee
taking away local control and local tax revenue.
Parental choice is one thing, and charter schools are another,
but nobody seemed to like Atlanta taking away local control.
This isn’t a Democrat vs. Republican debate.
Legislators voted across party lines to put the constitutional amendment on the ballot.
Republican and Democrat voters must defeat it together.
You can watch for yourself.
Here are the two presentations:
A local middle school teacher spelled out problems with the
charter school referendum: no local control over creation or operation
of the charter schools it would authorize; money siphoned off from
existing local schools; and charter schools actually perform
worse than traditional public schools anyway.
Christie Davis, a teacher at Hahira Middle School,
speaking at the Lowndes County Tea Party monthly meeting Thursday,
pointed out it’s not just the
preamble
to the referendum that’s misleading.
The actual wording of the referendum is also misleading:
Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended to allow state or local approval
of public charter schools upon the request of local communities?
She remarked:
It sounds very good that we should say yes.
It’s very misleading.
And the reason why it’s misleading is totally purposeful.
It says something about local communities.
We already have that right in our local community, our local boards, to go ahead
and implement a charter school, if we see the need.
However, they put it in there so that voters that don’t really know
what’s going on think they’re helping our local schools by voting yes.
However, by voting yes, it will be funding a parallel state school system
that we have no control over.
A parallel state school system that we have no control over. —Christie Davis
Video by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 27 September 2012.
Thanks to Diane Cox, President, Lowndes County Tea Party, for the invitation.
Lowndes County Schools Assistant Superintendent Troy Davis
gave his personal opinion:
“it’s about control”.
The charter school amendment on the November ballot is not about
charter schools, which any community in the state can create now.
It’s about control by the state of local schools and resources.
Dr. Davis pointed out Georgia already has 350 charter schools, up from
160 three years ago.
All but 19 were established and agreed upon by local communities.
There’s a successful one in Berrien County, established by the
Berrien County school board.
The process to create more is in place in every community.
If we wanted one in Lowndes County, all it would take would be for
one of the two school systems (Lowndes or Valdosta)
to approve one.
He suggested looking at the sources of funds for Families for Better Schools,
which is backing the amendment.
Top of the list is a Wal-Mart heir.
(It’s
Alice Walton.
Dr. Davis deferred to Al Rowell for that information,
and that’s also where I heard about Alice Walton.
And as I discovered,
the Walton Family Foundation put in much more
than that last year.)
He noted the bulk of the rest comes from for-profit school operators.
(They include
K12 Inc. of Virginia.)
He noted that the state of Georgia just passed this fiscal year
the third largest budget
in the history of Georgia, $19.1 billion.
Yet the public schools have been cut $6.6 billion (apparently since 2002).
And the Lowndes County school system lost nearly $8 million last year,
and $43 million in the past 10 years.
So he asked:
“Staff Writer” editorialized in the VDT 12 September 2012,
Will charter schools hurt public education?
The
