{"id":1336,"date":"2011-10-28T10:39:43","date_gmt":"2011-10-28T14:39:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2011\/10\/same-old-unification-disinformation-from-the-chamber-and-cuee.html"},"modified":"2011-10-28T10:39:43","modified_gmt":"2011-10-28T14:39:43","slug":"same-old-unification-disinformation-from-the-chamber-and-cuee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2011\/10\/same-old-unification-disinformation-from-the-chamber-and-cuee.html","title":{"rendered":"Same old “unification” disinformation from the Chamber and CUEE"},"content":{"rendered":"This is what \nCUEE Referendum Supporters<\/a> apparently support,\n\n<\/a>\nand why I call on them to stand up and say whether they are for or against it:\nthe same old disproved disinformation sent again yesterday by a\nCUEE board member from\nthe Chamber’s own email address to Chamber members.\nIf you support CUEE, you support this disinformation campaign\ninstead of real research that shows consolidation would do nothing\nto improve education, it would raise everyone’s taxes, and\nit would not help attract industry.\nInstead, it would seriously damage public education.\n

\nThis is not a time to be silent.\nWhich side are you on?\nCUEE and the Chamber’s propaganda campaign?\nOr public education, and you will vote no?\n

\n\nCUEE Board Member<\/a> “Jud Rackley, CPA”\nemailed yesterday from chamber@valdostachamber.com, subject\n“The Truth About School Taxes and Unification”, including:\n

\nI’ve heard several people say school unification will cause a significant tax increase.\nYet, no one seems to know why this would happen. It appears this rumor is based\non a document circulated by the Lowndes County Board of Education.\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<\/a>\nDr. Troy Davis\n\nspelled out why taxes would increase<\/a>,\nbased on actual tax statements, plus information from the Lowndes County\nTax Assessors’ office and the actual budgets of the Valdosta and Lowndes\nCounty School Systems.<\/a>\nSee also former Valdosta\n\n<\/a>\nSchool Superintendent Sam Allen’s partial list<\/a>\nof massive layoffs, service cuts, and school closings\ncaused by reduced income because of less federal and state funding,\nand increased costs due to bussing.\n\n<\/a>\nAnd the formal statements against consolidation approved overwhelmingly\n\nby both school boards.<\/a>\nIn addition to these statements by people with actual experience in school\nadministration, see also\n\nthe extensive statement against consolidation by the Valdosta City Council,<\/a>\nand\n\neven the VDT turned against this consolidation effort.<\/a>\nIf that’s not enough, David Mullis has compiled all the research\ninto a convenient\n\nGrassroots Handbook Against School Consolidation<\/a>.\n

\nOpposed to all this evidence, we have this undocumented letter\n\n\nby a CPA\nwho gives no evidence of knowing anything about the local school systems.\nHe trots out the same tired “common sense” talking point that was\n\n<\/a>\nused by the speaker at the Chamber’s\n\n11 October meeting.<\/a>\nIt was already disproven then by Dr. Troy Davis’ work.\nWhy are CUEE and the Chamber still repeating it?\n

\nThe one document that Jud Rackley cites is:\n

\nPage 56 of the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute study on\nschool unification, which says, “city residents can expect a slight\ndecrease in their school millage rate (16.98 mills) while county residents\ncan expect a slight increase in their school millage rate (14.70 mills).”\n<\/blockquote>\nHe does not provide a pointer to that document,\nand it’s not on CUEE’s website, but it’s\n\non the Chamber’s website<\/a>\nas a\n\nPDF.<\/a>\nIt’s from 2008, and it does not take into account decreased federal\nand state funding because the school system would be larger,\nnor bussing costs, nor any of the other factors that\n\nDr. Troy Davis’ analysis of this month takes into account.<\/a>\nBesides, that’s the same Carl Vinson Institute study that said\n“unification” wouldn’t save money and wouldn’t improve education.\nFrom that study’s executive summary:<\/a>\n
\n2. There is little, if any, financial advantage to unification of two\nschool systems the size of Valdosta City and Lowndes County; a minimal\nlong-term savings is possible.\n

\n4. Unification is not a \u2018silver bullet\u2019 and will not in and of itself\n\u2018fix\u2019 the problem of unacceptable graduation rates and AYP status;\n<\/blockquote>\nSo if you choose to believe that study,\nyou need to also believe that “unification” is a bad idea,\nand you should vote no.\n

\nJud Rackley concludes:\n

\nI encourage Valdosta voters to research\nthe facts about school unification before heading to the polls and voting\non this important issue.\n<\/blockquote>\nYet he doesn’t follow his own advice.\nThe only research he provides is a superficial study from five years ago\nthat has since been proven wrong by people with real local experience.\n

\nIf you support the Chamber and CUEE’s school consolidation,\nyou support that kind of shallow and incorrect propaganda\nthat would damage public education and raise all our taxes.\n

\nIf you go by evidence, and you support public education, you will vote No\non November 8th<\/sup><\/small>.\n

\nWhich side are you on?\n

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