{"id":1364,"date":"2011-10-21T07:46:30","date_gmt":"2011-10-21T11:46:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2011\/10\/a-most-educational-meeting-vsu-wiregrass-tech-cuee-fvcs-et-al.html"},"modified":"2011-10-21T07:46:30","modified_gmt":"2011-10-21T11:46:30","slug":"a-most-educational-meeting-vsu-wiregrass-tech-cuee-fvcs-et-al","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2011\/10\/a-most-educational-meeting-vsu-wiregrass-tech-cuee-fvcs-et-al.html","title":{"rendered":"A most educational meeting: VSU, Wiregrass Tech, CUEE, FVCS, et al."},"content":{"rendered":"Only Lemony Snicket could do justice to the peculiarity\n\n<\/a>\nof last night’s\nmost educational meeting at VSU’s Continuing Education building,\nabout K-12 education even though neither school superintendent was there,\nmost of the school board members were not present,\nand it was presided over by two very uneasy college presidents.\n

\nWho called it was unclear, who was invited even less, for what purpose\nthere was no consensus, yet there was a decision\nby the pair of presiding college presidents.\nIt was somehow\nabout the general state of education in Valdosta and Lowndes County, Georgia,\nalthough the topic of consolidation was discussed only by the frequent\nadmonitions that it was not to be discussed, and for that matter that\nnothing else related to educational improvements should be discussed\nuntil after the November 8th<\/sup><\/small> consolidation referendum.\nBoth school system superintendents were elsewhere\nat a conference of school superintendents.\nA few Valdosta City School Board members were in attendance, although none of them\nsaid anything.\nI didn’t recognize any Lowndes County School Board members.\nThere were no introductions to the group, other than self-introductions by the\ntwo college presidents.\nMaybe you can identify some of the attendees.\n

\n\n<\/a>\n
\n\nCUEE Vice-Chair Rusty Griffin near left, Chamber President Myrna Ballard far right,\nVBOE Member Jeana Beeland and CUEE Board Member Tom Kurrie near corner of the tables,\nSCLC President Rev. Floyd Rose to Kurrie’s right.\nFVCS President Sam Allen is near the far end of the left side of the table.\nCUEE Board Member Walter Hobgood is near the far end of the right side of the table.\n<\/small>\n

\nThere was no agenda.\nThere was a document to be presented,\nbut it was not handed out to the attendees,\nand the principal presider, VSU interim president Dr. Louis Levy,\nrefused\n\n\nto present it.\nIt is online if you want to see it:\n\nAn Education Framework<\/a>, by CUEE’s Education Planning Committee.\n

\nDr. Levy and the other presider,\nDr. Ray Perrin, president of Wiregrass Georgia Technical College,\nwhen asked several different ways by Sam Allen,\nwhether they or their institutions had validated that document,\nor stood behind it, immediately said “No” each time.\nWhile both presidents disclaimed any opinion on the actual consolidation\nreferendum, both made it pretty clear that educational improvements\nhad nothing to do with consolidation.\nDr. Levy repeatedly asked for multiple proposals,\nand the most he would recommend about the CUEE document\n(which, remember, most of the people in the room had not even seen,\nalthough Rev. Rose sat silently perusing a copy the whole time),\nwas that it was one possible framework for discussion.\n

\nWhen FVCS president Sam Allen asked where the document came from,\nCUEE board member Walter Hobgood replied “from the educational committee”.\nWhen Sam Allen asked if that was a Chamber committee,\nHobgood said no and there were many other participants,\ngesturing widely, taking in for example Dr. Dennis Marks.\nI don’t think Hobgood ever admitted it was a CUEE committee and a CUEE document,\nalthough the document itself clearly says that right on the cover,\nand under Hobgood’s signature inside it says\n“Chair, Education Planning Task Force,\nCommunity Unification for Educational Excellence.”\n\nCUEE Campaign Manager Daniel Storey<\/a>\nfinally handed copies to me and to Karen Noll towards the end of the meeting,\ntaking them out of a box in the corner.\n

\nDr. Levy repeatedly referred to a contrarian approach to educational\ndiscussion which he had learned about from previous VSU president\nRonald M. Zaccari.\nThat approach apparently involves getting all concerned parties\nto discuss together without taking sides, and to look for gray\nareas among their viewpoints.\n

\nDr. Levy said that a real university interacts with its community,\nincluding students.\nThat was perhaps in contrast to that particular meeting,\nat which the only likely students were two young people sitting\nat a side table who seemed to be there to assist,\nand if there was any notice of this meeting to the public I must have\nmissed it.\n

\nThe introduction by Dr. Levy lasted most of an hour.\nHe asked Dr. Perrin to say a few words, and they were few indeed.\nThen the pair of presidents\ntook questions, most of which came from Sam Allen, president of\nFriends of Valdosta City Schools (FVCS), although\nCUEE Board Member Tom Kurrie interrupted at one point until Sam Allen\npointed out that he was addressing Dr. Levy and asked\nMr. Attorney to do the same.\n

\n\n<\/a>\nCUEE Vice-Chair Rusty Griffin, who is perhaps not coincidentally on the\n\nUGA Board of Regents<\/a>,\nsat silently in a separate row of onlookers.\n

\nAs Dr. Levy was attempting to adjourn the meeting so he could go to\na scheduled walk around campus, Walter Hobgood of CUEE suggested\neveryone get into discussions of the CUEE document right then.\nDr. Levy asked if Hobgood wanted to come along on the walk.\nThen the meeting adjourned.\n

\nVideos are still uploading<\/strike> all uploaded except one YouTube doesn’t seem to like\n(if somebody really wants to attract knowledge-based\njobs and workers, how about get us real Internet access?),\nbut here’s\n\na playlist so far:<\/a>\n

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