{"id":1546,"date":"2011-09-04T11:25:17","date_gmt":"2011-09-04T15:25:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2011\/09\/we-still-believe-in-school-unification-but-we-can-no-longer-support-the-current-effort-vdt.html"},"modified":"2011-09-04T11:25:17","modified_gmt":"2011-09-04T15:25:17","slug":"we-still-believe-in-school-unification-but-we-can-no-longer-support-the-current-effort-vdt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2011\/09\/we-still-believe-in-school-unification-but-we-can-no-longer-support-the-current-effort-vdt.html","title":{"rendered":"We still believe in school unification, but we can no longer support the current effort. &mdash;VDT"},"content":{"rendered":"The VDT can read the handwriting on the wall,\nat least when it&#8217;s in the form of <a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/08\/the-school-systems-dont-want-to-consolidate-walb.html\">\nresolutions from both school boards.<\/a>\n<p>\nAfter dancing around the issue and muttering about &#8220;ugly turns&#8221;,\nthe VDT finally gets to the point in its\n<a href=\"http:\/\/valdostadailytimes.com\/opinion\/x601174022\/Times-Unification-reconsidered\">\neditorial of today:<\/a>\n<blockquote>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/valdostadailytimes.com\/opinion\/x601174022\/Times-Unification-reconsidered\">\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\"   src=\"http:\/\/profile.ak.fbcdn.net\/hprofile-ak-snc4\/162041_129572233720563_2945216_n.jpg\"><\/a>\nWe still believe in school unification, but we can no longer support\nthe current effort.\n<p>\nFor the past several weeks, readers have asked us how unification\nwould work. Would it change millage rates? Would students be bussed\ncross-county? Who would lose or keep their jobs? When would Valdosta\nCity Schools dissolve its charter and the Lowndes County School System\ntake over? What are the estimates on cost savings? Would it be more\nefficient? What happens Nov. 9, the day after the election?\n<p>\nWe\u2019ve asked these questions, too. No one can answer them.\n<p>\nThe organization that worked to place the issue on the ballot has not\noffered satisfactory answers. Community Unification for Educational\nExcellence has admirably spent time proposing ways to increase academic\nperformance if the systems are unified. But CUEE has yet to present a\nrecommended plan for how the merger would  work.\n<p>\nIf the referendum passes, the school boards will decide how unification\nwould proceed. And both school boards are opposed to unification.\n<p>\nIt is this prevailing sense of the unknown that has spurred The Times\nto oppose the Nov. 8 referendum.\n<p>\nThere are too many unanswered questions. There are too many uncertainties\nat this point. There has to be a better way to present this to the voters.\n<p>\nA vote for unification in this climate is a vote for chaos.\n<\/blockquote>\nMost of those questions do have answers:\n\n<!--more-->\n<ul>\n<li>\n<strong>\nWould it change millage rates?\n<\/strong>\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/08\/lcboe-resolution-against-school-consolidation-read-by-supt-smith.html\">\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\"   src=\"http:\/\/farm7.static.flickr.com\/6069\/6098057660_20c3b66a25_m.jpg\"><\/a>\nCraig Cardell answered that one:\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/08\/the-most-damaging-useless-thing-craig-cardell-vboe-29-august-2011.html\">\nyes, by a minimum of 8 mils.<\/a>\nLCBOE answered that question in\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/08\/lcboe-resolution-against-school-consolidation-read-by-supt-smith.html\">\nits resolution:<\/a>\n<blockquote>\nWHEREAS the consolidation of school systems has consistently led to an\nincrease in the tax burden on the taxpayers of the newly consolidated\nschools, financial claims about widespread benefits of consolidation\nare unsubstantiated by research.\n<\/blockquote>\n<li>\n<strong>\nWould students be bussed cross-county?\n<\/strong>\nDuh! Yes. It&#8217;s the only way to deal with the <a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/05\/everyone-agrees-theres-a-problem-with-education-pro-and-con-cuee-lcdp-2-may-2011.html\">racial disparities between Valdosta and the rest of the county<\/a>\nthat developed after the last attempt at desegregation.\n<img style=\"float:right;border:none;\"   width=\"228\" height=\"155\"\nsrc=\"http:\/\/www.winnersville.net\/images\/VCSwhiteflight.gif\"><\/a>\nBut given that desegregation by bussing didn&#8217;t work before,\nwhy would we want to try it again,\nwhen it would just promote\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/06\/bright-flight-visualized.html\">\nBright Flight<\/a> to Lanier County and private schools?\n<li>\n<strong>\nWho would lose or keep their jobs?\n<\/strong>\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/07\/school-consolidation-report-can-cause-irreversible-damage.html\">\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\"   src=\"http:\/\/farm7.static.flickr.com\/6139\/5984992872_d64461010c_o.jpg\"><\/a>\nThat one is harder, although there is plenty of evidence\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/07\/school-consolidation-report-can-cause-irreversible-damage.html\">\nfrom the previous experience here and from elsewhere<\/a>\nthat at the least it would result in less cultural competence by losing\nlocal knowledge.\n<li>\n<strong>\nWhen would Valdosta City Schools dissolve its charter and the Lowndes County School System take over?\n<\/strong>\nI don&#8217;t know the answer to that one,\nbut you&#8217;d think CUEE would, given that that&#8217;s what CUEE&#8217;s referendum\nis specifically about.\nFor that matter, if CUEE had followed the Georgia Constitution and\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/07\/the-qualified-voters-voting-thereon-in-each-separate-school-system-proposed-to-be-consolidated-ga-constitution.html\">\npetitioned for a county-wide referendum<\/a>\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/07\/the-qualified-voters-voting-thereon-in-each-separate-school-system-proposed-to-be-consolidated-ga-constitution.html\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\"   width=\"128\" height=\"128\" src=\"http:\/\/www.50states.com\/flag\/image\/nunst015.gif\"><\/a>\nwe&#8217;d have a better idea.\nAnd if CUEE had done what both LCBOE and VBOE recommend, for example in\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/08\/valdosta-school-board-statement-against-school-consolidation.html\">\nthe Valdosta Board of Education statement:<\/a>\n<blockquote>\nThe board feels that a decision to merge the two systems should be\na collaboratively planned effort between the two school boards, the\ncitizens of both the city and the county, along with those who have the\nbest interest in educating all the children of our area.\n<\/blockquote>\nIf CUEE had done that, we&#8217;d know what would happen.\nBut of course then we would have discovered long ago that\nboth school boards oppose consolidation.\n<li>\n<strong>\nWhat are the estimates on cost savings?\n<\/strong>\nCUEE did answer this one!\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/04\/what-is-the-countys-view-on-consolidation-q-to-cuee-24-march-2011.html\">\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\"   src=\"http:\/\/i1.ytimg.com\/vi\/pofpo8NduAU\/default.jpg\"><\/a>\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/04\/what-is-the-countys-view-on-consolidation-q-to-cuee-24-march-2011.html\">\nCUEE&#8217;s own expert consultant<\/a>\nsaid, at their own\nKick-Off meeting:<\/a>\n<blockquote>\n&#8220;If you believe in the end that running one system is cheaper than\nrunning two school systems. If in the end you are going to cast a vote\nfor a single system because you think it would save money, I wouldn&#8217;t\ncast my vote. I do not think it will save money.&#8221;\n<\/blockquote>\nYou were there, VDT, pay attention!\n<li>\n<strong>\nWould it be more efficient?\n<\/strong>\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/09\/why-cant-winnersville-have-two-great-school-systems-sam-allen-vboe-29-august-2011.html\">\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\"   src=\"http:\/\/farm7.static.flickr.com\/6065\/6107115768_6e3479ebe2_m.jpg\"><\/a>\nLet\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/09\/why-cant-winnersville-have-two-great-school-systems-sam-allen-vboe-29-august-2011.html\">\nSam Allen, president of Friends of Valdosta City Schools (FVCS), answer that:<\/a>\n<blockquote>\nThe only duplication you have is right there, sitting in that seat right there.\n<\/blockquote>\nHe was pointing at the Valdosta School Superintendent.\nAnd if we got rid of that post, we&#8217;d have to hire a couple more assistants,\nwhich would cost just as much.\n<li>\n<strong>\nWhat happens Nov. 9, the day after the election?\n<\/strong>\nYou know, if CUEE can&#8217;t answer that, it never should have gotten\npeople to sign petitions for that referendum.\n<\/ul>\nMaybe CUEE doesn&#8217;t answer most of these questions because they don&#8217;t\nlike the answers.\n<p>\nIt&#8217;s good to see the VDT finally realizing CUEE won&#8217;t answer those questions.\n<p>\nHm, can a newspaper be a big man?\nI&#8217;d say no, because while VDT has reversed course on this particular\nconsolidation effort, it has not admitted that most of these\nquestions do have answers, and those answers say consolidation is a bad idea.\n<p>\n-jsq\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The VDT can read the handwriting on the wall, at least when it&#8217;s in the form of resolutions from both school boards. After dancing around the issue and muttering about &#8220;ugly turns&#8221;, the VDT finally gets to the point in its editorial of today: We still believe in school unification, but we can no longer [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[97,40,1376,14,15,49,70,3305,19,1105,21,22,1106,133],"tags":[1636,8829,8704,8705,1484,8869,8701,8815,7,3475,1486,1635,6,8816,8742],"class_list":["post-1546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-activism","category-community","category-cuee","category-economy","category-education","category-elections","category-ethics","category-fvcs","category-history","category-lcboe","category-planning","category-politics","category-vboe","category-vdt","tag-consolidation","tag-cuee","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-election","tag-fvcs","tag-georgia","tag-lcboe","tag-lowndes-county","tag-parents","tag-referendum","tag-unification","tag-valdosta","tag-vboe","tag-vdt"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p585fK-oW","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1546\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}