On Nov. 6th you will be asked to cast your ballot on two proposed Constitutional Amendment questions. Amendment 1 reads:
"Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended to allow state or local approval of public charter schools upon the request of local communities"
I started this blog on August 14th - the same day that the highest-ranking elected official in education in Georgia, Dr. John Barge, State School Superintendent, issued an 8-page statement of the facts with 16 attachments.
This document, which was ordered to be removed from the State DOE website, lays out all the facts in the case. Dr. Barge concludes with," I simply cannot support the charter school amendment."
Rather than rehash all my objections to this amendment, it is more appropriate to highlight Dr. Barge's reasons for asking Georgia voters to vote "NO" on Amendment 1. The 8-page document is attached as a pdf - please read it before voting.
To highlight several statements;
"I support the creation of high quality charter schools for Georgia's students...However, I cannot support the creation of a new, costly, and unnecessary state bureaucracy."
"As a conservative, I believe our state needs to be fiscally responsible, support local community control, and limit government...This amendment runs counter to all three of these critical conservative principles."
"As a conservative leader and conservative supporter of public education in Georgia I value innovation with accountability. I do not value siphoning money from our schools to support state charter schools or to create a new and unnecessary state agency."
Dr. Barge was essentially told to "shut up" by the "powers that be" who are pushing this amendment. One would think that Governor Deal and certain legislators would agree with Dr. Barge's statement, "Public education is worth protecting and supporting. My commitment has been, and continues to be, to improve public education in Georgia for all students."
It is very apparent that they don't agree with Dr. Barge. The legislation and budget cuts that we have seen in the past 8 years have not been supportive of ALL Georgia's students. Could it possibly be because there's more money in supporting the privatization of public education? Bingo.
Dr. Barge is my hero - he has a conscience. He gave voters the facts knowing that it would put him in harm's way. I am grateful and it gives me hope to see that there are elected officials that we can still count on to tell the truth.
The # 1 Reason to vote "NO" on Amendment 1 - the highest-ranking education professional in the state of Georgia cannot support this amendment.
Googling the name was revealing.
Most students that do not graduate are due to low socioeconomic status, not because of the schools that they attend. Charters have a higher ratio of students that come from affluent families, and have parents with the freedom to volunteer and drive them to and from school. Many public schools students do not have these liberties as they work multiple jobs. Many students will drop out to support their families due to illnesses as well. When a receiving school doesn't report the transfer, the student will also count as a drop out. And I'm sure that charters will kick out any students that are not performing, or at least make their experience one that will cause them to move back to public schools so they are not affected by their failure.
And I wonder how long CCSD teachers will be as dedicated moving forward? If the district continues to spiral down the financial toilet, and furloughs increase, days are continually lengthened, healthcare costs continue to double every year, what kind of morale will that lead to? I believe teachers are already underpaid as is, and this is a several-thousand dollar blow to every teacher, every year. Are we all suffering? Sure. But do we, in the private sector, have mud thrown at our jobs regularly? Get blamed for the woes of society, but are expected to fix it? Perform better in worsening conditions? For most of us - NOPE!
"If a school performs well, more will go to it, so it will receive more funding, and the opposite for bad schools. Wouldn't it be great if the failing public schools of Atlanta could be replaced by well-performing charter schools. Our drop-out rate is very high. No amount of state and national standards will fix that" But if the failing schools are replaced, where will the troubled kids go?
Profit is profit, whether it be by someone admin'ing world-class schools or someone supplying gasoline to CCSD school buses. Your definition of profit far below (accurate, btw) is the same in both cases. PROFIT IS NOT A BAD THING. Though Monty, I don't think you're a Profit-hater like your buddy Frank Jones is.
Dan, please know that there is a major difference of influence based on one's ability to profit, not that a profit is being made.
Here's the problem with writing-in candidates: It's a complete waste of time. Under GA Election law, a write-in candidate must announce their write-in candidacy within a month after the end of the primaries. Failure to do so results in such a candidate being ineligible for an election. This is to prevent you & me from writing in "Mickey Mouse", "Monty Brewster" , "Steely Dan", "Frank Jones" or some other comical character and having that guy actually win. Also, any candidate who lost the primary is ineligible for election in the general. So a candidate like Danny Dukes cannot lose to Janet Read and then try to run as a write-in or member of the other party. What America really needs is a viable 3rd party that combines the best of the Ds & Rs for the vast majority of America that is in the middle of the political aisle. Unfortunately, the Ds & Rs work actively to shut down any attempts of this nature. PS: Voting NO is a vote for the Status Quo. But you knew that already.
I.E - a typical Frank Jones post.
did you ever consider that a majority of Georgians might actually with me? I guess you're finding that out now. Thanks for driving many of the undecideds to the 21st century side of the argument with these blogs of yours. The no-ideas negativity of the NO crowd did more damage than anything I ever typed.
What a loud statement the YES crowd has made. Congratulations, children of Georgia - the real winners of this election.
Our Children and Education come first. Instead of arguing against giving our parents and children choices in Education, focus on the real problem and make Education the true priority. Support your local schools and support the charter schools.. Retired Army