A comment by Jon Parris on a comment. My response is appended below. -jsq

Well-said, Alex. I’m baffled that this website and the local NAACP are against unification… the status-quo has created a haves/have-nots situation that is untenable if we are going to consider ourselves a progressive area. A unified system would bring uniformity to curriculum and scheduling, eliminate redundant administrative positions, and allow (force?) everyone in the county to have a stake in the educational development of all the children in the county. What basically exists now is institutional racism… predominately lower-income minority (& some white) kids attending resource-depleted city schools due to a shrinking tax base, and predominately white middle and upper income kids attending the resource-enriched county schools with an affluent tax base.

I can see the downside for an older,

childless/empty-nester individual who owns land in the county: likely an increase in property taxes, and deflation of property values inflated by white-flight to the county.

Full Disclosures: 1) I attended and graduated from Valdosta City Schools; my family now resides in the county, and my son attends county schools. 2) We moved to be nearer my retired parents (who live in the county), but sadly, school quality was a concern. As a progressive, this situation was a stressful one for me. 3) I am a state-licensed Therapist who worked for nearly 15 years with children and adolescents in Valdosta/Lowndes. A great deal of my work involved interacting with school systems and the representatives thereof; I saw first-hand the resource gaps that exist, and the psycho-social impacts of said gaps on individual young people and their parents.

99% of the time, I’m a cold rationalist… the data and reasonable solutions should carry the day. This situation, however, is one in which the symbolism of changing an institutionally racist construct is too powerful to avoid. Sometimes what is right is not the most sensible/efficient option… but we do it anyway.

Jon Parris, M.S., LPC

p.s. due to my spouse being currently employed in the local educational system (her work covers multiple systems), this post will be my only comment on this matter. My comments are my personal opinions, and should not be construed to represent, in part or whole, the opinions of my spouse.

Let me clarify that “this website” is the blog of LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange. LAKE has not expressed an opinion; that’s a rare event, requiring all sorts of bureaucracy, such as a meeting of the Supreme Soviet and the Tea Party Subcommittee. Most blog posts here are by specific named individuals, some associated with LAKE, and some not.

Here’s my response to Jon Parris’ comment: Still looking forward to hearing reasonable solutions from CUEE. So far CUEE’s own evidence (see their 6 page report under education on the Chamber of Commerce website) and their own hired expert say unification will not save money and will not improve education. That could be why NAACP is against it. It’s why I’m against it.

-jsq

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