Author Archives: admin

Georgia charter schools do no better than traditional public schools

Let's look at Georgia's non-unionized public schools. So far as I know, Georgia does not have teachers' unions. But there's still no reason to believe charter schools in Georgia would be any more magic than in Chicago.

According to CREDO at Stanford University, which has done CREDO at Stanford University state-by-state charter school studies, they find CHARTER SCHOOLS IN GEORGIA PERFORM SIGNIFICANTLY BELOW THEIR TRADITIONAL PUBLIC SCHOOL PEERS IN MATH: No Difference Found in Reading Performance. That's their press release. Here's the detailed study.

So if someone has a charter school idea that they think will perform Vote No on Amendment 1 better than public schools, they can talk to their local school board about that, and maybe that local board will agree. There's no need to authorize an unelected Atlanta board to force that charter school on us.

Vote No on the charter school amendment in November.

-jsq

4 rezonings (one big), 3 water items, and more @ VCC 2012-10-11

200 West Jane Street The item with 9 conditions, VA-2012-14, is at a rather vague location, “the southeast corner of West Brookwood Drive, North Oak Street, North Toombs Street, and West Jane Street” which presumably means 200 W Jane St, as shown in the map here. That’s directly across W. Toombs Street from 1302 N Patterson Street, which is part of VSU.

Here’s the agenda.

-jsq

AGENDA
REGULAR MEETING OF THE VALDOSTA CITY COUNCIL
5:30 PM Thursday, October 11, 2012
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL
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Chicago charter schools do no better than unionized public schools

The Georgia “charter school” amendment isn’t really about charter schools (which any school district in Georgia can already approve, and many have): it’s about giving an unelected committee in Atlanta power to force us to pay extra local taxes to fund charter schools we don’t want. However, since the pushers of that amendment say it’s about charter schools, it’s worth reviewing that charter schools actually on average perform no better or even worse than traditional public schools. Let’s look at what the pushers hate most, unionized public schools in Chicago. and then let’s look at Georgia’s non-unionized public schools.

Ben Joravsky wrote for chichagoreader.com 3 October 2012, Today’s lesson: charters do not outperform unionized schools: Confronting the anti-teachers’ union myth with, you know, facts

But as I was saying, the foes of the teachers’ union declare that we should pay close attention to the all-important standardized test scores. So let’s take a look.

Chicago Public Schools There are 541 elementary schools in Chicago. Based on the composite ISAT scores for 2011—the last full set available—none of the top ten are charters. None of the top 20, 30, or 40 either.

In fact, you’ve got to go to 41 to find a charter. Take a bow, CICS Irving Park!

Most of the 49 charters on the list are clustered near the great middle, alongside most of their unionized neighborhood schools.

The top scorers are public schools with unionized teachers who are members of the Chicago Teachers Union.

UNO is a charter school operator. Joravsky compares one of its schools side-by-side with a unionized public school.

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Library process transparency —John S. Quarterman

John S. Quarterman videoing SPLOST VII Kickoff Speeches It’s good to see that someone responsible for allocating millions of dollars of taxpayer money is willing to answer questions about related decisions, as Kay Harris is doing! It would be even better if there were a regular process by which the taxpaying and voting and library-using public could ask such questions and get answers.

If there were such a process, it’s pretty likely Ms. Harris or the Library Board or the County Commission would have been asked about the architect selection, considering I wasn’t even involved in that selection and my ear was scorched with complaints as soon as it was announced. Maybe Ms. Harris can suggest a way to produce such a process.

Let me take Ms. Harris’ points in order.

“First, they were the only one of the four finalists who did a full cost evaluation of the project, estimating $16 million while others were more than content to use the state’s estimate of $21 million.”

That’s very interesting news, which clarifies for me what she was getting at in the VDT writeup on that selection:

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Why we selected an out of town architect —Kay Harris

Received yesterday on New Library —Kay Harris. My response follows in the next post. -jsq

I was never asked why we selected an out of town architect, but will Kay Harris happily answer that question now. First, they were the only one of the four finalists who did a full cost evaluation of the project, estimating $16 million while others were more than content to use the state's estimate of $21 million. Second, they brought to the project a consultant who is considered the country's leading library consultant; only one of the other four brought in an outside expert. Third, the principals of this firm live right over the county line in Florida—they are within the 50 mile radius that is considered "hiring local", so they are indeed a local firm. They also brought a local engineering firm, from Valdosta, to the table, and have agreed to hire as many subs from the local area as possible. So I truly don't understand the "jab" about hiring non-local… if it was that big a concern, why not just ask me the question? Mr. Quarterman wasn't even in the room at the time I spoke….

-Kay Harris

-jsq

Waste disposal discussions with Richard Raines —Gretchen Quarterman @ LCC 2012-10-09

Gretchen Quarterman Waste disposal issues in Lowndes County are more complex than one might think, and transparent processes could help citizens understand these stewardship issues, while helping the local government do its job.

Commissioner Raines called me yesterday evening after I had left him a voice mail and an e-mail letting him know that I had some questions.

I was particularly curious about the proposals in column “F” which asked for:

Contractor(s) agrees to provide an independent proposal option to address residential solid waste, bulky item, yard waste and recyclable materials collection, transportation and disposal, collection center management and related customer service, records, billing and payment processing services for unincorporated Lowndes County residents.

Proposal “F” Pricing —

Residential solid waste, bulky item, yard waste and recyclable materials collection, transportation and disposal, collection center management and related customer service, records, billing and payment processing services.

$______________ per month/subscriber

This was an opportunity for the vendors to provide some option that the county had not asked for but used their expertise in waste disposal and offer a creative solution.

Lowndes County Solid Waste RFP Summary Sheet October 9, 2012 The prices in column “F” ranged from $8.33 to $19.95 to “Negotiate”.

Commissioner Raines briefly explained what had been submitted by each vendor and it became clear that there was not a creative winning solution proposed there. In fact, submitting a “Negotiate Rates and Program” is clearly a failure.

We then went on to discuss at length the whole solid waste disposal history, problems, options, and so on. Commissioner Raines stressed his focus Continue reading →

Solar and broadband are good for the economy and for PR

When the Industrial Authority came out for solar and broadband WCTV noticed. It seems solar and broadband are good not only in themselves, but also for good PR for the community. PR that might attract the kinds of businesses the Industrial Authority is looking for.

WCTV wrote 9 September 2012, Solar Power and Broadband Internet Could Boost Local Job Growth,

The Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority has put a spot light on solar power and broadband internet. That’s according to a new analysis of regional businesses and employment. They say it will be a way to generate job growth going forward. Many in the community agree.

Valdosta Resident Mark Yates said “if they could bring those all in, it would be great for the economy and bring a lot of jobs for a lot of people in town here.”

That’s how Saginaw, Michigan, attracted that second Suniva plant away from Georgia: it has a plan for solar industry and it gets it in the news. Way better than worrying what Albany thinks, don’t you think?

By the way, Saginaw also goes for wind manufacturing jobs, and we already have one wind manufacturing business right here; more on that later.

It sure would be good if the Industrial Authority, with its 1 mil tax rate or almost $3 million a year, could succeed in attracting some jobs here:

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Videos: Water, water, water, waste! and planning? @ LCC 2012-10-08

The big news was the waste disposal railroad, but the Lowndes County Commission also heard about three water issues (one a rezoning), plus a beer license, revenue bonds, community planning month, and a health fair at its Work Session this morning.

Here’s the agenda, with links to the videos and a few notes, or links to separate posts.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2012, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2012, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor
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Lowndes County Solid Waste RFP Summary Sheet @ LCC 2012-10-08

This is the summary sheet Kevin Beals presented at the Lowndes County Commission Work Session this morning.

Assuming the dollar figures in the table are monthly charges to the end user, note that the only one that comes out less than the current $100/year is the $8.33 in the lower right corner: $8.33 * 12 = $99.96. Presumably plus tax, since this would be a private service. So if the Commission chooses any of these options, we the current waste disposal customers will have to pay more.

The upper end of $19.95 (upper right corner) comes to $239.40 per year. Or 140% more than the current price. A bit more to a lot more: that’s what we’ll have to pay. Plus the socialized costs of privatizing waste disposal, such as code enforcement to pick up trash dumped on rights of way, private fences and gates built to keep trash out, and other costs.

Average is somewhere around $13/month, for $156/year. If they simply charged that for the current service, the already rapidly decreasing budget deficit for waste disposal would vanish, and there would be no need to change to something else.

If you want to see the actual proposals summarized in this table, you can file an open records request. According to the County Clerk’s web page:

Once a request is received, Lowndes County will notify the requesting party within 3 days regarding the availability of information.

So if you file it today, you’ll get a response of some sort within two days after they vote on waste management tomorrow.

Does this seem right to you?

-jsq

Waste disposal railroad by County Commission @ LCC 2012-10-08

The Lowndes County Commission plans to vote tomorrow evening to privatize waste disposal in the unincorporated areas of the county, after numerous discussions at meetings the public were unaware of, without any public hearings, and regardless of whether the people want it.

County Manager Joe Pritchard talked about “a long, long process” they’d been through, including at the Commissioners’ retreat.

You remember,

Although I don’t recall it being there last night when I picked up the agenda, the RFP is now linked into the county’s front web page (copy on the LAKE website).

At this morning’s meeting, Kevin Beals, Lowndes County Development Reviewer, addressed the Commissioners and said,

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