Rev. Floyd Rose quizzed Mrs. Ruth Council whether black students
got a better education in black schools.
She said she has taught in all sorts of schools, black and white.
He clarified:
…we were told about the world, where we came from, how we got here.She answers:
I think we did receive a better education.Maybe this is part of what Dr. George was referring to when he remarked minority experiences of education might not be what the majority imagines.
Here’s Part 1 of 2: Continue reading
Mrs. Ruth Council said CUEE needs “parents, administrators, business people,
everybody, city and county”.
Whether we unify or not, we need to improve our educational offerings for our boys and girls. … Will you please come to the meeting on the seventh and provide information that you think will benefit.The meeting is actually 7-10 PM 5 May 2011 at the Valdosta City Hall Annex.
Here’s Part 1 of 2: Continue reading
Speakers pro and con school unification assembled up front
to talk about procedures, and a listener took exception to that.
Dr. Lee Allen said the important thing was “the simple idea of what we want to do”
and then talked about the 1960s and what he didn’t want to hear about that.
He never did say what he wanted to do now.
Here’s Part 1 of 3: Continue reading
We have complaints that some people couldn’t understand
what Dr. Mark George was saying in
the previous post of his remarks at Monday’s Lowndes County Democratic Party meeting,
so here’s another version from a different camera.
Feedback, please.
He said the Chamber of Commerce said schools were not its issue. Dr. George pointed out that it was the Chamber and the real estate industry that largely produced the current situation by funelling people to the county schools.
He said the unification project started with a request from the Industrial Authority, who said it didn’t look good when potential industry saw there was a black school system and a white school system. (The timing of this is interesting, because it comes after Brad Lofton was hired as VLCIA Executive Director, and other people formerly associated with VLCIA say they were never asked by any potential industry how many school systems we have.)
Dr. George discussed many other interesting points, such as CUEE’s terminology drift from consolidation to integration to unification.
Here’s Part 1 of 2:
Camera 2: Dr. Mark George about CUEE @ LCDP 2 May 2011 Part 1 of 2:
Debate between proponents of school system unification (CUEE) and opponents,
at Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP), Gretchen Quarterman chair,
Videos by George Rhynes, Jim Parker, John S. Quarterman, and Gretchen Quarterman
for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 2 May 2011.
In this second video from camera 2,
Dr. George noted
that the Valdosta school system is internally segregated.
He said both he and Rev. Rose asked to have somebody put on the CUEE council, and that that didn’t happen.
There’s more; you can watch it for yourself. Here’s Part 2 of 2:
Camera 2: Dr. Mark George about CUEE @ LCDP 2 May 2011 Part 2 of 2:
Debate between proponents of school system unification (CUEE) and opponents,
at Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP), Gretchen Quarterman chair,
Videos by George Rhynes, Jim Parker, John S. Quarterman, and Gretchen Quarterman
for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 2 May 2011.
-jsq
Update: See other post for
videos from another camera with better sound.
Dr. Mark George pointed out that school consolidation didn’t solve some problems last time:
In 2011 our schools were more segregated racially than they were in 1968.He questioned why people should believe that consolidation, even if called unification, would solve those same problems this time.
Continuing the
debate between proponents and opponents of unification of the
Valdosta and Lowndes County School Systems, organized by
Gretchen Quarterman, chair of the
The Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP).
Here, speaking against, is Dr. Mark George.
Here’s Part 1 of 3: Continue reading
Rev. George Bennett stated what he believes:
I’m on the CUEE board because I believe a unified school system can better serve children of our community, and particularly children in the city of Valdosta.
Gretchen Quarterman, chair of the The Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP), organized a debate between proponents and opponents of unification of the Valdosta and Lowndes County School Systems. Here, speaking for, is Dr. George Bennett, on the board of Community Unification for Educational Excellence (CUEE).
In the first video, Dr. Bennett talks about his history with the Valdosta schools. Here’s Part 1 of 3: Continue reading
I said I wouldn’t reply… but I am! :-)Continue readingMs. Touchton, your points 1-3 make plain what I mentioned witnessing during my professional experiences. My feeling was that those facts alone presented a strong case for dismantling the city system.
I do understand the desire for a disenfranchised group to avoid becoming even more marginalized… my hope was that equally shared resources and a uniform administrative/infrastructure system would create more parity and greater accountability.
There’s a lot of info I don’t have, perspectives I need; I must say, being a native Valdostan, I was BAFFLED
I can describe some reasons our members oppose unification.Note it was Alex Jones who commented on this blog today; I’m pretty sure Alex Rowell has a different opinion.Mr. Parris and Mr. Rowell, come to some of our branch meetings and we’ll be glad to talk to you about it, so you can hear directly from us, I am unable to completely explain the many different opinions that were presented at the branch meeting when this came up for a vote. Also, a former teacher named Dr. Marilyn McCluskey has written about many of the issues we were involved in, and these descriptions can be found at her blog TheNakedTruth4U.
- We believe VBOE has discriminated against black students with alternative school referrals.
- We believe VBOE has discriminated against black teachers in hiring, firing, promotions and demotions. I can’t describe the details of personal cases, but last year when the RIF directive came down, nearly 60% of those fired were black, and black professionals only represent 20-25% of the employees.
- The VBOE system is over 70% black students, yet the black students are not given equal opportunities to achieve. I can describe issues we brought to the Department of Justice, as well as issues about the Alternative school, and a very serious issue about how the Alternative school was given a different school code, which we believe was a ploy to artificially inflate the test scores at the students’ home schools. We have evidence that we gave to the DOJ that students were sent to PLC based on minor infractions.
- Many of our members went through the consolidation in the sixties and don’t want to see their children put into a situation where they will be even more of a minority. Our children are in the majority at Valdosta City Schools, but yet we still fight serious issues of discrimination and inequality in education.
- Many of us attended the CUEE education session at Serenity Church, and did not hear anything that changed our minds.
- Many of us distrust an “education” initiative brought forth from the Chamber of Commerce. Our branch is a member of the Chamber, and we support Chamber events and some policies, but we don’t support this one. I can’t remember a time when “business” thought it knew what was best for education except when school privatization was going on, and the studies indicated that there was no benefit to that direction insofar as student achievement.
-Leigh Touchton
-jsq
Continue readingI will be brief!
Where was CUEE and the people working to bring the two school systems together when local citizens were fighting for change, and seeking answers to the Hiring of Black Educators and the Federal Court Order being complied with that was filed decades ago? Where were they then?
And why can’t we find certain people in our community until the blind god seems to direct them from their hiding place from beneath the clay!
I have not seen these professionals take on
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.Continue readingI can see the downside for an older,