Category Archives: VBOE

Dr. Mark George speaks against CUEE @ LCDP 2 May 2011

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 speaks for CUEE @ LCDP 2 May 2011

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

There’s a lot of info I don’t have —Jon Parris

A response to Leigh Touchton. I’ve appended a couple of comments. -jsq
I said I wouldn’t reply… but I am! :-)

Ms. 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

Continue reading

Some reasons our members oppose unification —Leigh Touchton

Leigh Touchton, president of the Valdosta-Lowndes NAACP, responds to a comment by Jon Parris. I’ve appended a clarification. -jsq
I can describe some reasons our members oppose unification.
  1. We believe VBOE has discriminated against black students with alternative school referrals.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. Many of us attended the CUEE education session at Serenity Church, and did not hear anything that changed our minds.
  6. 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.
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.

-Leigh Touchton

Note it was Alex Jones who commented on this blog today; I’m pretty sure Alex Rowell has a different opinion.

-jsq

Will school unification improve education? —CUEE

The real answer is in the first sentence after A: in this FAQ by CUEE:
Q: HOW WILL UNIFICATION OF OUR SCHOOL SYSTEMS IMPROVE EDUCATION?
A: School unification, by itself, will not improve the quality of education for our children.
Unfortunately, CUEE didn’t stop there. Their FAQ continues: Continue reading

What is the county’s view on consolidation? Q to CUEE 24 March 2011

What about county voters, and what about the combined budget?

Q: “What is the county’s view on consolidation?”

A: CUEE Chairman Leroy Butler answered:

“We did no poll of individuals in the county, so we don’t have any; anything we say would be speculation.”
Remember, only one of CUEE’s board is from the county outside the City of Valdosta, and nobody outside Valdosta gets to vote in the referendum. They don’t know what the county thinks, and they don’t care, because legally they don’t have to: if Valdosta votes to give up their school system, the Lowndes County school board has no choice but to pick up the pieces.

Here’s the video:


Kick-off meeting, Community Unification for Educational Excellence, Inc., CUEE.
They’re for consolidation of the Valdosta and Lowndes County School Systems.
Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
http://lake.typepad.com/on-the-lake-front/cuee/

There’s another question in this video: Continue reading

The CUEE Board: not quite all city

Let’s meet the CUEE board and ask them a simple question.

The Chair, Leroy Butler, named them in this order: Rusty Griffin (Vice-Chair), George Bennett, Tom Kurrie, Walter Hobgood, Johnny Ball, Jack Edwards, Jud Rackley, Gene Godfrey, and “last but certainly not least” Ruth Council. (Not named but listed on CUEE’s website are David Durland, Terry Hunt, and Ronnie Mathis.)

As I told Rusty Griffin, I congratulate CUEE on holding public meetings about their plans.


Kick-off meeting, 24 March 2011,
Community Unification for Educational Excellence, Inc., CUEE,
They’re for consolidation of the Valdosta and Lowndes County School Systems.
Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

Here’s the question:

How many of the current CUEE board are from the county outside of Valdosta?
Continue reading

School consolidation: CUUE kick-off event tomorrow night

Do you think the Valdosta and Lowndes County School Systems should be consolidated? I don’t, but CUEE does, and they’re having an “official kick-off” 6PM tomorrow, 24 March 2011, at the Gazebo Room, James H. Rainwater Conference Center, 1 Meeting Place, Valdosta.

Note at the top of the invitation:

It’s Your Decision. It’s Your Choice.
Well, not if you live in the county outside Valdosta, it’s not. CUEE is promoting a referendum for Valdosta voters in November 2011 for Valdosta to give up its school system: Continue reading

Communities watching boards

Susan Hall Hardy says that in most places industrial authority executives don’t interact with their communities. Well, paraphrasing what Yakov Smirnoff used to say, in Lowndes County, community interact with officials!

Here is her comment from 15 March 2011 on this blog:

Not to be rude, although honesty is very often perceived that way these days, but, the industrial authority executives rarely thank their communities. In the six states I’m most familiar with, these fellows see themselves as beholden only to their employers. After all, they work with their directors, elected officials, a few bankers and city/county department heads. Rarely do they come in direct contact with the average voter, employee or homeowner, although all those people often pay a large part of their salaries and office operating expenses. Despite the public funding, these groups are usually tight lipped about how they do business and rarely provide the public with records or audits. We’ve all put up with that manner of doing business for so long we now see it as just that — the way you do business. We’d never accept that from a nonprofit organization, a charity group or most elected officials. Shame on us all.
Susan, you’re helping by reading, and you’re helping more by posting. Many local officials have noticed LAKE and this blog because they know people read it.

Anyone who wants to help still more, you, too, can go to a meeting. The Industrial Authority is a good one to attend, but I hear the Tree Commission isn’t trying as hard to enforce things, and does anybody know anything the Hospital Authority does? The Airport Authority? Continue reading

ESPLOST Passed

If you go to lowndescounty.com, pull down Government at the top, select Board of Elections, then Election Results, you can select a format for displaying election results. And the results at 8:50 PM 15 March 2010 are:
BOE SALES TAX QUESTIONVOTES
YES82.66%2,931
NO17.34%615
Total Votes: 3,546
I think it’s safe to say ESPLOST passed.

-jsq