Tag Archives: school

An Open Forum on Financial Issues Concerning Consolidation —LCBOE 1 November 2011

Last chance for an open forum about school consolidation issues.

Lowndes County Board of Education will hold a An Open Forum on Financial Issues Concerning Consolidation:

6PM, 1 November 2011
Lowndes High Cafeteria
1606 Norman Drive
Valdosta, GA
All about the previous LCBOE Forum of 4 October 2011.

-jsq

Which side are they on? The deleted CUEE Referendum Supporters

The people who were on that list of referendum supporters that CUEE deleted from its website:

Referendum Supporters

Mrs. Julia Ariall
John and Helen Bennett
Mr. James Bridges
The Honorable Tim [Golden? Carroll?]
Mr. Kevin Conrad
Mr. & Mrs. Joe Cordova
Mr. Ed Crane
Mr. Curtis Fowler
Mr. Jeff Hanson
Mr. Lee Henderson
Mr. Ryan Holmes
Mr. Jerry Jennett
Mr. Joe Johnson
Greg and Nancy Justice
Mr. Matthew Lawrence
Mr. Richard Lee
Mr. James McGahee
Mr. Dutton Miller
Mr. John Peeples
Mrs. Jennifer Powell
Mr. Donald (Butch) Williams
  • Were they put there without their permission?
  • Or did they change their minds?
Here’s the list. Let’s hear from them. Do they still support CUEE’s completely disproven bad case for a bad “unification” referendum exercise in disaster capitalism that would greatly damage the public schools, and that has already cost the community huge amounts of time and effort? Did they ever? But more importantly, do they now?

Time to stand up and be counted. There are two sides to this issue. There’s the truth, and there’s a lie.

Which side are you on?

They say they have to guard us to educate their child.
Their children live in luxury, our children almost wild.
Which side are you on, which side are you on?
— Florence Reese
And what about the Chamber board, which apparently is no longer unanimous?

How about Chamber members? Those signs out front of the Chamber: do they represent you?

Which side are you on?

-jsq

The local “unification” attack on public schools is part of a nationwide assault

The “unification” attack on the public schools in Valdosta and Lowndes County, Georgia is part of a nationwide assault on public schools, which has nothing to do with improving public education, and everything to do with private profit and private schools: disaster capitalism right here at home. And it’s not government causing our local disaster: it’s local business interests. What should we do about that?

Jeff Bryant wrote for Campaign for America’s Future 13 October 2011, Starving America’s Public Schools: How Budget Cuts and Policy Mandates Are Hurting Our Nation’s Students

Critics of America’s public schools always seem to start from the premise that the pre-kindergarten-through-12th-grade public education system in this country is failing or in crisis.

This crisis mentality is in stark contrast to years of survey research showing that Americans generally give high marks to their local schools. Phi Delta Kappa International and Gallup surveys have found that the populace holds their neighborhood schools in high regard; in fact, this year’s survey found that “Americans, and parents in particular, evaluate their community schools more positively than in any year since” the survey started.

The first factor: New austerity budgets passed by state legislatures are starting to have a huge influence on direct services to children, youth, and families.
Well, we don’t have that problem in Valdosta City and Lowndes Schools. For example, graduation rates in Valdosta schools have been improving year over year, and both school systems are solvent.

So what happened instead? Why, they made up a crisis instead!

A local business group convinced enough registered voters to sign a petition to get a referendum on the November 8th ballot to decide whether to abolish the Valdosta City School System, which would force the Lowndes County School System to take it over, and also would result in massively raised taxes, which still wouldn’t be enough, so services would have to be cut. Voila! Forced budget crisis! Fortunately, the two school systems have seen through it, and Continue reading →

For the second week in a row, protesters picket outside the Chamber of Commerce —WCTV

The news media might as well make Valdosta a regular weekend stop for demonstrations. -jsq

Greg Gullberg wrote for WCTV 22 October 2011, ‘Vote No’ For Consolidation March,

For the second week in a row, protesters picket outside the Chamber of Commerce to the tune of: ‘No Consolidation’.

But unlike the occupy movement, this rally has one message; one voice.

They say: ‘Vote No’…..

But what does Valdosta’s first black mayor say about it?

“Just Vote No,” the Mayor chants from a podium.

Mayor Sonny Vickers is one of the strongest opponents of the consolidation plan. “The group that’s pushing this has no authority. No kind of plan to tell us anything. Because they are not on the board. So they cannot tell us anything specific about what’s going to happen,” says Mayor Vickers.

The Chamber hasn’t spent any money on a consolidation campaign? What’s this, then?

Etta Mims reports that Myrna Ballard told her on the telephone Thursday a week ago that the Chamber hasn’t invested any money in the school consolidation campaign. Myrna did admit that she spent some of her time and some time of one staff member. Etta asked Myrna was not time money? At that point Myrna stated Etta had hurt her feelings, and she was going to get off the phone.

Etta wonders why, then, do we find the glossy advertisement you see on the right here at http:// www. chamberorganizer .com/ valdostachamber /docs/ October 2 News Ad Get the FACTS.pdf, when www. chamberorganizer .com/ valdostachamber looks like one usual place the Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce puts web materials it funds?

We already knew Myrna Ballard advised Rusty Griffin about that notorious fake-Morgan-Freeman radio ad.

I wonder, if the Chamber didn’t pay for that new ad, who did? Ditto for the radio ad. And who did Rusty Griffin have to get to sign off on it?

Also, I’m still looking forward to hearing any “FACTS” from the Chamber. So far every alleged “FACT” from CUEE or the Chamber about “unification” or consolidation has been readily disproved, and David Mullis has compiled the real facts.

-jsq

Valdosta graduation rates

In his updated Grassroots Handbook Against School Consolidation David Mullis included as new material a revised response to CUEE statement #2 for graduation rates, which contains these percentages:

He then asks:

Therefore, one must ask, "Why would CUEE say the graduation rate for Valdosta High School is in the low 50% range for all students and below 50% for African Americans? The answer is simple. CUEE wants to mislead the voters into believing that the graduation rate for Valdosta High School is lower than it actually is. Therefore, not only does CUEE make false statements, it also fails to state that the graduation rate has improved significantly over the past 5 years for all students and for African American Students. Again, this is an attempt by CUEE to give the appearance that something other than what is being done must be done. They do not tell us what should be done other than to consolidate the school systems. The logic is frightening to say the least.
Here’s a suggestion on what to do about that.

-jsq

CUEE turns shy?

Does CUEE have defectors?

On CUEE’s board web page there’s a link,

See a list of community supporters
which we cited back in August. It now gets 404 “No Such URL at This Domain”.

However, we know who they used to be, because that list got copied by Vote No for the Children to the two very interesting charts below, which show real estate and Valwood connections with CUEE.

So what’s going on? Did CUEE’s website get termites, and we should trust the public schools to a group that can’t keep track of its own supporters? Or have some of CUEE’s supporters defected Continue reading →

Update: The Grassroots Handbook Against School Consolidation —David Mullis

Received today. -jsq
Dear Media:

I am sure you are aware that the vote of whether or not to consolidate the Valdosta City Schools into the Lowndes County School System will be held November 8, 2011. The City only is being asked to vote on whether to dissolve the Valdosta City School charter. The proponents of the referendum had a choice between putting the referendum in front of the county and city or the city alone. The Lowndes County Board of Education asked

Continue reading →

Vote No for School Consolidation March —Sam Allen

Seen on FVCS yesterday. -jsq
On Saturday, October 22, 2011, Friends of Valdosta City Schools are planning a “Vote No for School Consolidation March” at 9:00 am. The March will begin at 9:30 am at the Old Tommy Griner Parking lot (across the street from the Lowndes/Valdosta chamber of commerce – Ashley Street) and end at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Monument at the corner of MLK and Ashley. We will have several speakers to encourage our Community to band together for a Common Cause. Please plan to attend and invite everyone that you know to join us as we tell cuee and chamber that we will not fall for their untruths and misleading ads. Please join in the March for the Cause. Keep in mind that at the end there is no Runoff.

Keep in mind that the Ballot Question does have “Consolidation” on it now, but the answer remains the same. NO! NO! NO!

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Please send to your Friends

-Sam Allen

WCTV says Occupy Valdosta made No Consolidation impossible to ignore

WCTV gets it right in most of the story:
A familiar scene from the Big Apple reaches Southern Georgia. It’s called “Occupy Valdosta.” More than 100 protesters take to the streets to fight corporate greed and social injustice.

Greg Gullberg wrote Friday for WCTV, Occupy Wall Street Comes To Valdosta,

Chanting before banks, monuments and courthouses, the rally reached its summit at the Chamber of Commerce.

There the crowd cried two familiar words: ‘No Consolidation’.

In a demonstration designed to fight corporate greed and social inequality, the protest ultimately turned to the fate of the school systems and the children of Valdosta.

“My children go to city schools. I live in the county. I can’t vote. That’s not right,” said Susan Smith.

WCTV’s low estimate of 100 who chanted “no consolidation” on the Chamber’s doorstep is several times Continue reading →