Thursday, January 31, 2013
What is happening to public education now that the General Assembly is in session?
- OPINION
-
Thursday, January 31
By Frances Anthony “Wow!” Is anyone else beginning to feel disenfranchised in light of the barrage of anti-public school education legislation? Sweeping bills and laws that supposedly have the express intent of giving parents choice in their children’s education. Well, from every indication of what I have read in these pieces of legislation, a whole lot of students, parents, teachers, administrators, and in turn, communities, will be swept under the bus. As a parent, (with children currently in public education institutions in Georgia), I am not opposed to having options regarding educating my children. However, when the issue of how I educate my child comes on the under the heel of a (note change) policy that would divide and …
Monday, September 10, 2012
But it opposes the amendment creating a state Charter Schools Commission.
EmpowerED Georgia is reassured to have the attention of the Georgia Charter School Association. We can only view a lack of a detailed rebuttal from Mr. Lewis as a verification of the concerns we highlighted in our “Myths” piece. Mr. Lewis is incorrect in his assertion that EmpowerED Georgia does not support charter schools. We support the authorization of both local and state charter schools. EmpowerED Georgia’s Charter Schools Blueprint addresses the concerns we expressed in our “Myths” piece and previous pieces. We support the establishment of an effective system of charter schools that serve all students in the state and will be focusing our efforts in promoting the reforms in our Blueprint up until, and beyond the vote on November …
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
On November 6th, voters in Georgia will weigh in on changing the Georgia Constitution to give a politically appointed state commission the authority to create and fund a separate system of schools.
Myth: The State Does Not Have the Power to Approve Charter Schools That Were Denied by Local School Boards Fact: The Georgia Department of Education currently has the authority to review and approve state charter applications. According to State School Superintendent Dr. John Barge, “with the state charter schools review process already in place, why does Georgia need another state agency that can do the same thing?”1 Myth: Charter Schools Are More Innovative and Flexible Fact: Charters are allowed to “kick out” students for behavior or academic reasons. Where do these students go once they are kicked out? They go back to the area’s traditional public school. This “flexibility” charters are given to kick out students means the most …
Monday, August 13, 2012
Advocacy group is composed of educators, parents, students and community members focused on improving public education.
Matt Jones is a public school teacher from Vidalia, Georgia. He is a co-founder of EmpowerED Georgia. He spoke with Athens Patch recently about his organization and some of the challenges facing public education in Georgia today. What is EmpowerED Georgia? An education advocacy group. It’s made up of 3,500 students, parents, educators and concerned citizens across the state. What does it do? Three things. Inform—we saw there was a big gap in education coverage in the media. Education issues are complex. The public is given catch phrases, but no one is explaining or discussing the difficult issues. These are in-depth issues, and we didn’t see that coverage happening anywhere else. So we decided to do it. We want to give people as much …
Athens Mama
8:57 pm on Monday, September 10, 2012
Teachers in these particular situations, even with parent complaints, are simply moved to other grades. When tenure is in place, teachers must do something overtly criminal in order to be removed. I understand the risks involved with a state agency that would approve charters for local districts, but I must tell you that in my mind, it would be a great cause for celebration for many parents and … more ›