New Superintendent Makes First Impression at Ed Forum

Pickens County’s New Interim Superintendent Dr. Lula Mae Perry is making a forceful first impression. Perry pressed Democratic state senator Jason Carter on state austerity cuts in school funding during an education forum last night at the Pickens County Community Center.

“When you go back to the Capitol what can you pledge to us that you will do to help us (with austerity cuts)?”

she asked. Carter answered a question with a question, asking what impact the cuts have on school districts. Perry said the cuts impact students, teachers and the community. She explained cuts in state funding have affected school resources, such as purchasing textbooks and teacher salaries. Additionally, she said since school systems are forced to compensate for funding cuts, state austerity measures force local governments to raise property taxes, thus affecting communities.

“What I intend to do,”

Carter said,

“(is) to work out a way so that we can establish a set of education revenue that cannot be played politics with (sic).”

However, Carter did not give any details of the funding mechanism for education revenue or how it would be protected from politics. This scheme, though, could be construed as a permanent education tax.

In her comments, Perry also said that Georgia has dedicated people working in her schools, who are doing more with less, adding that state cuts are hurting morale.

As part of the State Senate Special Task Force on Education, the forum was an effort by Carter to get feedback from Georgians on education. Carter and his staffers are touring the state, collecting data in order to compile a report to bring back to Legislature.

Speaking to a full house last night, Carter fielded a variety of questions regarding education, most of which dealt with funding cuts. Notably, three out of five Pickens County Board of Education members were present. Board Chair Wendy Lowe told Carter one of the biggest costs for the school district is state health insurance.

“Someone needs to get a grip on what they are charging us,”

she said, saying the high cost for state health insurance was the reason for district budget cuts. She also commented on the state education redistribution formula. According to this formula, the state plays Robin Hood, collecting a portion of the taxes from counties with more money and giving this portion to poorer counties. The formula, though, was recently re-configured.

“I don’t have a problem with sending that money to rural counties that don’t have enough money to educate,”

Lowe said.

“But it’s frustrating that they re-did the way they do the formula and it benefited counties (like Gwinnett) that I don’t feel it should’ve benefited. Their tax base (Gwinnet’s) is no different than ours and probably much greater. And they haven’t had any more losses than we’ve had. I think they need to go back and refigure what they’re doing.”

Few comments dealt, though, with the controversial Common Core Educational Standards, which were thought to be the focus of the meeting. Supporters of the standards say they’re simply a set of standards, like their predecessor Georgia Performance Standards, and are not a federal initiative to dictate a national curriculum. Opponents, however, tie it the federal ‘Race to the Top’ initiative, federal funding, and a national curriculum.

In April, speaking to the Pickens County Tea Party, Americans for Prosperity Communications Director Joel Aaron Foster called the Common Core Curriculum Standards the most dangerous offense against educational freedom currently facing the nation, saying it will fundamentally transform education in America. In addition to the standards being linked to funding via ‘Race to the Top’, Foster calls Common Core the standardization of mediocrity.

During his presentation, Foster explained that five validation committee members would not sign-off on the curriculum because it was below par. In her testimony Sandra Stotsky, one of the committee members, said once Common Core is fully adopted high school seniors will be reading on a seventh grade reading level. Another committee member, who worked on the math portion, said Common Core would put the nation two years behind our next closest competitors in math studies. As such, Common Core has not been validated. Further, Foster says Common Core has never been tested, mainly because it’s been given to school districts piecemeal.

One citizen last night, though, went a step further, saying Common Core could essentially be regulated by the U.N.

“The U.N. will eventually take that over,”

he said, noting that his company is currently regulated by the U.N. in the United States. His point, here, is that Common Core creates a standard that could be passed on to the international organization. The United States is already moving toward ceding certain powers to the United Nations, with the Land and Sea Treaty and the Small Arms Treaty.

Following the meeting, several attendees were disappointed in the forum, expecting the talk to focus more pointedly on Common Core. They also felt Carter did not answer questions asked of him.