State school chief explains his endorsement of voucher proponent

Was it appropriate for Barge to use the DOE e-mail distribution system to address this political issue? I don’t think so.

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… And Maureen, you’ve squandered forests of newsprint in your quest to prevent inner-city and rural parents from having real choices in education.

So kindly remind us once again of exactly WHAT education reforms you could support—beyond shoveling ever more wasted tax dollars down the rat-holes of troubled inner-city and rural public schools less fortunate Georgians live with?

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Barge’s statement is reassuring. However, the state would still be much better off if Will the Winner did not win.

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It makes me wonder what other “favors” Barge will have to later repay. Anyone that pays attention to the legislature in GA knows that Rogers wants to elimnate public education and has been working towards that end for some time. There is no justification for this endorsment from Barge.

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Oh, I’m sure Chip rogers has some great plans for improving public education in Georgia. Just like his plan B for T-Splost he recently said that he will unveil. Because Chip is all about doing things for the collective good. That’s why got into government.

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Mikey D.
July 27th, 2012
5:13 pm

When we feed the trolls, they keep posting.

If we start ignoring them, perhaps they will grow bored, unless, of course, they are getting paid to post here.

As far as Rogers & Barge, I understand why an honorable man such as John Barge would give his support to someone who supported his own election. I also would fully expect a weasel-like politician to twist said honorable man’s support for their own benefit.

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I like Barge, definitely better than several of the previous idiots in his position! But he just lost some points with me, even with his explanation of his position. Endorsing Chip Rogers is, in my humble opinion, a bit like endorsing the fox while he stands outside the chicken coop with bloody feathers stuck to his snout.

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Pride and Joy, 4:53 pm

There is nothing wrong with parents seeking a public charter school for their child(ren) if they cannot receive the quality of education they think that they should be receiving for their child(ren) in their traditional public school, but charter schools should not be used as a means of dismantling public education and, unfortunately, that is the political realilty of what has been happening, nationwide and in Georgia, because of an ultraconservative political agenda. Thus, an informed citizen has to wear two “hats” – he must seek a satisfactory school setting for his child or children, and he must also be an informed citizen who is able to ascertain political movements in the nation.

I believe that it is healthy for our nation to have a proper balance between the public and private sectors, and I believe that the “starve the beast of government” ideological agenda has, over the past 3 to 4 decades, created a nation that has become out-of-balance, as well as polarized. Propaganda has deliberately been used to malign public schools, in general, for several decades (although some public schools do need improvement). I do not believe, either, that the public’s money – via taxes – should be used for private “for profit” schools. I believe this would, ultimately, create a situation whereby students would be used for profit purposes, and teachers would be seen (and used) as commodies to accommodate that profit.

Rep. Jan Jones (a member of ALEC) who sponsored HR 1162, which is now the amendment to Georgia’s Constitution to establish state commission charter schools, outside of the jurisdiction of local boards of education, had also sponsored another bill which would have allowed the administrators of these state commission charter schools to disallow public school teachers, functioning within these special charter schools, from becoming members of Georgia’s Teacher Retirement System. I do not think that that was a fair move regarding Georgia’s public school teachers, some of whom may have desired to become a part of the TRS of Georgia. That bill brought to mind an outdated (I had hoped) paternalism toward teachers, of decades ago. Teachers must be valued as independent, autonomous persons who are capable of making their own choices in that regard. That bill was subsequently pulled. However, one must question the political intent behind its creation, in the first place.

I would urge parents to become as informed as possible about instructional realities facing teachers in public schools, and also how standardized tests can be very useful as individual diagnostic aids to both teachers and parents (and mature students). I have tried to help educate the public, in this regard, on this blog. I believe more teacher inservice training programs should be established (and funded) for their in depth understanding and utilization of standardized testing as a diagnostic instrument, as well as inservice training programs in ways to accommodate the varied instructional levels of students within each grade level, in the main curriculum areas. I think parents could also receive training, through after school inservice programs (as I had led for parents in my active teaching days) in the use of standardized test scores and instructional techniques. These are positive ways to use standardized test scores and upgrade instruction within traditional public schools, as well as in public charter schools. I believe that traditional public schools and public charter schools should be working together in harmony, not in dissonance. And certainly, public charter schools should not be used to dismantle traditional public schools. Traditional public schools have much to offer the state of Georgia. With the coming educational technological advances, standardized test scores for each student in reading, mathematics, science, even social studies, and other areas, can easily be transferred from one traditional public schools to another in the state of Georgia when students transfer from one school to another (and mobility is increasing). I do not believe that charter schools, which are isolated from local boards of education, will have that kind of coordination with one another. They will be more isolated from one another. This is another reason that the public should insist upon not only maintaining traditional public schools, but helping traditional public schools to improve and flourish. Public charter schools and traditional public schools must work together, and not be viewed as enemies to one another. By working together without hidden agendas for dismantling traditional public schools, everyone will win, and the political conflict will certainly become less intense. It is better to build than to destroy.

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@Maureen … I fear you’re wasting your time arguing with Jane. She reminds me of the person who said, quite seriously, “Don’t try to confuse me with the facts. I’ve already made up my mind.”

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I live in a rural area and I would not have known about the endorsement had I not gotten the email from Supt. Barge. In my opionion, we should all be very concerned when any educational leader endorses Senator Rodgers (misquoted or not). I believe the “chief advocate” for Georgia’s Public School students should be a part of the solution and not a part of the problem. I want to say more but I am still trying to get over the astonishment. The majority get what they deserve! WC

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My first thought as I read this post was, “Classic example of I’ve scratched your back, now you scratch mine,” which Mary Elizabeth also recognized. It is disappointing, because even though I didn’t vote for Barge, I haven’t had any complaints about his leadership…until now.

By the way, Maureen, I have resolved to use my real name in an effort to promote transparency on this blog. I am one of those who read your blog far more often than I post, and I am so tired of those who use multiple pseudonymns to bolster their politically driven arguments.

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And in the spirit of full disclosure, let me state that I teach in Calhoun County, Georgia. I am a member of the Professional Association of Georgia Educators (PAGE), an organization which has NO collective bargaining rights and NO affiliation with NAE. Jane W (and various aliases) are free to look me up on our county website to verify that I am in no way, shape, or form connected to a teacher’s union.

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@Jane –

You lose your credibility if you quote movies as the source of your arguments. Your opinion should be based on verifiable facts. A movie that analyzed education in a handful of major cities and offered commentary on it does not have the education system “figured out.”

If you want to be part of the solution, go out and do some real research and tell us how to tackle the issues.

I have said this before and I will say it again… If you take the kids of parents that care about education and segregate them into their own school, they logically have a decent chance of performing better than the gutted school that now contains those that don’t care. However, it does nothing to address the root causes of the problem.

Once you’ve gutted public schools and push EVERYONE into the charter schools, you will see the same exact problems in the charter schools.

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“Once you’ve gutted public schools and push EVERYONE into the charter schools, you will see the same exact problems in the charter schools.”

One may see the same problems but consider that the problems will be greatly amplified and more prevalent in the greater society, especially crime.

But, of course, privateers, à la Chip Rogers, stand to win either way: profit from privatized charter schools and profit from privatized prison systems. So, to optimize profit making, it makes perfect sense privateers would establish lots and lots of charter schools in, say, the “African American” community.

This makes it all the more disappointing John Barge would stoop to engage the “you scratched my back now I must scratch your back” game with Chip Rogers.

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{{{yawn}}}

Much ado about nothing. I care little about who Barge endorses.

In fact, the only folks who ever swayed my vote by endorsing a candidate is the AJC as I will generally vote against a candidate endorsed by them. So, at least the AJC editorial board is good for something….

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Tony, privatize education and in fifty years we will be a third world country. Private schools don’t educate students any better than public schools. Study after study has PROVEN this to be true. The difference in whether or not a school is successful, is typically SES (Socio-Economic Status) When we compare apples to apples, (i.e. students with similar SES, there is no difference in test scores between private schools and public schools. Please GOOGLE it. There are NUMEROUS studies that back this up.
If you eliminate Public education, we will vastly increase the number of families in poverty. I grew up poor as a church mouse, but PUBLIC education was my ticket to the middle class. If you want to improve PUBLIC education, go to a school in an impoverished, inner-city setting and VOLUNTEER one day a month. Put your money where your mouth is. Have a POSITIVE influence on kids that need that in their lives. Get your friends to do the same. I guarantee you will change your tune. It isn’t schools that are failing, it is society. We ALL have responsibility for that.

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Like it or not, this is how politics should work.Everyone rarely agrees on a course of action, compromises are made.The tea party has tried to extinguish it, but without bilateral compromise and cooperation, the wheels don’t turn.

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President HGarrett of GSSA mass emailed this out yesterday:

Ladies and gentlemen:
I’m sure you will understand if I make the major focus of this version of Friday notes the beginnings of our plan for grass-roots training sessions to oppose the November constitutional amendment on charter schools. Much more detail will come very soon, but I think it is time for each of you to begin thinking about how you, your schools, and your community can become involved in this grass-roots effort.
In late August and in mid- to late September, we will be holding a total of six sessions around the state at which we will provide key information about the constitutional amendment, materials that can be used to make our points (printed and electronic), and opportunities during those sessions for participants to break into groups to brainstorm even more ways to “get the word out” in local communities. At each of those six sessions, we will specifically invite representatives of approximately 30 school systems to attend, making the sessions large, but not unwieldy. As I have said, specific dates and locations (all will begin at 7:00 p.m.) will be announced shortly, and there will be a procedure for registering for the meetings.
As you begin to consider who should come to the sessions as representatives of your school systems, I would ask that you bring no more than ten people (Don’t travel in school system vehicles, and don’t use taxpayer funds to pay for the travel!). I’d suggest, in addition to the superintendent of each district, that you invite one or two board members, two teachers (one from PAGE and one from GAE), a principal or two, your chamber of commerce president (or a representative of the chamber), a PTA leader, a key business person in your community, and however many others it takes to reach your maximum of ten people. I think it goes without saying that these attendees should be people very willing to assist in the campaign on this critical issue.
Even prior to that time, though, we are doing our best to assist local superintendents and boards in waging the battle. We have a powerpoint that I would be glad to share (Just email me and ask for it; I will likely send it to your private email address.), and we have some brief talking points that might prove useful as you chat with community members about the issue (which, obviously, most people don’t understand). In addition, we are still attempting to raise money for the purpose of some late-campaign advertising (knowing that we won’t be able to compete with the big money that will support the other side of the issue), and the web site (www.votesmartgeorgia.com) is now capable of accepting online donations. We’ll push that envelope a bit harder in the coming days. Stay closely tuned.
I’ll close by making reference to a political issue that I had not planned to address this week, but since it is out all over the place and has now been picked up by the AJC and other papers, I’ll say a word or two. State Superintendent of Schools John Barge has gained some unwanted publicity by giving a campaign endorsement to Senator Chip Rogers, the General Assembly’s leading critic of public schools and known to us and everyone else as the chief proponent of a voucher-based system of education. Dr. Barge has sent an email to superintendents in an attempt to explain his reasoning for making such an endorsement (If you didn’t get it,click here to read Maureen Downey’s blog in the AJC.), and I will refrain from commenting on the email and simply allow each of you to make your own assessment of it. I have had a lengthy conversation with Dr. Barge about the message that I think this endorsement has sent to public school educators in this state, and I will miss my guess if some serious conversations about this political issue don’t continue.
I hope each of you has a restful weekend, and I thank you for your continued support of GSSA.

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@Jane W, Don H, Edukrat, and others:

I realize you love to detract from the topic by throwing the “teacher union” issue into every single debate. For the most part, you are successful in your efforts to steer the conversation away from the topic.

For just a few minutes, I’m going to play along with you “teacher union” rants.

Last year I posted a couple of comments on an education blog at the Washington Post. The topic was the APS cheating scandal. In my comments I provided a link to the AJC whistleblower article. The response to my link was overwhelming dismay at the lack of support for the those teachers. Several wanted to know why the teachers’ union did not protect the whistleblowers.

I pointed out to the posters that GA is a right-to-work state and the whistleblowers had little to no protection. Even the GaPSC admitted that there was little they could do to protect the teachers.

What a shame.

I’ve never been interested in joining a teacher union. Quite frankly I’ve never given it much thought. That is until the likes of Chip Rogers and others entered the Gold Dome and started wrecking havoc on GA public education.

Now…I’d gladly join a teacher union.

Keep up the good work. I strongly suspect I’m not the only one who has been pushed into reconsidering the merits of teacher unions.

You’re silly redundant posts only serve to strengthen my thoughts on teacher unions.

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see also: http://www.empoweredga.org/Articles/chipping-away-1.html

does Sup’t Barge really believe this?

while I know the cuts to public education over the past several years are crippling to many of you, I maintain hope that, should the Senate Majority Leader win his bid for re-election, we can work together to begin to restore some funding to your struggling systems.

Really? Chip Rogers to the rescue for our state’s schools . . .? really?

That seems either disingenuous or hopelessly naive– neither is a good explanation for our state’s “top education official”

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Is it just me or does it seem odd that an official like State School Superintendent would endorse anybody (forget for a minute that Chip Rogers is one of the chief leaders against public schools) Even if it was somebody unabashedly FOR public schools, it seems bizarre that a state official would endorse anybody– doesn’t he have to work with whomever wins? I mean, would the state’s Attorney General take a side in a state house race or the head of EPD endorse a State Senate candidate? Maybe so but I have missed that little curiosity of local statewide politics in The Empire State Of The South. Meanwhile this really makes me look forward to the statewide commission, appointed of course, who will decide which for-profit out-of-state charter management companies will get to set up shop in your town too and start making money off those school children . . . NOT!

See also:

http://www.parentsunited.org/aleceducationagenda.html
http://bit.ly/A0Qr80
http://bit.ly/IzTzKj
http://mediamatters.org/research/201205090007

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Bertis Downs, 9:53 am

Very well said. Thank you.

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… And that union bosses see charter schools, tuition vouchers and practically all other reforms as potential threats to the REVENUE STREAMS coming from dues collections. Northern schools freed from regulations, after all, are schools where union membership may no longer be mandatory.

In your mind that’s more than enough reason to deny parents real choices.

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Hey Google: has it ever occurred to you to think, as you add to your paycheck I’m sure you’re getting for the endlessly inane posts you make, that in most “right-to-work” states and many “union” states, the legislatures are currently led by Republicans? That means, in terms of support, that evidently the “liberal” unions aren’t doing such a good job of getting people elected. And considering how the conservative legislatures are functioning, I doubt very seriously we’ll see any supposedly liberal policies even get debated in committee, let alone actually make it to a vote. It’s rather pointless ro keep discussing this when clearly the “union bosses” have absolutely zero policy influence in Georgia or any other deeply conservative state in the south. But keep up the rant- I’m sure it helps improve your paycheck.

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@Hey Teacher 10:41 am- I agree. I believe that local school board races should be non-partisan as well. Education isn’t a Republican or Democratic issue. It’s been cast that way by both sides, but much like the pitting of traditional public school supporters against charter school advocates, the “war” is a diversion so we don’t follow the money trail and see that none of these elected officials is interested in improving anything other than their cash flow.

Our local BOE race was hijacked by our legislative delegation under the guise of reapportionment and 2 members were removed from the board without we, the people, voting on it. Now we have folks calling one candidate a Planned Parenthood advocate- as if that has one thing to do with being on a school board and as if that makes her Satan’s handmaiden. But, because they have to declare a party, and Lord knows no Dem would get elected to be dog catcher here, they are all GOP, thus have to adhere blindly to all the GOP platform regardless of its connection-or not- to education. Make the races non-partisan and let’s get party politics out of the mix so we can start talking about how to make ALL schools good for ALL kids, not just a select few.

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