GOP House leader to state school chief on charter stand: “Were you lying then or are you lying now?”
In talking today to my colleagues who cover politics, several felt State Schools Superintendent John Barge would pay a steep political price for his decision to oppose the Nov. 6th amendment that would recreate a state commission to approve charter schools.
One noted that Gov. Nathan Deal carries grudges for a long, long time. The Charter Schools Commission was shuttered after the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional. The GOP leadership quickly responded with a constitutional amendment that voters will judge in the fall.
Barge opposes a change to the state constitution reviving the appointed commission. He contends that the state Board of Education can already approve charters and does approve them, so why create another costly bureaucracy at a time when school funding has been cut the bone.
The political fallout for Barge’s stand is already under way, as this letter from GOP House leader Ed Lindsey indicates.
I am surprised at the vitriol in this attack on Barge by Lindsey; the Atlanta Republican lawmaker assails Barge for changing his mind on the commission since he ran for school chief back in 2010.
Lindsey’s attack surprises me because members of the Legislature reverse themselves frequently on issues. Barge made his statements as a candidate, before he took over the Department of Education and got a close look at the budget cuts to education – cuts enacted by Lindsey and his colleagues in the General Assembly.
With that said, here is Lindsey’s letter:
John:
I read with interest – and surprise — your statement today opposing the Charter School Amendment. I also went back and reviewed your responses to the questionnaire you filled out when you ran for office in 2010 which can be found here, in which you stated that you “strongly” supported the State Charter School Commission and the creation of state charter schools.
If you were in court on cross examination the people of Georgia might enjoy watching you answer one of my favorite questions when someone impeaches themselves by testifying two entirely different ways to the same question: “were you lying then or are you lying now?”
But we am not in court. Therefore, let me simply say that as one public official to another that the most important attribute one person can have is personal trust in the public arena. You have squandered that today – as well as selling out the children of Georgia who need a State School Superintendent who does more than simply cower before the entrenched forces of the status quo.
State Representative Edward Lindsey (R-Atlanta)
Georgia House Majority Whip
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95 comments Add your comment
Beverly Fraud
August 15th, 2012
12:10 am
So Ed, you want to dismantle the status quo? Sure you can do it from outside the system, but you can also do it from WITHIN.
Strengthen laws that allow teachers to address DISCIPLINE. Strengthen protections against administrative RETALIATION. Those two things in and of themselves, have the potential to cause change from WITHIN.
If you can’t do that, your talk about “what’s best for kids” rings EMPTY.
Mary Elizabeth
August 15th, 2012
12:17 am
“Fortunately for the children of Georgia, Dr.Barge grew a conscious and now will pay the political price for it. Sometimes, things happen for a reason and for the children of Georgia its a good thing!”
=========================================
If Dr. Barge pays a political price for doing the right thing for all of the children of Georgia (as he has done with his public statement of not supporting Georgia’s Constitutional amendment because, as he has stated, laws already exist in which the Superintendent of Georgia’s Schools can act as mediator with local Boards of Education who may not approve of certain charter schools in their districts), then the public will be able to see – in glaring daylight – who, specifically, will be trying to make Dr. Barge pay a political price for following his conscience.
To the public:
Please, take notice. If any politician, such as GOP House Leader Ed Lindsey, denounces Dr. Barge for his public position of good conscience in behalf of all of Georgia’s students, or if any politician tries to make Dr. Barge pay a political price for following his own conscience, know that Georgia’s citizens’ eyes will be upon you, and Georgia’s citizens will see into what you are trying to do. If any politician stoops to playing politics with the education of ALL of Georgia’s children, they should be voted out of office by their constituents. Education is not a shallow political game of winners and losers. It is about preparing all of Georgia’s students to be the best they can be for the betterment of themselves, their families, and for Georgia.
Dr. Barge has not “squandered” the public trust by his statement today; he has gained it. Citizens see more deeply into the political arena in education, in Georgia and nationally, than some are aware.
personal trust in the public arena?
August 15th, 2012
12:51 am
Lindsey is not only grammatically incorrect ‘we AM not in court’…but to hear a politician, any politician
that is a member of our Ga Legislature talk about trust is almost comical if it weren’t so ruinous to he great state that we live in.
Dr. Craig Spinks/ Georgians for Educational Excellence
August 15th, 2012
1:48 am
Friends, if you live in a county whose local BOE listens to you and your fellow residents while voting in the long-term interests of your children, you are fortunate. Ask my friends in Richmond County if they think that they are fortunate.
mountain man
August 15th, 2012
6:13 am
“If Dr. Barge pays a political price for doing the right thing for all of the children of Georgia ”
How is it the right thing for the children of Georgia to be trapped in failing public schools? If you are rich, you can escape by sending your kid to private schools. What options do the average parent have? Local BOE’s want to keep all the kids in their (APS) schools to keep the money coming in from the State. They don’t care about your child’s education.
Pardon My Blog
August 15th, 2012
7:13 am
I have watched all the charter school debates and I wonder, if they are so great and are achieving where other schools are failing, why on earth aren’t all the public schools doing the same thing? It just seems to me it is a way for a select few to recieve public money for a private school type scenario. In the words of Obama “Spread the Wealth”!
MiltonMan
August 15th, 2012
7:33 am
“if the constitutional amendment gets the votes. It’s corruption.”
Typical lib.
Eddie Hall
August 15th, 2012
7:36 am
@ Dr. Spinks I don’t understand this position ? You simply elect better people, and quit re electing the bad ones!
@ mtn man last comment see above!
Mountain Man
August 15th, 2012
7:46 am
“You simply elect better people, and quit re electing the bad ones! ”
And we will vote on the Amandment in NOvember and we will see who wins! And we will get to vote for (or against) John Barge in the next election and we will see who wins. We voted against T-SPLOST and you see who won. T-SPLOST lost primarily because we could not trust those in government to do what they say they are going to do. Would John Barge have won the Republican primary if he had said what he just said during the election?
Mountain Man
August 15th, 2012
7:50 am
“It just seems to me it is a way for a select few to recieve public money for a private school type scenario.”
If by “private school scenario” you mean a school that actually enforces discipline, attendance, grades, and parent involvement, I think that is EXACTLY what parents want. And what they can’t get in their public schools. What John Barge SHOULD have said is: “when public schools have addressed the known issues that prevent them from being good schools: discipline, attendance, social promotion, THEN I will withdraw my support from charter schools. Until then, charter schools are needed to provide competition and choice to encourage public schools to perform better.”
Big Mama
August 15th, 2012
7:54 am
Wow. The same government folks did not trust with TSPLOST funds is the same government that now wants to establish and administer charter schools. How did this same government so quickly win back your trust?
catlady
August 15th, 2012
8:02 am
How about let’s vote out Mr. Lindsey? “he most important attribute one person can have is personal trust in the public arena. ” He and his ilk have destroyed the public trust over and over again. Apparently all he values is “Yes Men.”
Wondering
August 15th, 2012
8:10 am
If your problem with TSPLOST was with giving huge funds to unaccountable officials, why would you consider voting for this amendment? The state Charter School Commission is not accountable to anyone. They won’t be on the ballot. Your local school board is elected locally, it taxes locally, and it operates locally.
We have failing schools, and Dr. Barge step into the fray to find and deploy solutions. I did not vote for him but I will the next time he runs. He has shown in office that he is going to work hard for our kids and thus for our state’s future.
Cutting the education budget and expecting improvement (our legislature) is like saying the beatings will stop when moral improves. Our legislature has crippled our education system and complains because it limps. We (voters) need to stand up and hold them accountable. Otherwise we can all go fish because the jobs will be elsewhere.
cris
August 15th, 2012
8:40 am
maybe wrong here, but didn’t our illustrious Guvna used to be a DEMOCRAT?
cris
August 15th, 2012
8:41 am
…as in SWITCHED PARTIES? Much less reversed a stand on one particular issue?
Governor responds to school chief’s strong opposition to charter amendment on Nov. ballot | Get Schooled
August 15th, 2012
8:46 am
[...] negative, Deal’s response is far more temperate than that of GOP House leader Ed Lindsey of Atlanta, who sent Barge a blistering letter, which I posted yesterday. Please read it as it’s high [...]
Pardon My Blog
August 15th, 2012
8:47 am
@ Mountain Man – you voiced my thoughts exactly.
Pardon My Blog
August 15th, 2012
8:50 am
As I said, if the charter schools are working, should not all schools be modeled the same way? Oh yeah, that would be racist because we would actually require the kids to behave, do their homework, learn and dress like a civilized person and of course that would get in the way of football or basketball practice.
Dawg
August 15th, 2012
10:57 am
Who is being scammed here? Any of Georgia’s 159 County Boards of Education, as well as the Georgia Department of Education, can authorize a charter school. Why is there a need for the taxpayers to pay for another government bureaucracy – The Charter Commission – to authorize a charter school? Someone is being scammed – and it is the GA voters if they pass this constitutional admendment!
South GA citizen
August 15th, 2012
11:23 am
I commend Superintendant Barge for standing up to the establishment. I am a property owner, taxpayer, Republican, and most importantly, a supporter of public education. The legislators and governor are trying to bully voters and legislators into supporting their agenda. I agree that public education needs overhauling. Taking funds away from local systems and giving them to private, for profit companies, is not the answer. Who knows best how to fix the system? A long time educator who is now in charge of the education dept or some ethics violating governor and his cronies who are only worried about padding their pockets? Think about it. Who do your trust to find solutions to educating our students. Let’s take education out of politics and put it in the hands of those teachers and administrators who truly care.
bootney farnsworth
August 15th, 2012
11:28 am
politicians should be very, very careful about accusing another of lying.
Ron O
August 15th, 2012
11:41 am
Maureen, me thinks you doth protest too much!!. There is nothing vicious or over the top with the letter. Perhaps you need to get out of your coccoon sometime, or am I being too vicious?
Hillbilly D
August 15th, 2012
11:43 am
I intend to vote against the amendment. I believe in local control and I think this is just a power grab and a way for somebody’s buddy to make some money.
Hillbilly D
August 15th, 2012
11:44 am
Oops, wrong column.
Anyone But Chip
August 15th, 2012
12:09 pm
Looks like Ed Lindsy is singing from the Chipster’s favorite songbook. He threw a big ‘ol temper tantrum when the Cherokee Board of Education refused to grant a Charter Application and proceeded to call for all BOE members who voted no to refute their Republican Party affiliation.
He then proceeded to direct the Cherokee congressional delegation to re-define how BOE members are elected and gerrymander the districts to ensure that the no votes either ran against each other or were placed in a district already occupied by a yes vote not up for re-election.
All of this he did for the “parents”. <=== Sarcasm
Another Superintendent
August 15th, 2012
12:10 pm
I also support Dr. Barge in his decision. He states that he does, indeed, support the charter school concept. He does not support the process that is being proposed by modifying the Georgia constitution. His point regarding funding school systems that have lost funding and, therefore, required to furlough teachers, lay-off teachers, decrease programs, increase class-sizes, and utilize other cost saving measures is well-taken.
Fully fund this program (public education) before you create another (charter commission) and take required additional dollars to help fund the over 90% of Georgia’s students that are currently being educated in the public schools. Georgia currently has a charter school conduit in place and that is through the school boards that are elected by local citizens.
It is unfair for someone to be criticized for stating his convictions when the process of accomplishing this charter school business is hi-jacked by the leadership of the Georgia Republican legislature that is saying, “do it the way we want it done or you’ll pay”. Part of the problem, here is that John is doing what he is thinking is the right thing to do and being criticized savagely by those that disagree.
Good job, John. I think you’re and individual of high character and committed to the boys and girls of Georgia.
Jim S.
August 15th, 2012
12:53 pm
I love seeing all of these socialists fight over how to use our collective tax generated money…one set of socialists wants the government to continue its essential monopoly in running k-12 public schools and the other group of socialists wants to use our collective resources to give to crazy people who don’t believe in science and want to use our money to teach their kids that dinosaurs and humans lived on the planet simultaneously approximately 6000 years ago, that climate change has nothing to do with human behavior, and that homosexuals are the ones who are threatening the institution of marriage …Great times we live in…AWESOME!
P.S. I know all of you so called ‘conservatives’ will cringe at the thought of being called socialists, but that’s what practically all are and have been for a while…nothing new….just fighting over how socialist we intend to become…taking tax generated money and dishing it out to others based on their status, whether the program is run by the government or not, is six in one, half dozen the other…just my two cents…
Dr. Craig Spinks/ Georgians for Educational Excellence
August 15th, 2012
2:27 pm
Mr. Hall,
You obviously aren’t familiar with Richmond County whose county seat is Augusta. A quote from a most knowledgeable Richmond County resident will explain the serious political, judicial and educational problems in My Hometown: “There isn’t much courage in Augusta, GA.”
Dr. Craig Spinks/ Georgians for Educational Excellence
August 15th, 2012
2:30 pm
Moreover, Representative Lindsey’s choice of words in his criticism of the actions of John Barge are most unfortunate. As John Trotter acknowledges in his earlier post, “a wise man can change his mind but a damned fool never does.”
Dr. Craig Spinks/ Georgians for Educational Excellence
August 15th, 2012
2:43 pm
Any discussion of school financing in The Peach State has to be based upon the results of comprehensive, systematic financial, personnel and efficacy audits of each state-funded educational enterprise in Georgia. Such audits would necessarily be conducted by competent, disinterested, out-of-state entities which would release their unredacted reports to statewide print and electronic media. Discussions in the absence of such data are of problematic accuracy and value.
N.B. Let us remember that there are within our state interests which shudder at the thought of such systematic analyses. Might I include GSBA, the GSSA, the SBAC of GSBA, GAE, PAGE, and corrupt local politicos, for starters?
Just A Teacher
August 15th, 2012
3:18 pm
One Republican calling another Republican a liar is like one German Shepherd calling another
German Shepherd a dog.
Josey Wales
August 15th, 2012
4:04 pm
So what do people say in response to Mr. Barge’s comment? Is it true that the state BoE already does this? If so, why do we need the new commission? Or is he lying?
Tony
August 15th, 2012
5:50 pm
What an offensive response.
First of all, the support of charter schools is not an either/or proposition. Presenting this argument in the form of a false dichotomy is the epitome of ignorance. The current resolution before the voters and the enabling legislation that accompany the referendum are indeed a disastrous attempt to defund public schools at the expense of creating a new funding stream for charter schools.
Mr. Lindsey and the other political leaders who are pushing this agenda need a wake-up call.
Ron F.
August 15th, 2012
6:02 pm
I’m glad Barge changed his position. He clearly sees the funding of schools dropping, never to return. I’m sure he also knows many of the legislators better than we do, and knows their real intent in setting up a parallel system. He knows, as we do, that the funding isn’t going to fall from the sky, and eventually the state will rob more from the education budget and shift still more of the responsibility to local public districts…those that can somehow afford to keep a school or two open. This is nothing but the state planning its long-term takeover of education by slowly squeezing even successful public schools out of existence. I’m very proud of Barge for changing his position and being willing to defy party politics for what he believes. The response from Lindsey is exactly what I would expect- vitriol and accusation because for anyone who dares defy The Party.
Charter Mom
August 15th, 2012
7:38 pm
Very disappointed in Barge. Will not be getting my vote. He is not even factual in his reasoning for changing his mind.
Charter Mom
August 15th, 2012
7:44 pm
I would expect to see all the superintendents supporting Barge. Our county denied denied denied and denied every Charter application. They do not want competition. The Charter School in Cherokee County has already forced the local BOE to create the Cherokee Acadamies, which is an improvement. Competition will only improve the schools and it will hold them accountable for results. Local Superintendents do not want to be shown up or lose any control even if it betters the system.
LD
August 15th, 2012
9:30 pm
@ Josey Wales – yes, the state BoE can approve charters. Here is the state DoE’s charter webpage which should answer many questions: http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/External-Affairs-and-Policy/Charter-Schools/Pages/default.aspx
Also, on the DoE’s home page you will find a link to Dr. Barge’s letter explaining his position, along with 3 supporting documents.
Dr. Barge is not lying, and many of us, who are not against charter schools, are also wondering why we need a department that duplicates the job of the DoE.
Hope this helps!
Ron F.
August 15th, 2012
9:35 pm
LD: thanks for the link. That helps explain a lot and put the superintendent’s position in proper perspective. I wonder how many will read and accept the facts.
Alex
August 15th, 2012
10:24 pm
Clearly, Edward Lindsey is egotistical…had to let us know he is a lawyer – not a very good one from what I understand. His wife wins the bread.
Anyway, the guy is a snob. Simply wants to take kids with all the privileges and make sure they are segregated from this who would slow them down. Hey, maybe grouping kids by color, IQ, gender and language would work out great! But, Edward (and his buddy Jan Jones does not care about all kids…just the few.
This amendment is going down by the same margin as TSPLOST and for the same reasons….you cannot trust a politician!
bdawg
August 16th, 2012
9:02 am
Way to go Dr. Barge. Lindsey and Deal should be put in the same boat without a paddle. People are learning more and more not to trust our “Golden Domers” (re: TSPLOST). Over the last 8 years, the legislature has robbed public schools to the tune of 2 billion $$. I applaud Dr. Barge for seeing and hearing the facts from public school leaders and realize what has happened over the last 8 years.
Good job Dr. Barge.
Heika
August 16th, 2012
11:22 am
And my vote will cancel YOURS IvyParent? What do you think about that huh? Huh? HUH?!!!
RedandBlackPeachy
August 16th, 2012
11:42 am
I am concerned that a Lindsey would think it is a good idea to create more government department when his stance should be the opposite. If there is money to create the commission AND the state superindent’s office is able to do exactly what the commission is being requested to do, it does seem like overkill and a squander of money to create the commission. Considering the drop in property tax revenue and the new GA unemployment numbers it doesn’t seem as if we have the money to blow.
Steve W
August 16th, 2012
8:44 pm
This Amendment is nothing but a feedbag for the PIGS in the state house like Ed Lindsay and his ilk. Thank God John Barge has the political courage to stand up to the bullies in Atlanta. TD is right, any good Republican (conservative) will be for local control of schools. Lindsay and his minions aren’t interested in the schools, just the $$$ payoffs they’ll continue to get year after year from lobbyists and crooks if this Amendment passes. Fortunately, the people of Georgia get to vote on this, not just Lindsay’s toadies.
War of words escalates in charter school amendment fray between Barge and GOP leadership | Get Schooled
August 17th, 2012
6:47 am
[...] After his strong public rebuke of John Barge, I asked Lindsey this question in an email: Wondering if you have any second thoughts on your initial response to John Barge? [...]
Thomas
August 20th, 2012
2:08 pm
Obvious he cares nothing about Charters or education of higher standards for GA children. It was equally intriguing to see the recent 11 Alive news report about how State of GA was under reporting dropout rates (Shame!). Then you read about the low graduation rates for GA. Rather than improving the education it was easier for them to water down the Federal Requirements with exemptions. Then they stripped the graduation requirements Quote from GADOE “ Students seeking a Georgia high school diploma, who entered high school prior to July 2011, must pass the Georgia High School Graduation Tests (GHSGT) in four content areas as well as the Georgia High School Writing Test.
As a result of amendments to State Board of Education rule in April 2011, the cohort of students who enrolled in high school from Fall 2008 through June 2011 must demonstrate their proficiency in the four GHSGT content areas by either passing each of the GHSGTs or by passing one of the two equivalent End of Course Tests in each corresponding content area. These students are also required to take and pass the Georgia High School Writing Test (GHSWT) to be eligible for a diploma.
Students who enter grade nine in 2011 – 2012 and beyond will not take, and are not required to pass, the GHSGT. They are required to take and pass the Georgia High School Writing Test. “
This is their answer to fix the low graduation rates by lowering the standards! GA ranks where in Education in the USA and World??