DeKalb’s Nancy Jester: Parents deserve more choices. “Yes” on charter schools amendment.
DeKalb school board member Nancy Jester supports the charter schools amendment. Here is why:
For an opposing view, read DeKalb board member Eugene Walker’s piece.
By Nancy Jester
Let’s set the record straight about who controls education in Georgia. Superintendents and their administrators do. Local boards of education do hire the Superintendent but once in place, these educrats are in the driver’s seat. The legal framework in our state reinforces the supremacy of the superintendent’s position relative to a board.
School system administrations choose who works in the system and what they do. We often hear that the board and administration are a “governance team”. Sadly, “the team” is dominated by board members with “Stockholm Syndrome” or they are accomplices in the abduction of local control. All of this power comes with a hefty contract that insulates superintendents and gives them a golden parachute at taxpayer’s expense even if their tenure is marked by failure. Make no mistake about it. Local control is superintendent control. If you agree with the superintendent and they are making good decisions for your particular community, you’re probably content. But, if they are not, you are in a constant struggle with little to no redress.
The charter school amendment is perceived as an existential threat to the gravy train for educrats throughout the state. That is what the fight is about. The “local control” that is hailed by the current purveyors of the fine educational products in Georgia, is “educrat control”. They push the buttons and pull the levers and try to make you believe that “stakeholders” have a say in it all.
Despite state legislation on school councils, parents don’t get a seat at the table when selecting a principal for their school. In the struggle for power and control, the educrats have failed you and your children; all the while collecting fat paychecks and doling out six-figure jobs and lucrative contracts to more educrats. If you realize that your voice as a citizen is so diminished within the current power structure of education, you will know that voting for the charter amendment is one of the solutions.
Parents deserve more choices. Communities deserve more input into how their schoolhouses are run. Charter schools are innovation incubators and are governed by a volunteer group of parents, teachers and community members. That’s local control. They get to choose the companies that provide services to their school. If they do a bad job, they will lose their charter and parents will leave their school for a better product. If they are responsible and create a valuable product for their community they will thrive and our children will get the education they deserve.
This responsiveness is completely missing in education today. In fact, in DeKalb we have some schools that have been labeled “failing” for as long as a decade, yet remain open with no replacement of staff. All of the “turn around” plans, accountability measures and excuses brought to us courtesy of the “local control” we have today do nothing to rid our system of failure or make it more efficient, helpful and valuable for the students and community.
Please join me in supporting real local control. Please join me in advocating for kids and taxpayers in DeKalb County and throughout our state. Please join me by voting YES on the charter school amendment.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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132 comments Add your comment
Bc
October 20th, 2012
2:00 pm
Bootney, you really are a bully. There’s never any reason for you to incessantly post the same crap very day on. Stop trolling the blogs to pick fights.
I love teaching. I hate what it is becoming...
October 20th, 2012
2:14 pm
@FairLady “Many of us parents do not have the skills needed or time available to be there in PTA or provide needed support. ”
I think you just revealed more than you intended. Too many claim they do not have the “time” to invest in their children’s education. They had the children, but say they are too overburdened to invest time and energy in them. And somehow, this is the schools’ fault?
My parents raised me in a city with a generally dismal public school system. So they moved from one small apartment to another across zip codes to insure I was able to attend the best public schools available. Yes, THEY made the effort to support my education, at a cost to themselves and their lifestyles. We lived on a pretty plain diet of things like beans, rice, and powdered milk for a few years so my younger sister could attend a private school. They were strongly involved in the PTA and volunteered in the schools, yet they both worked full time jobs! In short, they put their money, time, and efforts into their children, and did all they could to support us.
I hate to break it to you, but many charters require parent participation above and beyond what public schools require…so if you don’t have the skills or time to support a public school, you won’t be welcome in many charter schools.
But that is understood, isn’t it? What is NOT being said is that many rather hope “those” kinds of parents and children get “left behind” in the increasingly struggling public schools – because they aren’t really welcome in many charters anyway. Very few charters being established by “for profit” companies are there to support low SES students. The ones that are, are going a good job for the most part. However, they are also ones that were able to open WITHOUT this charter amendment. Interesting.
I suspect you have plenty of “time and skills” to support your children. You are obviously well spoken, well educated, own a computer, and have the time to post on this blog frequently. So forgive my skepticism, but I do not believe your children are truly “stuck” in some failing school.
Yet, you are pushing to open a door that will funnel taxpayer money towards corporate run/politically appointed schools (two groups which seem to favor profit and power OVER the social contract) which you HOPE will support educating your child for you…maybe. I am not sure this is your real reason for support of this amendment, as you keep sidestepping the actual concerns others have raised over this amendment. You admit you aren’t even sure if more charters will help. You just HOPE they will and are willing to squander taxpayer money to find out. Heck, maybe the state should just take children away from parents from birth, and raise them. I suspect that would help in a lot of cases, so should we go that route, because it might help?
Parent support for public schools does not have to mean being in the classroom day after day, or buying the school wrapping paper or t-shirts, or attending all the PTA meetings. If more parents would just be willing to put in a small amount of time to help support their child’s education by making sure they read nightly, do their homework, get to school on time, are well rested and well fed, are respectful in class and value education, our schools would not be “failing” so many.
Again, why not look to what is working in those public school districts that ARE successful? Why is no one pushing for this? Could it be because there is no real profit in it?
catlady
October 20th, 2012
2:39 pm
What Nancy is saying is, “It’s not my fault” Sorry, Nancy, you hired the superintendent, and you voted on his package of pay, etc. You had the power to insert a quick disposal term if you don’t like his decisions, but you did not.
And you have been willing to give SACS the power it has over you and your system. I hope I live to see the day that systems tell SACS to take a hike! SACS demands that school board members give up their right of free speech. It should be starved to death by systems refusing to play its games.
lahopital
October 20th, 2012
2:53 pm
Maybe booty works for one of those charter school managment companies.
DunMoody
October 20th, 2012
2:54 pm
Good grief. For the sake of balancing this barrage of chastisement, let me say that Nancy is spot on. I have fought with DeKalb’s central office over and over by working with the inept system they have created. Three principals – no parent input beyond a pro forma 15-minute meeting with an area superintendent each time AFTER the principal has been named. A charter researched, written, and fully supported by teachers and parents – set aside over and over again by DeKalb because they don’t like the autonomy and local control. Up to six weeks of school each year wasted due to inadequately prepared and funded teacher staffing, textbooks, materials, and more. SPLOST monies set aside for schools in our cluster suddenly not available, mishandled, or spent elsewhere. Sharing a decrepit football stadium, therefore losing a profound sense of “home” games. Elementary schools bursting at the seams, a situation that will soon hit DHS – a renovation UNDER built for the population explosion. Begging for facility repairs and bathroom toilet paper.
When you’re in a school and school system that’s working, this Charter School amendment looks unnecessary. But for those of us in systems that DO NOT WORK, the amendment is very much needed.
What is everyone so afraid of? If a charter school doesn’t hit the mark in terms of student achievement, it closes. Done.
Thanks, Nancy. You are right on every count.
DunMoody
October 20th, 2012
2:55 pm
And, CatLady, Nancy did NOT support this superintendent hire. And she’s one of the few on the School Board who has questioned this county’s mismanged funds over and over again – to no avail.
Dunwoody Mom
October 20th, 2012
2:55 pm
@catlady, to be fair, Nancy voted against the hiring of Dr. Atkinson.
Dunwoody Mom
October 20th, 2012
2:58 pm
While I disagree with Nancy on the Charter Amendment, I don’t question her committment to the students of DCSD.
catlady
October 20th, 2012
3:01 pm
Bootney, your observations are right on target! I loved the 10:40 about parental choices.
Does FairLady=GoodMother and all the other incarnations?
My sheep-like community just turned out 3 school board members in part because of their unwillingness to support what the people wanted. The other 2 members will be gone at the next school board election.
d
October 20th, 2012
3:08 pm
I just got home from Minneapolis. I can’t wait to read my autographed copy of Finnish Lessonn.. Pasi Sahlberg was an amazing speaker who would argue vehemently against this amendment because it is bad for Georgia and bad for Georgia’s children.
mojo
October 20th, 2012
3:09 pm
@Bootney boo-boo and catlady, have you been paying attention? Ms. Jester voted no to hiring the most recent superintendent. She votes no more than anyone else, points out the system’s failures all the time, and holds the administration accountable. I have heard her ask what accreditation can mean when a system has failed students for a decade. She is the lone voice of reason and the only person watching the money in Dekalb.
Bootney boo-boo, based on the problems you have with parents, I think you need to work at a charter school! You’d finally get the parental involvement that you so desire.
The truth in Dekalb is that you have a district that has many different groups that have different needs and ideas about education. You have an unresponsive administration that won’t meet the needs of the different communities. They won’t take pay cuts (Jester asked) and they buy new cars (another no vote by her). The board will approve charters to benefit “friends and family” and church groups in one area and give them plenty of funding. The board won’t even consider charters for some communities. In Dekalb you have a Tyranny of the Majority. Look it up. Having the state to appeal to is a check and balance on this.
Nona
October 20th, 2012
3:41 pm
How ’bout we re-engineer our existing antiquated public education system instead of creating a redundant one? This proposed amendment smells like backroom political favor-trading and has arrows pointing to fat private bank accounts at taxpayers’ expense. No thanks.
Georgia and education not compatible
October 20th, 2012
3:54 pm
I am amazed that people would willingly vote to have their true choice taken away. There are other alternatives but you will have to pay for them, is that the real problem?
So what happens when these charter school businesses “bribe,” I meant lobby these individuals on the charter school committee? What if the product is sub par? How will YOU change committee members? What will YOU do parents?
Honestly, the handwriting is on the wall when our governor and his committee have appointed someone to run the lottery who has no prior experience. All of the clues as to how this charter amendment will eventually turn out are already apparent but are most of you savvy enough to realize it?
d
October 20th, 2012
4:00 pm
Here’s the problem… If I were in Gwinnett, I would not worry if a child was at Annistown, White Oak, Lawrenceville, Meadowcreek, or Dacula Elementaries…. I know that my child would have all the same opportunities at any of those schools. Can I say the same in comparing, say Vanderlyn, Henderson Mill, Livsey, Cedar Grove, Rainbow, or Rock Chapel Elementaries? I don’t know. The answer isn’t, however, a charter. It is making sure that no matter what Georgia (and I am not saying DeKalb) public school a child attends, that child has the same opportunity to succeed wherever he or she may be. Equity is the key. Perhaps we need to reexamine the fact that our property taxes are the largest portion of school funding. We create haves and have nots by that very simple fact. Take that out of the equation and suddenly we can look at a whole new prospect for education. Then lets look at the 800lb gorilla of child poverty. When nearly 1 in 4 American children are impoverished, we have a greater problem than a school. Finally, let’s focus on the role of the teacher and the student. With the test-based accountability system that we are so focused on, we lose the student. If we continue on this path and say we are going to hold the teacher responsible for student learning, what are we going to hold the students themselves responsible for?
Eddie Hall
October 20th, 2012
4:02 pm
Tell whay should parents be involved with hiring a principal? What makes them qualified?
living in an outdated ed system
October 20th, 2012
4:39 pm
Thank you, Ms. Jester, for your courage. She is 100% right. Do what’s right for Georgia, and support this amendment!
DeKalbParent
October 20th, 2012
4:51 pm
Nancy, Thanks for having the courage to take a stand against your fellow BOE members. There is a special place for you in Education Heaven.
Private Citizen
October 20th, 2012
5:08 pm
Dear Eddie Hall,
“Georgia law MANDATES all employees be approved by the BOE.”
Yes. That’s the problem. It’s called micromanaging. If you go to work for General Motors as a worker, you do not want to Board of the company looking at you. It is just creepy, too creepy. It skips the middle manager caste and makes the tiny amount of people at the top be looking down their nose at who does the work. It is an inappropriate system of management, the very source of corruption. On what basis does this “Board” approve individual hires as teachers.” Those with nepotism last names of x/y/z and on what basic does the board obstruct hires? Rumor, innuendo, a phone call of something somebody said? It is just as creepy as can be. I’m sure you’ve heard the term “creeper” – a person who hangs around and sweet talks, sort of like mild stalking. Now, I am not saying anything about any person but I am just telling you that from the perspective of a worker that has worked about 30 jobs, this “board” micromanagement routine of supervising the hire and signing off on it from janitors to the people who mow the lawns on up to teachers is just very creepy. These “boards of education” do not get it. It is just incredible to me. The inappropriateness of it should recognizable to anybody at first glance.
But I’ll be honest with you, here on the plantation system in Georgia, people aren’t real quick on the uptake.
Other topics of note: The rest of the first world has health care for everybody and it is done on a local level. It means you get medical care and leave without debt and with your pocketbook and bank account in tact. Apparently nobody can comprehend that concept either, although it is the standard in the 1st world outside the USA.
Hey Eddie, turn off the TV and go read the OECD reports on education and health care. Take care, BRO.
living in an outdated ed system
October 20th, 2012
5:33 pm
@Maureen, are you telling me that @Bootney doesn’t get complaints for his/her aggressive vitriole? Seems like you are selectively screening posts on this blog and you will always support those who protect the status quo.
I am not trying to pick a fight with @Bootney, but it seems that we need to remind everyone what the ground rules are. Would @Bootney get up in a Dekalb School Board Meeting and be as disrespectful as he/she is online? It’s very sad that people take out their personal frustrations on others. It doesn’t matter whether we agree with Ms. Jester or not, but we should NEVER forget that civil discourse is what made our nation great. We need to get back to the values of democracy where we debate issues respectfully. It’s so easy for folks to hide behind anonymity and be disrespectful like many commenters on this blog.
Georgia and education not compatible
October 20th, 2012
5:44 pm
I guess I was right, some Georgians want socialism as evidenced by Private citizen…
“Other topics of note: The rest of the first world has health care for everybody and it is done on a local level. It means you get medical care and leave without debt and with your pocketbook and bank account in tact. Apparently nobody can comprehend that concept either, although it is the standard in the 1st world outside the USA.”
You do realize that the people (in other 1st world countries) pay a high tax and most everybody would prefer to come to the United States for any treatment.
In case some of you forgot or where never taught…nothing is free. You pay for everything directly or indirectly. This is also true in other 1st world countries.
Private Citizen
October 20th, 2012
6:22 pm
“civil discourse is what made our nation great.”
What made our nation great was men with wooden teeth in canoes in icy waters, and militias shooting down the British, and Ben Franklin going over and getting help from the French who sent their navy in our hour of need. The French also sent electric trains for this thing called “MARTA.”
Private Citizen
October 20th, 2012
6:39 pm
“I guess I was right, some Georgians want socialism as evidenced by Private citizen…”
I just don’t want to get ripped off by the doctor at the place where the 25 year old doctor tells you to get xrays of this and that before they even talk to you. (cha-ching! $1000. right there!). And I don’t want to die in bankruptcy and sign my house over to a hospital, as is common where I live for people who get old and infirmed,
Let me tell you a story. American doctor goes on ski vacation to Switzerland and his wife has an appendicitis while they’re there, requires surgery. Doctor swaggers down to the main desk and gets out his checkbook and want to know how to make out the check and the desk person just sort of looks at him and says, “There’s no charge. We take care of that here.” NOW, I have taken a person to the doctor in Switzerland and can attest that this system is true.
You have bought the bologna about “socialized” is some how the enemy of free market and capitalism and private wealth and you are so very very mistaken. The best thing to happen to Atlanta is Porsche setting up headquarters in the old Ford Taurus plant just north of the airport. It seems like the “socialists” have to come to you and spend money. “Socialism” is a small part of the economy is companies that use it and I could use the proper economic terms for them but you have already demonstrated a lack of respect and shown yourself, at least for the present to be so DUMB (I am trying to get your attention) as to ignore the social care system from the land of Porsche, BMW, Mercedes Benz, Cartier, Nokia, Pablo Picasso, VOLVO, SAAB, and anything else I can think of to get your attention. Basically every 1st world country except the USA has a health care system. You know how the highway system works? You can get on it and use it? That’s how healthcare is done in other countries.
Now if the USA is so dishonest and dysfunctional that it can only provide for the rich, I think that is an entirely different question.
Let me add that if you are in one of these “socialist” countries where they have all of that high dollar capitalist business and income, you are welcome to buy additional private insurance and go to fancy hospital, but the point is the workers and their familes are covered and it does not cost you $2500. if you have plantar’s wart on your foot or your kid breaks their arm playing soccer.
If you actually care about improving education, get some health care system and start caring about your kids and families. I’m going to tell you the difference between you and me. I’ve had a whooooole bunch of students without eyeglasses. And you can differentiate instruction as much as much as you like, but it doesn’t stop the headaches or make them see any better.
Private Citizen
October 20th, 2012
6:59 pm
“most everybody would prefer to come to the United States”
Dear one, you’re really generalizing, which is a peculiar American habit, and you’re doing so to advantage your view, which could be seen as an ethics problem.
Anyway, let’s keep it real. Someone wrote about the issue, at the risk of being tacky, I’ll make a quote prior to the link. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/04/05/963541/-Why-do-people-come-to-the-US
“n 2010, Newsweek reported that “The European Union has attracted 26 million migrants in the past two decades—a full 30 percent more than America’s 20 million over the same span.” However, Euractiv puts this into perspective…”
The Deal
October 20th, 2012
7:01 pm
Bootney, most of the time I agree with you, but you are way off in blaming parent involvement. No matter how many times I volunteer at school, I can’t do a da** thing about 4 weeks of standardized testing, teacher paycuts, and, really, too many other stupid administrative decisions to type. The truly baffling part of the state of public education in DeKalb is that we can have a school with very involved parents that still can’t do its job because of horrible administrative decisions. Parents have NO influence in DeKalb over administration. The schools that can afford to backdoor enough extra staff to make a difference via their foundation are really the only ones able to buck the pending doom.
I am most disturbed at your attack on Nancy Jester accusing her of being part of the administrative machinery ruining our schools. If you had ANY clue of her voting record, you would see she is the one consistent voice and vote in support of our teachers and kids. THE ONLY ONE. She can’t remove the super by herself. Do you understand the concept of being outvoted at all? Whether you agree with her on charter schools or not, I don’t care, but don’t you dare try to pin her as part of the problem. She sits on our board as the lone sane voice speaking out against the waste, irresponsibility, and corruption. Get it right before you spout off.
SEE
October 20th, 2012
7:02 pm
@ bootney,
I’m someone who is on the fence about this issue, and I am trying to understand the affects of this amendment if passed. I’ve tried reading your posts, but everytime you call Nancy “honey boo boo” in such a snide, condescending tone, I can’t continue reading. You should really learn to disagree in a civil manner. I’ve skipped all your comments, eventhough there might have been some insightful information, but I just can’t get past the name calling.
Private Citizen
October 20th, 2012
7:08 pm
“In case some of you forgot or where never taught…nothing is free. You pay for everything directly or indirectly. This is also true in other 1st world countries.”
I know a doctor in the U. S. who made a joke, said you pay all these taxes and don’t get anything for them. “Just keeping paying,..” he said and smiled. The joke being, keep paying and oh yes, you’ll get something, just not yet. Just keep paying…
Private Citizen
October 20th, 2012
7:15 pm
Point in the U. S. system you get a hang nail and you’re run broke. What happens if you actually get sick? This is a quote confided to me one day from a teacher colleague of mine, a person a little older than me, one of the best / most substantial teachers I’ve known, “Private Citizen, All if takes is ONE TIME. Get sick ONE TIME and you’re bankrupt.” This person has health insurance and apparently a huge burden of medical bills and is dealing with stuff, paying her own bills like pigeon feed around the Battle Star Gallactica of her medical bills / debt etc.
Outside the USA, people DO NOT have to live this way.
catlady
October 20th, 2012
7:21 pm
Dunwoody and Dunwoody Mom: Then I apologize. Our system (BOE) has been so cowed by SACS that they believe they must vote 100% for whatever lamebrained idea is brought forward by their superintendent. No disention, no opposition. Figured it was true everywhere. (Maybe that is why sACS is looking at Dekalb?)
Private Citizen
October 20th, 2012
7:38 pm
@ Georgia and education not compatible, Pardon me if I do not communicate very well or in a courteous manner. I’ll try and do better. It is just tough when you see some things and there is no one else who cares. The eyeglasses thing gets me every time. It’s really wide spread and no one talks about it.
LD
October 20th, 2012
7:48 pm
“Charter schools are innovation incubators and are governed by a volunteer group of parents, teachers and community members.”
Sounds great and that’s how it is suppose to be. However in this legislation there is no requirement for a balanced governance board of parents, teachers, and community members. In HB797 lines 205-235 lay out the requirements of the governing boards. Nowhere, are “parents” included in the process. I know that this makes me question whose “voice” will be heard in charter schools. Lines 36-39 actually make this much clearer:” ‘Governing board’ means the governing board of the nonprofit organization which is the charter petitioner for a state charter school and which is the same as the governing board of the state charter school which is involved in school-level governance of the state charter school.” So the nonprofit organization could be anyone who sees an entrepreneurial opportunity. Again, how is this involving the parents? “Community” is not defined in this legislation. This can be just one person or one company.
If legislators honestly wanted higher parent involvement, this legislation would have been written to REQUIRE and PROTECT parent representation at the governing board table in each charter school.
LD
October 20th, 2012
7:53 pm
@FairLady : you cannot assume that every charter application submitted to a school board is a good application (I know of one submitted in my county handwritten on notebook paper). Charter petitions are essentially small business plans being submitted to a lender for a loan. What percentage of small business loan applications are approved on the first pass? Or at all? The money being used for these ventures is our tax dollars. While I support charter schools, I do want to know that charters are only being granted to those schools that have a chance of (at least) financially succeeding. So, until I know what was actually in the applications denied, I am not going to make assumptions.
Call Me Missouri
October 20th, 2012
9:30 pm
@FairLady: I sure hope you will be able to get your child into a charter school in certain districts. I am surmising there will be no admissions based on a lottery. This amendment is a screened door. It keeps out what one does not want to come in. I usually agree with Ms. Jester and I never agree with what the BOE chairman says, but as they say politics (and this is political) does make strange bedfellows. Please vote no. BTW, any board members that are not satisfied with administrators or know of any undue influence in hiring practices should report it to SACS.
Atlanta Media Guy
October 20th, 2012
9:42 pm
In DeKalb we have a choice. Send our tax dollars to the friends and family at the Central Office with no accountability and waste or start a charter school with the assistance of the Koch Bros. who run very successful companies and if they fail the charter school looks elsewhere for materials or the school closes. In DeKalb, the failing schools are celebrated and given more money to waste. DeKalb also has sent millions every year on in the box education programs like Americas Choice and the the new one Atkinson brought in….. What is the difference……. DeKalb stakeholders have very little say currently and Atkinson refuses to face the stakeholders directly.
Pride and Joy
October 20th, 2012
9:55 pm
Bootney Farnsworth, the PTA has zero power to do anything at the school. PTAs do fundraising. No one has a say on what goes on at the school.
Also parent teacher conferences are a system where the teacher bosses the parents around. there is no request for input from the parents. Input from parents is never welcome in APS schools.
Teachers complain they have no power in the school to even teach in their classroom the way they feel best so how do you think parents have power?
In APS, the blacks have all the power and they hire black boards and supers. Quality is not an issue to locl APS boards. Color is the only concern.
You are mistaken if you think parents have any power in APS schools. We have none.
That’s why my children now go to private schools.
I am robbed daily of all my tax money and the schools in APS are pathetic.
Pride and Joy
October 20th, 2012
10:06 pm
I love teaching complains to Fairlady that “And you seem to be the only one using excessive explanation points.”
REALLY?
did you read or look at the gazillion posts from bootney farnsworth?
Michael
October 20th, 2012
10:17 pm
I found Jester’s comments to be incredibly cynical. But I guess that she’s got a check coming her way now. Not that I’m cynical.
RCB
October 20th, 2012
11:02 pm
Reading Eugene Walker’s comments make me want to poke my own eyes out. The most inept BOE chair Dekalb has ever had. I think. I’m sure all of you will correct me if there was someone dumber.
Dr. Monica Henson
October 20th, 2012
11:25 pm
VOTENO!! posted, “Charter Schools are just a clever way to disguise ‘modern day’ segregation.”
My state-chartered school serves 70% low-income students and 61% minorities in 160 cities and towns across the state. Both of those percentages exceed the statewide average for Georgia public schools. Where’s the segregation?
Dr. Monica Henson
October 20th, 2012
11:27 pm
And Maureen, I hope your kids enjoyed the corn maze. We live in Jasper and braved the traffic to Dahlonega with our kids today to go to the Gold Rush Days festival.
Dr. Monica Henson
October 20th, 2012
11:30 pm
LD posted, “Charter petitions are essentially small business plans being submitted to a lender for a loan.”
This could be the most astute & accurate observation on the nature of charter schools that I have ever seen on this blog.
Mandella1099
October 20th, 2012
11:36 pm
Ms. Jester believes that somehow the Charter Commission will allow her community to form its own school district with admission to residents of her community only. I hate to inform her, but that ain’t how it works. The Commission could approve any charter school in any location, whether or not her community (or any other municipality) wants it.
When she says that she would support to Charter Commission’s decision to allow a school in her neighborhood that wants to focus on, oh, I don’t know, say sharia law, then I will believe her support of the amendment.
Until then, she should probably just stick with DeKalb Schools Watch II
Mandella1099
October 20th, 2012
11:41 pm
@mojo, Dunwoody Mom, et al….
Did Ms. Jester approve any of the budgets over the last two years that were so above and beyond what was available to be spent by DeKalb County?
And, before you answer that she was, but she was given incorrect information, think long and hard about why it is okay for that excuse to apply to her but to absolutely no one else….
Rascal
October 21st, 2012
7:10 am
Government run schools are failing Georgians and have for the past 50 years.Why are so many of you so willing to protect the systemic failure by refusing to let competition improve the failures?
What is so scary about competition? You love competition when it comes to your choices in every part of your life but you suddenly hate it when it comes to educating your children? Want to shop and be forced to eat rotted meat and stale bread at the government run grocery store? Want to get your hair done at the Georgia Department of HairDo’s? How about a nice, tasty dinner provided by the City of Atlanta Board of Dining Establishments?
You don’t personally have to choose the charter schools in your areas, but why should you prevent another family from making a choice to educate their children as they choose? So many of you claim that parents won’t get involved in their schools to make changes. Maybe a stay-at-home mom can be involved, but why pay a school system $9,000+ a year to educate your child and then turn around and have to go run the school in your off hours?
Why not pay $7,500 a year at the charter school of of your choosing and have professionals run it for you. If they fail you, take your kids out and go to another school around the corner and spend your $7,500 at that school instead. That is what choice will allow. All schools will improve with more school choice because the monopolized education system in Georgia cannot function when parents have a real choice.
Upper income parents are not driving the school choice movement. Poor and middle income families are doing it. Upper income families have all the choices they need. Stop pretending that there is an evil monolithic monster behind the school choice movement. It is primarily made up of parents that don’t want government educating their children. Yes, the same government that fails in almost every service it provides.
If you live in the suburbs and make a decent living, you have CHOICE because you can afford to move to a different district. However, many of those Georgians that you whine about not caring about their own children are trapped in failed schools and are probably working on their third or fourth generation of being screwed by the current “separate school systems”. How does forcing a child to a certain school simply by the zip code the family can afford on their address make sense?
I would love nothing more than to have entrepreneurs from around the country working hard to earn my family’s education dollars and improving the choices I have in the process. What is so wrong with someone making money doing a great job educating children? How many of you work for a company that provides a service for profit and are proud of the work you do? How is that any different from an education company providing that service for your family? Don’t you know that the teachers and administrators that work for a charter school have great pride and satisfaction in delivering a great education to your children?
Quit scaring Georgians with all of the phony charges. Georgia parents deserve a choice and voting YES is another step in the right direction.
bootney farnsworth
October 21st, 2012
7:39 am
@ the deal,
volunteering is only part of the fix.
you (not you necessarily, you as in citzens) gotta vote in better people, you gotta hold your legislators accountable, you gotta put in long hours to get the results you want.
much as you want it, there is no magic bullet. every aspect of this society functions EXACTLY the way the citzens want it to. you make your choices known by your actions – or inactions.
to think that suddenly creating charter schools willy nilly will change things overnight, or at all, without a change in the attitude of the parents is somewhere between naive and stupidity.
bootney farnsworth
October 21st, 2012
7:53 am
seems some of you are experiencing the vapors over my less than respectful (in your eyes) response to Ms. Jester. in suspect the real issue is I have hit way to close to home for many of you in reference to being lazy parents and citizens. that however is an issue for another day.
Ms. Jester’s comments are extremely rude, condesending, non substantive, sarcastic, and wishful thinking. not to mention factually lacking. since Ms. Jester felt it appropriate to speak to me in such a tone, I felt it appropriate to respond a bit more forcefully than I might overwise in talking with a resonable person. I do not apologise for defending myself, my profession, my colleagues.
she is, of course, entitled to these comments and her right to express them as a citzen. in one regard I have more respect for her than most, as she at least stepped up and said or did something.
studies and history show most of you on this board won’t bother to vote for president, much less walk your talk about parental involvement in school.
if Ms. Jester ever wishes to engage in a civil discussion, I will be glad to oblige her. if she wishes to continue behaving like a cast member of Honey Boo Boo, I will oblige her there, as well.
bootney farnsworth
October 21st, 2012
8:04 am
@ rascal,
consider these points:
-where is the actual competition gonna be, which is not already here via home/charter/private/church schools already in existence?
-the state wishes to create another huge agency to run this mess, with very little (intentionally?) public thought as to how it will run, what it will do, and who it ultimately will answer to. what has the gov’t of the state of Georgia done to give you confidence this will be any different than Sonny’s Fish Camp?
-where is the money going to come from?
-poor lower income groups don’t want the gov’t educating their kids, but have no problem letting the gov’t pay most of the rest of there expenses? this isn’t logical.
-if you have any studies at all which show stay at home moms are lining up to get involved in charters, please provide them. experience has shown us otherwise.
-poverty is primarly a mental disease, created by the choices we make – or choose not to make. to think that suddenly add in a magical new choice will make these kids and their families make better choices is just not realistic.
bootney farnsworth
October 21st, 2012
8:07 am
@ see
caught ya!
only way to have seen the honey boo boo remarks would have been to have read at least some of what I wrote. care to try again?
I love teaching. I hate what it is becoming...
October 21st, 2012
8:58 am
@Rascal
“Government run schools are failing Georgians and have for the past 50 years.”
Are they really? Do you have PROOF of that, or is it just some talking point you have heard repeatedly? SOME schools are failing, but many are not…and the question becomes, WHY are some schools failing? Could it be because a large segment of the population no longer values education? Could it be because the general public continually tears down education and refused to put any more money or effort into helping it succeed? Could it be because the state is continually cutting funding from public schools? Could it be because the profession of teaching is becoming so undervalued that intelligent, energetic young people are no longer entering the field and veterans are leaving in droves?
So you intend to take those SAME students, and hire teachers from the SAME pool of educators, and suddenly, but magic, you will have total success? TRUTH IS, many charter schools do NOT perform any better, and often perform worse, than traditional public schools. THOSE are FACTS. You might want to investigate!
“What is so scary about competition? You love competition when it comes to your choices in every part of your life but you suddenly hate it when it comes to educating your children? ”
Because I have a CHOICE about spending my money at private businesses or not. I will not have a CHOICE about where my tax dollars are going, and personally, I do not want to be funding schools that teach the earth is 6,000 years old and Jesus rode a dinosaur!
“You don’t personally have to choose the charter schools in your areas, but why should you prevent another family from making a choice to educate their children as they choose?”
No one is going to CHOOSE to have a charter school in their area. Corporations will CHOOSE whether a charter is available in your area, whether you want it or not, and if you area is NOT PROFITABLE, you won’t see one. Another family can CHOOSE to educate their child to believe the earth is flat, BUT NOT ON MY DIME!
“Maybe a stay-at-home mom can be involved, but why pay a school system $9,000+ a year to educate your child and then turn around and have to go run the school in your off hours?”
My property taxes are nowhere near $9,000+ a year… are yours, really?
“Why not pay $7,500 a year at the charter school of your choosing and have professionals run it for you.”
So businessmen, with NO background in education, are suddenly “professionals” in education? You do know charters do not need to hire certified teachers; they can hire cheap labor from foreign countries. They can underpay their teachers, refuse to offer benefits and siphon most of the money into management who will pocket huge profits while students suffer. Again, INVESTIGATE the for profit charter movement in other states! Too many for profit charters are a scam!
“If they fail you, take your kids out and go to another school around the corner and spend your $7,500 at that school instead.”
How many times a year do you think you get to spend that $7,500?
“All schools will improve with more school choice because the monopolized education system in Georgia cannot function when parents have a real choice. “
No, they won’t. You will still have the same students needing the same services. They are not going away. I won’t teach any better because there is a new charter down the road. I already do my best every day. The low performers, special needs students, discipline problems and disengaged will still be with us… they are not all magically going to improve, though they may get shut out of the charter schools, which I suspect would suit you just fine – so you can drop the, “I care so much about the poor underprivileged kids” act.
“Stop pretending that there is an evil monolithic monster behind the school choice movement. It is primarily made up of parents that don’t want government educating their children.”
LOL! Oh yes, it is those “parents” from out of state who are pouring millions into the efforts to get this amendment passed! Right!
“Yes, the same government that fails in almost every service it provides.”
So, you don’t like your roads, fire department, police service, 911 service, military, etc.? Oddly enough, when government services stop doing a thorough job, it is usually because some corporate interest has started throwing a wrench in the works…like curtailing the powers of the EPA and the FDA. I suspect if we suddenly privatized all the government services and you had to start paying full price via private enterprise, you would have a fit.
“I would love nothing more than to have entrepreneurs from around the country working hard to earn my family’s education dollars and improving the choices I have in the process.”
Let’s see how much you “love” it when this amendment passes, and it five years your taxes have doubled, the schools are teaching Scientology, the teachers at your precious charter school can’t speak English and came in on a HB1 in order to work for a charter owned by family members who are foreign businessmen, and the CEO of your failed charter closes the doors in the middle of the year and takes off with a couple million in profit. Think I exaggerate? Try actually investigating the for profit charter movement, and what it is doing in other states.
“What is so wrong with someone making money doing a great job educating children?”
Because they are making MONEY from my tax dollars and yours! How can people keep missing that! These are not the same as textbook companies, or janitorial companies working for a public school. Too many of them really have no interest in anything beyond profit. And why do you assume they will do a “great job”. Most for profit charters are not doing a “great job”. Very few are doing a “great job.” Most are doing about as well or worse than traditional schools – how can people keep ignoring the FACTS and RESEARCH about actual charter performance!
“How many of you work for a company that provides a service for profit and are proud of the work you do? How is that any different from an education company providing that service for your family?”
Because most companies are not paid by TAX DOLLARS!
“Quit scaring Georgians with all of the phony charges.”
Quit ignoring all the FACTS!
Private Citizen
October 21st, 2012
10:18 am
This is a separate topic, but no one has made issue with it yet, ” why pay a school system $9,000+ a year to educate your child and then turn around and have to go run the school in your off hours?”
The mode of “parents expected to volunteer” makes me uncomfortable. Making it official doctrine indicates boundary issues. I read there are charter schools and part of the condition of having the student there is that the parent is required to work without compensation for the school.
Does anyone see a problem with this? I do. In my family, the home life is preserved, everyone goes to college, and no one volunteers at the school ever. It just not done. You don’t volunteer at the hardware store or the dentist office or any other professional venue. They’re supposed to take care of that. You go there for services, you leave. I can’t even count on the fingers of one hand the times when my parents went to the school when I was in K12. A reason to go to the school was graduation or for an arts performance with seating for the audience.
As a teacher, to be honest, I do not want parents at the school. As a kid, I did not want parents at the school. That was my place, not theirs. Anyone seen the movie Donnie Darko? In the movie, they spoof the over-involvement of the adults in the school and the kid’s life. They also have a motivational trainer that turns out to be a crook. http://www.myspace.com/video/copy-deed-up/donnie-darko-exposes-jim-cunningham/2482016
Same movie, Crazy adults in the schoolhouse http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SbgEYBG-Y8
Old Physics Teacher
October 21st, 2012
10:29 am
“…local control”???!!!! So according to an elected official who has the authority to tax the citizens who voted for her, a commission – selected by legislators NOT RESPONSIBLE TO Dekalb voters, can take money away from Dekalb voters and give that money to other counties, and that’s “local control.?” Which bunch of you idiots elected her?
I don’t remember the rural legislator’s name, but he said he was voting against taking money from the rural communities because of a spat between metro county’s school boards and their voters. I don’t know if you metro voters know this (we rural people do!!) , but you CAN vote those worthless turkeys out of office. Don’t rob money from my school system because of your lack of citizenship.