Gwinnett Democrats

Who is Mark Williams?

2009-11-15T01:20:00Z

He’s a husband, a father and a chef. He’s a giver, a teacherand an educator’s educator currently pursuing his PhD. Mark Williams is your democratic candidatefor Gwinnett County School Board District 4.

Currently Mark Williams serves as a high school counselor inthe Dekalb County School system. Hailing from the state of Michigan, Williams hasbeen passionate about education since he began mentoring and tutoring, oftentimes for free, in high school and continued throughout college and tothis day. I met with Mark a few weeks ago for a free-flowing conversation oneducation. A replay of that conversationfollows below.

Williams on runningfor District 4:

“I’m a parent and I bring realworld experience in the field of education to the table. I’ve been in educationby mentoring, tutoring, teaching and counseling for over 20 years. This can’tbe said about most members of the school board.” According to the school boardsite’s profile page, only one board member is an educator by trade.

Williams on what he’snot interested in hearing anymore:

“When people come up to me and say,‘I’m so glad you’re running so that the board will be more reflective of thecommunity.’ It would be impossible for the school board to be absolutelyreflective of the community. For example, every person who is deemed ‘black’ isnot African-American, every Asian is not Korean and so on. The community is so diverse that a truereflection of the community on the board cannot happen.”

Williams on criticalareas that would be changed/addressed if he were on a member of the board:

“1)All school board decisions wouldno longer be unanimous decisions.; 2)Research and practice would come togetherin education – A lot of what professors/educators are researching reallydoesn’t filtered down to K-12; 3)Increasing student support services likecounseling and mental health services. When used as preventive measures we don’t have to use intervention laterdown the line; 4)Growth in the area and overcrowding in schools; 5)findingbetter ways to reach students whose second language is English, doing so couldhelp improve test scores county-wide. ”

Williams on questionsabout his qualifications:

“How could my qualifications bequestioned when the only qualification to run is to be a resident of GwinnettCounty?”

Williams on the“handling” of stakeholders at public meetings:

“Stakeholders, residents ofGwinnett County who attend these meetings should be treated respectfully andhave their questions and concerns addressed.”

The Takeaways

Mark Williams is a man who is passionate about education forall children. Each child should have allthe resources necessary to be successful. Williams is not one who believes that existing ideas or programs arenecessarily bad because everyone has said so, he prefers to tweak what is goodthan to throw the baby out with the bathwater. At the same time, he has a keenability to recognize when the current model isn’t working and is not afraid totake bring a new idea to the table and travel down a path that has not beentravelled before. There is freshnesshere, there is a relentlessness here that might just be exactly what is neededon the Gwinnett County Board of Education.

For more information on Mark Williams please go to his fanpage on Facebook.

Congressman Hank Johnson’s Healthcare Reform Townhall

2009-08-12T11:36:00Z

On Monday August 10, 2009 I attended GA-4^thCongressional District Representative HankJohnson’sHealthcare Reform Townhall at Georgia Perimeter College inClarkston. This particular townhall was larger than any I’d seen covered in themedia with approximately 2000 people attendance with main seating in ColeAuditorium and additional seating in overflow areas.

The townhall was moderated by Dekalb County District 3 CommissionerLarry Johnson andwas divided into three parts. Part 1 began with remarks from two constituents whowere supporters of the current bill HR3200 going through the house. The firstCathy McClure, has a son with type 1 diabetes and a daughter with epilepsy, shehas health insurance but her premiums are $3000 a month, in addition she’s atthe mercy of her insurance company when it comes to getting tests and otherneeded services for her children. Thesecond speaker was Dr Debra Greenwood a, licensed psychologist, RN and businessowner who supports HR3200 because she is unable to provide quality affordablehealthcare to her employees, a direct knock at opponents who say that reformand its costs will put small business owners out of business.

Part 2 featured comments from the healthcare panel made upof both supporters of HR3200 and opponents. The first speaker was Dr Sandra Ford,pediatrician and Dekalb County’s district health director. Dr Ford gave some damningstatistics on childhood obesity, chronic disease, infant mortality and AIDS inthe US, Georgia and Dekalb Countyand stressed the importance of healthcare forall. She is a reformer supporter and andadded that she’d like to see included in reform emphasis on preventative care,a reward system for those who take personal responsibility for their health andan outreach and education component.

The second speaker was Dr PatriceHarris, from the American Medical Association (AMA). She is a supporter of HR3200but would like to see included more protection of the patient/physicianrelationship as well as a revision that would ease the bureaucracy involved inMedicare physician payments.

Third was DrArthur Kellermann of Emory University. He is a former emergency roomphysician, who while practicing in an ER in TN witnessed a patient being turnedaway from the ER because they had an outstanding bill with the hospital. Hesaid that when seeking care a patient should not have a “wallet biopsy”performed on them before they get care and that patients should not be turnedaway for emergency care because they don’t have insurance, ever. He supportssome combination of private and public funding of healthcare.

Fourth was EricNorwood, CEO of Dekalb Medical Center, he also believes in healthcare forall with a combination of public and private funding. He’d also like to see thehigh cost of medical malpractice insurance go down. He gave an example ofdoctors refusing to deliver babies due to the high cost of medical malpracticeinsurance which they could not afford.

Fifth was Jeffrey Taylor,CEO of Oakhurst Medical Center which serves uninsured an underinsured patientsin the Oakhurst Section of Decatur, GA. Heemphasized personal responsibility for healthcare and is opposed to governmentrun healthcare.

Sixth was Dr. M. Todd Williamson,President of the Medical Association of Georgia who was not shy about hisopposition to HR3200. His belief is that HR3200 and the public option wouldeventually evolve into a single payer government run system like Medicare whichhe believes doesn’t work well in part because it is government run. He also ranthrough several GOP talking points on the failure of national systems like Canada’sand said that he believes the government should provide some assistance butshould otherwise stay out of the way of any healthcare policy execution.

Last was Michael Young,CEO of Grady Health System. Young is a staunch supporter of a nationalizedhealthcare system and let it be known that he was opposed to some of the thingsthat he was hearing from other experts on the panel. His believe is thatleaving the states to run a system will only result in cost shifting. Patients will have to go state to state toget the best healthcare and the best rates. He is the only one who wasabsolutely explicit in his support of HR3200 and that it the reform could notwait. He also discuss the high cost of providing the free services that Grady providesto uninsured patients.

Part 3 was Q&A and Commissioner Johnson laid down thegauntlet when he said that anyone who was disruptive would be escorted out ofthe townhall by police and that protestors would be confined to a designatedprotest area. Some of the standoutcomments and questions include a gentleman holding a baby. A baby born byC-section whose doctor recommended that his wife/mother of child and baby stayin the hospital an extra day. They were unable to do so because insurancewouldn’t cover it and he didn’t have the money to pay for it out of pocket. Hesupports HR3200. Another standout was awoman who indicated that she had filed bankruptcy as a result of mountingmedical bills because she could not get coverage for herself due topre-existing conditions, she had several chronic diseases. A third was a seniorcitizen, a supporter of reform who had questions regarding reform effects onMedicare. He was assured by Representative Johnson that there would be nochanges in benefits.

The Q&A continued in a respectable fashion andthroughout the entire program there were no outburst to speak of, onlyapplause, cheers and boos. The Q&A portionground to a halt with 10 minutes to go in the program however when Congressman Johnsonlaunched into the lies the GOP were telling about reform and how the insurancecompanies were only getting rich under the current failing system. As the ladysitting next to me at the forum stated to me,, she believed that Rep. Johnson’sheart is in the right place but this was not the forum for him to launch into aspeech. I agree with her, especially since this portion of the townhall was forconstituents/attendees and because his argument really lacked the bitenecessary.

Overall from what I could hear and see from the overflow I’dsay that the attendees of this townhall were supporters of HR3200. The overflow area where I was seated I’d estimatethat the numbers were closer to half and half. The entire forum was wellplanned and executed but I left with the feeling that the Democrats have a lotmore work to do in terms of messaging, especially debunking the myths generatedby the right as well as being able to answer more succinctly questions from thosewho are riding the fence on reform.

Gwinnett Paying the Water Piper

2009-07-31T02:15:00Z

I didn’trealize how serious the water wars with Florida and Alabama were until now.Before I thought it was all foolishness, shortages, potential shortages, tryingto save wildlife and all the rest. Welljust as we get released from the drought and all the water restrictions. We getthis; U.S.District Court Judge Paul Magnuson ruled that Georgia must discontinue allwithdrawals from Lake Lanier unless congress gives permission to do so. As an immediate discontinuance of thesewithdrawals is not practical, we’ve been given three years to secure thispermission from Congress to continue. Heindicated in his findings that withdrawals from the Lake were not a part of itsoriginal purpose and the Army Corps of Engineers overstepped its bounds inallowing the withdrawals to happen. The most telling about the judge’s remarkson this decision were his remarks on growth. “…local governments allow uncheckedgrowth because it increases tax revenue, but these same governments do notsufficiently plan for the resources such unchecked growth will require…” the largest growing county until recently hasbeen Gwinnett County and it just so happens that Lake Lanier is the ONLYsource of water for the county.

At a rateof nearly 90 million gallons per day being used, county officials contend thatthere are really no other viable alternatives than to withdrawal from the Lake. The metro area has received a commitment fromSenators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson that they would do all they can toreach a suitable agreement with Florida and Alabama, but considering that thebattle over the Lake has been going on since the 1970s and this most recentruling, it’s unclear to me how this can happen. That said the question is whatcan citizens of the County do to ensure that we continue to have water in 2012and beyond? I’d like to hear yourthoughts.

FYI - GCPS Superintendent Wilbanks Salary !

2009-03-06T02:43:00Z

J.Alvin Wilbanks Salary vs. Other Superintendents in Metro Atlanta......

Please find Superintendent Salaries in Metro Atlanta below :

From the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts Website:

Cobb County $190,550.00
Gwinnett County $306,904.73
Dekalb County $243,182.71
City of Atlanta $378,259.91
City of Buford $162,999.96
Hall County $172,588.92
Union County $143,129.78
Walton County $158,600.16
Douglas County $201,185.04
Fulton County $201,524.74

We do not think the current School Board members have been good stewards of the taxpayer's dollars......
What do you think ?? Can a cap be put on School Superintendent's Salaries ? Should School Superintendents stand for election county-wide ?

Support Ava's Law !!!

2009-02-25T18:17:00Z

Dear Georgia Autism Advocate,

We have received word that Senate Bill 161, "Ava's Law", sponsored by Senator Johnny Grant will be heard on Tuesday afternoon, March 3, 2009 before the Senate Insurance and Labor Committee. We have also learned that House Bill 426, the House version of Ava's Law sponsored by Representative Katie Dempsey, will be heard on Wednesday morning, March 4, 2009 before the House Committee on Insurance.

Over the next few days, we will need your help in contacting the legislators who sit on these committees to let them know that you want their support on this very important measure!

Ava's Law would require private health insurance companies to cover the screening, diagnosis, testing and evidence based, medically-necessary therapies for the treatment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) including ABA therapy up to $55,000 a year.

This is your chance for coverage for your children with autism Georgia! It's time to act now!

Here is How You Can Help:

1. START CONTACTING THE SENATE COMMITTEE MEMBERS TODAY!

SEND AN EMAIL to the members of the Senate Insurance & Labor Committee urging their support for Ava's Law in the Committee hearing on Tuesday!
CALL the members of the Senate Insurance & Labor Committee! Let them know what the passage of Ava's Law would mean to your family. Let them know how this would impact your child's life to end the discrimination against your child and provide them with coverage for the therapies they need and deserve!

Senator Ralph Hudgens, Chairman (R-47)
404-656-4700
Senator David Shafer, Vice Chairman (R-48)
404-656-0048
Senator Dan Moody (R-56)
404-463-8055
Senator Robert Brown (D-26)
404-656-5035
Senator Jeff Chapman (R-3)
404-656-0045
Senator Tim Golden (D-8)
404-656-7580
Senator Ed Harbison (D-15)
404-656-0074
Senator Jack Murphy (R-27)
404-656-7127
Senator Chip Pearson (R-51)
404-656-9221
Senator Ronald Ramsey (D-43)
404-463-2598
Senator Chip Rogers (R-21)
404-463-1378
Senator John Wiles (R-37)
404-657-0406

2. SAVE THE DATE FOR THE HEARINGS on TUESDAY and WEDNESDAY! We will send out additional information at the beginning of next week but the Senate hearing is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon and the House hearing is scheduled bright and early Wednesday morning. We need to pack the room and hallways with hundreds of Georgia citizens eager for autism insurance reform. Wear red and bring pictures of your children.

3. FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW IN THE STATE OF GEORGIA! We need to generate thousands of calls in support of Ava's Law. Please forward this to anyone who can help make phone calls to the committee members. They do not have to have a child with autism - just be concerned about this issue and willing to make some noise in favor of it! Forward to your family members, children's teachers and therapists, neighbors and coworkers...anyone who cares about the future of your child!

4. STAY INFORMED ON AVA'S LAW BY REGISTERING AT WWW.AUTISMVOTES.ORG for further updates. Be sure to register at our website www.autismvotes.org for the latest updates on Ava's Law as it moves through the legislative process within the state and stay informed as well on federal issues that impact the autism community!

For more information on Ava's Law, visit www.AutismVotes.org/Georgia.

Happy Dialing!

Shelley Hendrix
Director of State Advocacy Relations
Autism Speaks

Cnty Comm & Bd of Ed more members :

2009-02-25T17:30:00Z

Gwinnett County's Population continues to grow... The size of the County Commission and Board of Education should also grow in size. Citizens representation should not be diluted. Both bodies need at least a total of seven members each ...

Further Questions IE 2 ?

2009-01-29T12:59:00Z

Ms. Mathers:
GOSA

My concerns are as follows, the State Laws that GCPS, are exempted from cover a broad range of requirements. I hope the plan is implemented in a responsible manner and not used as just a means of saving education spending. Increasing class sizes and making teachers do more with less resources would not be a good thing for education in this state. Since this is such a new program for The State of Georgia, I think five years is too long a period of time for this experiment ?

I think The State Board of Education should not be absolved of monitoring Gwinnett County Public Schools
or any other system that get's an IE 2 contract. The State Board of Education should be involved in how a IE 2 contract is implemented. So that however the Contract is implemented is fair to both students and teachers. That there is a good chance of meeting AYP as promised in these contracts !

I also feel that GCPS did not have a full and open discussion with the public before enacting their IE 2 plan. I feel the legislature needs to flesh out what full discussion with the community is. I think in a county as large as Gwinnett three public question and answer hearings in different parts of the county should be the minimum required by law !

I also feel the State Board of Education and GOSA, should do a top down review of the IE 2 Contracts every other year. If the Contract needs to be repealed in that review, the State Board of Education should have that authority ! If this requires additional legislation let's get it done in this legislative year. Please let me know your thoughts on this ...

Please contact your State Legislators, by phone, e-mail or mail !

Thank you,

State Approves IE 2 !

2009-01-08T20:42:00Z

GCPS's IE 2 Contract with the State Board of Education has been approved by a unanimous vote. The State Board has been working with GCPS on this Contract for 6 months. Never brought up by any of the School Board Candidates in the last election cycle... However GCPS only decided to work with the Taxpayers for 30 minutes on it. The Contract exempts Gwinnett Public School's from various State Laws and Regulations.

Now that Mr. Wilbanks got his IE 2 contract let's see if student performance is improved as he has promised !

IE 2 Ask New Sec of Ed to Review Contract:

2009-01-08T12:23:00Z

Please consider flooding the Incoming Secretary of Education with e-mails; concerning your problems with The IE 2 Contract with the State of Georgia. Also consider discussing the process used to approve this contract and it's lack of transparency. Ask him to review the contract. Yes We Can !

Sec of Ed's E-mail address:

aduncan@cps.k12.il.us

Is School Deregulation a Good Idea ?

2009-01-02T02:23:00Z

   GCPS is seeking basically to deregulate itself from State Laws and Regulations. Is that such a good idea will that really Improve Student Performance ?

   Wallstreet and Banks were deregulated from Federal Law and Regulations in the 80's and 90's. Regulatory Agencies stopped regulating them and stopped looking at them as well in the new millenium. What happened was our current Economic Meltdown. Can anyone say Enron !

   GCPS is seeking flexibility from State Regulations. Those regulations were put in place by previous General Assemblies and Governors, not to mention the Georgia Board of Education, because they felt they were needed to provide a quality education for all of Georgia's children. What has changed now ? Nothing in my opinion, except the Gwinnett County Board of Education is looking to save some money. Tax Receipts are falling.. Remember their recent statement that went something like this, if they could just move one student more into each classroom they could save $30 million dollars systemwide.

   This time our elected School Board members acted in haste, what can we lose, five years in a child's education. How can you ever get that back for that child ! Five years is a long time in a young childs life !

   Parents need to lobby the State Board of Education for Improvements to the IE 2 contract that now exists. Parents and community members need to be involved in the implementation of IE 2 on the School Level. We do not need a meltdown in the quality of our children's education ! Thanks.

IE 2 Lobby State BD of ED !

2009-01-01T11:53:00Z

Please Lobby the State Bd. of Education ( call or write) for changes to GCPS's IE 2 Contract, now that it is to be negotiated with them. Please find the members and contact info below :

State Board of Education :

Members and Districts

Click on a State Board member's name, photo or district map to get more information about that member.

		Linda M. Zechmann First Congressional District Tel: (912) 285-4499 Fax: (912) 285-2558 E-mail: lindazechmann@wayxcable.com
		Peggy Stokes Nielson Second Congressional District Tel: (229) 432-5400 Fax: (229) 434-1172 E-mail: psn1100@bellsouth.net
		Dr. Mary Sue Polleys Third Congressional District Tel: (404) 657-7410 Fax: (404) 657-6978 E-mail: state.board@doe.k12.ga.us
		William Bradley Bryant Fourth Congressional District Tel: (770) 938-7000 Fax: (770) 493-1023 E-mail: bbryant911@aol.com
		James E. Bostic, Jr. Fifth Congressional District Tel: (404) 657-7410 Fax: (404) 657-6978 E-mail: bostic_j@bellsouth.net
		Robert "Buzz" Law Sixth Congressional District Tel: (404) 657-7410 Fax: (404) 657-6978
		Jose R. Perez Seventh Congressional District Tel: (404) 657-7410 Fax: (404) 657-6978 E-mail: state.board@doe.k12.ga.us
		Wanda Barrs Eighth Congressional District Chair Tel: (404) 657-7410 Fax: (404) 657-6978 E-mail: state.board@doe.k12.ga.us
		Larry E. Winter Ninth Congressional District Tel: (706) 278-2834 Fax: (404) 657-6978 E-mail: state.board@doe.k12.ga.us
		Brian K. Burdette Tenth Congressional District Tel: (404) 657-7410 Fax: (404) 657-6978
		Albert "Al" Hodge Eleventh Congressional District Tel: (404) 657-7410 Fax: (404) 657-6978 E-mail: amh@romega.com
		Vacant Twelfth Congressional District
		Dr. Mary Sue Murray Thirteenth Congressional District Tel: (404) 657-7410 Fax: (404) 657-6978 E-mail: state.board@doe.k12.ga.us
		Kathy Cox Chief Executive Officer Tel: (404) 656-2800 Fax: (404) 651-8737 E-mail: state.superintendent@doe.k12.ga.us Contact Info taken from Georgia Department of Education Web Page.....

Gwinnett BOE prefers to operate in secrecy

2008-12-22T19:44:00Z

During the last session Brooks Coleman carried Sonny Perdue's water on HB 1209 or the Investment in Educational Excellence (IE2).

The 5 areas covered under HB 1209, which authorizes IE2 are very broad...
-Class size requirements
-Expenditure controls and categorical allotment requirements
-Certification requirements
-Salary schedule requirements
-Any other requirements or provisions of this chapter as identified by the local school system and approved by the state board except as provided. The final plan for each school is posted on the Gwinnett School site.

State House Representative from District 100, Brian Thomas (D-Lilburn) has been one of very few outspoken opponents of this bill. Brian wrote an editorial in the AJC expressing his concerns about this legislation back in March 2008.

Under this approach, every school would be required to develop a strategic plan that would contain higher performance goals than it would normally have set. These goals must be higher than current goals because the contract with the DOE entails a requirement of higher achievement. The need to identify higher-than-normal goals applies to all schools within the district, from those that are not meeting AYP, or annual yearly progress under No Child Left Behind, to those that are currently excelling in student achievement.

Brian has gone toe-to-toe with School board members and the 'CEO' of the school system, Alvin Wilbanks about this program. Thanks Brian!

Until about 3 weeks ago, nobody in the public had not heard anything else about this bill. That is when the The Gwinnett BOE announced they would hold only ONE public hearing concerning the program before sending the contract off the Georgie DOE for final approval in January 2009. Why only one hearing and why have it in Suwanee at 6:30 on a Thursday night rather than having multiple hearings in Lawrenceville, Norcross, Duluth, Snellville and Lilburn? When asked by the AJC why only one public input session was scheduled, the spokesperson stated “...that is all that is required by law.“ NICE.

District 4 board member Dr. McClure (R) commented to one parent the morning of the meeting that he did not expect many people to attend. A packed room of 650+ showed up that night. The public comments session was limited to 30 minutes with no Q & A session. Since then the Gwinnett BOE has held 2 meetings to vote on the progress of the contract. Once on a Wednesday at 9am and the last one was this past Saturday at 7:30am. No public comments were allowed at either meeting.

There may be some good ideas in here but why is the largest school system in the state going to be the first one to try this....except for the fact that Coleman represents a district in Gwinnett.

Fox 5 News Covering this Mornings IE 2 Vote !

2008-12-17T12:59:00Z

Link to Video so you can watch the FOX 5 News Story on Todays IE 2 Vote by GCPS School Board. Vote at Shorty Howell Park in Duluth !

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/myfox/MyFox/pages/sidebar_video.jsp?contentId=8089348&version=1&locale=EN-US

Rush Vote called by GCPS School Board Tomorrow !

2008-12-16T15:45:00Z

The GCPS School Board has called for a rush vote at 9:00 AM at Shorty Howell Park in Duluth after a Legislative Breakfast. The vote will take place tomorrow. Please try to show up at the Community Building for the vote !

Link to today's AJC Article :

http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2008/12/16/gwinschools.html

Contact School Bd Members before Vote Later This Month !!!

2008-12-13T22:57:00Z

Call GCPS Board Members on the Telephone and Write Letters to the Editor about the IE2 Plan please !!!

Carole Boyce, District I, 2008 Chairman (770) 995-6796

Daniel D. Seckinger, District II, 2008 Vice Chairman (770) 277-4490

Dr. Mary Kay Murphy, District III (770) 840-9752

Dr. Robert McClure, District IV (770) 736-0001

Louise Radloff, District V (770) 923-4784
*Contact Information taken directly from the BOE website

Link to Gwinnett Daily Post Article on 12/11/08 Hearing:

2008-12-13T05:18:00Z

Link to Gwinnett Daily Post Front Page Story on School Board Public/Not Public Hearing :

http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/main.asp?SectionID=6&SubSectionID=84&ArticleID=53852

AJC Article on Tonights School Board Meeting:

2008-12-12T05:15:00Z

AJC Article 650 Attend Tonights Hearing ! - 2008/12/12 00:04

Skeptical parents question school improvement plan
650 people pack hearing room
By D. AILEEN DODD
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Parents and teachers complained to the Gwinnett County School Board on Thursday that they were left out of the loop when the district developed a proposal to improve student achievement that also seeks freedom from state laws governing class sizes and educators’ pay.

More than 650 people packed a public hearing to get more information about the School Board plan, but many did not get the answers they sought.

Recent headlines:

Skeptical parents question school improvement plan
Gwinnett commission won't cut ambulance services
Community reaches out to Norcross fire victims
• Gwinnett County news

“This is not a question-and-answers session,” board Chairperson Carole Boyce told the audience.

Still, speakers persisted with questions.

A draft of a proposal that seeks greater local control over education in exchange for greater accountability posted on the school’s Web site on Monday did not show how the plan would take shape at individual local schools.

A draft of a board proposal, which seeks greater local control over education in exchange for greater accountability, was posted Monday on the school district’s Web site.

The draft did not show how the plan would take shape at individual local schools. And school officials Thursday night did not offer much insight to those packing the board meeting room.

“If this plan is the right vehicle for student improvement, why not be transparent?” asked Brian Westlake, a Gwinnett schoolteacher. “Make the case to parents and teachers in order to get buy-in. I would like to see a board that treats us as professionals and views this as not simply another necessary step in the process.”

A hearing was required before the School Board could vote on the flexibility plan, which is authorized under the Investing in Educational Excellence law.

The law gives school districts that apply the freedom to bypass certain state laws to create educational programs that meet the needs of students. Districts would enter into five-year flexibility contracts with the state to improve student achievement, or face consequences.

The punishment under consideration in Gwinnett is converting to charter schools low-performing campuses that don’t achieve contract goals.

“What this contract does is simply grant us the permission to be relieved from some of the state rules and mandates that keep us from being as effective as we can be,” schools Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks said. “We might need some flexibility to do some things that these hard times call for.”

Wilbanks said parents and teachers would have an opportunity to be involved on the local school level as principals decide what options they will use to improve student success.

Gwinnett schools seek to bypass certain education laws, such as those concerning funding, class size, teachers’ pay and limitations on the use of aides to staff classrooms, in exchange for increased accountability over student success.

The board is considering voting on the flexibility plan later this month so that the state Board of Education could consider it in January.

“If we miss this window of opportunity, we like would be in a position to have to wait one more academic year,” School Board member Mary Kay Murphy said in a board workshop before the hearing.

Still, parents and teachers asked the board to delay a vote until they had time to understand the plan and make suggestions.

“This is a major shift in policy,” said parent Craig Lownes. “It smacks of a plan hastily created and done to meet an artificial date.”

Members of the Gwinnett branch of the NAACP and the Professional Association of Georgia Educators also asked for more opportunity to comment.

“How can we trust this plan and its makers, when the makers do not trust us teaching and learning experts enough to ask for our input into this radical proposal that will impact us in our classrooms every day?” said Barbara Wilson, co-president of the Gwinnett County Association of Educators. “The Georgia Legislature guaranteed that the flexibility plan would be a collaborative effort.”

Good and Accurate Article which I hope makes it to the Papers Front Page or the Front Page of the Metro Section.......

Mr. Wilbanks ($307,000+ employee ) in his Comments to the assembled crowd did not have kind words for Ms. Dodd and The AJC's open records request ! Someone should research the County Gas he is filling his Private Vehicle with, if it shows up on GCPS Records ?

***Public Hearing GCPS Looking to back out of State Education Laws:

2008-12-10T15:47:00Z

Reminder: Tomorrow Hearing, 12/11/2008 at 6:30 PM. on Backing out of State Education Laws by Gwinnett Board of Ed. ( Teacher Pay & Class Sizes), Board Room at Gwinnett County Public Schools’ Instructional Support Center, 437 Old Peachtree Road, NW, Suwanee, GA. Please attend......

Please consider making signs and starting a peaceful picket line outside of BOE Headquarters at 6:00 PM when BOE members arrive and for the news media..... Thank you !

Due to Late Notice the General Public will not be able to review the Plan and Voice an Opinion ! Why not have three Public Hearings scattered around the County !

GCPS Public Hearing this Thursday !

2008-12-09T12:11:00Z

The Gwinnett County School Board, is holding a hearing to allow themselves to not follow State Educational Mandates or laws for 5 years, such as (ex:Teacher Pay and Class Sizes). Please go to the GCPS website to review the plan . Please review and forward this article on to every Parent and Teacher you know who will be affected by this plan. The hearing is this Thursday at 6:30 PM, please plan on attending, and testifying ! Let your opinion be heard.

The Gwinnett County Board of Education will hold a public hearing on its proposed “IE2 Partnership Contract for Improving Student Achievement” with the Georgia Board of Education. The IE2 (Investing in Educational Excellence) contract would allow the school system to receive flexibility for its schools from specified state statutes and/or rules in exchange for greater accountability for student achievement. The hearing will be held on Thursday, December 11, 2008, at 6:30 p.m. in the Board Room at Gwinnett County Public Schools’ Instructional Support Center, 437 Old Peachtree Road, NW, Suwanee, GA.

This is a hearing on the possible use of video so a HIGHLY QUALIFIED teacher can teach multiple rooms full of students, elementary teachers will lose lunch break and many other things. The link on the GCPS website makes it all sound GREAT. I seem to remember that the GC Waste Management Plan sounded pretty good at first glance too.

"A prominent member of the School Board said they wanted to use this proposal to pay a Harvard Educated Teacher more then a GSU or a Georgia Educated Teacher. Establishing a two tier Teacher Pay System for doing the same job...... "

Gwinnett Seeks Freedom to Fix Schools.... Backdoor Budget Cuts !

2008-11-27T16:32:00Z

In Thursday's 11/27/2008 Atlanta Journal and Constitution page 1, there is an article talking about how the Board of Education wants to pull out of State Mandates for increases in performance in five years. The information had to be obtained through an Open Records Request the School Board is intending on acting on the proposal in December. Again the School System acts in secret ! The plan calls for video teaching with a teachers aide in the classroom, as well as larger class sizes. The School System also is considering allowing several classes to share one certified expert teacher who provides lessons broadcast through a video monitor while a teachers aide would supervise classrooms and help students with work. It takes a professional teacher to improve student performance not a video screen. Another proposal would scale back mandatory work free lunch breaks for elementary school teachers in favor of more instruction time. Teachers say they have been left in the dark about what to expect.
According to the proposal the school district could grow class sizes and give principals the flexibility to hire more support staff such as social workers instead of more certified teachers when enrollment swells. Under its flexiblity proposal Gwinnett vows to use targeted instruction to improve performance in reading, language and math for all students. Gwinnett School officials say it is too early for an open dialogue on the flexibility plan and that parents and teachers will be given an opportunity to voice their opinions soon. We expect that Gwinnett's proposed contract would be presented and reviewed by the Gwinnett board in December. At that time, the district will hold a public hearing on the proposal. These are backdoor budget cuts. Large amounts of teachers and parents must turn out for the public hearing.....