The citizens of Cobb County should be just as upset about the 65 percent rule as are the school board and the Georgia Association of Educators (GAE). This bill was not original to our law makers; they copied it from other states because it sounded good. Sonny Perdue is desperate to look like he is doing something about education. The problem is that what might work in Vermont or Minnesota will not work in Georgia because of the diverse types of school systems we have, from highly urban to rural, and the our diverse student population. Their definitions of what meets the need of their populations will not meet the needs of our students. We need to be able to feed hungry students before class and we need to be able to get our kids safely to school.  HB-969 provides not one dollar to the equation, but reaches a long arm out to determine what local school boards really have a right to be doing without interference. 

HB-969 is just one example of the bills that have been passed this legislative session that might look good on paper, but after some analysis, do little for education if not being detrimental. Another is HB-1358 that legislates smaller class sizes, a desirable goal in itself, but the bill came with no funding to back its ideal. This means that school systems will have to decide how they will cut programs and where they will put trailers in order to meet this mandate, since there is no additional funding for teachers or classrooms. Already, other school systems such as neighboring Fulton are laying off music and art teachers along with much needed social workers to meet the anticipated shortfalls created by this bill and HB-969. 

And if you’re a teacher looking forward to that $100 gift card to spend in your classroom, you’d better hope that you are a state funded teacher and not locally or federally funded. The card is only for state funded teachers.

[RuthE Levy is a candidate for the Georgia Senate from District 32, East Cobb and Sandy Springs]

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