Gwinnett Buzz

The Gwinnett Buzz would like to congratulate Aimée Burgamy, an art teacher at Trickum Middle School, for being named Gwinnett County Schools Teacher of the Year.

I do not want to rain on anyone’s parade but I must briefly comment on Ms. Burgamy’s advocacy of  “making arts education a mandatory part of the state’s core curriculum.”  Let me be clear, though I am an engineer and have a degree in finance, hardly artistic fields, I received extensive arts education in high school as a member of the Central Gwinnett band.  Though there may be benefits of arts education, a much higher priority for schools should be economics education.  We just witnessed an election season that highlighted the general lack of economics knowledge among Americans.  No matter the benefits of arts education, this does remedy the dire need for greater knowledge of economics.

That being said, the points Burgamy makes about arts education developing creative thinking skills is very valid.  In fact, these are sklls that are useful even in a highly technical field such as engineering.  Here’s an idea!  Maybe we can carve out a year from English classes and allocate this time to economics and arts.  After all, the only thing I learned from four years of English - grammar - comprised only about a half year of four total years.  I can assure you, I have never needed to analyze The Scarlet Letter in my engineering career!

As far as outcomes, there is no change in the result of the Gwinnett races this morning.  However, the near final tally in the District 5 school board race between Republican Louise Radloff and Democrat challenger Ravindra Kumar has the margin down to less than 600 votes.  Depending on the status of absentee and early voting ballot counts, this one might not be over and Gwinnett may face the reality that a Democrat has managed to get a toehold in local government.

On the state level, it now appears that Saxby Chambliss will be forced into a runoff for the U.S. Senate.  If so, turnout will be key in the December 2 runoff.  Democrats across the state are energized with the Obama victory so Republicans cannot stay at home and allow Democrat Jim Martin to come from behind and take away the Georgia Senate seat from the GOP.  Gwinnett as a base of conservative Republican votes must turn out big for Saxby.

With nearly all precincts reporting, Commission Chairman Charles Bannister and District 3 Commissioner Mike Beaudreau have easily won reelection.  In school board races, District 1 board member Carol Boyce and District 3 board member Mary Kay Murphy both won fairly easy victories.  In School Board District 5 things appear to be a bit closer, but Louse Radloff appears headed to victory over Democrat challenger Ravindra Kuma.  Tom Lawler will hold onto his position as Superior Court Clerk.

However, not all incumbents fared well.  In a poor move by Gwinnett voters, Richard Winegarden will fall to Karen Beyers, a candidate who had no judicial experience coming into this election.

In the SPLOST vote, Gwinnett voters extended the 1-cent sales taxes by nearly 20,000 votes.

On a state level, Saxby Chambliss thankfully was relected to the United States Senate.  This was important to keeping enough Republicans in the Senate to maintain the threat of a filibuster against any extremely liberal legislation from Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and their ilk.  Congressman John Linder, who represents a large portion of the county, defeated Doug Heckman handily. All three Georgia constitutional amendments appear likely to pass, though Amendments 2 and 3 are a little tight with about 10% of the precincts still out.  I supported, with some concerns, Amendments 2 and 3 and am glad to see them gain approval.  However, I am disappointed to see Amendment 1 pass with its promise of placing additional funding responsibility for local schools on taxpayers throughout the state.  Amendment 2 was very important to providing the funding needed for the TADs that Gwinnett voters approved in the primary in July.

Thus, overall, a positive night for Gwinnett amidst a sad night for America overall.  Hopefully, as Republican conservatives seek to take back our national party and win back the voters that the big spending GOP of the last six years have allowed to flock to Barack Obama, Gwinnett and it’s strong conservative base can play a role in this effort.  Winning back the wayward center right voters is so critical to protecting the freedoms and values that America holds dear and that are sure to be threatened by the liberal Democrats starting in January.

I wanted to touch on the controvery surrounding Gwinnett County school superintendent, Alvin Wilbanks.  I intiially saw the AJC article about the disproportionate number of discipline cases for black students in Gwinnett schools but decided not to blog on the matter.  Commenting on issues involving even the slightest racial angle is difficult because so many on the left are too often quick to tag any comment that does not toe the line of political correctness or person making such a comment  as “racist.”  Not having a strong opinion on the story, I opted not to comment.  Such a review by the board was certainly warranted because examination of a such a statistical anomaly involving a racial group is needed to ensure that no racial bias is present.  The school did not seem to be pursuing an agenda to inject racial bias where it may not be present given this observation by James Taylor, executive director of academic support:

Citing a recent study about states and discipline, Taylor told the school board that only one state — Idaho — does not seem to be having problems with disproportionate discipline. He also said that family structure, schools, zero tolerance policies, socioeconomic factors and teachers play a role in discipline.

However, Idaho turned out to be fuse on a powder keg of controversy for Superintendent Wilbanks:

“Do they have any blacks in Idaho?” asked Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks. “They don’t have many.”

If you are asking “So, what’s the big deal?”, I agree with you.  Apparently, however, some people have taken this comment to be “racist” and are offended.  If there were an actual racist comment made, I could understand that some might wish for Wilbanks to resign.  While I read this comment and, obviously, could not hear how it was said, there is prima facie conclusion that Wilbanks’ statement was racist.  Rather, this is another case of the misapplication and lack of understanding of what racism truly is.  Racism is the belief in the inherent superiority of one race over another.  Can anyone reasonably see such an implication in Wilbanks’ question?  Even if we apply the less strict definition in which prejudice and power result in opression or discrimination, the comment again fails to meet muster as a racist statement.  While Wilbanks certainly did not phrase his question as well as he could have (asking the percentage of the population of Idaho comprised by blacks would have been more appropriate), that does not equate to racism.  In fact, the bulk of the concern seems to be centered around the fact that some people were offended.

Ah yes, that clarion call to action in modern America - ensure that no one is never, ever offended.  I am not suggesting that we should go out of our way to offend people.  In fact, I strongly doubt that Wilbanks was intending ot offend anyone with his question.  As such, for what is he supposed to apologize, a response sought by the Gwinnett chapter of the NAACP?  Should he apologize if anyone was offended by his poor phrasing?  Perhaps.  While I applaud Gwinnett NAACP President J.P. Portalatin for not going to the extreme of calling for Wilbanks’ resignation, Portalatin’s comments are certainly overblown:

“This type of rhetoric not only dishonors Gwinnett County Public Schools, but casts a cloud on the abilities of Superintendent Wilbanks and the school board members to lead the school system effectively,” Portalatin said.

Casts a cloud on his ability to lead Gwinnett schools?  For that comment?  For a man with a record of reaching out to minorities?  Quite obviously, Poralatin’s assertions are not supported by the reality of the sitaution.  After a meeting Monday between Portalatin and Wilbanks, no apology appears to be forthcoming.  An apology if someone was offended would be reasonable but anything beyond that would be impossible assuming there was no intent to offend or denigrate a race.   In fact, if Wilbank’s remark was as characterized by school board member Robert McClure, then Wilbanks should not be expected to offer an apology of any kind.

Dr. Robert McClure has said Wilbanks was simply seeking more information about Idaho demographics during the presentation.

At some point, people must stop caving in and cowering in the face of unwarranted charges of racism, and, in turn, apologizing for things they did not do and, an action that implies some degree of guilt.  In fact, levelling flimsy accusations of racism does a disservice to those who do suffer from actual racism and oppression.  Situations like this one is a racial version of crying wolf.  When we are constantly bombarded with infensible accusations of racism, we become desensitized to such charges and when the charges are warranted, we risk not giving those legiimate claims the attention and response they deserve.

The Gwinnett County schools are keeping their police force busy.  While most of the incidents in that list are bona fide criminal activity - underage drinking and drug possession, for example - some make you wonder if school has become a police state.  Two incidents are pranks are questionable if they merit giving students a criminal record, even if only of the juvenile variety.

Police were seeking warrants to arrest three teens who covered two staircases with cooking oil, eggs, flour, oil and shaving cream as a prank near the final days of school. The students — two 17-year-old females and an 18-year-old female — face charges of reckless conduct and disruption of public schools.

Potentially dangerous?  Absolutely.  Worthy of punishment?  No doubt.  A nice stint of suspension is certainly warranted.  Criminal?  I think that is a bit much.

A Meadowcreek High School student was arrested for disorderly conduct after he allegedly threw a water balloon into a crowd during the last days of school. A police officer on the scene saw the prank.

Does someone really need to be arrested for throwing a water balloon?  C’mon!  Perhaps there is more to the story than is being reported, but this hardly seems like it should result in criminal charges.  Give the kid a few days detention, perhaps even scrubbing toilets or something.  He won’t want to throw a water balloon again!

There were also several instances of kids bringing knives or razor blades to school.  No, there is no need for a kid to have this at school, but just confiscate the items, throw the kids in detention, possibly cleaning restrooms with water balloon kid and be done with it.  Unless they were using the knife or threatening someone with it, I again question if an arrest is necessary.

I read these incidents and I just wonder about what kind of trouble myself or friends could have been in had there been such overreaction in punishment 20 years ago.  I knew some guys who picked up and carried a friend’s car to a different parking space (to be fair, I am not sure it did not cause some damage to the vehicle).  Would they today be charged with grand theft auto?  I knew a guy in band who got caught smoking on a bus coming back to school.  Would the school police come to write him a ticket today?  When you read cases like these, is there any wonder so many parents don’t want their kids in public schools and opt for private schools or home-schooling?  We need a return to common sense in punishment and stop saddling kids with some form of a record for doing the dumb things that kids have always done.

Unfortunately, Glenn Pirkle has decided to endorse Lorraine Green.  I do not know what Green told him during their recent meeting, but he appreantly believes that she is the better choice to achieve his objectives for Gwinnett.  I hope his supporters will further consider their runoff vote, however, and not simply follow Mr. Pirkle’s suggestion.

Reading thorugh Pirkle’s website, I tend to agree with many of the views he expresses.  He is obviously not a fan of big government.  In response to the socialized garbage program that the current commission is foisting upon Gwinnett residents, he asks “Is the next step to tell the people of Gwinnett County where they will buy groceries and gas?”  If his supporters have a similar limited government viewpoint, Lorraine Green is absolutely the wrong choice for them in the runoff.  Even if they are not completely sold on Charles Bannister, the incumbent chairman offers a much better chance to limit the reach of government and, as such, deserves the votes of Pirkle backers.

I would like to say I agree with Pirkle’s observation about parents dropping kids off at school and the traffic that engenders.  This was not really an issue for the Board of Commissioner, but I would like to see someone push the school board on this matter.  I am not sure a fee is feasible or even legal, but there should be some way to encourage greater usage of the transportation services that the school system makes available.

I recently criticized the Gwinnett County school board for their weak treatment of students failing gateway exams.  However, the AJC has reported that the school system has not been soft on teachers under state professional ethics investigation.

All but one Gwinnett educator under state investigation resigned or had their contracts dropped.

Taking ethics violations seriously is important to ensure the integrity of the school system.  As I read the article, I thought that the school had to be sure that anyone found guilty of violations involving cheating on the CRCT tests should receive a punishment more severe than just a slap on the wrist.  As much of a believer in rules as I am, I was only thinking some sort of probation was in order.  Apparently, Gwinnett County Public Schools takes potential violations more seriously.  For that, I applaud the board for protecting the integrity of the teaching profession.

Thursday, the Gwinnett County School Board dealt a blow to the cause of higher educational standards in the our county school system.  Gwinnett wisely requires students to pass various “Gateway” exams to be promoted from one grade to another.  This is wise because some form of standardized examination ensures that each student can demonstrate a minimum level of knowledge in a subject area.  Standardized tests are often demonized, but they are a reality in many walks of life including professional accreditation exams and are appropriately integrated into the educational process.

According to the AJC:

Schools policy allows students who earn a C or better on their report cards in subject areas tested by the Georgia Criterion-Referenced Competency Test and the Georgia Writing Test to qualify for an automatic review of failing standardized test scores. That review can void their failing scores.

Reconsideration due to extenuating circumstances such as illness or a death in the family are understandable and should be given.  However, in such circumstances rather than throwing out the require to pass a gating exam, the student should be allowed to retake any failed exam without penalty.  Apparently, the Gwinnett school board believes that a waiver in these cases should be almost automatic..

According to statistics reported by the AJC, the overwhelming majority of students whose cases were reviewed had the exam requirement waived:

Percentage of cases where Gateway requirements waived (with or without summer school recommendation)

Fourth Grade: 76.8%
Fifth Grade: 100% (only two cases reviewed)
Seventh Grade: 98%
Eighth Grade: 100%

What does this say about education standards in Gwinnett?  What message does this send to students?  What incentive does a student have to work harder or a parent have to ensure that their child is focusing on his or her studies when failure is met with a waiver of meeting the requirements?  Having high standards is not easy and it means that more students will probably fail courses and exams.  But high standards is critical in an ever more-competitive world where the quality of an American primary and secondary education lags other countries.

I obviously do not know the details of each case and, as I stated, I do not have any issues with students getting a “free do-over” when circumstances warrant.  However, I think the citzens of Gwinnett and especially parents need to question a policy that waives basic assessment requirements.  Being that we are in the midst of an election campaign, the candidates up for reelection to the School Board should be pressed on this policy.  Incumbents Carol Boyce (District 1), Mary K. Murphy (District 3), and Louise Radloff (District 5) are up for re-election this fall (they are all unopposed in next month’s Republican primary).  This allows plenty of time for these board members to address this questionable policy.

Both the Republican and Democrat parties will have questions for their voters on the July 15 primary ballot. The questions for each party will differ and can be reviewed here. I am not entirely pleased with the wording of the Republican questions, but I think the Democrat questions give some insight into what Dems could do to Gwinnett if they manage to claw their way into power in our county.

Republican Questions

Here are a few of the nine GOP questions:

Do you believe that the Federal Government should use taxpayer money to bail out failing banks and lenders and/or the homeowners facing foreclosure?

This is a very poorly worded question. “Bail out” has such a negative connotation. Under some cases and depending on circumstances, should banks and lenders be “bailed out?” Absolutely. Bear Stearns was bailed out to prevent a potential collapse of the financial clearing market. Should individual homeowners be “bailed out?” This is a tougher question. I have concerns about effectively rewarding those who made poor home purchasing decisions. This is especially true of those who bought more house than they could reasonably expect to afford and real estate speculators. I have far more sympathy for homeowners who made rational purchase decisions but have been swept away in the market difficulties. However, how do you separate these groups? How do you provide some assistance but still ensure that you do not establish a moral hazard for those buyers that made ill-advised home purchases? At the end of the day the answer is technically “yes” but reality is far more conflicting.

Should our Georgia Congressional Delegation be dedicated to strongly encouraging the United States Congress and the U.S. Military to advocate that all military and government contracts be awarded to American companies committed to domestic job creation and reinvestment in America’s manufacturing?

Again, this is a poorly worded question. The answer is “yes,” in general. However, I suspect that this is a result of Northrop Grumman recently winning an Air Force tanker contract, beating out U.S. manufacturer Boeing. Why should our military settle for an inferior option simply because a bidder is an American company? This is an example of why this too is not a clear cut question.

Other questions deal with bringing MARTA to Gwinnett (NO), whether the federal government is doing all it can to enforce immigration laws (NO!!) and whether the Republican party has moved too far to the left (YES!!!).

Democrat Questions

A string of questions hint strongly at an anti-development/anti-progress stance. They ask about managing traffic, promoting green space, and managing development, all code words for impeding development, progress and private property rights. However, because of the Democrats’ history being unfriendly to business, I fear such a stance would be worse than even that of some current commissioners. Also, two questions ask about expanding the Board of Commissioners and Gwinnett County School Board. These seem to me to be all about manufacturing a foothold for themselves on these bodies. Currently, the highly Democrat areas are contained and dominated in their districts by the more typical Gwinnett GOP voter. If such areas could be broken apart and the more Democrat-leaning areas given a more self-contained district, the ability to sneak a Democrat member onto either board would be enhanced. In general, I would probably support further subdivision (or at least be neutral to it), but with Democrats pushing for it, we must oppose their power-grabbing efforts!

The Gwinnett County School Board passed a $1.9 billion budget Thursday night.  I have to offer kudos to the board for holding the line on the tax rate.  Yes, there is the issue of tax hikes through valuation increases (see MillageRate.com for more discussion of this), but I am not sure where I stand on assigning responsibility for “backdoor tax increases” to elected officials. So for now, I have to give credit when elected do the right thing.

The most troubling thing I read is that the school system will pay for “four foreign language interpreters…to help the system communicate with parents and students who don’t speak English.”  I have mixed feelings on this.  I do not feel that is the taxpayers responsibility to provide services in any language other than English.  (This is why we need a law making English the official language now while we have a fighting chance to pass it.)  However, I also recognize that parents are crucial to the education process and educating immigrants’ children is important to allowing these kids grow into adults that can pursue the American dream and contribute to our society.  As often as such issues are presented as black and white, that is simply not the case.