SB 458
Some of you may have seen this e-mail:
With Clayton County on the verge of losing their accreditation and Henry County schools already being overloaded, House Bill 458 will have a negative impact on the future of Henry County if the bill is passed. PLEASE pass this on to all of your friends and family and have them call the Governors office (number listed below) and oppose it! Taxpayers for Henry County should not have to pay for non-residential students to attend Henry County schools.The bill number is Senate Bill 458, not House Bill 458, and thanks to an amendment yesterday in the House Science and Technology Committee, the language requiring school systems to take the voucher was removed due to objections from some local school boards. Acceptance of the voucher is voluntary. If a school system doesn't want to honor the voucher, they won't have to.
It took 5 seconds for me to complete a call to the Governor's office. Please read below.
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This is an important announcement directly affecting our school and our school system.The GA Senate has passed a bill today allowing students from any non-accredited system to attend any school of their choice in any district without changing residences. The bill is now on its way to the House Science and Technology Dept. for review and then for a vote. The final step would be to go the Governor for his signature into law.
Should this bill pass, our school and our system would feel a tremendous strain on facilities, supplies, class sizes, instruction and sports eligibility. We urge you to call the governor's office as quickly as possible at 404-656-1776 and simply give your name and state you oppose House Bill 458.
Please contact our state representatives and voice your opposition to this bill quickly as time is critical.
Governor Sonny Perdue
404-656-1776
This has not stopped teacher's unions and opponents of school choice from demagoguing the issue through e-mail blasts to members and supporters. It is equally unfortunate that the Governor's office is not informing callers of the change in the legislation.
Comments
Got the blast and spoke with Sen. Douglas and had an email response from Rep. Lunsford. The Dems changed the wording from "may as local policy permits" to "shall if space is available". The bill now is back to the "may" and since Henry County has a policy that requires county residence, we are fine
Posted by: Classical Jazz | March 27, 2008 06:32 PM
The only way this bill would get Clayton students into Henry schools is if Henry County invited them over the county line. NOTHING here will require Henry to accept Clayton students. In fact, we amended yet another education bill today in the Senate Education committee when I found a sentence that said only the student would determine where they went to school. That changed to the receiving system could reject the student if they see fit. Henry County schools has a policy in place not to accept students from outside the district for any reason. That remains in place and will so long as Henry County wants it to remain.
Posted by: John Douglas | March 27, 2008 07:46 PM
It's good to see the record set straight here. I've already gotten a hysterical e-mail blast myself. This is one more example of how this site is the best source of up-to-the-minute county information.
Posted by: Monroe Roark | March 27, 2008 08:27 PM
I got the e-mail at work today and like...five phones call from co-workers asking about the bill.
The reason I posted here it is because I don't want to see school vouchers tainted by people who are purposely withholding information, not so much that it had to done with Henry County.
Thanks for the compliment, Monroe.
Posted by: Jason | March 27, 2008 08:31 PM
The leaders in Clayton County school system along with so many other government agencies in this county has lost any respect it may had. The State School authorities and other state agency heads need to come in and take over Clayton County and get ALL of it's issues cleaned up and the county running lilke it should. {Including the Sheriff's Office}
I trust Henry County school officlas won't give in to letting our school system take on any of the Clayton County students and that the surrounding counties do the same. This may hopefully force the State to come in and clean house.
Posted by: It's Me | March 27, 2008 08:33 PM
I have received many emails on this subject, some bordering on hysterical. I have answered every single email personally and every answer I have gotten back has been supportive of what the actual bill says. This has been a lesson to many that if you want the correct information, go to the source. I appreciate so many contacting me to get the straight story. I am here to serve Henry County and four others and answering emails is not a chore, rather its a responsibility.
Posted by: John Douglas | March 27, 2008 09:10 PM
Good work, Sen. Douglas. On all of the correspondence I have received so far, I have directed everyone to read your comments on this site. The sooner everyone gets correct information, the better.
Posted by: Monroe Roark | March 28, 2008 11:15 AM
We already have Clayton Co. kids attending our schools. Just look at the tags in a car line picking up kids at our public schools.....
Posted by: Bill Mac | March 31, 2008 11:01 AM
Maybe, I'm not saying they're not, but it is possible that some of those cars may belong to families that just moved over and have not had the opportunity to get a new tag.
Posted by: Jason | March 31, 2008 11:33 AM
I took matters into my own hands to ensure that my kids recieved a the best education.
Check out this link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5j9WTO32URM
Posted by: JRed08 | April 21, 2008 01:30 PM