Opinions

With the 2012 legislative session well under way, I want to update everyone about what’s going on at the Capitol.

In an effort to improve our state’s education system, I introduced Senate Bill 410. If implemented, this bill will move our schools away from the current AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) system to a system that provides a much more accurate measure of a school’s performance. The current AYP system provides only a “pass” or “fail” grade, meaning it is hard to track progress and incentivize improvements. Many educators and parents also argue that the current system is easily manipulated and difficult to understand. With SB 410, however, I hope to help move to a new, multi-tiered system developed by Georgia School Superintendant John Barge and the Department of Education that will provide true bench marks to track progress and provide accountability. The new criteria will provide a clearer and easier to understand picture of how a school is performing. [Full Story »] 

(Editor’s note: The author of the letter requested that the “$” symbol replacing the letter “s” in words not be corrected or replaced. The writer believes it is relevant to the subject matter of the letter.)

Dear Editor, 

A$ a former full-time re$ident of thi$ beautiful flatwood$ country known a$ Appling County, it i$ difficult for me to fathom how a lifelong re$ident and citizen of $aid county could impo$e the  horrific idea of a mega-landfill upon the citizen$ of Appling County. [Full Story »] 

Dear Jamie,

Thank you for running the guest editorial last week (Feb. 1, 2012) affirming that private sector employment has increased for 22 consecutive months under the Obama administration.

It is true that employment by the private sector, the primary strength of the American economy, fell sharply in the last 12 months of the Bush administration as the nation plunged into a Great Recession. The first month of the Obama administration matched the worst of the Bush years, but the nation began a slow but steady upward climb from that moment on. By the Spring of 2010, a year after President Obama took office private sector employment turned positive. [Full Story »]