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Monday, January 29, 2007
Should Public Education Advocates Abandon Ship?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Maureen Downey had another interesting piece in Sunday’s Opinion section about what she sees as public education advocates’ resistance to change.
Sure, these lobbyists — including those representing the Georgia School Superintendents Association, the Georgia School Boards Association and the Georgia PTA — have vested interests. They’re unabashedly pro-public school and they’ll fight anything they think will hurt the ability of teachers and administrators to do their jobs.
Sometimes, their comments may be over the top. But other times they’re trying to bring real-world perspective to policies that are clearly moving ahead. After all, you don’t have to be a soothsayer to predict which Republican-led measures in a Republican-controlled statehouse will pass.
So, should the education lobby just get out of the way and allow lawmakers to do whatever they want without considering the implications, or does Georgia still need someone to stand up for the public schools?
