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Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Fire the Superintendent?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hi Cindy.
I read your post about Gwinnett County Superintendent Alvin Wilbanks and you’re right: It is a great topic. For those of you who don’t know, there’s a story on the Gwinnett page about some parents calling for the ouster of Wilbanks.
Here’s why:
Last week the school board hosted a workshop on the disproportionate discipline of minority students in Gwinnett. (A topic I plan to write about in my print column, which debuts this Saturday on a special page that will be a regular feature of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
At the meeting, an administrator said that discipline of minority students was a problem for school district nationwide, except for Idaho.
Wilbanks then asked the administrator a question:
“Do they have any blacks in Idaho? They don’t have many.”
The comments alarmed parents. And J.P. Portalatin, president of the Gwinnett NAACP, has called for Wilbanks to apologize. Some parents think he should be removed from office.
So Cindy, since you raised the issue, you should have first crack at it. What do you think about this “controversy?”
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Suspicious Suspension
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gwinnett County Administrator Jock Connell has suspended Gwinnett County police Chief Charles Walters without pay. It’s great to see him take disciplinary action against such a high-ranking official, but inquiring minds want to know what, exactly, Walters did that was so egregious.
In today’s article, Gwinnett County District 1 Commissioner Lorraine Green said she was told Walters was suspended because he campaigned against her during a staff meeting of about 75 to 100 people in a staff meeting held a week before the Aug. 5 Republican primary run-off.
In the runoff, Green narrowly lost against County Commission Chairman Charles Bannister.
Green may be right, but my gut tells me there’s more to this story. Otherwise, why would Connell clam up?
What do you think?
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