Commenters on the AJC Get Schooled blog disagreed over whether Gov. Nathan Deal violated his own ban on lobbyist gifts when he allowed StudentsFirst, the advocacy group founded by former Washington, D.C, schools chancellor Michelle Rhee, to pay $14,336 to underwrite a legislative fact-finding trip to New Orleans last month to visit charter schools in the state takeover district. (The General Assembly approved Deal’s proposal, and voters will decide on it next year.) Here is a sampling of comments:
Living: Unfortunately, in this case, I feel like the AJC is trying to light a fire under a situation that is really not a situation. If the House minority leader and the Democratic Caucus doesn't think Deal broke any ethics violations, then who is clamoring for justice besides the newspaper? While I take issue with many of Michelle Rhee's actions and positions on policy, I don't think there's any controversy here.
Hannah: Sickening.
DG: It's not like Washington, D.C., didn't see a huge cheating scandal under Rhee's watch … oh wait, they did. Unionism aside, are you now saying Beverly Hall was a great superintendent in Atlanta? She did the exact same thing.
Cat: When will Georgians ever learn? An old dog has the same old tricks (or ticks?) no matter what proclamation he makes. Those rules are for the "little people." How much did this company give to the reelection campaign? And what do they expect in return? An "educated" leadership?
Bu: Now if they spent most of their time at casinos or jazz bars, maybe you could make a case. Every indication is this was a working trip. The charter district is in New Orleans, so it's not like going to Las Vegas to discuss coastal issues. He's not getting "gifts." He's getting a tour of something he may want to emulate. He's not buying services from this group. It's an advocacy group like Common Cause.
Display: What's funny is that proponents of charter schools should be opposing this legislation, not encouraging it. Charter systems work when they allow good schools to operate and bad schools to close. Simply transferring control of failing schools to yet another bureaucracy does nothing; calling them "charter" schools means nothing; so the entire farce simply makes it harder to get true reform done
Straker: Georgia Republican politicians are immune to "obvious ethical questions." They know that, for now, all they have to do is periodically trash Obama, and their loyal voters will continue to support them.
4Truth: The rules about lobbyist gifts don't apply to those who make them. Governor "Let's Make A Deal" violated his own rule and is trying to justify it by saying it was an educational trip. Either a rule is a rule or it isn't. Apparently, the $25 cap on lobbyist's gifts isn't really a rule.
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