Buzz Brockway State Representative, Georgia House District 101 

Thursday I joined Senators Chip Rogers and Bill Cowsert and Representatives Andy Welch, Lynn Riley, and Sam Teasley at a press conference calling for a Federal Balanced Budget Amendment. Resolutions will be introduced in both the House and the Senate calling for a Constitutional Convention for the limited purpose of debating such an Amendment. Here’s this from the Augusta Chronicle:

Sen. Bill Cowsert of Athens, the Senate sponsor, said federal spending has escalated over the years to where each American taxpayer’s share of the debt has swelled to more than $138,000.

“It’s time for the United States government to get its financial house in order,” he said, quoting surveys showing the measure has broad public support.

Rep. Andy Welch of McDonough, the House sponsor, said he has bipartisan support among the 59 cosponsors.

It would take 34 states passing similar resolutions to trigger a convention. Georgia was one of 33 to pass resolutions calling for a convention that ran out of time in the 1980s.

I am one of the 59 House co-sponsors.

Yesterday I joined Senator Renee Unterman (R-Buford) and a coalition of groups opposed to metal theft at the Capitol. Below is the report from Fox5. I’ve been assisting Rep. Jason Shaw (R-Lakeland) on a House version of the bill which should be introduced soon. We in the House have met with representatives of the recycling industry, law enforecement, and industries impacted by theft. We hope to craft a solution that doesn’t create burdensome regulations but gives law enforcement the tools they need to fight these crimes.

Cross Poster at Peach Pundit.

It’s déjà vu all over again as Gwinnett’s School Board rejected an extension of Ivy Preperatory Academy’s charter. Ivy Prep had asked for a five year extension but the Board rejected it…

…citing “significant deficiencies” including its financials and curriculum as well as its vision.

If the School Board is concerned about Ivy Prep’s finances they can start by giving them more than the $4,368 per FTE they give them now.  GCPS spends over $7500 per student, not counting building costs.

As for the curriculum and vision problems, let me point out that according to the 2010 CRCT scores students at Ivy Prep perform better in almost every category then GCPS students.

So what exactly was the basis for the rejection?

Gwinnett County voters should know that three Gwinnett County Board of Education members are up for election this year. Mary Kay Muprhy has already drawn a challenge from Jen Falk, who just happens to be a founding board member of Ivy Prep.

Gwinnett’s action comes on the heels of the Fulton School Board rejecting a charter extension for Blue-Ribbon Award winning Fulton Science Middle School. Last year in the mad scramble cause by the Supreme Court ruling overturning Georgia’s charter school law, charter schools in Cherokee and Coweta were rejected. Additionally, Atlanta Public Schools and Doughtery County Schools were the subject of high profile CRCT cheating investigations. Recently Atlanta Public Schools and DeKalb County Schools have been in various levels on trouble with the accreditation agency SACS, and who can forget about Clayton County Schools losing their accreditation in 2008?

All of these things took place in a State that is by most measures at the bottom of the educational pile in the nation – a nation whose students each year fall further behind students in other industrialized nations in math, science and reading.  It’s past time to address Georgia’s problems.  It’s time to stop using local control as an excuse to deny school choice and accept poor results for our students.   We’ve got to pass a Constitutional Amendment reversing the Supreme Court’s charter school ruling and give parents more options.

My local Kroger has over 15 varieties of mustard.  Why?  Because the mustard consuming public demands choice.  Far too many people accept the notion there should be only one type of school provided by the government.   We demand a free market for condiments but not education.

As Jason mentioned, next week is National School Choice week.  There will be a pro-school choice rally at the Capitol on Wednesday beginning at 10 AM. I plan to be there.