Health & Fitness
Georgia DOE Finds Enough Funding for Branding Program / Furlough Days Still on Calendar
In an effort to change public perception of Georgia schools, Superintendent Barge is launching a branding campaign. Wouldn't it be cool teachers' furlough days were a reason to find funding, too?
During the debates that preceded our voting on Amendment One, an amendment to our state constitution that allowed charter schools to appeal to the state when they were denied by local boards of education, Georgia School Superintendent John Barge spoke out against it. He said, "Before we start putting money in other places, I would really like to see all of our kids across the state in school 180 days and teachers at full pay."
Wow. That sounds like a guy who's committed to his cause. Right?
But, then he forgot that.
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Because addressing furlough days is not as important as his new project. So far, nearly $60,000 have been spent by the Georgia Department of Education to out-of-state for profit vendor, Voss & Associates from Florida. This branding outreach includes things like flyers and knickknacks with the campaign's logo and they are working on raising more money to have a regular show broadcast on GPTV called "Modern Teacher". The pilot has been done – now they just need more money for this worthy cause.
This is a campaign to highlight all the great things about Georgia's public school. Hey! What happened to that commitment to 180 days of school and teachers at full pay? Does anyone else see the hypocrisy? Kind of makes you wonder how long he's been working on this little project, doesn't it? It kind of makes you wonder where his priorities are too.