Dear Editor,
This letter is in response to Frank Barnes’ letter to the editor in the July 26 edition of LaGrange Daily News. We have run a positive and honest campaign and will continue to do so.
We have at no time during this campaign questioned his character as he has done ours, Dianne Matthews’ and Sheila Rowe’s. We are insulted that he has questioned our ethics and morality. If we had intended to be unethical, we could have waited until after the election to file the contribution. We have nothing to hide from the ethics commission. The owner of the business who made the contribution has been friends of ours for over 40 years.
Our school board is a group of people who are honest and dedicated to the children of Troup County. This is our first priority and will remain our main concern.
To answer his three questions, everything we do and all of the decisions that the school board makes is in accordance with the policies of the school system.
As your incumbent school board members, we never expected that we would have to express ourselves in a response as this. But because of Mr. Barnes’ letter and the negative campaign that has been done by our opposition, we feel it is important to the voters of Troup County to hear the truth and set the record straight.
Please vote July 31 for your incumbent school board members who strive to make our school system super excellent.
John Darden
Debbie Burdette
Sheila Rowe
Dianne Matthews
Before you make generalized comments and group all of us that do not agree with your point of view as people that won't accept responsibility, put some facts together, do a little research and discuss your points using data and trends that will highlite the issues that you raise. Comments such as yours divide Troup County instead of seeking to bring all parties to bear to solve the issue at hand.
Is it ALL parents that are irresponsible or some? If it is SOME then what percentage of parents send their little angels off to school for someone else to raise?
As far as the current BOE being dedicated and caring, well I guess I will have to take your word for it because you grew up with them. I do disagree with your comment that the BOE is a "thankless" job. It is a very important job and it is most definately not for the faint of heart. Stepping into these positions means that the people are committing themselves to be servant leaders for the people of this county, what could be more rewarding? Of course you will always have those that disagree but isnt that what you would want? Not having a group that challenges each other leads to mediocrity as it is defined. Do we have that...I don't think so, have some of the members gotten a bit complacent and have demonstrated an entitlement attitude of late, yes I believe that is true. It is time for people with a different outlook to step into the fire and we have some that are willing to do so. If you are serious about "looking around" then you will be shocked at how far Troup County has dropped in the past 5 years. Do we tell our kids to go out on the baseball field, football field, etc... to meet the state averages, I am sure you inspire your children to be the very best that they can, if not the best ever. Why can we not strive for the same goal with our schools? It is most definately not about test scores, its about preparing our kids for life today with all of its problems, its about preparing them for college so that they have the abilities to excell and further their education. These are good goals to drive to, you cannot spend your way to achieving these goals and we will absolutley not recieve any assistance from the State or Federal Goverments in reaching for these goals...but what is best for OUR kids? because what we have now is most certainly not.
1. Can a board member accept monetary gifts from someone who has received work though the bidding process and remain unbiased?
2. Are all parties participating in the bidding for work notified that board members accept monetary gifts from their competitors?
3. Is there a “potential” conflict of interest involved when a member accepts money from one who has received prior work from the votes of board members in the past, who has a history of bidding on future projects?
At no point does this, in my humble opinion, consitute an attack on your morality or ethics. It questions the BOE's ability to make unbiased decisions based upon what is the best for the children of Troup County. I do not believe that any current Board Of Education Member is un-ethical or immoral, I believe that you are the absolute wrong people for the job, as we look at where we are today with the financial shortfalls and the fact that our school system is graduating only 64% of those students elgible, one has to question the incumbents ability to conduct critical thinking. My statement does not question your ethics or moralities just your decision making abilities, and that is what this election is about to me. We need people that can look at issues without using the current paradigms that exist within the BOE.
If you are truly about what is best for Troup County and the children of our school system then you have to agree that where we are today is not satisfactory at all. We should never compare ourselves to the "State Average" on anything because mediocrity breeds mediocrity, we should always compare our school system to the very best in the nation. We need to strive for excellence in all we do and the current BOE does not or has not espoused these ideals.
I for one cannot perpetuate these mind sets that currently exist in the BOE, each of you listed in this letter have not provided the level of leadership necessary to take the TCSS to a national level of excellence, further your decision to fill the position of School Superintendent with a person that has not demonstrated any significant leadership traits to date suggests that you do not have the appropriate skill sets to occupy your current positions.
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