Meeting airs education concerns

One man voiced concerns about Georgia's new history curriculum.

A special education teacher said the No Child Left Behind Act did not recognize that some of her pupils weren't capable of reading at grade level.

A mother of two said taxpayers should not shoulder the cost of offering choice because some parents can't get their children to school to meet attendance requirements.

And there were people there to listen.

At the second of the Columbia County School Board's town hall meetings Saturday morning, local, state and federal officials were on hand to hear concerns.

"I really wanted to come here for the information, wanted to know what was going on, and I felt it was in my best interest to be here," said Karen Gross, who has two children in elementary school.

Most of the 12 in the audience were teachers.

"My purpose here is to get feedback and let them know we are here to address their needs and to follow through," said Tom Bolvin, special assistant in the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs for the U.S. Department of Education.

The meeting, which was set up by District 5 School Board Representative Lee Muns in the lunchroom at Columbia Middle School, attracted three of the state's top eduction policy makers: Chief Deputy State School Superintendent Stuart Bennett; Senate Education Committee Chairman Joey Brush, R-Appling; and Dr. Ben Scafidi, education policy adviser for Gov. Sonny Perdue.

They reviewed many of the aspects of HB1190, the governor's education reform legislation, which was recently approved by the General Assembly. It addresses such issues as pupil discipline, truancy and early learning.

"There's lots of good things happening, but we've got a long way to go," Bennett said. "We plan to pull Georgia up by its bootstraps and lead the nation in improving student achievement."