For two weeks, a fellow conservative, Don Conkey, has written columns that unfortunately misinform readers about our public school system in Cherokee County.
For 11 years, I’ve had the honor to serve our community as a member of the Cherokee County Board of Education. During that time, we’ve had some great success with improving the performance of our public schools. Unfortunately, we’ve not been successful at improving the lack of respect our state lawmakers have for our schools.
The recent rhetoric about “one man, one vote” and that our school system needs competition from charter schools are, frankly, disingenuous arguments.
The reason the state legislators changed the governance model was to restrict voters’ options when selecting a school board.
This was done for one reason only: to unseat the current superintendent. The charter school issue is just the flavor of the month.
No one I know on the school board (including me) has ever stated a position against charters. We do, however, have a constitutional and fiduciary responsibility to ensure that tax dollars are spent (and audited) in an appropriate manner.
That is where my dedication, responsibility and opinion have guided me.
Our state legislators’ use of ideology as an excuse for advancing personal agendas at the expense of the public as a whole is an inexcusable abuse of the power that comes with being in office.
Mr. Conkey needs to take a step back and look at what has really been going on instead of just listening to our state legislators’ spin.
Mike Chapman
Cherokee School Board of Education chairman
Canton
Rather than demonizing those who oppose CCA, Mr. Conkey and others in the press should spend some time investigating the timeline of when and by whom, the scheme to save American Heritage Academy was hatched. The idea to create CCA by using tax dollars to save the Sixes Road Private School is bad enough, but sending those dollars to a FL based for-profit company is rediculous. The idea most likely did not originate with the Senator, but most certainly can be traced to his supporters. And we all know, so goes the money, the politician is sure to follow.
Thank you Mike and Dr. P for having the backbone to stand up to Chip. Hopefully, you won't have to much longer as people are clearly catching "Beach Fever!"
"If you don't like it, you can just move."
Mike Chapman complaining about a 'lack of respect' is laughably hypocritical, given his infamous response above to anyone who dared question the Board's charter decision a year or so ago.
I doubt, based on your, that you were there as I was, to witness the forum held at Cherokee High School. As you claim, Mike's "infamous" response was not a direct response or threat to anyone. Mike made the statement that of course everyone in Cherokee County has a choice when it comes to education, if you don't like what is offered locally, one of many choices is to move. This comment was of course twisted into - if you don't agree with us, then move. Far from accurate, but certainly good fodder for those supporting CCA.
When it comes to the "choice" to move, I would not be surprised that if all the actual residents of Cherokee County who support CCA were asked (before the SAVE AHA scheme was hatched) why they moved to Cheorkee County, the #1 answer probably would have been because of the great schools.
On a final note, despite what Chip and others like him want you to belive, you can be a conservative/Republican and support public education and charters. Charters can be beneficial to the educational landscape when they provide something significantly different the local public school does. CCA fails that test.