Dr. Beth Farokhi Announces Candidacy for State School Superintendent

It isn’t too often that I apparently get to break the story of a new candidate in a statewide race, so this is pretty cool for me. While Jason and I were working on updating GLW’s list of candidates tonight, Jason stumbled across a newcomer to the State Superintendent Race, Dr. Beth Farokhi. I stumbled across her phone number from an old East Cobb Democrats newsletter and spoke to her for a few minutes, just briefly introducing myself, both this site and GLW, and asking her if she had a website yet – which she does, bethforeducation.com. I then emailed her my contact information and she emailed me back this press release that apparently was sent to most media – including Tondee’s Tavern, one of the most well-known democrat-centered GA political blogs – earlier today. However, I have not yet seen any reports on her candidacy in any news source I regularly check – though it is certainly possible I missed a report somewhere.

That said, for now I’m going to claim to be the first ‘press’ to announce Dr. Farokhi’s candidacy, and if I am wrong, please correct me.

Dr. Beth Farokhi Announces Campaign for Georgia State School Superintendent
Marietta, GA – Dr. Beth Farokhi announced today that she will mount a campaign in the 2010 Democratic race for Georgia State School Superintendent.

Beth understands the importance of the state’s educational system, both in her own life and in the success of all Georgians. Beth earned a doctorate degree (Ed.D.) in higher education from the University of Georgia, a Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) from Emory University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education and Health and Physical Education from LaGrange College. She is an eighth generation Georgian from Augusta, who now resides in Marietta. For over 35 years, Beth has served in Georgia’s schools, first as a teacher in the Cobb County school system and then as an administrator in the College of Education at Georgia State University. Beth’s dedication to education led her to become involved in strategic planning and curriculum development for various school settings, as well as local, statewide, and national boards and organizations focused on educational equity.

Beth fervently believes that “our schools are more than test scores, buildings, and partisan politics; they are our teachers, our school personnel, our children, and our community.” As Georgia State School Superintendent, Beth pledges “to use the tremendous resources we have in Georgia to give our teachers the support they need and to develop a curriculum that embraces excellence so that Georgia provides the best public education in the country.” Three main issues drive Beth’s campaign: over-testing, lack of support for teachers, and an imbalance of a strong curriculum across disciplines. First, the pressures of excessive and often unnecessary testing overburden Georgia’s students and teachers. Secondly, our system too often fails to provide classroom teachers with the resources they need to reach the level of excellence for our children. Finally, the current curriculum should be scrutinized to ensure Georgia’s students are enabled to become productive global citizens. It is essential that high standards of accountability are maintained while implementing these changes.

The adage is true: ‘change is certain; progress is not.’ Beth believes that “progress depends on our working together to make the right choices today for the best outcomes tomorrow. We must collaborate with one another so that we can meet the challenges we face while protecting our values. To that end, we cannot allow partisan politics to prevent schools from being the very best they can be. As Georgia State School Superintendent, I pledge to help implement these very important changes to improve our schools.” Beth explains, “My campaign for Georgia State School Superintendent is not about slogans; it is about the ideas and ways that we can work together to achieve solutions for education in Georgia for all our children.”

You can reach Beth via email at BethforEducation@bellsouth.net or her website, www.BethforEducation.com.