August 2009
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Making the Case for School Choice

By Publius, on August 10th, 2009%

If there’s one way to hurt student performance, it’s to strike at teacher morale. As teachers around the state scramble to get classrooms ready, many are working, for a few days at least, for free. To minimize the impact of state budget shortfalls, a three-day furlough for teachers was suggested – at a time many are working extra hours anyway.

These cuts are not necessarily the last; teachers likely will see more next year. This approach demonstrates a dire need for education reform in Georgia, especially for state legislators to embrace more school choice. A state-sponsored analysis of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program found that the voucher program saves Wisconsin about $37.2 million, a $13 million increase over fiscal 2007, when the program was implemented. Further, Wisconsin’s Legislative Fiscal Bureau found that school districts outside Milwaukee received an additional $86 million from state funds. These numbers added together already surpass the estimated $99 million savings expected from teacher furloughs in Georgia.
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Leave a comment   State

Unified Age of Adulthood

By Jeff, on August 10th, 2009%

Right now in these United States, our governments – national and state – treat certain “adults” as if they are not truly adults.

Let’s outline it, shall we?

At some age, usually anywhere between 16 and 18 depending on the State and circumstances, per this chart on 4Parents.gov, a person can legally consent to have sex.

At 18 years old, a person largely becomes a legal adult. In some areas, they have been legally able to consent to sex for two years. In other areas, they become legally able to consent to sex at the same time they become legally able to enter into any contract, join the military, or smoke tobacco.
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3 comments   Editorial

Bringing the “good life” back to the Good Life City

By Tom, on August 10th, 2009%

In an effort to try and be a bit more positive about Albany, I figured it’s time to start discussing how we can really put the “good life” back into the Good Life City. Let’s just make a few assumptions, just for the sake of argument. First, let’s assume that the corruption in Albany is minimized to a point where it’s at least consistent with the average American town of similar size. Ridding it would be ideal, but let’s be realistic. Let’s not assume that I-85 will ever come to Albany as well. While it sounds good, and I personally would actually be thrilled with the boost Albany would get, there’s no guarantee that it’ll happen.

So, what should we do? Continue reading Bringing the “good life” back to the Good Life City

14 comments   Albany Dougherty County    

SWGAPolitics.com Wants YOU!

By Publius, on August 10th, 2009%

Here at SWGAPolitics.com, we’ve been growing quite a bit recently and we’d like to continue that. The problem is, Jeff and Tom both have lives outside of this site that they would like to step back and enjoy a bit more.

So we’re asking for your help. We need more writers, and experience is NOT a necessity.

Here’s what we’re looking for:

1) Liberty Lovers. Party affiliation isn’t extremely important here, but we do ask that you be committed to whatever your definition of Freedom is. We truly value free speech and diversity, so don’t worry about agreeing with Tom or Jeff 100% of the time. They don’t even agree with each other 100% of the time!

2) Committed to the truth and transparency. Obviously, we don’t mind editorializing at the same time you are reporting – we actually encourage it, to an extent. We just ask that you report the ENTIRE story as it relates to your posts, not just selected facts to make someone or something look bad. Also, if you support Cause A or Candidate X, be honest about it. We may disagree, and that is cool. One of the whole purposes of adding more authors is, after all, to get a broader exchange of ideas flowing.

3) We’re looking for people at all levels of politics, be it local, state, or national. At the local level, we’d prefer you be in Dougherty, Lee, or a surrounding county. For statewide issues, including the General Assembly, we’re open to anyone from anywhere in the State of Georgia. If someone from outside the State of Georgia reads us and wants to join us, we’d love to have you cover national issues for us. Note that if we bring you on at a lower level (such as local) you can still write about higher level issues (such as state and national) as well.

If you think you might be interested, shoot us an email through this form and let us know. The current idea is to put anyone interested in a trial period for a week or two via the Publius account, then Tom and Jeff will make their decision sometime prior to the SWGAPolitics.com/LP-SWGA get together at Harvest Moon on Aug 28 and announce the decision there.

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One comment   General

What did they know, and when did they know it

By Tom, on August 10th, 2009%

It’s easy to miss things in the mess that was left in the wake of Hurricane Don (Buie). However, an email this weekend left me wondering a thing or two. As we all know, Don Buie was arrested for domestic violence. It was all over the news, as we all remember.

So what’s going on now? Well, I want to know how in the hell the City didn’t know something considering how many times his name flowed through the Georgia Crime Information Computer (GCIC) system. Continue reading What did they know, and when did they know it

8 comments   Albany Dougherty County   ,