
Dear Newton County Schools Staff,
I am sending this note to you as a follow-up to last week’s communication regarding the recently published list of Georgia Promise Scholarship eligible schools. As you may know, multiple Newton County Schools were included on this list, and in the spirit of transparency, I shared my initial thoughts with you.
Over the past several days, you may have noticed that this issue has sparked discussion among educators and leaders across the state. It has also invited public scrutiny and resulted in confusion among parents and community members. I have since been asked to share my thoughts with media outlets and have used the last few days to reflect more deeply about the Voucher Bill (Senate Bill 233) and its potential impact on our district.
As such, I have prepared a more detailed response. Whether or not my personal views are made public, I want you to have a clearer sense of my position.
See my full statement below:
We acknowledge the efforts to create lists which are intended to provide insights into school performance, and we recognize that objective, fact-based data can be a useful tool for understanding educational outcomes. But I stand in support of teachers and in defense of public education — and the recent Georgia Promise Scholarship list and the formula used to determine scholarship-eligible schools misses the mark of accurately reflecting what is truly happening in our schools.
Our schools are not failing. On the contrary, they are doing remarkable work in the face of severe and complex challenges. The hardworking teachers and staff across Newton County and throughout the state of Georgia are committed professionals. They engage in extremely difficult work and produce undeniable gains for our students. To diminish their efforts and the results that they produce without proper context undermines their impact and has the effect of disorienting our community.
We must be cautious about how we portray our schools, especially during such volatile times in public education. Misleading or out-of-context descriptions about school performance can demoralize and alienate those working to improve student outcomes, and they can drive away the very professionals that we so desperately rely on. Instead of focusing solely on plainly stated performance - raw numbers and cut scores, we should actually emphasize the progress being made, the improvements taking place, and the resilience of our educators and students alike.
Furthermore, while vouchers are often presented as a solution to public education challenges, we must remember that strong communities are built on strong public schools. The question is whether vouchers reinforce public schools or contribute to their dismantling.