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TODAY'S
ISSUE
Schools start, so check
this inspiring turn-around story
By
Dr. Holly Robinson
Senior Vice President
Georgia Public Policy Forum
Special to GwinnettForum.com
First
of two articles
(Editor's Note: As teachers return to the highly-regarded
Gwinnett schools this week, and school is about to start all over
Georgia, we present an inspiring story here on a school system
that has seen great improvements, in the Middle Georgia town of
Jeffersonville. . Such turn-arounds can enhance the level of all
education in Georgia. .---eeb.)
AUG. 3, 2004 -- The economic and demographic statistics of Twiggs
County are overwhelming. Its approximately 10,000 residents had
a per capita income in 2001 of $17,033, compared with a Georgia
average of $28,523. The population is aging; the illiteracy rate
is staggering.
 All
the more reason to heap praise, recognition and continued support
on the successes of Twiggs' public school system, whose motto, "Together
We Inspire Great Gains for Students" (TWIGGS) embodies the
vision and reality. Every decision is based on what is best for
the children, a mission that seemed impossible six years ago.
The dramatic transition began in 1998 with the arrival of Superintendent
Wanda West. Dr. West came from neighboring Bibb County with the
determination, drive and passion to change a system whose test scores
were at the bottom in the state.
The school board wanted change. Polarization was everywhere: Cliques
wanted control of power and money; no one trusted anyone. Principals
were "building holders," not instructional leaders and,
sadly, teachers had lost faith in the central administration and
board.. Parents were at their wits' end and begging for change.
Personalities weren't the only issue. Facilities were dark and had
inadequate lighting and were in dire need of repair and renovation.
There was no coordination of services.
The high school was deemed not safe by parents, even described
as out of control. There were allegations of drugs, no faith in
the teachers or administration, and students were literally out
of control.
Dr. West recognized immediately the depth of the malaise: Within
48 hours she had found everyone was "kin;" everyone had
something to say about someone. But "No one had anything to
say about the children," she said.
With what she calls "premeditated leadership," the superintendent
began to implement her goal. She wanted everyone involved with the
schools - teachers, board members, parents, support staff and community
members - to focus on the children. Her belief that all children
can learn and achieve excellence was and remains her driving force.
The school board chairman and the board were behind Dr. West as
she quietly began teaching the process of putting the children first.
She decided to "go for broke." First, she sat down with
the board and administrators and explained the necessity to focus
on the needs of the children and the community. She persuaded two
administrators, both Twiggs County natives, that with their help
navigating through the community, it could work.
Then Dr. West scheduled a series of town hall meetings, where she
and the administrators on board listened. The superintendent acknowledged
the system's deficiencies: lack of leadership, teachers not teaching
and buildings cold and dark and unkempt.
Through a series of administrative meetings with principals, she
signaled the system that the days of personal power were over. Holding
a set of keys and walking a building was not leadership. Individual
expectations were set. For this leadership team, a two-year training
initiative was implemented to demonstrate the attributes of effective
schools.
Resistance was enormous. Dr. West was trying to advance her goal
as she worked to put out fires: facility failures, financial crisis,
communication dysfunction and an out-of-control high school. Bats
had even taken over a classroom at one school. The superintendent,
however, was determined to lead by example. She visited facilities
at all hours without notification. She arrived at work on time,
and expected the same of others, and she demanded participation
and accountability.
The community had endured the dysfunctional status quo so long
that most couldn't fathom the possibilities of improvement. The
schools had not been held accountable; no one had been there to
challenge a dream.
Dr. West knew the value of an immediate win in boosting the success
of her leadership initiatives. And she knew just what would bring
the schools together: working to gain, for the first time, accreditation
by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the principal
accrediting organization for schools in the Southeast.
During the six-month process of preparing for accreditation, as
she took the opportunity to evaluate skills and realign leadership,
she uncovered the system's hidden talents. The process put in place
the steps that cause schools to work, coordinate standards, delineate
process and procedures and, she says, "come prepared to go
for broke for the children."
The successful SACS accreditation gave her momentum to go to the
community with a survey of expectations for parents, teachers and
administrators. She had also moved a principal in the first two
months, so no one doubted her commitment to action and to realign
leadership immediately.
It has been a long and often difficult road, but they never deviated
from the goal to put children first.. In six months, perceptions
began to change. In six years, the efforts and growth have been
tremendous. Today the system is on target in its mission to rewrite
and redefine the scope of the quality of education, services and
staff. And the children are reaping the rewards.
The Georgia Public Policy Foundation is an independent
think tank that proposes practical, market-oriented approaches to
public policy to improve the lives of Georgians.
ELLIOTT
BRACK
Should
every prisoner being arrested be handcuffed?
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
GwinnettForum.com
AUG. 3, 2004 -- A basic tenet in the United States: you are innocent
until proven guilty. We know of no one who would disagree with this
basic principle of our rights.
 Yet
a development that has taken place particularly in the last few
years, it appears, seems to take the opposite tact. It's something
that has bugged us for years, but these days with television allowing
us to see into the operations of the justice system, it is more
obvious.
We talk of the practice today of handcuffing and chaining persons
who come before the bar of justice…..before they are tried,
much less before they are adjudged guilty.
In some cases, particularly where there are criminal proceedings,
we can understand the need to put handcuffs on people. Persons charged
with murder, rapists and others in the court system because of violent
crime, could be a danger to both the members of the court system,
and to spectators. Most reasonably, such people should be transported
to and from court in chains---even though they have not yet been
convicted of a crime.
That is taking precaution wisely.
However, when people are charged with other crimes of a less violent
nature, it seems to prejudice their case to have them paraded around
in handcuff and chains, as well as it being unusual punishment before
conviction. After all, though they may be charged with a crime,
their previous lack of a criminal record indicates no violent tendency
or threat to safety.
The court system, we presume, is only ensuring that the proceedings
will be more secure. Yet with the assumption that not every person
brought before the bar of justice gets convicted, you wonder why
these officially-innocent persons should be subjected to such conditions
of shackles and chains.
Gwinnett District Attorney Danny Porter tells us that in general,
persons before the court are free of restraint, unless they don't
behave in court. He also adds that many policy agencies "have
policies that everyone who is arrested is handcuffed."
Sometimes these prisoners may be loosely handcuffed, in front,
though this is usually a judgment call by the arresting officers.
And Mr. Porter notes that being handcuffed is often done without
thought at the points of arrest.
He adds: "But once they are searched, then brought into court,
a determination is made whether there is present a danger in the
prisons. If not, they should not go into the court in shackles."
Recently the national media showed a person charged with one of
the most far-reaching of crimes coming to the court in handcuffs.
He is Stephen Lay, the former head of Enron. He is the latest example
to be sullied in this manner when his criminal charge is not violent.
Granted, the charges levied against Mr. Lay are most serious, and
the fall of his company has seriously impacted thousands. His company
has been involved in one of the most far-reaching of investigations,
and the results of the charges against his company has shaken the
basic underpinnings of the economic system.
The government is charging that Mr. Lay knew well what was going
on, yet did nothing to stop the transactions the government maintains
were illegal. And family after family across the country has seen
their investments sour, their lives shattered, their hopes spurned.
If Mr. Lay is guilty, he should be punished. But should he and
so many others, not charged with activities of a violent nature,
be pre-judged as violent and shackled in handcuffs and chains? That
is removing some of their rights….and shaming them before the
fact.
ABOUT
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way by the activity centered in Gwinnett County, Georgia. Nobody
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BOOK
RECOMMENDATION
8/3: From Patti Williamson
of Sugar Hill
"I have just read The Art of Netweaving by Robert Littell.
I heard him speak at my Rotary club meeting and have embraced the
message for years, just never heard it given a name.
"Next to read? I'm not sure. Either Billy Graham's biography
or Ronald Reagan's bio. I have spent the last nine months reading
"personal development/management related" topics and I
need a break."
- An invitation: What books have you enjoyed? Send us
your best recent book along with a short paragraph as to why you
liked it, plus what you plan to read next. --eeb
ENCYCLOPEDIA
TIDBIT
8/3: Savannah native
Conrad Aiken national man of letters
Over a period of nearly 50 years Conrad Aiken published poems,
essays, short stories, novels, and literary criticism. He won a
Pulitzer Prize for Selected Poems (1929) and a National Book Award
for Collected Poems (1953). His literary autobiography, Ushant,
reveals the international nature of his complex life and literary
career.
 Conrad
Potter Aiken (pictured at left) was
born in Savannah, on August 5, 1889, the eldest of four children
of a prominent doctor from New York, William Aiken. The author's
mother, Anna, was the daughter of a prominent Massachusetts Unitarian
minister. When Aiken was eleven, Aiken's father killed his wife
and then shot himself-without any warning. The young Aiken was sent
to live with an aunt in Cambridge, Mass. He later attended Harvard
University, where he met the young T. S. Eliot, who became a lifelong
friend and literary associate.
Aiken and his wife Mary became significant figures in the life
of Savannah. They entertained many visitors, including a number
of scholars and authors who sought out Aiken and talked with him
at great length. When T. S. Eliot died in 1965, Aiken wrote a memorable
article in Life magazine about his friend's place in modern literature.
Aiken's final book, a collection of religious poems entitled Thee
deals in part with his own literary and religious pilgrimage.
Six months before Aiken's death on August 17, 1973, Governor Jimmy
Carter appointed him poet laureate of the state of Georgia. In front
of the house on Oglethorpe Avenue, a historical marker describes
Conrad Aiken's life and work
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
Basic reason for not
being richest man in cemetery
"There is no reason to be the richest man in the cemetery.
You can't do any business from there."
--Colonel Harland Sanders (1890-1080), via Roy McCreary, Dacula.
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