BKP makes endorsement in Georgia HD7

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Many have called and texted me wondering if I was going to back someone in the runoff. I have made that decision. 

The people of Georgia House District 7 need a representative that understands our North Georgia values:  That is obviously not Sheree Ralston. Throughout the campaign it became clear she doesn’t have a clue about any of the issues. Remember what she said was her legislative priority, when our law enforcement responds to a call to have a clinician in the car with them. Ask your local law enforcement if they want a counselor to join them when responding to a call. Remember when she said that mental health legislation is a work in progress… but could not tell the voters what that means….

We need someone who doesn’t have to rely on someone else to write the answers to questions for them, someone who will listen and study the issues, someone who will represent the people and not Atlanta. I am endorsing Johnny Chastain for HD7. Johnny needs our vote, needs you to call your neighbors and ask them to vote and will need financial support. He is running against the establishment of a well funded machine. Let’s pull together and elect Johnny Chastain as our Rep for HD7.

BKP

Reasons Why to Vote for Brian K Pritchard

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If you don’t believe me, believe Joene Sorensen DePlancke. In a recent letter Joene listed her “Reasons Why to Vote for Brian K Pritchard.” Here are a few of her listed reasons in case you missed it on our newsletter.

 

“In my opinion, we need someone representing the 7th District at the Capitol with the following qualifications:

  • that will read and understand the bills that come before our legislature.
  • that has the courage and experience in standing up for what is right and what we need.
  • that will fight to the death to keep woke-ism and child mutilation and gender change out of our schools and away from our children until they are 18.
  • that will fight for parents’ rights to know what is happening to our children and the right to know the curriculum being taught.
  • that has been down to the capitol every year and attended numerous committee meetings and understands the process and can be effective from day one.”

Brian has worked hard for over 15 years for the 7th District in attending commissioner’s meetings, board of education meetings, attending legislative sessions in Atlanta, working closely with numerous senators and representatives on the bills that have been passed.

 

Brian is the only choice for the 7th District. Don’t allow the Elite in Atlanta tell you who should be your representative!

 

Vote for Brian K Pritchard on January 3 at your local precinct. Please note that Toccoa precinct has moved to the Fannin County Court House, 3rd Floor.

 

Brian K Pritchard is the grassroots candidate that has the knowledge and can stand up for the citizens of GA House District 7 in Atlanta. Brian will stand up for Constitutional Conservative Values of the North GA Mountains.

If you haven’t seen the forums here is a quick link to view both. Share these with anyone who is undecided. We believe the forums show who is qualified and ready to go to Atlanta on day ONE.

Candidate Forum for State House District 7 Hosted by Fannin County Chamber and broadcasted by ETC Candidate Night for the GA State House District 7 Sponsored by Fannin and Gilmer GOP, Mountain Patriots and Liberty Tea Party

As you watch the videos remember, we need a candidate that understands the issues that are coming down the pipeline. We need to send the person that is ready on January 9th to defend our values and rights in our mountain district.

 

Brian K Pritchard is the grassroots candidate for Georgia State House District 7. Brian will protect parents’ rights, protect our kids, protect our 2nd amendment rights, and keep the “WOKE” agenda out of our North Georgia Mountains. He is committed to getting law enforcement the resources needed to keep Atlanta drugs and crime out of our district. Send Brian to Atlanta on Jan 3.

Vote for Brian K Pritchard
State House District 7
on January 3rd

706-889-9700

Donate Today

Volunteer or Donate to the campaign visit the website at bkp4ga.com

or Call 706-889-9700 to get in touch with the campaign. 

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Call or Text Diane at

770-845-5399

Donate Today. Send Brian To Atlanta

Why is the News Observer trying to manipulate an election?

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Why is the News Observer trying to manipulate an election? Is Glenn Harbinson trying to help someone win? You don’t know me but you sure want to judge me. When I decided to run for Georgia House District 7 I knew the media would attack me. I was ready for it and I know why they don’t want the good people from the 7th district to have a real representative. 

I have tried to make this campaign about the issues. It is clear I won both forums and the other candidates have a lot to learn when it comes to the issues. So if you can’t win on the issues, use the fish wrap New Observer to attack me on something that happened nearly 30 years ago.

Yes something happened in Pennsylvania that is of public record. But the Georgia Secretary of States wants you to believe that I knowingly voted while serving a felony sentence. Never happened! I did vote every time they said, but never illegally. 

The News Observer and AJC fail to tell the entire story. Yes, for those who think a person charged with a felony can’t vote, wrong. First, in the state of Pennsylvania the only time you lose your voting rights is if you are incarcerated. Considering I have never spent a night in jail in my entire life…(can everyone say that) I never lost my voting rights in PA. Once your sentence has expired you can vote in the state of Georgia. Yes it’s true!

One question that no one asks, why has the Secretary of State office sat on this allegation for 7 years? Why did this suddenly come up for the Attorney General’s office on the Friday before qualifying for office on Monday. Why was this sent to the media before it was sent to me and my attorney?  The answer is simple: manipulate an election. 

You see I have a document which states that the case closed 5-14-1999 almost 24 years ago. 

clearly depicts 1999

 

 

While the SOS falsely claims the case was still active and didn’t close until 2010. According to my document I never knowingly voted while serving a felony sentence and the law clearly states “knowingly”. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not long ago the Attorney General’s office offered me what I considered extortion to sign a document showing no guilt and to pay a $4000 fine and they would close this case. I said absolutely not! Why would I pay them for something when I did nothing wrong?

$4000 offer to admit I did nothing wrong

Now they want to try to manipulate an election and try to make me look like public enemy number one. They want to take me to court in Fannin county and try to fine me upwards of $30,000. All because I did nothing wrong, did not accept their $4,000 extortion, and it was very convenient timing to disparage my name. Wouldn’t it be nice if the Georgia SOS looked for real voter fraud and the Attorney General spent your tax money prosecuting gang violence and drug cases.

 

You know the expression, it’s as clear as the nose on my face… Glenn Harbinson with the News Observer is trying to manipulate an election. But for who? Johnny Chastain or the woman who is trying to play the poor little widow woman Sheree Ralston.

Why is Sheree paying to run this ad knowing it’s not true

The one who is paying big money running ads, ads depicting “Did Pritchard vote illegally?”   Why would she run this ad knowing her late husband David Ralston knew my entire story. Don’t fall for her act.

 

 

Why isn’t fish wrap Glenn looking into why these candidates combined spending is over 150K.  Why spend $150,000 to try to get a job that pays 17.5k a year? Why isn’t fish wrap Glenn asking where their money is coming from? Where is Sheree Ralston getting her money, is it from the campaign slush fund from David Ralston? If so, is that legal? 

We have all heard the stories of Glenn’s backroom deals to manipulate Blue Ridge City Mayor and Council races, County Commission seats…. I don’t know this first hand but we have all heard the stories. Now what kind of deal has Glenn made to try to manipulate this election and for who? 

I’m not public enemy number one. I’m 58 years old. Married to my lovely wife Lisa. Father to two great kids Brian Keith and Vanessa who have blessed me with five grandkids. I do not use any drugs and haven’t even tasted alcohol since I was nineteen. I have never spent a night in jail and I think it has been over twenty years since I’ve had a speeding ticket. My wife was born and raised here and every once in a while I hear “I’m from here.”  I have been here for 21 years and we are small business owners. We own FetchYourNews.com and our number one focus for the last 12 years has been to highlight our young people in the district. Our sports department TeamFYNSports tagline is “highlighting and promoting young athletes in a positive way.” 

It’s time we have a representative that is focused on keeping Atlanta drugs and crime out of our North Georgia Mountains.  We need to stop drug cartels from operating in our district, protect parents rights and protect our children from this government’s “WOKE” agenda. 

Protect our kids & parental rights

We are tired of self-serving politicians. You know the ones that get elected and are only worth around 200k and come back worth millions. Serving the people should never be a million dollar open door to corruption. Look at all the candidates and ask yourself why they are running for this office and then take a look at me and know I am running for no other reason than to serve the people. 

Do not let Atlanta pick your Representative watch the forums Click here to watch the forums

Don’t let media like the News Observer and AJC lie and try to manipulate an election. Trust the only candidate in the race who reads the bills and knows the issues.

 

God Bless America, God Bless Georgia and God Bless the good people of the seventh district.

P.S. Go DAWGS

My name is Brian K. Pritchard and I ask for your vote on January 3rd. 

 

Speaker Ralston Lying in State at the State Capitol

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Georgia-  Speaker Ralston’s casket and his family will arrive at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow on Washington Street and enter the Capitol through the west door.  Governor and First Lady Kemp will be there to receive them along with an honor guard from the Georgia State Patrol.

Watch Live Stream Here

Members of the General Assembly and staff (House, Senate and Joint Offices) will line the plaza on either side (behind the State Patrol personnel) for the arrival ceremony.

The Governor and First Lady will enter followed by the casket, the family and then the members of the General Assembly and staff.

The casket will be placed in the Rotunda where a brief ceremony will take place with Governor Kemp and the Rev. Len Walker speaking.  After the ceremony concludes, the public receiving line will open with visitors entering the Rotunda through the South Wing and exiting the Rotunda through the North Wing.  Mrs. Ralston has indicated she will remain in the Rotunda throughout the public receiving line.

The building will close Tuesday evening at 7:00 p.m.  It will then reopen at 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday for the public receiving line to resume concluding at 10:30 a.m. that morning.  Please note that the South Parking Deck (at Memorial & Capitol Avenue) will be open to the general public for free parking.

At approximately, 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, the Speaker’s casket will then be carried out the west door by the Georgia State Patrol honor guard to a waiting motorcade on Washington Street which will conclude the lying-in-state.

Speaker David Ralston has passed away

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GEORGIA – David Ralston, Speaker of the House for the Georgia House of Representatives, has passed away.

The Georgia House of Representatives has put out the following statement following his passing:

“Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge), 73rdSpeaker of the Georgia House of Representatives, passed away today following an extended illness. He was 68 years old.

His loving wife, Sheree, his children and other members of the family were with him when he passed.

At the time of his passing, Speaker Ralston was the longest currently-serving state house speaker in the country. He represented Georgia’s seventh House district which includes Fannin and Gilmer counties and a portion of Dawson County.

As provided by the Georgia State Constitution, Speaker Pro Tempore Jan Jones (R-Milton) became the 74th Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives for the remainder of the term which ends in January.

Arrangements will be announced in the future.”

The new Speaker of the House, Speaker Pro Tempore Jan Jones (R-Milton), made a statement regarding the passing of Ralston and now his new title.

“The State of Georgia has lost one of its greatest leaders with the passing of Speaker David Ralston. This is an unfathomable loss and one that leaves a hole in the heart of each and every House member.

“David and I were members of the same freshman class – having both been elected in 2002, and I am proud to have served as Speaker Pro Tempore for thirteen years under his leadership. While I will miss his guidance and advice tremendously – I will miss his friendship more.

“Whether it was growing jobs and expanding opportunity in rural Georgia or making adoption easier and reforming mental health care in our state, David Ralston spent his career in public service trying to lift others up and move our state forward. He knew the awesome power of bringing people together – reasoning together – and finding common ground. Regardless of political ideology, he treated everyone with respect and was a model of civility.

“We pray for his wife, Sheree, and their entire family at this most difficult time. While our House of Representatives will continue to lead, it will never be the same without Speaker David Ralston.”

David Ralston announces he will not run again for Speaker of the House

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Georgia – FYN has learned that at noon on Friday, November the 4th, a press conference to announce the Georgia State Speaker of the House, David Ralston,  will be making an announcement.  According to information we have received Mr. Ralston will not seek another term as Speaker of the House.

Currently Mr. David Ralston is the Representative of Georgia ‘s 7th District which includes Fannin, Gilmer and part of Dawson county.  FYN will update as more information becomes available.

See Press Release below:

Speaker David Ralston

PRESS RELEASE

Speaker Ralston Announces He Will Not Seek Nomination as Speaker of the House for the 2023-2024 Legislative Session

He intends to Represent 7th House District as State Representative.

ATLANTA – Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge), 73rd Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives, announced today that he will not seek nomination for Speaker of the House for the 2023-2024 legislative session. He will serve the remainder of his current term as Speaker of the House which ends in January.

“Serving as Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives has been the honor of a lifetime, and I owe a heartfelt thank you to my colleagues for the trust and confidence they placed in me thirteen years ago,” said Speaker Ralston. “I need to take time to address a health challenge which has arisen recently, and the House needs a Speaker who can devote the necessary time and energy to the office. I love the House and want to see the honorable men and women who serve in it succeed. I will work the remainder of my term as Speaker to ensure a smooth transition for my successor.”

If re-elected by his constituents, Speaker Ralston intends to serve as State Representative for the 7th House district for the 2023-2024 legislative session. Speaker Ralston is unopposed for that seat.

“I appreciate the continued support of my friends and neighbors in Fannin, Gilmer, and Dawson counties,” said Speaker Ralston. “I intend to serve out the next term as their state representative and fulfill the duties they have entrusted to me.”

Speaker Ralston was first elected to the House in 2002 and was first elected as Speaker of the House in 2010. He is the longest currently-serving state house speaker in the country.

A champion for job creation and economic development, Speaker Ralston has been a driving force behind many legislative accomplishments which have made Georgia the best state in the nation for business year after year, such as Georgia’s Transportation Funding Act of 2015 and the largest-ever income tax cut in state history.

Speaker Ralston has also worked with leaders in both parties to move Georgia forward through bipartisan legislation like Georgia’s comprehensive adoption reform in 2018 and the state’s first-ever paid parental leave policy for state employees and teachers in 2021.

In 2022, Speaker Ralston led the fight for historic reform of mental health care in Georgia. Georgia’s Mental Health Parity Act and accompanying funding transforms both access to and delivery of mental health services and treatment options throughout the state.

“I want to thank all the staff members who have assisted me throughout the years, particularly my Chief of Staff Spiro Amburn who has been by my side from the beginning,” said Speaker Ralston. “I could not have done all of this without the love and support of my family, particularly my wife, Sheree, and our children. They have been my rock, and I love them very much.”

The Speaker of the House is elected by and from the members of the House on the first day of each biennial legislative session. The Speaker serves as the House’s chief administrative officer. The Speaker also presides over House floor sessions, assigns bills to committees, and calls matters before the House for debate.

The House of Representatives will elect a new Speaker when the House convenes for the first day of the 2023-2024 legislative session on Monday, January 9, 2023.

County renames park to Ralston River Park

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ELLIJAY, Ga. – Honoring the entire Ralston family for contributions to the county and the park specifically, including that of Georgia House Speaker David Ralston, the Gilmer County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to rename the riverside park along Old Highway 5 to “Ralston River Park.”

Ralston

In April of 2018, Speaker David Ralston attended the opening of the new playground at River Park which a state grant aided local funds in creating.

Originating in this month’s meeting as an agenda item to rename the walking path for the Ralston family, discussion turned to the 28 years of service the county has received through numerous efforts from the family as a whole. Parks and Recreations Director Kevan White spoke during the Commissioners Work Session on the topic saying that some of those efforts include employment with the Parks and Rec Department, officiating basketball games over the years, memberships to the Parks and Rec Advisory Board, coaching various sports, GRPA awards and recognitions, state level service with  public service since 1992, state legislation since 2002, volunteer services in disasters like Hurricane Isaac, state-level support in the recent upgrades, county level public service in the commissioners office, and more.

The original proposal the White spoke of was to name the path the “Ralston Riverwalk.” However, Post Commissioner Hubert Parker offered a step-up alternative in naming the whole park instead of the just the walking path. While White said he had thought about it, but didn’t propose it at first, he noted that several parts of the park, like the tennis courts, bear names of people who have dedicated great services to the county and the Parks and Recreation Department as well. White also noted that he has further plans for other dedications in the Clear Creek area as well.

Ralston

Kevan White speaks to the Gilmer BOC in May of 2021 about renaming the park as “Ralston River Park.”

Ultimately, no objection came, and a unanimous agreement to increase the dedication from the walking path to the park in general was made. The BOC May Regular meeting saw the formal motion to add the honorific.

The official name change completed, Chairman Charlie Paris did tell FYN that the county would be placing some sort of plaque or signage bearing the name in the future. But does not currently have a sign ready for it.

Georgia Speaker of the House David Ralston responds to the impeachment of President Donald J. Trump

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Speaker David Ralston issued the following statement on the impeachment proceedings in the U.S. House of Representatives tonight:

“Now that the Democrats’ political stunt in the U.S. House of Representatives is over, I want to thank our Congressman Doug Collins for standing up for the rule of law and defending the duly-elected President of the United States from a partisan attack. It is sad that D.C. Democrats would waste taxpayer dollars and attempt to weaken our nation in this way. Hopefully we can put this ugliness behind us and Congress will finally get back to work on issues that matter to Americans:  cutting income taxes, lowering healthcare costs, securing our borders and expanding economic opportunity.”
—Speaker David Ralston 

PRESS RELEASE: Speaker David Ralston Thanks Senator Johnny Isakson

Announcements, Politics

Speaker David Ralston Thanks Senator Johnny Isakson

ATLANTA – Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) issued the following statement on the news that Georgia’s senior United States Senator Johnny Isakson will resign from office at the end of the year:

“The loss of Johnny Isakson from public life will leave a void in Georgia which is beyond comprehension. While I respect his reasons, I feel a tremendous sense of personal sadness – Johnny is a mentor, role model and friend. Over a distinguished career in the Georgia House, Georgia State Senate, State Board of Education, U.S. House and U.S. Senate, Johnny Isakson demonstrated that civility and reasonableness are virtues that will never go out of style. My family and I will continue to pray for Johnny, Dianne and the Isakson family.”

When we need action – David Ralston is there for us

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1ralstonletter

Sam Snider 5/13/16

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Candidate for Georgia State House 7th District Representative Sam snider sits down with BKP to speak about citizens and legislation.

Fannin Teacher Town Hall

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Fannin County educators welcomed the opportunity to speak to Georgia’s Speaker of the House, Rep. David Ralston district 7 about sweeping education reforms proposed by Gov. Deal’s Education Reform Committee (read the Commission’s report).  Speaker Ralston helped organize the Fannin County Teacher Town Hall, the 2nd in a series question and answer meetings for his 3rd district teachers.  Accompanying him were two legislators instrumental in delivering Gov. Deal’s initiatives to the Georgia Assembly:  Rep. Coleman, who is Chair of the House Education Committee, and Rep. England, who is Chair of the House Appropriations Committee.  Over well over 100 Fannin educators attended the Dec. 17th meeting.

changed-for-brian-ralston-2Untitled-3

The first Teacher Town Hall meeting in Gilmer County gave the Representatives and teachers state-wide a chance to test out proposals in the report.  So, during the Fannin County Teacher Town Hall meeting, all participants, Speaker Ralston, Reps. Coleman and England and Fannin County educators, were more resolute in their remarks.  Most Fannin County educators read from prepared questions and examples to ensure including real classroom situations they experienced and the effect that years of education reform initiatives and the proposed reforms have on their personal attitudes to teaching.

Speaker Ralston reiterated his fundamental disagreement with Gov. Deal about requiring merit-based pay for educators entering teaching in Georgia after 2017.  He believes that educating children is not something that is quantifiable and measurable because public education takes all types of children. Additionally, Ralston feels that the uniqueness of each classroom’s student population makes it difficult to come up with a measuring stick applicable to enough classrooms to go down the road of merit-based pay.

Ralston also stated his unease with the recommendation that local school districts will be deciding the district-specific metrics for merit-based pay.  This brought up an often overlooked aspect of merit-based pay; who is deciding the performance metrics.  According to the Education Reform Commission report, local districts will have flexibility to set the metrics depending on the academic and community needs of the local district.  School boards and system administrators will also have power to change performance metrics at any time and the right to incorporate training and education into these metrics.  In fact, 178 public charter school districts have the flexibility to create their own performance metrics right now.

Ralston also showed more hesitancy in bringing some education reforms, especially merit-based pay, before the Georgia House this year.  He cited his disagreement with some aspects of the report and that this year is an election year.  Indeed, in the upcoming Georgia Assembly, the competition for floor time is competitive because casino style gambling and religious liberty bills are also slated for debate in 2016.  He also repeated his strong message to Gilmer County educators that just because recommendations are in a report, it doesn’t mean that they are law.

A new subject England brought up is teacher retirement.  He related that Georgia’s Teacher Retirement System Fund is one of the best managed funds in North America and he will not fix something that isn’t broken.  Ralston was stronger about changes in teacher retirement.  He said, “As long as I am in this job, we will not touch teacher retirement.”

As before, Rep. Coleman covered education initiatives present in the report.  He, as well as England and Ralston, champion how the future reforms and newly-developed current programs recognize each student as an individual learner with a unique learning style and time line for successfully progression.  Several times the three representatives acknowledged each student brings personal situations like a disability, home life and parental support, social class and English language ability that affect how the student behaves in school and internalizes knowledge.  Coleman praised the current “Move On When Ready” program that gives high school students the opportunity to earn technical and college credit in subjects while still in high school.  Fannin County School System Superintendent Henson agrees that “Move On When Ready” has increased the quality of education for Fannin students. Peppered throughout Coleman’s comments was that changing education takes communication.  Educators are welcome to attend House Education Committee meetings and give comments.

Coleman offered more information about how the state will encourage, prepare, and stream-line the process for young adults to become educators.  Among his suggestions are getting rid of “fluff” courses in teacher education, extending student teaching to one year and reducing university studies to three years.  Possible teacher preparation pathways will become part of Career and Technical Education. Coleman, unlike the proposed merit-based pay metric, emphasized the importance of continuing teacher education. He says that his additional degree in Reading Instruction, which was encouraged through pay increase for additional training, is his most valued degree.  Fannin County High School teacher Bubba Gibbs suggested increasing HOPE Scholarship funds for those studying education.  All three Representatives showed interest in this idea.

Coleman unveiled initiatives in the report that incentivize teachers to try out innovative classroom techniques.  Coleman didn’t say how incentivization nor merit-based pay will account for the fact that innovation can fail as much as succeed. Another way to bring innovation into the classroom, according to Coleman, is a district’s flexibility to hire adjunct instructors.  He gave the example of hiring a local engineer who may not have teaching experience to teach one class of high school physics. He did not say how the state will

At this meeting, Ralston told Fannin educators Gov. Deal’s perspective on the state of Georgia’s education.  He said that Gov. Deal feels the school system is broken.  Rep. Coleman, however, gave a different example of the quality of Georgia’s education.  He said Georgia was recently listed top nation to do business in because of the quality of its work force and training.  He added that businesses wouldn’t be coming to Georgia in the numbers that they are coming if the education system is broken. Ralston feels that public education can always be improved, but he doesn’t hold the strong negativity that Gov. Deal does.  Ralston also hopes that proposed initiatives will roll back the heavy-handedness of the State Department of Education’s in the function of local districts.

Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. England, presented funding aspects.  First off, he repeated his stance on merit-based pay stating that, left up to him, he would scrap the teacher pay proposal. Once again, he stated that the report’s proposed district funding schemes will give flexibility with accountability.  The benefit of flexibility is that money will follow the unique characteristic of a student, not just the number of students.  For example, the reform report defines a new category of student, economically disadvantaged.  This demographic category recognizes that districts with high poverty rates need strong afterschool academic, social, childcare and nutrition support. England recognized that in an economically disadvantaged school district, a teacher may only move a class two steps but those two steps are a giant leap. Though he gave several examples of benefits of flexibility, he did not clearly state where the accountability lay.

A new subject England brought up is teacher retirement.  He related that Georgia’s Teacher Retirement System Fund is one of the best managed funds in North America and he will not fix something that isn’t broken.  Ralston was stronger about changes in teacher retirement.  He said, “As long as I am in this job, we will not touch teacher retirement.”

As before, Rep. Coleman covered education initiatives present in the report.  He, as well as England and Ralston, champion how the future reforms and newly-developed current programs recognize each student as an individual learner with a unique learning style and time line for successfully progression.  Several times the three representatives acknowledged each student brings personal situations like a disability, home life and parental support, social class and English language ability that affect how the student behaves in school and internalizes knowledge.  Coleman praised the current “Move On When Ready” program that gives high school students the opportunity to earn technical and college credit in subjects while still in high school.  Fannin County School System Superintendent Henson agrees that “Move On When Ready” has increased the quality of education for Fannin students. Peppered throughout Coleman’s comments was that changing education takes communication.  Educators are welcome to attend House Education Committee meetings and give comments.

Coleman offered more information about how the state will encourage, prepare, and stream-line the process for young adults to become educators.  Among his suggestions are getting rid of “fluff” courses in teacher education, extending student teaching to one year and reducing university studies to three years.  Possible teacher preparation pathways will become part of Career and Technical Education. Coleman, unlike the proposed merit-based pay metric, emphasized the importance of continuing teacher education. He says that his additional degree in Reading Instruction, which was encouraged through pay increase for additional training, is his most valued degree.  Fannin County High School teacher Bubba Gibbs suggested increasing HOPE Scholarship funds for those studying education.  All three Representatives showed interest in this idea.

Coleman unveiled initiatives in the report that incentivize teachers to try out innovative classroom techniques.  Coleman didn’t say how incentivization nor merit-based pay will account for the fact that innovation can fail as much as succeed. Another way to bring innovation into the classroom, according to Coleman, is a district’s flexibility to hire adjunct instructors.  He gave the example of hiring a local engineer who may not have teaching experience to teach one class of high school physics. He did not say how the state will control for a district’s heavy reliance on part-time adjunct teachers.

Fannin County School System educators’ comments and questions proved their commitment to the education profession and Fannin County schools goes beyond pay.  Fannin teacher Todd Garren said that Fannin County School System is a system of teachers that gives everything for their students and educators don’t enter the profession because of pay.  They become teachers because they believe in the fundamental responsibility of a community to educate its future community leaders. To Garren, giving everything also means being a model of lifelong learning for students.  Training costs money and takes time away from your own children; teachers should be compensated for that believes Garren.

Middle school teacher Barry Abott talked about how dire teacher recruitment and retention is for Georgia.  He cited the drop in students enrolling in teacher education courses.  At Kennesaw State University there is a 20% drop and a 15% drop at the University of Georgia.  Additionally, he said, Georgia teachers have not had an across-the-board raise in seven years and, currently, Georgia teachers’ salaries are $4000 below the national average. The three representatives agreed that it is a problem in the making and promised to see if states paying more than Georgia are having drops in their teacher recruitment and how merit-based pay is affecting recruitment and retention in other states.

In a later interview with FetchyYourNews.com Fannin County School Superintendent Mark Hanson gave a franker description of how Fannin County educators feel.  “We are at our wit’s end,” he said. Beginning with “No Child Left Behind” in 2001, Fannin County students and educators have experienced excessive testing, constantly changing methods of teacher evaluation and more accountability which requires hiring more administrators but not receiving more funding for the additional responsibilities.  Above all is the vagueness for educators and students. More changes are on the way, but no one has given a consistent answer about what is new and what we need to do.

The vagueness for both students and teachers was underlined by Fannin teacher David Dyer’s example of the end of course tests that his 12th grade Economics students recently took. The test, required by Georgia, counts for 20% of the students’ course grades.  Before the test, neither students nor teachers received information about how the answers are evaluated.  Also, when the state returned test scores, students nor teachers knew how tests were graded.  Because of this, the students still don’t know how they should improve and Dyer does not have the information which will help him improve his classes’ quality.  Also, Dyer questioned that if the state cannot tell students what they are graded on, how can teachers expect the state to tell them what they will be evaluated on.

In terms of teacher recruitment and retention, several second- and third-generation Fannin teachers stated they have advised their children not to become a teacher.  Their advice originates from the consistent changes and vagueness in Georgia’s education policies, not concern about pay.  In fact, Superintendent Henson, a second-generation Fannin County educator, has given his 15 year-old daughter the same advice.

Teacher Sarah Welch showed how merit-based pay will affect comradery within a school.  She spoke about her friend who teaches in Gwinnett County, a system which already uses merit-based pay.  The Gwinnett County teacher and her colleague taught exactly the same subject with exactly the same course goals.  In the end, one teacher received a merit pay increase and the other didn’t.   The teacher with merit pay felt guilty because the only difference between their classes was the students.

Superintendent Henson agrees that merit pay will divide teachers.  He prefers the traditional pay scale which uses training and experience to determine salary.  “It pays out fairly,” he said.

Next, a Fannin teacher questioned why children have power to influence his salary through tests tied to merit-based pay. Ralston agreed that students already have the feeling for which standardized tests evaluate teachers’ performance and could choose to retaliate against teachers.

As in the Gilmer County meeting, teachers criticized the amount of mandated testing.  According to the testing administrator for Fannin County, in the academic year 2014-2015, high school students took 7,619 mandated tests, which is approximately 9 tests per each of Fannin County’s 853 high school students. Superintendent Henson showed how testing takes away from instruction. Last year, 9th grade Fannin students lost 30 days of learning to testing.  Henson hints at the riddle of using more tests to quantify teacher ability.  He states, “Testing takes more and more instructional time away from classes to prove that teachers can teach.”

Since Ralston, Coleman and England’s examples of how proposed funding changes will affect Fannin County schools and citizens were vague, FetchyYourNews.com asked Superintendent Henson to explain.  He said that Georgia has a lengthening tradition of underfunding education.  His example is that in fiscal year 2003 Fannin County received from the 60% from the state, 30% from local funding and 9% from the federal government for education expenses; whereas in 2015, it was 37% from the state, 57% from the county and 3% from the federal government.  His fear is under the guise of local flexibility, the state will send one lump sum of money to Fannin County and it will be up to the citizens to stabilize funding and maintain Fannin school’s excellent education quality through property tax increases.  He says Fannin County is lucky because it is a resort community which has a low number of students compared to the property tax revenue thus, Fannin has not had to raise property taxes to fund education.  However, he says, the day will come when Fannin County has to raise property taxes because the state has lowered funding and, due to merit-pay, increased competition among districts for excellent teachers.

In upcoming articles, FetchYourNews.com interviews Reps. Coleman and England about the Fannin County Teacher Town Hall meeting.  You can watch the Fannin County Teacher Town Hall meeting at FetchYourNews.com

 

Correction:  In the article Georgia’s Speaker of the House David Ralston Listens to Gilmer County Teachers, FetchYourNews.com incorrectly identified Rep. Coleman as the Chair of the Education Reform Commission.  Dr. Charles Knapp is the Chair of the Education Reform Commission.

 

 

 

State Bar Denies Ralston

State & National

Today, FYN learned of a State Bar recommendation to proceed to trial against David Edmund Ralston,Georgia State Speaker of the House.

The Georgia State Bar has previously filed a Formal Complaint and requested a Special Master to hear the complaint. A Special Master, in law, being an authority appointed to make sure judicial orders are followed. In this case, Attorney Mark Dehler, of Hiawassee, was appointed the responsibility by the Georgia State Supreme Court.

Under this complaint Ralston faces charges of 10 counts of violation of State Bar Rules of Conduct. For more information on these allegations and filings read our past stories on this topic including David Ralston Faces Disbarment and Mr. Ralston has Acknowledged Unintentional Mistakes.

Former Governor of Georgia, Roy Barnes has filed a Petition of Voluntary Discipline on behalf of Mr. Ralston stating references to alleged violations and offering voluntary disciplines to accompany those violations.

The Petition for Voluntary Discipline notes that though the document does include admissions of guilt, they are for the process of arbitration and not admissible in court.

Barnes answers the ten counts of violation with his own view of the violation and offers his idea of the most severe appropriate rule of discipline for each violation. These alleged violations involve a case of one, Mr. Chernak.

In the Petition Barnes states “There is no clear and convincing evidence of a violation” in response to eight of the charged counts.

Admission is given regarding rule 1.8(e) when, as stated, Ralston provided “interest free advances to the Chernaks in 2010 and 2011,” and 1.15(II)(b) when he comingled his personal funds with those of clients.

Barnes goes on to suggest a rule of discipline, or punishment, for these violations. With regard to Rule 1.8(e), though disbarment would be the most severe possible punishment, Barnes states the most sever appropriate punishment would be Admonition under Standard 4.34 as listed in the document on pages 40 and 41.

With regard to Rule 1.15(II)(b), Barnes states that none of the Sanction Standards could apply to Ralston’s situation, but on a more general basis, Standard 4.1 Failure to Preserve the Client’s Property could apply. Barnes again suggests Admonition as the most sever appropriate discipline under Standard 4.14 as listed in the document on pages 41 and 42.

Both of these Disciplines would amount to little more than a public “slap on the wrist” for Ralston.

The Georgia State Bar wasted no time in their response, saying that the speakers petition was “inaccurate, incomplete, or immaterial.”

Standing in firm opposition to Ralston’s Petition for Voluntary Discipline, the State Bar’s Response stated, “the petition fails to contain sufficient information concerning the admissions of fact and the admissions of conduct, and should be rejected.”

The State Bar calls for an evidentiary hearing “where the proof of each party can be tested”, calling it “essential.”

Now these two documents will go before the Special Master, Mark Dehler, and he will either accept the State Bar’s Recommendation and this issue will go to trial, or he will accept Ralston’s Petition and send a recommendation to the State Supreme Court for a final decision.

Don’t miss a much deeper inspection of these documents on Good Morning From The Office tomorrow, July 16 at 7:00 AM.

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