About Barrow journal. (Winder, Ga.) 2008-2016 | View Entire Issue (June 8, 2016)
PAGE 4A BARROW JOURNAL WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8, 2016 Opinions “Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost. ~ Thomas Jefferson ~ Some good guys leaving If not now for Libertarians, then when? “What is a Libertarian?” If I’ve been asked that once, I’ve been asked it a thousand times through the years. As someone who has aligned himself with the Libertarian philosophy since 1990 when I took part in my first elec tion, I always answer the question to the best of my ability. However, it seems, for whatever rea son, that most don’t truly know what being a Libertarian means. It’s odd since the party has been around since the early 1970s, but while many have heard the term, they really don’t know what being a Libertarian is all about. I’ll try and explain as simply as I can, although space limitations here hamper that to some degree. A Libertarian, at least to my way of thinking, is actually a cross between the Republicans and Democrats. At its core, the Libertarian Party believes in freedom. It sounds simple enough and most people — on the right and the left — claim to love freedom, but that usually only means they want to be free to do the things they believe in. In the simplest of terms, a person should be free to do whatever he or she chooses as long as it does not harm another person. That’s a radical idea to some, but the only way to live if you are a Libertarian. Libertarians believe in the second amendment. Republicans try to convince voters they have the market cornered on gun rights, but Libertarians are the most pro-second amendment political party that exists. Libertarians have also been for equal rights for all Americans, without excep tion, since its inception. While President Obama suddenly became in favor of marriage equality when it was the politi cally correct thing to do, Libertarians have never cared what consenting adults did in the privacy of their home, who they married, etc. Libertarians, by rule, are anti-tax. We view it as theft from the working men and women of this country. No tax is “fair” — a favorite word used by many Republicans — and it doesn’t matter what the tax is for. If it is taken from you by force, then it is theft. You also won’t find many war hawks in the Libertarian Party. It’s a belief most Libertarians hold that it is not the respon sibility of the United States to be the policeman of the world. Getting involved in endless military conflicts around the world does nothing to strengthen the United States and only causes misery for families back home. Plus, Republicans and Democrats both have done such a disgraceful job of providing care for our veterans, the only true way to solve the problem is to not send them into harm’s way to begin with. The only time military action is required is when we are directly attacked. And then it should be against the person, group or country responsible for the attack. (Not like George W. Bush’s fake action against Saddam Hussein follow ing 9-11.) These are only a small fraction of Libertarian issues and I encourage you to visit the party’s website to read more about the party’s issues on economic and social issues. The two major parties will likely nomi nate two candidates with the highest neg ative ratings in the history of presidential politics. The door is wide open for a third party or independent presidential can didate in 2016. Will that happen? While Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate for president, has been polling in dou ble digits in some polls, unless he can get into the nationally televised debates along side Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, his impact will likely be minimal. The opportunity for a party outside the political two-headed monster is there in 2016. One has to think, “if not now, then when?” The answer would probably be “never.” It should be an interesting summer and fall on the campaign trail. Remember, there are always options behind the two you typically think of. Winder resident Chris Bridges is editor of the Barrow Journal. You can reach him at cbridges@barrowjournal.com. We’ve spent a lot of time talking about people running for office this year, but I want to note the departure of a few who are running away from public office. As legislators finished up the session in March, three of the most promis ing lawmakers announced they would not be running again: Reps. Mike Dudgeon (R-Johns Creek), BJ Pak (R-Lilburn), and Ronnie Mabra (D-Fayetteville). None of them had served in the General Assembly for more than three terms, but they all made a mark in their short tenures. Dudgeon, who served on the Forsyth County school board before winning a legislative seat, played a major role in get ting several important educa tion bills passed. He also performed the Herculean feat of getting a bill passed that makes it easier for homeowners to lease solar panels to generate their own electricity — and even more amazingly, was able to persuade Georgia Power not to kill it. Pak, an attorney, was the first Korean- American to be elected to the Georgia Legislature (he immigrated with his family to the U.S. at age 9). He is a thoughtful conservative who handled complex tax bills as a member of the Ways and Means committee and took a more moderate position than many of his caucus colleagues on immigra tion issues. Mabra, who’s also a lawyer, was a member of the Democratic caucus that only holds one-third of the seats in the House. He was still able to get some bills passed into law, including one to create a new Superior Court judgeship to help handle the growing caseloads in Clayton County. All three of them were off to impres sive starts as lawmakers and had the potential to run for higher office or move up the leadership ranks at the capitol. These are guys with star qual ity, but they all decided to pull out and go back to their districts early. They all had good reasons for doing it. “I really hate to leave the Georgia House, but the reality is that my busi ness commitments no longer give me enough time to serve,” said Dudgeon, who has an electrical engineering degree from Georgia Tech and has been the chief technology officer for a video game business. “We are now in full high-tech growth company mode,” Dudgeon said. “In doing both jobs, my work-life balance is not sustainable. Therefore I have to step away from politics for the time being.” Pak and his wife, Sandra, are raising three young daughters and he felt it was better to spend more time with them. “When I came back into public ser vice in this role, I made a promise to myself, my family, and my friends that I will give it my all during my time here, and that I would return to being a citi zen after a few terms,” Pak said. “I am fulfilling that promise.” Mabra played football at Georgia Tech as a defensive back under Coach George O’Leary and moved on to the University of Georgia to get his law degree. His father, Ron Mabra Sr., also played defensive back for a couple of seasons with the Atlanta Falcons in the 1970s. He and his wife, Dawn, recently had their first son, and she wants to go to medical school to become a physi cian. “I am very fortunate to have a loving wife that has supported me while I was building a law practice, while I ran for public office, and as I have served the people of District 63,” Mabra said. “It is now time that I be by her side as she pur sues her dreams.” It was common prac tice in the old days for legislators to hang around for 10 or 20 years so that they could build up seniority and get a committee chair manship or a leader ship position. Rep. Calvin Smyre (D-Columbus) and Sen. David Lucas (D-Macon) are examples of the old school. Both were first elected to the Legislature in 1974 and have more or less been there ever since. These days, it seems that the tal ented lawmakers make their mark quickly and move on to something else. I understand why they do it, but I wish they could be persuaded to stick around for a while. They really do make a difference. Tom Crawford is editor of The Georgia Report, an internet news ser vice at gareport.com that reports on state government and politics. He can be reached at tcrawford@gareport. com. Barrow Journal Winder, Barrow County, Ga. www.BarrowJoumal.com Mike Buffington Co-Publisher Scott Buffington Co-Publisher Chris Bridges Editor Jessica Brown Photographer Susan Treadwell Reporter Alex Pace Reporter Sharon Hogan Reporter Jessica Payne Advertising Wesleigh Sagon Photographer Legal Organ of Barrow County SUBSCRIPTIONS: $25.00/yr. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Barrow Journal 77 East May Street Winder, Georgia 30680 Published 52 times per year by Mainstreet Newspapers, Inc. Periodicals postage paid at Winder, Georgia 30680 (USPS 025-132) Email: news@barrowjournal.com Phone: 770-867-NEWS (6397) Fax: 706-621-4115 MEMBER: Georgia Press Association National Newspaper Association Georgia Sports Writers Association tom crawford School ‘climate’ matters A school’s “climate” is important. If you spend enough time in the hallways of a school, you recognize it. It’s the culture of the place, of its students, teachers and staff. “Climate” is one of those things that’s incredibly easy to feel, but hard to define and measure. Far too often, we base the quality of a school only on how its students perform on standardized tests. That’s easier to mea sure than a school’s climate. But there is more to a school than its stu dents’ test scores. There’s a culture and sup port within some schools that contributes more to a student’s love of learning than any test result ever will. The Georgia Department of Education released its 2014-2015 climate scores last week. Considered the school’s culture, its climate is measured through student, staff and parent surveys, discipline data and attendance records for students and staff. It’s meant to measure the “character of school life,” a character that is felt by the students in the school each day. Students notice when they’re respected. They notice when their input is heard. They notice when they aren’t safe. They notice when their teachers and school administra tors are stressed. They notice when teach ers care about them. It’s important for students to feel safe and excited when walking through the hallways of their schools. It is important that kids want to come to school. Schools can’t teach students if they don’t attend. And if students don’t want to attend school, they’re more likely to skip, espe cially when they start driving and have more freedom. Even if they aren’t skipping school, students who don’t want to be there prob ably won’t work as hard. The same goes for teachers and admin istrators. It’s important for them to know they’re working in a good climate at school. It’s also important they feel supported in the education profession in Georgia. As an outsider, that “climate” does not look good. One of the things negatively affecting school climate throughout the state is the ongoing problems with Georgia Milestones and delays in the release of test results. Georgia Milestones has become the night mare that will never end. Statewide tech nology glitches led to a state waiver on the promotion/retention requirements of the End of Grade tests this year. Several schools have been dealing with delayed End of Course results for high schools. Yet, those scores will still be used in the schools’ accountability measure, the College and Career Readiness Performance Index. And, as of now, those scores will still count 20 percent towards a student’s final grades. The state keeps changing things, mak ing it nearly impossible to judge from one year to the next. Georgia Milestones results are incomparable to the results of its pre decessor, the CRCT. The state continues to change how much weight to place on achievement, progress and achievement gap on the CCRPI. Course standards change, requirements change. These may be shrugged off as growing pains, scrapping the old to make way for the improved, but school systems don’t get to take a five-year vacation while the GADOE figures all of this out. Teachers are still teach ing. Students are still taking the tests. It is adding to the frustrating climate of the education profession in the state. State Bill 364 may help some. The newly-passed bill will reduce the number of required stan dardized tests and reduce how much those results count towards a teacher’s evaluation. But that does not address all the issues fac ing teachers and administrators. Many teachers and administrators work to make sure their schools have a good climate for students. The state should be working hard to make sure those teachers and administrators feel that support, too. It is important for students to feel safe and excited about coming to school. It’s impor tant that teachers and administrators feel the same. Alex Pace is a reporter for the Barrow Journal. You can reach her at apace@barrowjournal. com.
