Newspaper Page Text
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John Walker Lindh
deserves a fair trial
ohn Walker Lindh.
J . By now the face,
if not the name,
makes many Americans
bristle with hate. We
have one, they think se
cretly. They want to
roast him alive.
It’s a perfectly natural
reaction. We’re at war,
and this young man ...
this young American
turned-alleged Taliban
... could be a traitor.
Could be ... and that is
Ban hands-on cell
phoneindriver’s seat
Imagine this movie
scene ... our hero the
fighter pilot is dodging
enemy fire, or asteroids,
or whatever deadly pro
jectile is available. The
tensionis high; you'reon
the edge of your seat ...
and then he pulls out a
cell phone.
Is he going to sit there
and have a pleasant con
versation with his mom?
I think not. He’s gonna
gosplat. Andwe’regoing
to.laugh, because that’s
what he gets for being so
stupid.
Now, even though you
maynot haveanti-aircraft
bullets or lasers flying at
you, you do have multi
ton vehicles swarming
around you in the street,
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the operant phrase.
Let’s not give in to a
great and tragic irony.
Thisisstill America. We
can best fight the
Taliban by keeping it
that way. Don’t convict
Lindh on the basis of
reportsin the press. He
hasyettoreceiveatrial.
Hopefully, when he
does, it will be fair and
impartial —for the sake
of all Americans every
where.
soit’sagoodideatokeep
your mind on what
you’re doing. It’s com
mon sense, butyou know
what they say about com
mon sense not being
quite so common as you
would think.
So, in order to combat
that oh-so-human ten
dency to multi-task,
there are bills roaming
the state Capitol that
would prohibit motor
ists from using cell
phones while motoring.
Andwhilethey’reatit,l
think they should pro
hibit drivers from eat
ing, drinking, yelling at
their kids and partici
pating in various other
sundry activities while
behind the wheel of a
car.
Charles W. Walker
Publisher
Frederick Benjamin
Managing Editor
New.s/F eatures
RhondadJones
Shun Norris
Copy Desk
Lillian Wan
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WITNESS FOR JUSTICE By Bernice Powell Jackson
Safe families for all children
‘ ‘ y Mom and
Dad adopted
M me and my
brother and
sister on April 28, 2000. Now
that we are adopted we have
everything. WEHAVE LOVE
... Adoption means having a
Mom and Dad to love us and
help us. I don’t have to be
afraid any more. No one can
hurt me. . . Thank you Judge
for my Mom and Dad. Love,
Darryl.
“P.S. Can we have another
sister?”
This letter was written to a
family court judge by nine
year-old Darryl (names have
been changed), who was
adopted last year after spend
ing nearly half of his short life
in foster care. When Darryl
was four and his half-brother
Alec was three, child protec
tiveservices found them living
inan abandonedbuildingwith
their crack-addicted mother,
her boyfriend, and two other
children. Darryland Alecwere
GUEST COMMENTARY By Dr. ED. Toth
Appreciate teachers for contributions
f you ask 10 people to
quickly name two profes
sions, nine will likely say
“doctor” and “lawyer” al
most instantly. Ask them to
name a third profession and
the answers will probably be
all over the board including
“minister,” “businessman,”
“college professor,” “computer
programmer,” “writer,” and
maybe “teacher.”
Asthe executive secretary of
the Georgia Professional Stan
dards Commission, which is
responsible for making sure
that every Georgia K-12 stu
dent is taught by a competent,
professional teacher, it con
cernsmethat manypeopledon’t
think of a “teacher” as a pro
fessional. Ifthey do, it isnot in
thesame way that they think of
a doctor or lawyer.
If it is true that art imitates
life, think how differently these
three professions are “imi
tated.” If une examines all of
the ways in which television,
movies and other media have
Mstorically portrayed the pro
fessions of medicine, law and
teaching, one of the major dif
ferences is that lawyers and
doctorsaregenerally portrayed
as multi-dimensional people.
Their professions are challeng
ing,rewardingand appreciated.
Andtheir personal livesinclude
fancy cars, comfortable houses
and admiring friends. Teach
dirty and hungry, and social
workersdiscovered that Darryl
hadbeen abused by hismother’s
boyfriend. For the next six
months he wouldn’t speak be
cause, his little brother ex
plained, “He’s afraid to talk.”
After three months in a
children’s group home, Darryl
and Alec were lucky enough to
be placed with loving foster
parents. At first the boys had
such violent outbursts at their
new homethat theybroke win
dows, a TV set, and a VCR,
punched holesin the wall, and
even managed to pulla door off
its hinges. But their foster
parents remained committed
to the boys and the long and
difficult paperwork process
required toadoptthem. Along
the way they also took ina 15-
month-girl who was initially
supposed to stay just for a
weekend, and eventually they
chose to adopt her, too. To
day, Darryl and Alec are part
of a happy, loving family. As
Darryl says in his letter, now
ersare often portrayed as sym
pathetic people, but they evoke
sympathy because they face
unruly students and unappre
ciativeparents—and theydon’t
make very much money.
Well, enough with the sym
pathy, let’s have more reality!
As long as the public perceives
of teachers as “underpaid pub
lic servants,” they will be ap
preciated asmuch for what they
sacrifice as for what they con
tribute. Even some teachers
have bought into. this stereo
type. They believe that the
public should appreciate them
because they make less money
than other “professionals.”
Frankly, I want the public —
and teachers, themselves — to
appreciate the profession be
cause of the skills, knowledge
and abilities of teachers and
vast contributions that they
make to our society’s future —
notbecausethey work “cheap.”
To be sure, a public school
teacher in Georgia is not likely
to become a millionaire unless
he or she just happens to win
the Big Game or Lotto South.
This does not mean, however,
thattheyarecondemnedtolives
of poverty. Thanks to raises
abovetheinflationrateby Gov.
Roy Barnes—somesoutheast
ernstatesdidn’t giveraiseslast
year — and six percent raises
under former Gov. Zell Miller
when the economy was boom-
they are just looking for one
more little girl who also needs
apermanent homein order to
make their family complete.
Darryl and Alec’s story has
the happy ending for which far
too many children in our coun
try are still waiting. An esti
mated 7,900 children are re
ported to public child welfare
agenciesas abused orneglected
everyday. In 1999 over 825,000
children were victims of abuse
and neglect. Black children
are especially at riskand make
up a quarter of all child vic
tims. Currently 568,000 chil
dren live in foster family
homes, group homes, and child
careinstitutions, arecord num
ber. Black children are dis
proportionately represented in
these numbers, too. Thirty
nine percent of thechildren in
foster carein 1999 were Black.
At least 42 percent of the
127,000 children waitingtobe
adopted were Black. Another
1.4 million Black childrenlived
in grandparent-headed house
ing, Georgiateachersarebetter
off financially than they have
ever been before. In fact, our
teachers are now the highest
paid in the southeast and earn
rightattheaverageofall teach
ers in the nation.
In the 1999-2000 school year
the average teacher salary in
Georgiaexceeded $41,000, mak
ing our state the 19th highest
in the United States and above
all of our neighbors. For the
current school year, a starting
teacher with a four year college
degree and a professional cer
tificate will earn a state base
salary of slightly over $28,000.
Sincemost local systems supple
ment the state base salary, a
beginning teacher in Georgia
will very likely earn $30,000-
$35,000. While this doesn’t
compete with the salary of top
law school or business gradu
ates, it does'compare favorably
withthestartingsalary of many
liberal arts graduates.
It should also be noted that a
teacher’s salary is based on a
10-month contract, which
amounts to 190 days of actual
time at school. Prorated on a
12-month basis, the starting
teacher’s salary would be
equivalent to approximately
$36,000. And after fiveyearson
the job and a master’s degree,
most Georgia teachers will be
making in excess of $40,000 (a
lot of Georgia’s lawyers are
holds because their parents
could not care for them. These
grandparents are among the
many unsung heroes in
America.
Thousands of these children
are just hoping for the same
essential thing for which
Darryl is so grateful: a safe,
permanent home where they
won'’t have tobe afraid, where
no one will hurt them, and,
most of all, where they will be
loved. Title VIII of the Act to
Leave No Child Behind (S.
940/H.R. 1990), the new legis
lation introduced in Congress
in May by Senator Christo
pher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Rep
resentative George Miller (D
--7th Calif.), is designed to help
many more children find lov
ing families and homes. Child
welfare systems are currently
at the breaking point. Too
many families are trying to
cope with domestic violence,
substance abuse, and other
See SAFE FAMILIES, 9A
making less).
For those teachers who wish
to improve their financial con
dition and improve their skills
as teachers, the state of Geor
gia will pay them a 10 percent
bonus to become a nationally
board certified teacher. Those
teachers who have a master’s
degree and successfully com
plete this program can be mak
ing in éxcess of $50,000 after
five or,six years in the class
room. This means that a two
educator family of nationally
board certified teachers could
exceed sloo,oooinincomeafter
a relatively few years in the
profession.
The ¢eality is that to be a
teacher in Georgia in the 21st
century is to be in a very good
profession. It is mentally chal
lenging. It is emotionally re
warding. And it pays pretty
well and provides excellent re
tirement and medical benefits.
No longer does a Georgia
teacher have to view teaching
as missionary or public service
work. Reachers and the public
can be proud of this profession
becauss of the contributions,
not thewacrifices. ,
Dr.F.D. Toth is the executive
secretary of the Georgia Profes
stonal Standards Commission
and formerdean ofthe Valdosta
State University Collegeof Edu
cation.