Shipp: Card-carrying teacher union members love Perdue's sweet talk so much they're not likely to return to the Dem. fold. -- Sid strongly disagrees.
Excerpts from Bill Shipp's column this week:
Before the dust settles, the regents-foundation-Adams-Dooley battle may accrue to [Cathy] Cox's benefit. The out-of-control fussing clearly demonstrates the Peach State is bereft of able, cool-headed leadership. For now, however, the noisy feud simply knocks Cathy out of the headlines.
Cox believes firmly she has a good chance to send Perdue back to Bonaire and become Georgia's first woman governor. At first glance, election statistics seem to be on her side. More women than ever are participating in Georgia politics.
In the 2002 gubernatorial election, 54 percent of the voters were women. That might sound like a big advantage for Cox. However, many, if not most, of those females voted in favor of Republican Perdue and against Democratic incumbent Roy Barnes. Teachers, who detested Barnes, were the nucleus of Perdue's female fan base.
Unlike Barnes, the present governor has not uttered an unkind word about teachers or school administrators. From Perdue's public pronouncements, one could presume every teacher in Georgia is performing at an unparalleled level of excellence.
Barnes, you will remember, had the audacity to assert that part of education's problems lay in teacher incompetence. He also won legislative approval of a law making it easier to discharge unsuitable teachers. Perdue's people repealed the measure and restored teacher tenure.
Card-carrying teacher union members love Perdue's sweet talk so much they are not likely to return to the Democratic fold, even to vote for a well-qualified Democratic woman.
The governor's flattery has turned their heads so completely that many are oblivious to what has really happened to them.
For instance:
• In the four budget years in which the ever-critical "King Roy" was governor, teachers' base salaries rose 15.7 percent. In Honey-Lips Perdue's three budget cycles, base teachers' salaries have risen by slightly more than 4 percent. Perdue's last budget broke new records for overall state spending and borrowing.
• In Perdue's last two budget years, teachers' cost for health insurance has risen by 13 and 9 percent $40 to $100 a month, depending on the health-care plan.
Under Barnes, teachers who completed national board certification received 10 percent salary increases. With Perdue in charge, a national-board-certified teacher does not receive the "salary enhancement" unless that teacher moves to an officially designated "underperforming" school.
A national-board-certified teacher with 10-plus years experience could expect to receive an annual pay increase of $10,000 during the Barnes years. That same teacher may experience a loss of at least $5,000 with Perdue in charge.
Additionally, during the Barnes years, class sizes began to shrink. Now some classes are growing larger, making teaching more difficult.
Still, Cathy Cox or any other Democrat, using cold facts about hard cash, will have difficulty converting the teacher bloc, especially when the avuncular GOP incumbent continues to say lovely things.
P.S.: The above numbers, by the way, came from a committee of nonpartisan educators who woke up one morning, took a second look at "Uncle Sonny" and shrieked, "Who is this guy, and what has he done to us?"
(4-23-05, The Athens Observer.)
_______________
I strongly disagree with my friend Bill Shipp on this early call. As we all know, teachers voted against Barnes in 2002, and not for Perdue.
Contrary to what the Dean implies, I perceive a neutral feeling among teachers toward Perdue, and even a tad of resentment from GAE and PAGE toward Perdue from a couple of missteps from this past legislative session.
I think the slate is clean going into the 2006 legislative session with respect to the Republican nominee, whoever this is, and the Democratic nominee, whoever this is.
If pressed to give an early edge to one party or the other, and disregarding national politics, etc., I would give the edge to the Democratic Party simply because of Perdue's uncompelling story of gubernatorial leadership in education and everything else (excepting his public neutering of poor ole Nelson).
Before the dust settles, the regents-foundation-Adams-Dooley battle may accrue to [Cathy] Cox's benefit. The out-of-control fussing clearly demonstrates the Peach State is bereft of able, cool-headed leadership. For now, however, the noisy feud simply knocks Cathy out of the headlines.
Cox believes firmly she has a good chance to send Perdue back to Bonaire and become Georgia's first woman governor. At first glance, election statistics seem to be on her side. More women than ever are participating in Georgia politics.
In the 2002 gubernatorial election, 54 percent of the voters were women. That might sound like a big advantage for Cox. However, many, if not most, of those females voted in favor of Republican Perdue and against Democratic incumbent Roy Barnes. Teachers, who detested Barnes, were the nucleus of Perdue's female fan base.
Unlike Barnes, the present governor has not uttered an unkind word about teachers or school administrators. From Perdue's public pronouncements, one could presume every teacher in Georgia is performing at an unparalleled level of excellence.
Barnes, you will remember, had the audacity to assert that part of education's problems lay in teacher incompetence. He also won legislative approval of a law making it easier to discharge unsuitable teachers. Perdue's people repealed the measure and restored teacher tenure.
Card-carrying teacher union members love Perdue's sweet talk so much they are not likely to return to the Democratic fold, even to vote for a well-qualified Democratic woman.
The governor's flattery has turned their heads so completely that many are oblivious to what has really happened to them.
For instance:
• In the four budget years in which the ever-critical "King Roy" was governor, teachers' base salaries rose 15.7 percent. In Honey-Lips Perdue's three budget cycles, base teachers' salaries have risen by slightly more than 4 percent. Perdue's last budget broke new records for overall state spending and borrowing.
• In Perdue's last two budget years, teachers' cost for health insurance has risen by 13 and 9 percent $40 to $100 a month, depending on the health-care plan.
Under Barnes, teachers who completed national board certification received 10 percent salary increases. With Perdue in charge, a national-board-certified teacher does not receive the "salary enhancement" unless that teacher moves to an officially designated "underperforming" school.
A national-board-certified teacher with 10-plus years experience could expect to receive an annual pay increase of $10,000 during the Barnes years. That same teacher may experience a loss of at least $5,000 with Perdue in charge.
Additionally, during the Barnes years, class sizes began to shrink. Now some classes are growing larger, making teaching more difficult.
Still, Cathy Cox or any other Democrat, using cold facts about hard cash, will have difficulty converting the teacher bloc, especially when the avuncular GOP incumbent continues to say lovely things.
P.S.: The above numbers, by the way, came from a committee of nonpartisan educators who woke up one morning, took a second look at "Uncle Sonny" and shrieked, "Who is this guy, and what has he done to us?"
(4-23-05, The Athens Observer.)
_______________
I strongly disagree with my friend Bill Shipp on this early call. As we all know, teachers voted against Barnes in 2002, and not for Perdue.
Contrary to what the Dean implies, I perceive a neutral feeling among teachers toward Perdue, and even a tad of resentment from GAE and PAGE toward Perdue from a couple of missteps from this past legislative session.
I think the slate is clean going into the 2006 legislative session with respect to the Republican nominee, whoever this is, and the Democratic nominee, whoever this is.
If pressed to give an early edge to one party or the other, and disregarding national politics, etc., I would give the edge to the Democratic Party simply because of Perdue's uncompelling story of gubernatorial leadership in education and everything else (excepting his public neutering of poor ole Nelson).
posted by Sid Cottingham | 8:03 AM
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