Education: Words Matter

The Georgia State Legislature is considering two bills: HB 338 and SB 30. HB 338 is a thinly veiled attempt to usurp the will of the people that went to the polls and roundly defeated the Amendment #1 “Opportunity School District” proposal. Instead of listening to the will of the people, state legislators introduced HB 338. I am amazed that the legislature continues to ignore the real reasons for low- performing schools—poverty and low parent and community involvement.

I saw that Minority Leader Stacy Abrams and others from the DeKalb Delegation supported 338 because it now addresses poverty. The bill only mentions the word poverty one time and does not describe any action or mechanism for decreasing poverty. If this is all they got for their support of this misguided bill, they don’t deserve our support. Call your representative and ask them how they voted.

If you compare some key words such as parents, families, children, students, community and poverty, it is apparent the SB 30 better addresses the real causes of low-performing schools.

As of 3/8/2017

I would urge our lawmakers to craft laws with words that addresses the real reasons for low-performing schools because “Words Matter.”

Lance Hammonds is the DeKalb NAACP Education Chair.