A Turning Point
I entered this race because I believe you, the people of Gwinnett County, deserve better representation on your school board. I could no longer sit back and watch a career politician, who has become complacent and continuously skirts her responsibility by turning a blind eye to cronyism and backdoor agreements, like the one that has surfaced in the news recently involving more questionable expenditures made by the superintendent.
Election Day is fast approaching, and this is a turning point in the campaign. It's time for straight talk. Going forward, I plan to share some hard-hitting facts that place the incumbent under some harsh light. Revealing these facts gives rise to my position on the issues and will effectively illustrate that it is time for a change, and that I am the clear choice for Gwinnett County School Board in District III. Here's why...
During this campaign, I have talked with hundreds of people. The more I talk with people, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize most of us—Republicans, Democrats, and Independents—share the same concerns about education and have the same issues with our current representation on the school board.
We All Want Fiscal Accountability
My Facebook followers have known for some time that a coalition of government watchdog groups have been attempting since February to learn why Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) has been paying the salaries of two Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce employees beginning in 2007. In July, GCPS issued a statement saying the investment in the Gwinnett Chamber pays off, and in return for funding the salaries, GCPS had received $6 million which goes directly into the classrooms. However, they have offered no proof to support that claim. Additionally, there is no contract with performance measures, no record of this agreement in their minutes, no board vote and no way for the average citizen to find this expenditure in their budget.
When confronted with this arrangement, in the face of budget cuts and woes about lack of state funding, our board members apparently have agreed to continue this practice even as they lay off teachers in your schools. The annual cost of these two employee positions, who work on economic development – not education, is $150,000 per year. That's just wrong. I believe that the cumulative $900,000 associated with that "agreement" would be better allocated to teachers, because I know that would have a direct impact in the classroom.
Concurrently, over the past several years, Mary Kay Murphy and each of the other four board members gave the green light for $66,000 salary increases for our superintendent while teachers received none. Now, J. Alvin Wilbanks is Georgia's highest-paid school superintendent, with a compensation package that tops out at $410,000. His 2010 contract includes payments twice a year for unused leave time, a perk that's unusual among superintendents in metro Atlanta and unavailable to most teachers, at least until they retire.
Ironically, just last week, teachers from around the county asked the school board members to allow them to donate their unused sick leave to a fellow teacher so that he can be at home with his wife who is battling a life-threatening illness. Your school board's response: they "will be looking into what it is they can do." That's not enough. If Mary Kay Murphy and the school board members can justify cashing out Alvin Wilbank's unused and earned sick leave, then I believe they should be able to quickly and easily adopt a policy to allow GCPS employees to donate their unused and earned sick days to a fellow employee. Now, that would be a good idea. It's legal, costs nothing, and is already implemented in other Georgia school districts. Why the wait? I would be decisive and vote to change the current policy because that is the right thing to do.
In the coming weeks, I will highlight more examples that shed light on the current culture of fiscal irresponsibility, lack of transparency, and questionable judgment. At the same time, I will continue to share where I stand on the issues. You do have a choice this year, and you get to decide on November 6. This race isn't about Republican or Democratic ideals; it's about the future of our community.Vote for fiscal accountability. Vote for transparency. Vote Jen Falk, School Board District III.
L.Vlad
5:25 pm on Thursday, August 23, 2012
We need a school board that believe in accountability and transparency like Jen Falk. It is time for a change. Vote November 6th.
jef fincher
6:23 pm on Thursday, August 23, 2012
I am looking forward to hearing your position on local rule and the proposed Constitutional amendment that has noting to do with Charter Schools and everything with do with having non-elected appointees getting their hands in the education cookie jar.
Al Viller
12:37 pm on Friday, August 24, 2012
Jen Falk, the issues you raise are so relevant... and your views are refreshing. Keep fighting the good fight. The children are worth it!
Truth in Disclosure
6:39 pm on Friday, August 24, 2012
It seems the non-elected Gwinnett Chamber already has its hands in the education cookie jar. Has anyone told the chamber that the cookies are for the kids???
Amy Fuchs
7:48 pm on Friday, August 24, 2012
As I sat in the emergency room waiting to find out why my son was losing his vision and suffering from a huge head ache I hoped and prayed it was nothing serious. When we later found out he was suffering from stress migraines due to his school situation I was happy, in a matter of speaking. I thought we could solve this and help him. Up until now he was a happy A student in the gifted program. Suddenly he was having trouble and could not see any help coming his way. I had no idea the battle I was about to face as I stepped up my efforts to help him. The school kept saying we used to have that but don't offer it anymore because of budget cuts...I heard budget cuts and teachers with 120 kids and no time to help.... I felt the horrible effects of the School Boards decisions in the tears of my family. This motivated me to get involved. I decided to do a personal audit of the budget. CONTIUED ON NEXT COMMENT.
Amy Fuchs
8:00 pm on Friday, August 24, 2012
It didn't take long for me to question the decision of my representative, Dr. MK Murphy...her vote YES for the current budget passed some of these interesting choices on how to spend our children's education dollars... As we know class sizes grew by an avg of two kids per class....yet on page 3 ( I told you it didn't take long) I see the Superintendent's Office had a slight raise in salary and fringe benefits...yes teachers are still on furlough days ....on pg 281 we have a department with 2.49 people in it and a salary listed for this dept. of $4,040,044, plus fringe benefits AND OT. What is this about??? I wish I could say...while the budgets with in the school buildings are very detailed this section was not detailed....Where is the tranparency?
I could go on but this is a great start.....YOU NEED TO SPEAK UP FOR YOUR KIDS! I started doing so with my support for Jen Falk...part of her platform is transparency and accountability. These are two important things that we need in our School Board.
Vote for Jen Falk in November and email your school board at MySchoolBoard@Gwinnett.k.12.ga.us.
Sabrina Smith
9:08 am on Saturday, August 25, 2012
Hi Amy: It seems that you have done a thorough review of the budget. Were you able to find any information about the school board's payments to the Gwinnett Chamber? GCPS released a statement claiming they received $6 million as a result of their payments to the chamber. Did you find any evidence of that in your review of the budget? I have not found one shred of documentation to support that claim, despite multiple open records requests. As a matter of fact, school administrators admitted that they had never even asked the chamber to substantiate their claim of generating $800 million in economic activity to support the statement that GCPS received $6 million. The school board refuses to answer questions about payments to the chamber. If they are proud of their decision to support the chamber and believe that it returned $6 million to the classroom, why do they refuse to discuss it? You would think they would be calling press conferences to tout their accomplishment. If this is completely above board, why is the Financial Review Division of the Georgia Department of Education looking into it?
Soccer mom
1:17 pm on Saturday, August 25, 2012
It is very refreshing to have a parent so passionate about education, kids, and our hard earned tax dollars as a candidate for the school board. Status quo has gone on for too long. We need a fresh perspective, someone who will listen to our concerns and have the discussion and debate rather than unanimous votes for the past 5 years.
Thanks Jen for your transparency and honesty.
Amy Fuchs
4:41 pm on Saturday, August 25, 2012
Sabrina, I still have 90 pages left of the 990 page budget... Thus far I have not seen anything that is labeled Gwinnett Chamber ... I will be sure to let you know if I do.