The summer is officially over! Welcome back (after a few fantastic weeks of school) to “Just the Facts.”
The start of school is my favorite time of year. It's not even close!! I never get over how excited students, parents, and teachers are.
As the school year began, we also recently got some great news from the last school year, which highlights the high return on Cobb’s investment in education.
Last year, we graduated more than 8400 students, and those students collected more than 150 million dollars in scholarships to continue their education.
This month, we also learned that your children scored higher than other students in similar counties around Atlanta for the fifth year in a row! Our students are also reading better than anyone else around Atlanta, with more readers reading on grade level in 3rd, 5th, and 8th grades. Huge!!!
This year in particular, keeping your children safe is a challenge. Some in our community reject the belief that sexually explicit content should be removed from schools.
They are fighting for additional layers of bureaucracy and to delay removal by “signing community petitions to call on our district leadership to halt these ‘book bans.’”
They think an ‘end run around’ will work, by lobbying for CCSD to have layers of time-consuming bureaucratic process before removing.
Maybe I am ‘old school,’ but I believe most parents do not want educators to decide if their children should be exposed to material that cannot be legally read in a Board meeting or shown on any public television station. I believe we need to take quick and decisive action when our students’ safety and parents' rights are threatened.
The Superintendent recently announced the removal of 13 books that contain graphic descriptions and pictures of sex. I have recently been told community members have created a website that shows the disturbing content these books have included.
I suggest everyone do their own research. Verify for yourself whether the graphic material in the books the Superintendent has removed is appropriate for your children. Don’t just read the headlines; read the words for yourself and come to your own conclusions.
Yes, I guess I am speaking as a father and grandfather. As one, and as Board Chair, there is no world in which sexually explicit content has a place in a child’s learning, while in our schools.
As it stands, Cobb parents are the ones who choose what their children have access to. We will continue to support the Superintendent as he acts, and more importantly, we will continue to protect your children and grandchildren and your right to raise your family.
Randy Scamihorn
Board Chairman
