Georgia School Closings Fuel Controversy
Georgia School Closings Fuel Controversy
There is no snow in Georgia, but Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue (R) has called for schools statewide to take today and tomorrow as “early snow days.” Perdue proudly announced his decision as part of his call for citizens to save more fuel. According to his office, closing schools will save 225,000 gallons of diesel fuel each day.
The rest of the state is not quite as proud of Perdue.
Perdue’s decision to close schools was announced after schools had let out last week, setting off panic amongst parents who had to hastily find (and pay for) two days’ of child care for their children.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution noted:
Three weeks ago he [Perdue] was winning praise nationally for suspending the fuel tax, a move that was expected to save Georgians about 15 cents per gallon.
However, such savings could be more than eaten up for parents who have to pay for two extra days of day care because of the school closings.
Perdue’s sympathetic response:
Perdue aides said the governor is sympathetic to the plight of parents and that he hopes they will use the weekend to make arrangements for their children.
That’s nice of him.
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Remember, no child left behind. Yeah, my behind.
September 26th, 2005 at 1:22 pmWhat a jerk. “the governor is sympathetic to the plight of parents and that he hopes they will use the weekend to make arrangements for their children.” I bet he has no idea how hard it is to find good child care at the last minute, or how much the cost of childcare can totally throw off a household budget when you are living almost pay check to pay check. Arg. Politicians should be forced to live poor every now and again for their own good. I am sure that many kids will be left home alone for two days watching TV. Hopefully, it’ll just be older ones.
September 26th, 2005 at 1:26 pmFar be it from me to defend Sonny (he sort of used the flag issue to win against Roy Barnes) but I sort of like this outside of the box thinking. I admit that I didn’t think about the child care issue, that will be caused because of this, but I give him an “A” for original thought!
He could ask the oil companies to cut their billions per month profits but asking a Republican to do that would be a waste of time!
September 26th, 2005 at 1:48 pmThere’s nothing original about a republican closing public services because they mismanaged money – it’s the same old tired song they’ve been playing for decades…
September 26th, 2005 at 1:52 pmI don’t get it. How does this jive with the RepubliCANTs platform of “education for all” a.k.a. No Child Left A Dime? So by saving money on gas, the childern are not educated? Seriously, isn’t education supposed to be (go ahead, laugh) a tenet in the Repubs party platform?
If I were a parent in GA, I’d be livid.
September 26th, 2005 at 1:52 pmWhat do you expect from a public servant named “Sonny”?
September 26th, 2005 at 1:55 pmWell, of course, that’s typical. Hold back the state but increase expense for the parents – not to mention the scrambling for alternative day care. Not one of these guys has the faintest idea of what it takes to be a parent who has to work to keep the wolf from the door. His idea is workable for the ones who are fortunate enough to not need child care – the only kind he knows of or cares about — in his mind, all the others just burden the state.
September 26th, 2005 at 2:24 pmI am a parent in GA. This whole thing is stupid. They could have waited two or three more days to decide if fuel was really going to be such a huge issue. People are used to hearing on the news that classes the next day are cancelled due to the one snow fall we get every year. It would not have been that big a deal.
This was a knee-jerk, panic riddled reaction if there ever was one. I am lucky, my wife is a nurse and works nights so we didn’t have to miss work or find day care.
September 26th, 2005 at 2:34 pmImagine how much they could save if they just shut the schools down completely!
And just think of how much money is being wasted by having police and fire trucks driving all over the place…
September 26th, 2005 at 3:43 pmIn Indiana, Snow Days are always made up. We may not like it, but this may be a great idea, minus the Child-Care issue.
September 26th, 2005 at 3:43 pmSomething else to consider here: schools are strapped for cash. Increasing fuel prices wreak havoc on school budgets.
Now, a real leader would have said, the state is going to find a way to support the additional fuel costs schools are incurring. A lesser leader closes school.
I don’t like it, but it’s better than doing nothing, which is what my governor (Taft) is doing.
September 26th, 2005 at 3:44 pm#10 – I don’t think the school districts yet know whether or not they’ll need to make up the school days (http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/stories/20050926/localnews/20433.shtml), but if they do, doesn’t that negate any cost saving Perdue hoped to get by cancelling school for two days?
September 26th, 2005 at 4:04 pmIt’s sad, because it’s clear that all of those SUVs driving to day care will use more fuel than the school buses would. It’s just another example of the wrong solution for a problem, and inept republican mismanagement!
September 26th, 2005 at 4:21 pmOther schools in different states are doing the same thing; like 3 days of school. These energy prices are killing local schools, plus the heat! I’ve never heard of a Governor doing it; schools are usually run at the local level.
September 26th, 2005 at 4:38 pmOh, I see. Teachers are really just baby sitters. Too bad they don’t get paid as well as baby sitters, even though they also teach.
September 26th, 2005 at 5:10 pmHe just needs to turn of the air conditioning at the rich white schools, so they’re more like the ones in minority and poor districts. That will save money, and leave no ’specific’ kid behind… They’ll finally have a more equal education, and the suburbanites will understand why it’s difficult to learn in a school that’s 100 degrees…
September 26th, 2005 at 5:30 pmHow about no more SUVs on the road for the next three days or so? Anyone in a large vehicle with less than 3 people will be ticketed.
They get the fuel and the kids stay home with the videos? I just can’t believe it. Big cars over education – way to go!! It must be their ultimate goal though. Think about it, the more ignorant our children grow up and the more we keep them in front of commercials, the more likely they will vote republican.
A majority of college seniors vote dem and a majority of high school seniors vote repub. SEE WHAT EDUCATION CAN DO?!
September 26th, 2005 at 6:26 pmHooray for the ownership society
September 26th, 2005 at 6:34 pmA majority of college seniors vote dem and a majority of high school seniors vote repub. SEE WHAT EDUCATION CAN DO?!
Comment by progressive and proud
It’s called brainwashing but it only lasts in brains that had little potential to begin with.
September 26th, 2005 at 8:56 pmHmm…
The radical republican pointing out that republican brain washing only works on stupid people?
Irony thy name is republican propagandist!
It’s too bad that republicans never have any good ideas, that they have to cheat to win, and that they run everything they touch into the ground. Guess that’s what being clinically insane does to someone…
September 26th, 2005 at 9:10 pmThe radical republican pointing out that republican brain washing only works on stupid people?
Irony thy name is republican propagandist!
comment by Ryan “master debater” Neat
I’ll give you a buck for every college prof that votes republican. Are you really that stupid or are you testing your small but loyal fan base?
September 26th, 2005 at 11:40 pmHmm…
The radical republican pointing out that republican brain washing only works on stupid people?
Irony thy name is republican propagandist!
It’s too bad that republicans never have any good ideas, that they have to cheat to win, and that they run everything they touch into the ground. Guess that’s what being clinically insane does to someone…
September 27th, 2005 at 2:58 amRepeating yourself like that is an idication of mental illness. Losing your will to live yet Princess?
08 isn’t that far away. My guess is you’ve got one more disastrous election cycle in you, that would be this year’s. After a Republican landslide in 08 you and thousands of your fellow travelers will be eager to go out to meet that mother ship. Let me know if you don’t have enough chemicals. I wouldn’t want you to miss your ride…wink, wink.
September 27th, 2005 at 8:14 amHmm… Again…
The radical republican pointing out that republican brain washing only works on stupid people?
Irony thy name is republican propagandist!
It’s too bad that republicans never have any good ideas, that they have to cheat to win, and that they run everything they touch into the ground. Guess that’s what being clinically insane does to someone…
September 27th, 2005 at 1:51 pmOle onion-head did this to the Ga. parents, yet our waste-in-chief President makes trip after trip to anywhere.
September 27th, 2005 at 1:53 pmI think the governor should consider adding some time to our Monday-Thursday schedule and closing schools on Friday indefinitely. This might help save some money. There are other places in the country, I’m sure, that have similar modified schedules for various reasons.
September 29th, 2005 at 10:32 amDo we have school on Monday, October 3 and Tuesday, October 4, 2005?
October 2nd, 2005 at 2:03 pmReminds me of the meetings we attended when I worked for one of the largest banks in the nation.
Basically we were told how horrid things were financially and that there were going to be massive lay-offs. But to take heart, everyone was being affected. Even the vice-presidents and presidents offices would be affected. Their offices would replace real plants for silk plants.
Give me a break. You want to do something that will make a difference, then cut your overpaid salaries!
October 3rd, 2005 at 4:47 am[...] school closings …http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/feature?section=news/education/schools&id=5755379Comments on: Georgia School Closings Fuel Controversy… http://thinkprogress.org/2005/09/26/geo … … 26/georgia-school-closings-fuel-controv [...]
April 11th, 2008 at 8:41 pm