Teacher, Pastor, File Suit Over Language in Charter Schools Amendment

(click headline for full story)

What does this have to do with cell towers?  It is the belief of GTCO-ATL and many others that the cell tower push for our schools is related to an ALEC  initiative to allow private companies take over the education of many of our children through virtual schools.  ALEC is the  American Legislative Exchange Council that allows corporations to initiate model bills to Congress that help them carry out their profit goals often at the expense of the health and safety of our citizens.  ALEC is most well-known as pushing forth the legislation that was controversial for its use in the Travon Martin shooting in Florida which says that it is okay to shoot another human being simply if you claim that you "felt threatened" at the time you pulled the trigger   Since the other person may not be alive to tell their side of the story, and since your feelings about something are really only known to you, this bill is very controversial because, some say, it legalizes murder under certain circumstances that are very subjective.

Since current charter school rules include the fact that there must be a physical site in order to open a charter, the only way for the ALEC plans to move ahead would be to establish a separate authorization board, the charter commission.  This commission will not be responsive to parents as it is not an elective body.  Its members will only need to be concerned with the profitability of the businesses that are assisting with the campaign finances for the few, corrupt Republicans who are pushing through the Amendment with misleading wording that seeks to hide the truth from the voters and trick them into approving it.  The outcome of this lawsuit may determine the future of the charter commission which will, in turn, determine whether or not we will see more and more cell towers pop up in our neighborhoods and on our school grounds, even with the knowledge that the radiation they emit is labeled as a possible human carcinogen with the largest at-risk population being children.

From the Athens Patch  Filed in Atlanta, the lawsuit claims the language is misleading.

• By Rebecca McCarthy

Opponents of Amendment 1, which provides for a Charter Schools Commission, have long criticized the language of the ballot itself as misleading. As an earlier Athens Patch story says,

Senate Democrats criticized the latest move by proponents of a November charter schools ballot amendment today, calling a new ballot preamble "biased, inaccurate and electioneering at its worst."

"As it was written in March, the charter schools question on the November ballot was misleading. The addition of a preamble to the ballot question heightens the inaccuracy," said Senate Democratic Leader Steve Henson of Tucker. "The preamble language adds to the bias and subjectivity of what citizens will be voting on. The language intends to mislead voters in an effort to ensure a specific outcome. This is not democracy."

Now, a Dalton teacher and an Atlanta pastor have filed a lawsuit against Gov. Nathan Deal, Lt. Gov Casey Cagle and Secretary of State Brian Kemp, requesting the amendment not to be enforced, even if voters approve it. The suit was filed in Fulton County Superior Court, according to a story in the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

The ballot language and a preamble that describes it are “affirmatively and purposely misleading,” says a lawsuit filed by Rev. Timothy McDonald, senior pastor at Atlanta's First Iconium Baptist Church, and teacher Beverly Hedges, who has been teaching for 22 years, according to the story.