School Funding Advocates Shift Into High Gear

Shortly after the start of the year, a handful of East Cobb school parents concerned about the financial health of the Cobb County School District began a grassroots effort simply to inform other parents. 

As a busy and eventful 2013 winds down, some of those parents and the groups they've formed are gearing up for political action, and they're asking others to join them.

Last week, the group FACE It Cobb (Funding Awareness Campaign for Education) conducted one of several information meetings that have been held in East Cobb this fall. 

FACE It Cobb is part of what's being called a "Shoestring Campaign" to lobby Gov. Nathan Deal and the Georgia legislature for Cobb's full share of funds under the Quality Basic Education Act. 

Cobb school officials have said the district has been deprived of $450 million in austerity cuts over the last decade. And with expected state cuts of $65 million and an anticipated budget deficit of $79 million for fiscal year 2015, the organized push for more money is growing. 

The Walton PTSA, which held an informational meeting in November that included an emotional response from Principal Judy McNeill, has scheduled a follow-up meeting on Jan. 9, just as legislators prepare for the 2014 General Assembly session. 

The meeting will include a briefing from elected officials -- Walton parent Judson Hill is the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee -- and the PTSA has been distributing contact information for parents to get in touch with their lawmakers. 

East Cobb Patch first reported about FACE It Cobb in February, when it held its first informational meeting at Dodgen Middle School. 

That took place a month before Cobb voters approved -- with strong support in East Cobb precincts -- a four-year, $717 million extension to the Cobb Education SPLOST. The new collection period begins Jan. 1. Among the key projects are rebuilds of Walton and East Cobb Middle School, and two elementary schools to be determined.

But as FACE It Cobb organizers David Schwartz and Megan Ritchie Wohlfarth noted at the time, that eased the district's money problems only partially. 

Long-term budget concerns hit home in May when the Cobb Board of Education cut nearly 200 teaching jobs, increased class sizes and continued staff furloughs to balance the fiscal year 2014 budget. 

School board chairman Randy Scamihorn asked to begin the new budget process in the fall to try and ease the pain.

In October, school board member David Banks of East Cobb pitched a new education sales tax to his colleagues that included a partial property tax rollback, but a majority shot down the idea.

Earlier this month, a packed house at East Side Elementary School attended at a forum sponsored by the East Cobb County Council of PTAs that included a declaration from Scamihorn that the 108,000-student Cobb system is "broke."

(A two-minute slideshow from that session can be seen by clicking here.)

A message in last weekend's Walton PTSA e-mail blast includes a quote from the famed anthropologist Margaret Mead: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." 

The Jan. 9 Walton PTSA meeting starts at 7 p.m. and takes place in the theatre. Confirmed panelists include the following: 

• Walton Principal Judy McNeill
• Superintendent Michael Hinojosa
• State Representative Sharon Cooper
• State Representative Valerie Clark
• Cobb County School District Board of Education Members: Scott Sweeney and David Banks