As a recently retired teacher, I was looking forward to the first meeting of my system's retired teachers' organization. A chance to eat lunch, catch up with some old friends and make some new ones, and above all to enjoy not being in school always makes for a nice afternoon. The meeting turned out to more than just entertaining thanks to the presence of State Representative Charlice Byrd (Rep., Georgia State House District 20).
Ms Byrd is serving her third term as state representative for Georgia House District 20, in southern Cherokee and northern Cobb Counties. Hers is a suburban district north of Atlanta and is reliably deep red. Ms Byrd was born in Hawaii and is the first Asian American to serve in the Georgia General Assembly. She is also reliably right wing in her voting record, favoring school vouchers, creationism, and other such "education" issues.
Ms Byrd gave us a run down of her view of the last legislative session. She first talked about health care and the brave manner in which the GOP controlled legislature voted to block health care reform from imposing Obamacare on our state.
After having thus demonstrated her ignorance of the Constitution's Supremacy Clause, Ms Byrd went on to brag about the fine condition of our county's roads and highways. This was news to many of us who had made our way to the restaurant through the increasingly permanent traffic jam in which our county is enmeshed. While Ms Byrd was congratulating us on our fine roads she misnamed and misnumbered two or three of them.
Ms Byrd also discussed education policy. She congratulated us on the fine job our superintendent and administrators had done raising standardized test scores. They must have been extremely busy running from classroom to classroom all over the county doing all that teaching, because Ms Byrd never said a word about actual classroom teachers.
Once Ms Byrd had finished her self-congratulatory remarks there were a few questions from the crowd, primarily over a rumor that one or both of the gubernatorial candidates intended, once elected, to solve some of Georgia's budget problems by "borrowing" from the Teachers' Retirement System's funds. Ms Byrd gave a classic political answer by saying that that would have to be done in "cooperation" with the legislature. Further questions were choked off by one of the retired administrators present, who spent a few minutes thanking Ms Byrd for being so kind as to come speak with us, thereby using up the remaining question time. Its nice how the powerful and formerly powerful look out for each other, isn't it?
The meeting broke up soon after Ms Byrd left with a bit more political discussion. Teachers in Georgia are in something of a quandary in the gubernatorial elections this year. On the GOP side is Nathan Deal, former congressman and a right wing stalwart. The Democratic nominee is former Governor Roy Barnes, who alienated Georgia teachers eight years ago with his hamfisted education "reforms." The NEA affiliated Georgia Association of Educators has endorsed Barnes this time around in a classic "lesser of two evils" ploy, and many of us are going to hold our noses and vote for him, without much enthusiasm.
But at least a few things about Charlice Byrd were made even clearer at the meeting. Not that it will stop some of those same former teachers who were there from voting for her, but at least they can't plead ignorance this time.