First and foremost, the legislators should have taken the time to cut their own personal gains from the budget, rather than from the money that funds education initiatives. After years of being squashed in committee in both the House and Senate, the concept of ending social promotion in Georgia finally reached the floor for a vote. I have always been a strong advocate for ending this practice. It is not in the best interest of children to promote them to the next grade simply because they are a year older. The legislature also failed to pass a proposal I supported to increase safety on school buses by allowing the expulsion of chronically disruptive students from buses.
Personal responsibility is the price of riding a public school bus.
It remains a privilege, not a right. Legislators did try to save our children from the dangers imposed upon them by getting behind the wheel of a car. However, serious proposals deteriorated into heavy-handed attempts to empower government to dictate to parents how many children could ride in a car and whether double dating would be permitted. Students could take the courses after school, receive elective credit for their efforts, and core instructional time would not be sacrificed during the day. In return, students could earn their driver's licenses at the age of 16 with appropriate classroom instruction and hours of supervised driver's training.