What a difference a year makes. Last year, the introduction of Gov. Roy Barnes' sweeping education reform package brought with it the ugliest political fights some lawmakers say they can remember. This year, in a session dominated early on by talk of changing the state flag, education has been handled in whispers, not in roars. The majority of the governor's 2001 education proposals have been introduced as lines in the state budget instead of in one sweeping piece of legislation. The only bill, a measure to end social promotions, will be introduced late this week.
Some disagreements are inevitable.
And some education stakeholders, particularly teachers and the groups that represent them, are still nursing political wounds from last year's fight. We had a lot of people who got their feelings hurt. Last year, from the moment Barnes finished announcing his plan, lawmakers and teachers groups sprang into frenzied action. Committee meetings became pitched debates with impassioned pleas from teachers upset at the plan's goal of ending tenure for new hires. Hundreds of teachers massed at the state Capitol, chanting and waving signs urging legislators to vote against the bill.