Posted on 06/05/2005 8:17:26 AM PDT by Taft in '52
ANOTHER GEORGIA PUBLIK SKOOL STORY
June 5, 2005
This one comes to us from Atlanta talk-show host Neal Boortz...
+ + +
We talked about this one on the show yesterday (June 1), but it didn't make the Nuze. So here we go...the story of the Anita White Carson Middle School in Greensboro, Greene County, Georgia.
Our cast of characters is as follows:
* Matthew Lund, first year teacher
* Ulrica Corbett, Principal.
* Zach Richardson, Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps.
So .. here's the story, gleaned from the front page of the May 26th edition of Greensboro Herald-Journal.
Matthew Lund and Zach Richardson were college roommates. After college Richard joined the Marines and Lund started teaching. Richardson went to Iraq, Lund to Carson Middle School, there to teach a 6th grade language arts class.
As a class assignment Lund gave his students the opportunity to write a letter to Sgt. Richardson in Iraq. Richardson wrote back and gave the class the names of five other Marines who would like to receive letters. Soon other middle school classes were also sending letters to the Marines in Iraq.
When Sgt. Richardson returned to the United States he told Matthew Lund that he wanted to come to the Carson Middle School to personally thank the students for their support and letters. Lund filled out and submitted a "Resource Visitor or Guest Speaker Form" and submitted it to Principal Corbett. Lund says he never got the form back from Corbett. He says he asked the Principal about the form, and was told that she was not going to look at it.
Lund says that he realized his request to have Sgt. Richardson visit the school was going to be ignored by Ulrica Corbett. He made the decision to proceed with the plans for the visit, a visit that took place, or was to take place on May 23rd, one week before Memorial Day.
When Sgt. Richardson showed up at the Carson Middle School Lund took him to the school's media center to prepare to meet the students. At that point, according to Lund, Principal Corbett called him into the hall and told him that the Marine was not approved to be at the school. Lund told Corbett that the proper form had been submitted and had been ignored. Corbett's response was "that's your problem, not mine."
Lund's version of the discussion with Corbett in the hallway suggests that Corbett harbored a great deal of hostility toward Sgt. Richardson and Matthew Lund. She told Lund that the students had not earned the visit from the Marine, and closed the discussion with Lund with the phrase "what part of what we just discussed do you not understand?" She then ordered Matthew Lund to escort Sgt. Richardson off the school campus.
When this story hit the local newspaper Ulrica Corbett thought it best to do a little CYA work. She submitted a written statement to the Herald-Journal in which she stated "My decision not to allow Zach Richardson to speak with the students on Monday came out of my regard for the safety and welfare of our children." What a crock. Is Ulrica Corbett saying that this U.S. Marine who had just spent a year putting his life on the line for his country presented some sort of a threat to the children at the Carson Middle School?
My guess? What we have here is some self-important middle school principal who harbors a dislike, if not an outright hatred, of the American armed forces, and who is steadfastly opposed to our actions in Iraq and quite possibly in Afghanistan. This principal then decided to let her petty prejudices stand in the way of what would have been a memorable and rewarding experience for both Sgt. Richardson and the children of Matthew Lund's 6th grade class.
Now that's just a guess. I've received messages that Ulrica Corbett has family members in the military and serving in Iraq. You would have thought that information might have been set forth in her written statement to the newspaper. It wasn't
Corbett is saying that the teacher didn't follow protocol. The newspaper has signed and dated copies of the documentation submitted by Lund. Someone here isn't telling the truth. One thing for sure: Protocol be dammed, Ulrica Corbett could have found a way to allow this soldier to talk to the students who had befriended him. She didn't
This morning the story is getting increased attention. Calls have been coming into the Greene County Schools from across the nation. Superintendent John Jackson has offered a written apology, saying that the situation could have been handled differently. The official story still seems to be that Lund didn't follow the necessary steps to get permission for Richardson's visit. I would like to know a little more about Lund's assertion that Corbett told him that she was simply "not going to look at" the written request, and that this was "(his) problem, not mine."
Right now it sounds more like the problem was with Corbett, not Lund. I guess it should be expected that the superintendent would protect an established principal in a controversy with a first year teacher on the way out the door.
Thanks to the Herald-Journal the people of Greene County know just what type of person they have in charge of the education of their children at the Carson Middle School.
Government schools. Gotta love 'em.
BRUSHFIRE ALERT: Here's the contact information for various parties, but remember that today is Sunday, so hold your phone calls until tomorrow morning:
Principal Ulrica Corbett Anita White Carson Middle School 1010 S. Main Street Greensboro, GA 30642 (706) 453-3308 Email: ulrica.corbett@greene.k12.ga.us
On his webpage, Superintendent Jackson invites folks to "give us your input as to how we can become better. You are always welcome!" So why not accept Dr. Jackson' s invitation?
Dr. John Jackson, Superintendent
Greene County School District
Corry-Boston-Jackson Education Complex
101 East Third Street, Greensboro, GA 30642
Phone: (706) 453-7688
Fax: (706) 453-9019
Email: info@greene.k12.ga.us
Heck, while you're at it, why not copy your correspondence to the district's school board members?
Emma O'Neal
emma.oneal@greene.k12.ga.us
Imogene "Cookie" Robinson
cookie.robinson@greene.k12.ga.us
Kathleen Mayers
kathleen.mayers@greene.k12.ga.us
Janice Gallimore
janice.gallimore@greene.k12.ga.us
Deborah Smith
deborah.smith@greene.k12.ga.us
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
PUBLISHED BY: Chuck Muth 1315 Wilson Point Road Middle River, MD 21220 (410) 391-7408 E-mail: chuck@chuckmuth.com
gee I wonder which party she voted for?
It's too bad that other positive visits don't get reported. The negative ones do and thus serve as fodder for those with politcal agendas against education.
I agree with you. But I also wonder about reporting from the same media that puts out all the negative stories about our military too without saying the good things they do (the military that is).
Great post and follow-up details. It is important that the grown-ups in this country weigh in on issues like this and let the lefty wing-nuts know that such shenanigans won't be tolerated.
The principal and superintendant need to know that insinuating their anti-American, leftist agenda into our school system will only get them a one-way ticket to Takrit.
I urge everyone to send their two-cents to Georgia.
dung.
ping
take your BP meds first
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.