Perdue closed schools because of influential lobbyists?

[XanaDUer]

Lobbyists call, schools close
Did Perdue spare diesel for farmers?

By JAMES SALZER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/06/05
Just hours before Gov. Sonny Perdue decided to close public schools to save fuel, industry lobbyists met with top administration aides to suggest sacrificing the school days to make sure farmers in South Georgia had enough diesel fuel to harvest their crops.

"The suggestion they made was to call for school snow days or holidays to free up diesel fuel supply in the region," according to a summary of the conference call reviewed by The Atlanta Journal Constitution...

www.ajc.com (free sign on-sorry)

Basically, the article says that farm lobbyists got Perdue to close the schools for two days because saving over 225,000 gallons of fuel would help farmers run the irrigation systems at peanut harvest.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

1. I am not sure how

I feel about that. As a teacher, I want to think that the school day is inviolate. But I know how GA relies on peanuts this time of year. I am only five miles south of the GA border. It isn't just big agriculture, it is Mommys and Daddys and local economy, too.

[Atman]

2. Purdue should have just said so

On the surface, it sounds perfectly reasonable to me. Two days off of school, vs. losing the state's largest aggie crop? I dunno. It's no slam dunk. I'd need to see all the numbers, but at first glance, it doesn't sound like such a horrible trade-off.

[XanaDUer]

3. I don't have kids

but many parents were pissed beyond belief at this. Some brought their kids to the capital for a sit in.

Not sure what to make of this. I think it would have been better to just come out and say so-that the peanuts mattered (and they do), but still it does not look so good.

[Debau2005]

4. My issue with it was

we have told our children that their education is not worth a tank of gas. GA is last in most all education evaluations, so what do we do we close the schools. I find it disgraceful.

[napi21]

5. I don't know how it effected the peanut crop! I do know how it

affected LOTS of parents though!

If the only intent was to save the peanut crop, then Sunny should have ordered a State purchase of XX gals of diesel fuel, and then sell it to the farmers. Then it's a done deal!

Instead of doing that, he forced a panic of 100's of thousands of working parents in the entire state. Many had NO options! Many had to pay a lot of money for unanticipated child care necessities.

I think Sonny's going to pay the political price for this one!