What happens when you leave a camera at the intersection of Virginia and Highland with a note that says…

Good afternoon,
I attached this camera to the bench so you could take pictures. Seriously. So have fun. I’ll be back later this evening to pick it up.
Love, Jay / The Plug

Click here to find out.

h/t: BB-Blog

After finding herself on a list of the most unexcused absences in the GA legislature last month, local resident Rep. Stephanie Stuckey-Benfield showed the most improvement among her colleagues, according to the AJC, falling from 6th most unexcused absences to 63rd.

And while I’m glad to see she’s got things straightened out, the dramatic fall really calls into question of the validity of a list that counts unexcused absences. In Benfield’s retort to the AJC ranking she claimed that the only difference between an “excused” and “unexcused” absence was that you had called in saying you couldn’t make it, as opposed to just not showing up. Is that really the case?? Is it really easier than concocting a two-bit story about some bad sushi you had last night, so you can take the day off to ride with your buddies in the North GA mountains? If so, it really makes no sense to use only those with “unexcused” absences.

I wish that in this follow up, the AJC had justified and defended its use of “unexcused absences” and elaborated on the difference between “excused” and “unexcused”. Because right now, I don’t know if this list has any value whatsoever.

Like a star pupil, City of Decatur Schools stands alone.

According to the AJC, Decatur’s charter school application was the only one that recently met the approval of a state review committee.  According to the paper, the State Broad of Ed is also expected to give a final nod to Decatur’s application.

Like less motivated students, the other four districts were told their applications needed revision.  Marietta City; Gainesville City; Warren County, near Augusta; and Chattahoochee County, near Columbus were recently informed that their plans to achieve goals and improve student performance were too darn vague and needed beefing up.

You gotta give CDS and all involved (including residents) a lot of credit for this achievement.  It’s just further evidence that we really think about and consider policy in this city.  We don’t just jump blindly into things seeking approval and funding like…ahem…some folks.

Now it really sounds like Decatur will be the state’s poster child for its new, unique charter school system.

As a result, will we begin seeing strong conservative support from the capitol for the state’s most liberal city?