Memorandum from Mary Kay Murphy
Mary Kay Murphy, Ph.D. District 3  School Board Member marykaymurphy@aol.com

December 19, 2007

Legislation, Leaders, and Change in District III

   In Norcross, Duluth, and Berkeley Lake, three leaders will serve elective terms beginning in 2008. These include Norcross Mayor-Elect Bucky Johnson, Duluth Mayor-Elect Nancy Harris, and Mayor Lois Salter. Both Mr. Johnson and Ms. Harris were elected to their first terms in office. Mayor Salter ran unopposed for her seat in Berkeley Lake.

   Public education in Norcross, Peachtree Corners, Duluth, and Berkeley Lake is indeed a community enterprise. Forging partnerships between municipalities and public schools in these Gwinnett County communities has long been a hallmark of the quality of education offered in District III. 

   Mr. Johnson, Ms. Harris, and Ms. Salter bring strong experience as leaders in public education to their community roles. 

   Prior to his mayoral run, Mr. Johnson served as Band Director at Georgia Tech, among other music education responsibilities. He retired from Georgia Tech and moved to Norcross from Cobb County four years ago. 

   Ms. Harris is a retired principal from the Gwinnett County Public Schools. Most recently, she was principal of B.B. Harris Elementary School where her father, B.B. Harris, also served as principal. She is a life-long resident of Duluth. 

   Ms. Salter is a retired teacher from Duluth High School and has served as mayor of Berkeley Lake for several years.

   Residents of Norcross and Duluth, as well as those throughout Gwinnett County, owe much to Norcross Mayor Lillian Webb and Duluth Mayor Shirley Lassitter—both long-serving community and civic leaders who left their posts as of December 2007.

   During her tenure, Mayor Webb, a graduate of Norcross Elementary School, Pinckneyville Middle School, and Norcross High School, provided significant leadership to Norcross and each of the public schools in the Norcross Cluster. She was a regular at Norcross High School graduations, sporting events, performing arts events, and other celebrations of student achievement and faculty contributions to public education in Norcross. 

   Mayor Webb hosted two memorable events for the Norcross High School Boys State Basketball AAAAA State Championship Teams in 2006 and in 2007. Players assembled in convertibles that carried them from the Carlyle House, past the Depot, and ended their route at Thrasher Park where Mayor Webb provided them with Keys to the City. Then she hosted the twice-State Champions and their coaches to dinner at the Norcross Depot.

   Mayor Lassiter made lasting contributions to the City of Duluth with her development of the Towne Green and her support of the annual Duluth Fall Festival. Each of these initiatives provided platforms for students in the public schools of Duluth to perform, participate, and promote the intersection of public education and the support of the community.

   Mayor Lassiter brought an educator’s sensibility to her post. For much of her earlier career, she was a public school Language Arts teacher. It was not unusual to see Mayor Shirley in attendance at Choral concerts, Honors Nights, or athletic events at Duluth High Schools and other schools in the Duluth and Peachtree Ridge clusters.

   January 2008 will also showcase legislative initiatives at the State level. In preparation for the 2008 General Assembly, the Gwinnett County Board of Education and Superintendent Alvin Wilbanks met with members of the County’s legislative delegation.

   Purpose of the meeting was to share with Delegation members program requests of Gwinnett County Public Schools and to seek support and action on these initiatives.

The top five requests included the following:

   1. Local board of education should maintain the authority to manage and control local school systems. This includes not being restricted by legislation from levying local ad valorem taxes to ensure funding for the quality K-12 educational programs their citizens demand. Any change in the tax code that would adversely affect the ability of local boards of education to generate local revenue should be opposed.
   2. Fully fund the Quality Basic Education Act (QBE) funding formula as set forth in state status until another foundation formula replaces it, thus protecting the K-12 education appropriation from further austerity reductions. Since 2003, Gwinnett’s state revenue earnings for public education have been reduced by the State of Georgia by approximately $119 million. 
   3. Eliminate or curtail existing unfunded or under-funded state mandates, and prohibit new ones. Establish a mandatory, minimum 12-month waiting period prior to the implementation of any state education legislation.
   4. Fund at the $200 million level for Regular Entitlement and at the $100 million level for Exceptional Growth.
   5. Revise the formula for state transportation funding to include students who live outside a one-mile radius of school. Gwinnett’s cost to provide state-mandated services in FY 1008 is $60.5 million, of which Georgia provides only $6.9 million (remaining local cost is $53.5 million).

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