Clayton Count Mom Guilty Of Seeking A Better Education For Her Child In Henry County GA

Clayton mom gets felony conviction for putting child in Henry school


I understand that what they did was fraudulent- but a FELONY? Come on people.

For a person like me who has been monitoring the crash and burn of the Clayton County Georgia school system - I empathize with this mother who simply was looking out for the best interests of her child. As the situation in Clayton smoldered parents began to move out of the county, many of them going to Fayette County or Henry County to the South.

I would be remiss if I failed to mention that Fayette and Henry are Republican/conservative dominated counties. Yesterday as I rode up Hwy 85 and noted a large crowd of people waiting to catch the bus at a bus stop within Clayton County I could not help but note the irony. Some of the main people who called Fayette County "RACIST" for refusing to allow the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA) to run their buses into Fayette County....are now MOVING INTO FAYETTE COUNTY to escape the "more tolerant" county of Clayton.

Over the years I have seen people make use of a relative's address in Fayetteville in order to allow their kids to attend Fayette school. A little boy would arrive each school day, early in the morning in his father's car each morning to his grandmother's house across the street. Grandma would take him in and then send him off to catch the bus about 30 minutes later.

This issue is about the ability for a group of people to develop a "container" and govern the people and apply the resources contained within with respect to their own choosing. There is no question that people living in Henry, Fayette and Clayton want the same thing - Quality Education. I also accept that there are class and income differences between the counties. Over the past decade Clayton has taken in many poor people that had been living in Atlanta. In response a mass exodus of middle/upper middle class from Clayton County into Fayette and Henry transpired. If we left the debate at the issue of class and money - all would be understandable. But this is simply not the case.

What we have in Clayton County is incompetence masked as arrogance. The statement "We Run Things Now" on a campaign poster was enough to get one woman elected to the school board years ago. The voters of Clayton County voted in a first wave of representatives who had no business being in office. The attributes that were attractive to the voters ("Speak Truth To Power") was exactly the OPPOSITE of what their school board needed. Don't get me wrong - I do believe that a board of 9 should have 2 firebrands who work to shake things up. When you have 6 or 7 of them on the same board - things collapse.

Instead this board of 9 representing the Clayton schools needs

• Former Educators
• Finance People
• Government Policy People
• People With Links To The Chamber Of Commerce

A local conservative commenatory noted previously that the School Board is often a person's entree into their political career. It is a relatively easy election to win and the person can learn about the legislative process. He also noted that a person who spent his career as an "individual contributor" and making $35,000 per year is often not qualified to run an $80 million budget. He is 100% correct on that point. The view of an "executive" is different from the view of a supervised worker. (I am not saying that the school board members are executives).

Where as some people are inclined to give Clayton County a pass, attributing their recent ailments to that of "growing pains" I am not willing to do so. This was a "tackle with your head first" type injury that could have all been avoided if there were some LEADERSHIP shown in the ranks of the general public and elected officials to "take it slow and focus on where they are going".

I hope that this mother gets the charges reduced and the court allows her to simply make restitution for the costs of schooling. Having a felony stamped on her record is a bit beyond a reasonable rebuke. I am sure that since the county spent about $9,000 for one years worth of education on her child - the amount is what triggered the harsh judgment.