Georgia School Superintendent Kathy Cox appeared on the season premiere of "5th Grader" tonight. And for folks watching the show in the Atlanta area, we witnessed a first.

No, not that.

During an early commercial break, a locally-produced ad aired. That 30-second ad starred a Georgia state lawmaker who criticized Cox for putting her "Hollywood interests" first and Georgia students last. An article on the ad, which includes a link to a YouTube version of said ad, can be found here...

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-bl..._criticism.html

Don't think I've ever seen a game show contestant criticized in a TV advertisement before.

As a Georgia native, as well as the husband of a first-grade teacher whose Georgia school district recently lost accreditation, it was tough watching her clowning it up with (Alpharetta, GA native) Jeff Foxworthy and the gallery of knee-nibblers. In the last few weeks, one Georgia district lost its accreditation, a second was being threatened with accreditation suspension or loss, and a third announced severe job cuts to deal with a serious budget shortfall. As far as I know, she did nothing and said nothing about said crises. Instead, she flew to Hollywood and got ready for her closeup.

I've been married for just over two years, and have known the Mrs. since 2005. Over the last three years, I've learned a lot about the sacrifices teachers make to get their classrooms and students ready, particularly in the face of corrupt and/or clueless school board members, power-hungry administrators and apathetic parents/guardians. Several times a year, the Mrs. and I dip into our wallets to provide the kids with crayons, pencils, glue, calculators, etc., that the school district won't provide. Just last year, I gave $10 to allow a students to go on a field trip to a science museum that her family couldn't afford.

Teachers make sacrifices, while administrators go to Hollywood. I just don't get it.

JD

I honestly don't get what the big deal is. It's her personal time. Let her do what she wants with it, especially since she promised to give (part of?) her money to two Georgia schools for the deaf and one for the blind.

Yeah, if some people think she's doing a bad job as superintendent, that's one thing, but I don't see what it has to do with her going on a game show. Does she have to spend every waking minute on the job?

As I said before, it would probably be a lot different if her schools were the envy of the nation and a shining example of everything that's good and right about public education. From every indication, that is so very, very not the case.

Appearances are everything in politics, and make no mistake, even without D's and R's, this is a political issue. For her to go out of her way to make an appearance on a game show when there are so many problems on her watch would be almost as ridiculous as a sitting president appearing on a game show in the middle of a war.

OK, maybe a bad example...

Yes. No matter what happens, she is always "on the job". If the public education system in Georgia is that bad, many people are going to assume that this is an excuse to to hide other problems in Georgia's public education system. "Well, at least she's smarter than a 5th Grader!". She should be. She's the friggin superintendent.

This reminds me of that time when that politician outlawed gay marriage to distract his purchase of a golid gold statue of Dig 'Em...

Am I missing something here or did she not say she was giving her winnings back to the schools? If that is the case, she should go to Hollywood more often.

Tim (an unemployed teacher who is all about people giving back to education - monetarily is nice)

P.S. This is the fault of our lovely governors and state legislatures. Almost every stinking state is in an educational crises. I have to say given the crisis right now in this country, your wife is very lucky to still have a teaching job. It is all about lack of funding, cutting taxes etc. Florida (where I live) is atrociously bad right now. I know about the school supply sacrifices, I just hope I find a job soon.

Yeah .. she said she was giving the money to three schools in the state that specialize for deaf and blind children.

But, I guess in response to DoND's premiere, Fox/Burnett were equally shameless in spoiling the end result.

Tim,

I know a number of people like you. Over the last week, I caught up with several people who were in the same education and/or math classes as me between 3 and 6 years ago. Several cannot get their foot in the door even though they're the most attractive candidates to a school that doesn't want to spend money--no experience and a Bachelors degree. I went through similar hiring issues this summer, as the charter school I was at for the last 2 years closed down due to serious money issues, the least of which was nobody getting paid for the month of August. The year after I graduated from college, I had 7 job interviews plus at least 3 more I had to cancel since I was at Congress 5. Summer 2007, it went down to 6. This year, 4; blame a slow hiring market for high school math teachers and a lot of positions at crappy inner-ring suburbs.

I was originally hired by another charter school which brought me aboard for a little more than I was making last year, but with ridiculously long days since school doesn't start for them until the 19th. (Students need to be in the classroom a minimum of 900 hours/year. If schools want to do 9 hours per day for 100 days, they can...even though that would be beyond stupid.) Since the school had not drafted any contracts or agreements to sign, I considered myself a free agent. Cleveland public schools called me a few weeks later for an interview at one of their best schools, before the contract with the charter school had been made out. Even though I didn't get that position, an HR person on that hiring committee liked me so much, she passed my name to the head of HR for Cleveland schools and I got a job with another Cleveland school in a better area with union backing, much shorter hours, much better pay, less expensive benefits, and better behaved and more advanced students, compared to the charter schools. I'm also enjoying going to my job for the first time in 18 months, which is the most important factor.

I have faith you'll land on your feet in no time, Tim. I've heard Florida's not the best market for teachers. Just about every state up the Atlantic Seaboard from Georgia to Delaware are the markets which have a large demand for teachers.


Are you surprised FOX was shameless? ;-) Mark Thompson wants you to watch because it's what America will be talking about at the water cooler on Monday morning!

/Except in Cleveland, where it will be how the Browns pwned the Cowboys on Sunday afternoon.
//DON'T PUNCH ME, BRANDON!

Where has it been said her schools specifically are the problem? Does the term 'superintendent' mean something different in Georgia? If the state on the whole is bad, fine, but I don't see how that means her individual schools are bad. And again, BFD. People are free to buy what they want with their personal funds. And its not like its any egregious or something that harms people. I suspect mentioning this is sour grapes from someone who didn't agree the passage of the act.

I, meanwhile, would like to know who this is so I could send an email with my approval.
No Teacher Left Standing has done wonders for the educational system too. That, combined with the utter crap that is taught in schools these days leaves a bitter pill in my stomach. I personally suffered greatly in high school math due to the asinine teaching system they used (Intergrated Mathematics). Combine that with stuff from the special interest groups and there's not a whole lot of learning going on.

Oh that's quite alright...in about 36 or so hours, I'll ship you a box of Kleenex.

/You'll need it.

"Nobody messes with Adam We!"

\Must have missed that episode of Family Guy.

Figures, this happens on a night that's not the normal night for the airing of the show and when I'm not home. Maybe FOX has it on their website. It also aired the night before Jeff turns 50.

If you didn't see the winning moment, there are nine clips on YouTube of it, all but 3 of which are of the "point a video camera at the TV" variety. TV cards aren't that expensive nowadays...

Fridays at 8 is indeed the regular time slot for 5th Grader in the 08-09 season.

Just to clear it up, that statue was bought with taxpayers money :)

/Not that it matters

Mayor Adam West.

/Well played, rollercoaster

Saw the win on the FOX website with the teasers. Yeah, "maybe they BOTH win the million." And maybe the Edsel makes a comeback. I knew there was no way Kathy Ireland was going to win $1M for her charity, though she made it further than I thought she would, dropping out at $175K.

So, Queen Victoria is the longest reigning British monarch, though I imagine QEII has got to be giving her a run for her money.

Elizabeth is getting close, her reign is currently in its 56th year.

Any thoughts on the new class?

Ummm.....who pwned who, Mike?

(Yep, my beloved Cowboys wallop Cleveland the Second 28-10, while Cleveland the First kicked the Bengals' behinds)

Shaddap Steve. This is between Brandon and I. :-P

The Browns didn't win against the Cowboys. However, they won a heaping helping of fail.

They get a helping of fail, you get a helping of win.

/the Goldenballs one is very good

That montage is classic. I love how you were able to get such a quick turnaround on "Hole in the Wall".

/And I'll FedEx you that box of Kleenex

Nick Mooneyhan gets some credit. Around the same time I thought a Hole in the Wall FAIL would be appropriate, Nick IMed me the same thought.

Screw the Kleenex. Give me a win against Pittsburgh next weekend. A Cy Young award for Cliff Lee would be nice as well...

Just think, though, how that field goal kicker helped out some fantasy teams.
Pity the poor Don Howard who was on board op duty for the entire game at a Browns Radio Network affiliate and couldn't walk away.
The best part of the afternoon/early evening was people calling the studio line hoping I could help them find their lost dogs.
To save the thread from being closed due to careening off-topic, I disapprove of blowing finishes and approve of the element of surprise for all viewers.
Let her do what she wants with the money she earned. Especially if she wants to give to me.

Seconded!

Thanks, Mike. We are considering re-locating but I want to give it another month before we get serious about that. I remain hopeful. :)

Congrats to you for getting a job!
Tim :)

Atlanta Journal-Courier Article

Cox apparently to still donate winnings as announced, despite filing for bankruptcy due to $3.5 million in debt.

Another update from the AJC on Kathy Cox's troubles and the state of the prize money, which is apparently now in limbo and in the hands of Fox...

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/sto...age_tab_newstab


James

Another update on the Kathy Cox fiasco...

Creditors in her personal bankruptcy case now say they don't want the money, but a court-appointed bankruptcy trustee says he's still investigating....

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/Coxs_...in_Limbo_060809


JD