Jessyca Holland

I remember right before the election that ended the democrat’s reign in the Governor’s seat of Georgia, I attended a local forum called “Political Party.” I believe this was once a monthly event hosted by Dad’s Garage in Inman Park. The Anyway, the question arose: “why wouldn’t Roy Barnes be reelected?” I raised my hand to answer the panelist’s question: “uh, because of teachers…” We did a brief back and forth about teacher’s not getting paid enough. I was told, essentially, that issue would not affect the race.

SIDE NOTE: My husband was a teacher at the time and the major lunch grumble at his place of employment concerned salary step increases (or lack thereof). Mr. Roy Barnes was on the other side of pointed fingers from teachers who felt betrayed.

So? The moral to this story? Ha! I was right! In your face!

I needed to get that off my chest. This post really has nothing to do with the current Governor’s race. It just has to do with the fact that large groups of people coming together can make a HUGE difference. Don’t underestimate power in numbers.

This goes to the heart of why so much research around arts education and student achievement is lacking. How we operationally define measures is soooo important to the research process. I am always cautious about people who quote research outcomes, but could not tell you how the research framework was constructed.