Kick. Ass.
See press release below and after the jump:
ATLANTA- Today State Representative Rob Teilhet (D-Smyrna) announced he has purchased air time during Friday's "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" game show on the Fox Network. He will address challenges in education and propose policy alternatives designed to improve student achievement in Georgia. The ad will air during the game show, which begins at 8 p.m. It can also be viewed online at www.youtube.com/robteilhet.
"Tonight, Georgia State School Superintendent Kathy Cox will try to prove that she's smarter than a fifth grader. But even a fifth grader would have to wonder what she's doing on a game in Hollywood, while students are struggling here in Georgia.I'm Representative Rob Teilhet. I believe it's time to stop playing Hollywood games, and reduce our class sizes, expand pre-kindergarten, and support the parents and the teachers who are working so hard to improve our public schools."
If embed doesn't work check it out here:
Georgia State School Superintendent Kathy Cox will appear on Friday’s episode of “Are You Smarter…?" Her appearance on the Hollywood game show comes on the heels of poor CRCT scores and controversy surrounding the validity of the test. The Superintendent also recently announced that Georgia’s nationwide ranking on the SAT has dropped, and that public schools will undergo yet another round of budget cuts. "Superintendent Cox’s appearance on a Hollywood game show during this critical time for Georgia’s schools is ill-conceived, at best. At least she has provided us with an opportunity to discuss the steps we should be taking to improve student achievement," said Rep. Teilhet. "Parents, students and teachers in Georgia deserve smaller class sizes and better access to quality pre-kindergarten. The quality of Georgia students’ lives will be largely determined by the quality of their education. Instead of playing games in Hollywood, we should all feel a sense of urgency to get this conversation started in earnest."
Comments (14)
I like it. Kudos to Rep. Teilhet. It's nice to see an elected Democrat take some swings.
I heart Rob Teilhet!
Rob Teilhet is full of it.
I'm not a fan of Kathy Cox
but she used her own time & money to appear on this show. All her winnings are being donated to 2 schools for the deaf & 1 school for the blind. What has Rob
Teilhet done with his spare time & his money. I think Kathy Cox has done a
good job considering what she has to work with. Budget cuts don't help.
Rob Teilhet did something more Democrats in Georgia need to do. He spoke up loud and clear about the failures of Republican control of this state. In the process, he also energized Democrats. Thank you and congrats to Rep. Teilhet! Encore!
Well, since nobody knew the results of the gameshow, that was taped "DURING SUMMER BREAK" - on her own time and on her own money...Amazing that there are some intelligent people in the State Government "WHO" may be worthy enought to win $1,000,000. The commercial was so inappropriate and doesn't even capture the essence of the gesture. I live in Georgia - my children go to Georgia Schools and I see deficits, but I also see "red herrings" being thrown into the mix. This commercial was a sophomoric attempt by a "slick" looking man who talked "calmly" as if he held the world of truth in his hand. As a Democrat in the state of Georgia, I would be embarrassed, if I were him, I'd like to see him go on the show and win a Million dollars for Georgia schools and to have him show us that he's smarter than a 5th grader. Please don't use tax payer monies to do it! I would bet he'd flunk out with all of his "helpers" by less than $10k.
Karen,
You're on a Democratic blog telling Georgia Democrats that
A) You live in Georgia
B) You are not a Democrat
So, let's just say from your posting, I doubt you'd make it too far on the show.
:)
Forget the politics. The important thing is the education of our children.
When we moved here 24 years ago GA was ranked 48th in the nation. Pathedic! It took 18 years to improve. Now in the past 6 years we have gone from 47th to 41st. Still far from where we should be but alot better. It doesn't make a world of difference what party did what. Its the person in charge and funds available. Budget cuts don't help.
Kathy Cox did Georgia proud. She showed the nation we are not all rednecks.
Wow. She won even thought they didn't ask a question about evolution.
celtichouse7 and Karen, RuralDem is correct. This is a partisan Democratic blog, so I'm afraid your criticisms of Rep. Teilhet and your praise of Kathy Cox both fall on deaf ears.
It's fortunate for the schools that she won the $1,000,000, but it doesn't change the fact that we are very proud of Rob Teilhet and hope he takes the opportunity to go on air with pro-Democratic messages again.
celtichouse7: I agree that Kathy Cox's performance has been, to use your word, "pathedic". Which I can only assume has a meaning similar to caddywompus.
Additionally, her haircut did nobody proud. I think the share price of Supercuts will drop by 1/3rd on Monday. To find out how much that is, divide the current share price by 3, then subtract that amount from the current share price.
I will also point out that it shouldn't be such an achievement that our state school superintendent is smarter than a 5th grader.
Oh, and incidentally, it's a good thing she didn't have to use Georgia's fifth graders for help. I am sure they would be smart enough, but they aren't taught the concepts and information that appeared on the show until after 5th grade, though apparently the rest of the country is. Source: http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/DMGetDocument.aspx/5th grade brochure.pdf?p=4BE1EECF99CD364EA5554055463F1FBBF5D074D5FB1F2CAEB3B63B3ECB220CDD26C2114F3C57D8D2B1AEA0ED813BEBA6&Type=D
Mouth of the South-
Please re-read my blog. I didn't say Kathy Cox was pathetic. I said when we moved here 24 years ago the sate was ranked 48th. Thats what was pathetic. Kathy Cox was not involved 24 years ago. I'm not defending Kathy Cox for her
achevements or lack of. Just the fact no one has the right to put her down for going on the show.(By the way the haircut statement was just childish.) Hey the states ranking has not improved much in 24 years.
I don't think either party, Rep or Dem improved the school system. How about working together to get the education of our children in the forefront.
How can states like NJ or
NY have better school systems then we do? We are failing our children by putting politics and self interest before our kids.
Thats sad.
I, too, am relieved that Kathy Cox won on the show. We had enough embarrassment this week with Rep. Lynn "My Parents Wanted a Girl" Westmoreland calling the Obamas uppity and then pretending he didn't know there was a "racial connotation" there. Silly game shows like "Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader" should be beneath the dignity of a statewide office holder. Now, if she could win on Jeopardy!, I'd be impressed.
Rob Teilhet's commercial was brilliant. It's good to see some fighting spirit in our elected Democrats.
CelticHouse7:
Wait, is Kathy Cox's performance patheTic or patheDic. I am confused by your "blogs."
The reason we have an elected state school superintendent is so the person who holds the office is accountable to the people and not the governor. Yet when Perdue cuts school funding or the legislature changes the funding formula to decrease needed funding she is nowhere to be found. The only time we ever see her is in Hollywood, with a hairstyle conceived by 5th graders.
She should be holding press conferences bemoaning our nearly last place standing in education and the things we can do to change it. (Don't give me that "improvement" - our children are no longer being tested against those their own age as they were with the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (and the other nationally standardized tests). Now they are tested by our own Georgia test normed by subjects taught and NOT by age exclusively, and we show improvement on our own measure. That's like believing a child who brings home a doctored report card.
Cox seems to content to worry about those that got her where she is rather than the students that need help. Wasting money on creationism versus evolution and side trips to game shows takes time, effort, and attention away from the sciences and other areas where our children are falling farther and farther behind.