Sonny Purdue is governor of Georgia. He is a fraud. His campaign coffers are full and he is running warm fuzzy TV adds everyday telling us how he's the education guy. The ads tout his giving every Georgia teacher $100 for classroom supplies and say he has added a billion dollars to public education in Georgia. He also claims to have given Georgia teachers big raises. Purdue spun Georgia's recent SAT scores to say there was a leap forward in Georgia's scores. I notice there was no mention of Georgia high school graduation rates. He also claims to have taken us from a financial crisis, to a 500 million dollar surplus for Georgia government?

The truth? Purdue's education CUTS of a billion dollars in the past four years have caused major increases in class sizes throughout the state. In our county, one of the most prosperous in the state, the BOE actually said to us, "Don't worry. Even with year after year of cuts from the state, we aren't going to cut the jobs of fine arts teachers . . . this year." That makes me feel secure.

The truth? There are no details in his claims to have added a billion to the education budget. (Is he talking about increased gambling revenue going to HOPE scholarships? You can be certain that this is some kind of serious spin, but it is not obvious what he is talking about.

The truth? $100 was given to teachers this year. The money came on a gift card and teachers had four days to use it. Many teachers were not aware of the program since they had not yet returned to school from summer holiday. Certain stores were the beneficiaries of the money and others were excluded. Need a shelf for your room? Home Depot was not only not on the list, but if you tried to use the card there (there was not publication that told what stores were on or off the list) your card was frozen and would no longer work anywhere. When we told our just graduated from college neice about the money she blurted out "Isn't that just buying votes?" From the mouths of babes.

The truth? Teachers got a big raise this year. 4 %. I believe we've gotten 7% during the past 4 years and lost considerable ground to inflation. This year being an election year, however, it was time for a make-up leap forward. Only problem is we just aren't keeping up. Georgia teacher's salaries have slipped back below the national average under Sonny Purdue. And we had just made it up to average. Oh well.

The truth? The leap forward in SAT scores was actually this. Our math score remained the worst in the nation. Our verbal scores dropped back 3 points. You may wonder how that can be a leap forward. Here's the spin part. Several other states regressed more than we did this year so we placed overall, farther from the bottom of the pile, up to 46th from 50th. Sound like a cause for celebration to you.

The truth? The budget has improved because the economy has improved since our 911 crash and also because Georgia reaps a windfall increase in gasoline taxes as prices rise by putting a regressive sales tax on gas as well as a per gallon tax. The increase in gas prices is largely responsible for the bulging government coffers. Purdue has also cut education money from the budget, forcing an increase in property taxes at the local level to maintain minimum standards for education. Sonny Purdue balances budgets on the backs of the middle class and the poor.

The truth? At the same time the governor is releasing his glowing campaign spots, the Department of Community Affairs conference in Augusta released some other figures. Only 54 % of Georgia high school students graduate on time. Only 60 % graduate . . . ever, ranking us 49th in the nation. Georgia has the 5th largest prison population in the country. Georgia ranks 41st in public health. 20 % of Georgia's children live in poverty. (Thanks Dan White, program director of the Rural Library Project www.rurallibraryproject.org, for some of these stats.)

The truth? Things aren't going that well in Georgia. But the rich are getting richer. The private schools are closer to government vouchers to support their segretated and parochial education. We've passed that anti-gay marriage consitiutional ammendment. So Sonny Purdue's friends are well pleased with him.