The study found compelling evidence that the SCT program improved the food security, health, education and economic conditions of participating households. Cash transfer program households reported improved food intake and larger food stores that lasted longer. When faced with illnesses they were more likely than in previous years to seek healthcare for all members of the family, especially children. School attendance improved and 66% of children had improved school marks. Participating households also generally reported improved economic statuses. Indeed, two-thirds of the heads of program households reported satisfaction with their quality of life, compared to just 20% of a comparison population. The study also found evidence of multiplier effects that enable the benefits of the SCT program to reach beyond the immediate beneficiaries to the community at large.

The clear majority of program households (65%) reported an improved economic situation over the past year... Because 93% of the transfer money was spent within Bomi County, the impact of the program was felt beyond the immediate beneficiaries. Business owners reported that they were coming to rely on SCT recipients as important customers. Seventy-five per cent of business owners noticed positive impacts on their businesses. They attributed 20-50% of their growth to the SCT program. A number of program households reported even more direct forms of spill-over effects – 19% shared money and 48% shared food. Interviews also found that program households directly supported their neighbors in times of serious healthcare needs. Those that started businesses were also able to contribute to the broader local economy by offering new and improved goods and services.

Dear Editor,

On Tuesday, March 24, 2014, the Courier Herald published a front page article about a parent’s presentation at the Dublin School Board meeting that took place on March 23, 2015. At that meeting the father read a letter he had written to Dr. Ledbetter, Superintendent of Dublin City Schools.

The letter clearly expressed the parent’s concern about an incident that occurred in his 13-year-old son’s elective class and his ensuing efforts to bring resolution to the matter. The father’s cause for worry was not so much what was said about the President of the United States but that it was said by the teacher in his child’s classroom and that she called into question the Christianity of anyone who does not think as she does.

In an effort to ensure that the public has the facts, we present the following chronological order of events thus far.

1. The teacher made several negative comments about the President, including that he is not a Christian as he claims to be. She said that any parent who supports him is not a Christian. She challenged her students to prove their Christianity.
2. The child shared with his parents what she said.
3. The parents, in an effort to settle the problem, requested an immediate parent-teacher conference. However, the conference took place several days later than the parents had wished.
4. Present at the conference were the parents, the teacher, a representative from the school and the teacher’s husband, who is a member of the Dublin School Board.
5. The parents were expecting that the teacher would hear their concerns, acknowledge the inappropriateness of her behavior in the classroom setting and show remorse for her conduct.
6. She did none of the above. Instead, she presented to the parents a packet of several pages from a website that expressed her views on religion and politics. She was supported in this by her husband.
7. The parents’ concern was exacerbated by the teacher’s unwillingness to even consider the possibility that her classroom conduct was not conducive to a healthy learning environment. They left the conference more determined than ever to pursue the matter further.
8. The father next wrote a letter to Dr. Ledbetter expressing his concerns and read the letter at the Board meeting on March 23, 2015. The parents were then assured by Dr. Ledbetter and the School Board Chairman, Mr. Sheffield, that they would have a response within 10 business days. Several Board members expressed their appreciation that the parent persevered to bring the matter to their attention.

Some quotes from the father’s letter best describe his thoughts:
“Our concerns about our son…seem to be ignored.” “Shouldn't teachers be careful about the manner and timeliness in which they express their beliefs?” "The teacher claims to be a Christian. This is an admirable stance. Unfortunately, she also freely expresses her mind about who she thinks is or is not.”

The parents feel that their child was verbally sucker punched by his teacher and was not given the opportunity to defend himself.

They take their parental responsibilities very seriously and do not give up those responsibilities to anyone at any time. They believe that certain subjects, including religion, politics and sex, are best taught in the home by the parents.

This teacher has betrayed her profession. She has broken the trust from teacher to student and from teacher to parent. The harm that she has done goes beyond her classroom. It is incalculable. At the very least she has tainted the learning experience and caused divisiveness among her students, the school faculty, staff and the community.

Her husband should be held accountable for his abuse of power stemming from his participation in the parent-teacher conference.

He had no right to be there. His presence did nothing to enhance the process. In fact, his presence further eroded his wife’s credibility as a teacher.

The NAACP calls upon the Dublin School Board to do the right thing; to hold the teacher to the highest standards of professionalism. We call for the Dublin School Board to take all necessary actions to ensure that, as the father stated in his letter, the matter is…“addressed in a way that discourages any similar incident in the future”.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said “The time is always right to do what is right.“

The bottom line is to do what is right for all of our children. Let us not enable such harmful acts to continue by ignoring them. We cannot allow such behavior to occur with impunity. We are all accountable.

Sincerely,
Patricia Manson
— Dublin Laurens
NAACP

Same day. Same crime. Same news station. One University pics. The other mugshots.

https://twitter.com/honeycoquette/status/582637462503190528