Category: Government

Cobb Board of Education Comes Down in Favor of Parental Rights & Protecting Children in Transgender Book Case

Cobb Board of Education Comes Down in Favor of Parental Rights & Protecting Children in Transgender Book Case

Marietta — In a story that has gained national attention, the Cobb County Board of Education thankfully votied 4-to-3 in favor of parental rights and upholding the recommendation of the superintendent to protect children from transgenderism! They upheld the firing of the teacher who read the book pushing radical and unrealistic transgender concepts at the cost of Cobb taxpayers.

Audrey Neu with other activists on Thursday evening

Cobb RA member & Cobb GOP education liaison Audrey Neu said: “Our board members showed tremendous courage tonight. Both the state law and county policy are clear on this issue. Parental rights must be upheld and respected by the teachers and staff. I’m thankful we have a Superintendent and Board willing to stand up and protect the children of Cobb County.”

As we reported previously, the ordeal began when a Cobb County teacher read a book promoting transgenderism to a group of gifted ten-year-old children without their parents’ knowledge and permission. A parent complained and the superintendent fired the teacher. The firing was appealed to a three-person panel of retired educators.

Local activists thought the panel would easily affirm the firing of the teacher, but even though the tribunal affirmed the contested facts in the appeal, acknowledging that rules were broken, they recommended that the teacher not be fired. The story swelled with national attention from the media as the Cobb Board of Education met last week to decide whether to accept the recommendation of the tribunal or of the superintendent.

Cobb RA members and other concerned activists in the county sounded the alarm and mobilized numerous people to show up at the board meeting Thursday evening to encourage them to do the right thing during the time for public comments. They argued for parental rights over education and against brainwashing children in the unrealistic radical ideas of transgenderism at taxpayer expense.

In Cobb County, the only elected civil government board that Republicans still have majority-control over is the Board of Education. The county commission is now composed of three Democrats to two Republicans, but even when Republicans still controlled the county commission Republicans frequently voted for Democrat policies such as tax increases rather than spending cuts. Constituents wondered if one of the Republicans in the majority Board of Education would likewise in this instance join with the Democrats to absolve the teacher.

If she was allowed to get away with this violation, how might other educators be emboldened to push the envelope in the future?

Attorney for Southern Poverty Law Center arguing before the tribunal

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) defended the teacher, arguing among other things that the book should be allowed to be read to enable a free-flow of ideas. The SPLC betrayed their hypocrisy, however, since they were the organization that back in 2001 sued Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore for having a Ten Commandments monument in the state Judicial Building. In that case, the SPLC argued that it was too offensive for an adult attorney to happen to see the Ten Commandments in his peripheral vision as he walked by to the law library—but the SPLC has no problem with minor children being forced-fed transgender ideology at the cost of the taxpayer!

This shows that although groups such as SPLC have claimed they defend freedom of expression, what they are really in favor of is using state power and tax-funding to coercively censor ideas they don’t like and to push ideas they do not. They do this not just on adults, but on vulnerable and impressionable minor children. They want to censor ideas contrary to their worldview, and indoctrinate children in the faith-based presuppositions of their worldview even though they have spent decades making that accusation against Christians in the public arena. This hypocrisy illustrates that they are devoid of credibility.

GRA members Abigail Darnell & Rhonda Thomas with
Truth in Education

Thankfully, the Cobb Board of Education voted along party lines to uphold the firing of the teacher. Those in favor of parental rights and protecting children overwhelmingly outnumbered the other side.

You can watch the video of the two hearings before the board recorded last Thursday and see the public comments expressed by many Cobb RA members at this link.

The GRA’s 3rd Vice President Abigail Darnell from Cobb, who spoke at the hearing, was interviewed by WSB radio Saturday evening about the story on the MalaniKai Show, and you can hear her interview here at timecode 20:50 of the broadcast.

Cobb RA Activists Oppose Tax Increase to Deaf Democrat Ears

Cobb RA Activists Oppose Tax Increase to Deaf Democrat Ears

Marietta, GA—Cobb RA members & other concerned citizens packed the room at the Cobb County Commissioners Meeting on July 25th to speak against the proposed tax increase. Roughly 30 citizens spoke, the overwhelming majority opposing the proposed property tax increase.

Many of the homeowners demonstrated how significantly their property tax bill has increased and explained how higher taxes harms their family. One gentleman asked the board, “What should we cut from our budgets? Should we turn off the AC in Summer and our heat in Winter? Should people turn their pets in to the County shelter because they can no longer afford it? Should we drive on bald tires? Should we stop buying presents for our children and grandchildren? Please let me and the thousands of other homeowners know what we should cut in order to pay for this tax increase.”

The vote did not occur until after 9:30pm. Cobb County Republican Commissioner Keli Gambrill (previously endorsed by the Cobb RA and victorious in a contested primary) made a motion to substitute the proposed Democrat budget with a decrease from 8.46 mills to 7.168 mills for the general fund. Cobb Republican Commissioner JoAnn Birrell seconded the motion.

Sadly, Gambrill’s motion failed and the original proposal for the tax increase just passed along party lines. The Democrats on the Commission voted to raise our property taxes and increase the County budget for next year by $19 Million!

The Commissioners indicated that the increased budget was to offset inflation for County employees, and the additional funds would go to provide salaries, pensions, healthcare, etc. But why should government employees be shielded from the effects of inflation, at the expense of non-government employees?

GOP activist and Cobb Republican Assembly member Pam Reardon said, “We’re going in to a big recession and we are all hurting, but you’re not, because you have our money!”

“We are all feeling the effects of inflation, but our Commissioners are like Marie Antoinette who said, ‘the people don’t have bread, so let them eat cake’, said Cobb RA Member Jan Barton from the podium.

As partisan as the results were last night, many of the activists in the room still remember when it was Republican Commissioners in Cobb County as late as 2017 leading the charge to raise taxes rather than to cut spending. The results of that disastrous policy had much to do with what led to the county commission fliping Democrat in recent years. It is a reminder that is not enough for a candidate for county commission to call themselves a “Republican.” They must be committed to small-government, fiscally-responsible, and low-tax policy as the Republican platform has historically committed.

People line up to speak in protest

Likewise the School Board has increased their budget to unbelievable proportions, despite the fact that since 2019, the number of students enrolled in Cobb schools has diminished by 4,000-6,000 students. This departure is a national trend since the Covid lockdowns, as more and more families are choosing alternative education for their children.

“My question is this, why do you need more money to teach fewer students?” asked Abigail Darnell during her public comment. She went on to show that the Fiscal Year 2024 budget for Cobb Schools is more than $1.4 Billion. When that number is divided by the 106,703 students enrolled, it shows Cobb County is spending a whopping $13,579 per student, per year. This amount is far more than what is spent by most homeschool families in the private sector, who are also not given any relief from the school tax that pays for the bloated government education system that they do not use.

One of the many tax reforms needed includes an exemption from the school tax for all families who choose alternative education for their children, or who are empty-nesters without school-aged children.

Special thanks to Cobb RA member Christine Rozman for helping to get the word out about this hearing through her Government Accountability Task Force newsletter, and to the folks at CobbTaxRevolt.com for helping to create awareness as well.

Cobb GRA Member Debbie Fisher Sworn-In to the Cobb County Board of Elections

Cobb GRA Member Debbie Fisher Sworn-In to the Cobb County Board of Elections

Marietta—This afternoon Debbie Fisher of East Cobb was sworn-in as the new member of the Cobb County Board of Elections representing the Republican Party. She was appointed to that position by Cobb GOP Chairwoman Salleigh Grubbs, who is also a Cobb GRA member. Debbie Fisher has been a tireless activist for election integrity in the county since the 2020 election.

Debbie Fisher (center) with GRA NFRA Director Nathaniel Darnell (right) & GRA 3rd Vice President Abigail Darnell (left) & baby Patience

A previous President for the Cobb chapter of the GRA, Debbie Fisher also served with Salleigh Grubbs on her Executive Committee in the Cobb GOP during the last term, and she has been active on the Government Accountability Task Force with Christine Rozman. Not afraid of uphill battles, Debbie campaigned hard in the primary for the Cobb RA’s endorsed candidate Larry Savage when he ran against Mike Boyce for Cobb Commission Chairman after Boyce pushed through a plan to raise taxes in Cobb County. She has frequently monitored the activities of both the Cobb County Commission and Board of Elections and helped to keep her other local Republicans aware of the details on what was going on.

We expect that Debbie Fisher will apply herself with the same level of dedication and scrutiny that she has applied to all of her previous endeavors. She will be an ever-vigilant proponent for honest elections and will do her utmost to expose any suspicious activity and bring accountability where appropriate.

Debbie Fisher is succeeding another Cobb GRA member Pat Gartland on the Cobb Board of Elections. Gartland has served on the board for the last few years, and had served before under previous administrations. Fisher will officially assume her duties at the next meeting of the Cobb Board of Elections in July.

Currently, Cobb County still allows each of the local political parties to appoint a seat to the county Board of Elections. The Democrat appointee was also sworn in today. There are rumors that State Senator Ed Setzler (R-37) is looking to put forward legislation next year that would take this power away from the local parties and give it to the county commissioners, similar to what was recently done in Cherokee County. We believe this would be a terrible mis-step, and hope local Republican activists would make an outcry against such an effort at the state capitol next year.

Read, Set, Fight!

Read, Set, Fight!

DonateIt’s not over yet. Not by a long shot. For at least the next two years in Georgia, Republicans still have control of the State Capitol. There’s no time to waste!

With the legislative session in Atlanta having just begun, our elected Republican state legislators need to get serious and address the horrendous holes in our state’s election system that led to concerns about probable voter fraud and abuse in the previous general election and runoff!

Here are some things they should prioritize:

  1. Georgia should have NO absentee ballots issued in an election that do not require proof of I.D. and/or a notary.
  2. DeKalb & Fulton Counties should NOT be allowed to submit their vote totals hours after everyone else! They are the most urban counties in the state. If anything, they should be more high-tech and the first to report.

Cobb County RA Chair Nathaniel Darnell volunteering as a poll worker on January 5th.

After all of the complaints expressed about ballot counting for the November presidential election, our Cobb RA Chairman Nathaniel Darnell volunteered as a poll watcher at a precinct for the U.S. Senate runoff. “Having paid very close attention to how the Dominion voting system worked,” Nathaniel said, “I see no reason why, if Fulton and DeKalb are using the same system, it should take them so much longer to report than it did for Cobb. As soon as the polls were closed, the poll workers at our precinct in Cobb showed me a printout receipt that had the exact totals of all the votes each candidate received in our precinct. It was instant.”

Fulton and DeKalb should have had the same instant totals. The only thing left to be done would have been adding those numbers to the absentee ballot totals and early vote totals, which should have been ready to add very simply and just as instantly. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger should require each county to have all early votes and absentee ballots counted and ready to add to the day-of election votes so that there is no delay that could feed concerns about about counties such as Fulton stuffing ballots to change the outcome.

Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan demoted three Republican senators who called for a special session and more thorough investigations into the alleged voter fraud.

In addition, there have also been calls for the legislature to re-evaluate the security of the Dominion Voting System, and this should receive due scrutiny.

However, our leaders in Georgia are off to a bumpy start in addressing these and other related concerns dear to the hearts of thousands of Republican voters across the state. To his credit, Governor Brian Kemp has declared that making Photo IDs required for absentee ballots will be “front and center” this year.

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Citizen Town Hall Meeting Opposes Property Tax Increase

Citizen Town Hall Meeting Opposes Property Tax Increase

For those who haven’t been able to share their concerns at the Town Hall Meetings being held by Cobb County Commission Chair Mike Boyce about the proposed property tax increase, and for those who want to know more than has been disclosed about the causes of the budget shortfall, citizens Jan Barton and Debbie Fisher organized a Citizen Town Hall Meeting. They invited former Cobb County Commissioner Bill Byrne, former Cobb County Commission candidate Larry Savage, and Cobb County Republican Assembly Chairman Nathaniel Darnell to serve on their panel for the event and answer questions.

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