After weeks

of public debate and backroom "horse-trading,"

the members of the Georgia General Assembly strongly

endorsed the package of education reforms sponsored by

Gov. Roy Barnes.

A third of the Republicans

in the House (including most of those who represent this

region south and west of Atlanta) voted against the final

bill, as did an even larger percentage of the GOP

membership in the state Senate.

For the record, every

member of the state legislature who represents Clayton

County in the House or Senate voted for the education

reform bill, as did almost every other Democrat in the

state legislature - and almost every other lawmaker

from the Southern Crescent counties of Coweta, Fayette,

and Spalding (most of whom are Republican) - voted

against it.

Now, there is really no

need to name names, but two prominent exceptions to this

general rule should be noted: State Rep. Lynn Smith,

(R-Newnan) (who represents a Coweta County district),

broke ranks with her fellow GOP lawmakers from this area

and voted for the bill, while state Sen. Dan Lee,

(D-LaGrange) (who represents a portion of Spalding

County), was one of only two members of his party in the

state Senate to oppose the bill.

State Sen. Rick Price

(R-Peachtree City), voted for the bill when it originally

came before the Senate, but was heavily criticized by

some local folks as "not being conservative

enough" and decided to vote against the final

version.

Gee, he didn't have to do

that: This is one political observer who has watched Sen.

Price on the county commission and in the state

legislature - and I can tell you he is without a

doubt about as right-wing as they come. (I am still proud

to call him my friend - and I won't even make him

speak to me in public if he thinks it will hurt his

image!)

For years, we have heard

many of these same people call for the reforms that were

included in the bill, like smaller classroom size and

tougher accountability standards for teachers, and it was

more than a little ironic to see them vote against the

bill just because it was sponsored by this state's

Democratic governor.

It makes one wonder just

what in the bill did they not like? Smaller class sizes?

Tougher accountability standards? Incentive pay for

hard-to-get teaching specialties?

It seemed that the major

reason for the opposition of these members of the

minority party had less to do with ideological

consistency and more to do with partisan politics.

Many - perhaps most

- of the Republicans who voted against the most

comprehensive package of educational reforms to be

considered in the last 15 years did so because it was the

centerpiece of this year's administration legislation

backed by Gov. Barnes.

The fact that the ideas

promoted in this bill were the same ones those

Republicans had long been espousing made no difference

when it came to deciding how to cast their vote on this

issue.

I find it appalling that

these nay-sayers would put politics above the best

interests of our state's children. (It is worse than

appalling that Georgia's State Superintendent of

Education Linda Schrenko also opposed these reforms.)

Based on scattered comments

printed in various newspapers and newsletters, one has to

presume that many of those who opposed the legislation

did so because they thought it might require higher

property taxes to foot the bill for some of those

reforms. Now, I don't like paying taxes any more than the

next guy or girl, but I decided long ago that anything

worth having was worth paying for. (Besides, as my

father-in-law often says, I am just glad I earn enough

money to have to pay taxes: It certainly beats the

alternatives, like going on welfare or living on the

streets!)

Contained in that massive

education reform package were many concepts which will

help improve Georgia's schools in the years ahead. Some

of those reforms may prove to be bitter pills to swallow.

But, nobody ever promised us that the medicine we need to

cure what ails us would always taste like Cherry Coke!

[Lee N. Howell is an

award-winning writer who has been observing and

commenting upon politics and society in the Southern

Crescent, the state, and nation for more than a quarter

of a century.]