2008 Sales Tax Holiday July 31 – August 3, 2008 - Georgia, August 1-3 - South Carolina
For more information on taxable items click the GA Dept of Revenue link: http://www.etax.dor.ga.gov/salestax/holiday/index.aspx
SC Dept of Revenue Sales Tax Holiday information: http://www.sctax.org/Tax+Information/Sales+and+Use+Tax/Sales+Tax+Holiday.htm
House Bill 948 provides for a sales tax exemption from both state and local sales taxes for certain items purchased July 31 – August 3, 2008. The Bill also provides an exemption for specific energy and water efficient products purchased October 2 –5, 2008.
During the sales tax holiday period, a sales tax exemption applies to purchases of tangible personal property in the following categories:
Personal Computers. A single purchase of $1,500 or less of personal computers and/or related accessories is exempt. If the single purchase exceeds $1,500, the entire transaction is taxable. See list of exempt items.
Articles of Clothing. The exemption applies to articles of clothing and footwear with a sales price of $100 or less per item. Clothing accessories such as handbags, umbrellas, cuff links, handkerchiefs, jewelry, key cases, wallets, watches and watch bands, and ponytail holders and/or similar hair products are not exempt. See lists of exempt items.
General School Supplies. The exemption applies to the purchase of general school supplies with a sales price of $20 or less per item. See list of exempt items.
The exemptions are intended for an individual's personal use. The exemptions exclude items rented, leased, purchased by businesses, or purchased for resale. The exemptions do not apply to items sold at theme parks, entertainment complexes, hotels, restaurants, and airports.
List of exempt computer items: http://www.etax.dor.ga.gov/salestax/holiday/exempt_computers.aspx
List of exempt general school supply items:
http://www.etax.dor.ga.gov/salestax/holiday/exempt_school.aspx
List of exempt clothing and footwear: http://www.etax.dor.ga.gov/salestax/holiday/exempt_clothing.aspx
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
The AYP numbers are in
The AYP (Annual Yearly Progress) numbers are in and once again, Richmond County School System (RCSS) did not meet the standard. This year 50.9 percent of schools made AYP, down from 70.2 percent last year. While these numbers mean different things to different people...educators, administrators, parents, guardians, students, the community and the military members who end up on orders to a military installation in Georgia it is the news for the day. The school board will vote to raise the millage rate on Monday, July 28, 2008 at 4:30 for the second time this year, regardless of the numbers.
Yes, the positive numbers need to be acknowledged but overall the RCSS numbers dropped. School choice will be back...but what do you do when your student's school does not make AYP and there are no school choices? You jump in with both feet and do what you can to make improvements. Schools are a vital part of the community. These students are the future leaders, they will be the ones rocking our rocking chairs. Everyone needs to do something.
The Augusta Chronicle does a great job of providing coverage when the negative news in the Richmond County School System will draw the attention of the online posters. If 1/2 of the people who post a gripe, complaint, or groan about the school system would put 1 hour of volunteering in at the local neighborhood school, we might see some improvement or maybe change the perspective of their posts.
I am proud that my daughter graduated high school, but I know it was her diverse experiences in schools in Georgia, Florida, Alaska, and Texas exposed her to different learning environments and the involvement of the adults in her life that expected no less from her. I am concerned about the graduation rate of the school system as a whole. From the Georgia Department of Education, these are the graduation rates posted under the annual AYP reports as the second indicator:
Richmond County (721) System did not meet AYP
2001 2002 Graduation rate: 58.7%
2002 2003 Graduation rate: 59.4%
2003-2004 Graduation rate: 62.2%
2004-2005 Graduation rate: 72%
2005-2006 Graduation rate: 66.1%
2006-2007 Graduation rate: 66.3%
2007-2008 Graduation rate: 62.1%
Education is big business. If colleges, corporations, or the military produced these kind of numbers for graduation they would be put out of business. So whether you want to believe the numbers posted by the GA Dept of Education, US Department of Education, Ed in 08, US Census Bureau, or whatever organization is publishing the numbers...take a look around your neighborhood. Will the children your student eats lunch with today be the same students walking across the graduation stage?
Ed in 08: http://www.edin08.com/
GA Dept of Education 2008 AYP: http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/ayp2008.aspx
US Dept of Education: http://www.ed.gov/index.jhtml
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: http://www.gatesfoundation.org/UnitedStates/Education/
While the AYP #s are in the news today, the first "rightsizing" forum was held July 27, 2008 and hopefully will provide recommendations for the August monthly school board meeting. The audit conducted by MGT of America, Inc. documented that the school system had 6000 empty seats, and recommended closing 1 high school, 1 middle school, and 3 elementary schools. But the school board approved building 1 new middle school which is undergoing construction.
Having been an involved parent in GA, FL, AK, and TX, I question many decisions of this school district. These questions and my research play a vital role in the research I conduct for my own educational assignments.
Regardless of the outcome, I have to thank the Richmond County School System for the valuable lessons learned and the plethora of research and information they provide as I continue my own education in the field Educational Technology Management.
Yes, the positive numbers need to be acknowledged but overall the RCSS numbers dropped. School choice will be back...but what do you do when your student's school does not make AYP and there are no school choices? You jump in with both feet and do what you can to make improvements. Schools are a vital part of the community. These students are the future leaders, they will be the ones rocking our rocking chairs. Everyone needs to do something.
The Augusta Chronicle does a great job of providing coverage when the negative news in the Richmond County School System will draw the attention of the online posters. If 1/2 of the people who post a gripe, complaint, or groan about the school system would put 1 hour of volunteering in at the local neighborhood school, we might see some improvement or maybe change the perspective of their posts.
I am proud that my daughter graduated high school, but I know it was her diverse experiences in schools in Georgia, Florida, Alaska, and Texas exposed her to different learning environments and the involvement of the adults in her life that expected no less from her. I am concerned about the graduation rate of the school system as a whole. From the Georgia Department of Education, these are the graduation rates posted under the annual AYP reports as the second indicator:
Richmond County (721) System did not meet AYP
2001 2002 Graduation rate: 58.7%
2002 2003 Graduation rate: 59.4%
2003-2004 Graduation rate: 62.2%
2004-2005 Graduation rate: 72%
2005-2006 Graduation rate: 66.1%
2006-2007 Graduation rate: 66.3%
2007-2008 Graduation rate: 62.1%
Education is big business. If colleges, corporations, or the military produced these kind of numbers for graduation they would be put out of business. So whether you want to believe the numbers posted by the GA Dept of Education, US Department of Education, Ed in 08, US Census Bureau, or whatever organization is publishing the numbers...take a look around your neighborhood. Will the children your student eats lunch with today be the same students walking across the graduation stage?
Ed in 08: http://www.edin08.com/
GA Dept of Education 2008 AYP: http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/ayp2008.aspx
US Dept of Education: http://www.ed.gov/index.jhtml
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: http://www.gatesfoundation.org/UnitedStates/Education/
While the AYP #s are in the news today, the first "rightsizing" forum was held July 27, 2008 and hopefully will provide recommendations for the August monthly school board meeting. The audit conducted by MGT of America, Inc. documented that the school system had 6000 empty seats, and recommended closing 1 high school, 1 middle school, and 3 elementary schools. But the school board approved building 1 new middle school which is undergoing construction.
Having been an involved parent in GA, FL, AK, and TX, I question many decisions of this school district. These questions and my research play a vital role in the research I conduct for my own educational assignments.
Regardless of the outcome, I have to thank the Richmond County School System for the valuable lessons learned and the plethora of research and information they provide as I continue my own education in the field Educational Technology Management.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
RCBoEd raising taxes again
One of the many things I am sharing knowledge with my daughter (and my mother who is now a GA resident) is how the local school board raises taxes without tightening their own belt a little more. As a property owner in RC but not always a resident due to military moves and job that required me to be a road warrior teaching soldiers I did not pay as much attention to my property taxes as I would with my personal finances. I do not know why and I won't worry about it now. But this time the school board and the county commission are proposing tax increases. So I attended one of the three public hearings and a crowd of seven people was present. Out of the seven one was the Augusta Chronicle reporter.
The meeting was opened, a gentleman addressed the tax issue concerning adults over 65 and was quickly shut down as the board addressed the concern as an issue that needs to be taken up with local legislators. Then I took my turn at the microphone. Stated my name for the record and reminded the board that I am not here on behalf of the Butler HS PTSA...just as a concerned tax payer, a grad student, and a parent of a soon to be freshman at ASU. I collected a few comments and emails from individuals who knew I would be attending and requested a link or form be placed on the RCBoEd home page where individuals who could not attend the public hearings could still submit recommendations.
Most people are not aware of their assigned school board member because you may vote for a school board member in your voting district but then your students attend a school which falls under another school board member's district. I also requested that the textbook budget be reviewed for an opportunity to purchase laptops for every student in the district. Because we are a military town, many property owners may be deployed or could not attend the three scheduled meetings but many people are concerned with a school system not making AYP coupled with a graduation rate of 48%, 57%, 62% depending on who publishes the numbers.
I share this link with individuals who are concerned about the budgets (salary & travel) for any of the educational districts, universities, state agencies, technical colleges, and universities. The link for GA Department of Audits and Accounts: https://www.audits.state.ga.us/esa/index.html . This link will take you to the memorandum stating the GA DoAA requirements and require the user to select the "I Understand...Proceed" button. Multiple reports can be pulled from this collected data, so users can compare and contrast positions, school districts, job titles, etc.
The Richmond County School System is not even close to being participants in Classroom 2.0, Students 2.0, the Horizon and Flat Classroom Projects (or the many other wonderful initiatives) because the system is in a state of Paradigm Paralysis. There are people who want to move the school system into the digital world but the number of digital inequities, coupled with the anti computer attitudes of those choosing not to migrate is frustrating.
My hat is off to Dr. Dana Bedden for surviving his first year in the Paradigm Paralysis in Richmond County. Requesting the audit and implementing some suggestions (but not all) and his discovery of the $13.4 million shortfall. I thank him for taking this job, Greg Gelpi from the Augusta Chronicle, and the school board members who make for great research material in my assignments. Nothing like real world application to make educational theories stick. I support Dr. Bedden's efforts and continue to support the students who will eventually become the leaders of Augusta. While I do not support the tax increase because actions exist that could be implemented to reduce the budget and I do not believe in throwing good money after bad. With the tax increase...will we see an improvement in the graduation rate or implement pay reductions for leaders making 3x the starting salary of a new teacher?
I am not a parent who sits on the outside looking in. During the last two years, I took one day off per month from my job and volunteered at the school. I substituted 2x, revitalized the PTSA, connected the parents, students, teachers, and community partners through MySpace, web site, and newsgroup, attended football games for two losing seasons, met Wycliffe Gordon and worked with him as he donated $1000 for the PTSA to host a county wide talent competition, met an awful lot of people who tried to drag me into a paper based world as I reminded them of my digital native status, attended every Saturday school to assist in whatever was needed, provided gum and mints to all students arriving at Butler to take the monthly SAT, and many other events to minor to list here.
As a Google girl, I volunteered at the local library and conducted Google products and scholarship workshops. There are many passionate people in Richmond County concerned about education, but are too busy to speak their mind, intimidated by the past decade of bureaucracy by a lame duck superintendent, jaded by a bureaucratic process that requires parents to jump hurdles to retrieve an answer to specific questions, or those who just do not know where to turn.
Based on the turnout of the two public hearings, the board will hold their 3rd and final public hearing on Monday, July 28, 2008, 4PM. The board will reconvene at 4:30 to pass the vote which will increase our taxes for the second time in one year.
It is said that the sweetest revenge is living good...so I will continue to live the best that I can, while seeking to improve my weaknesses and capitalize on my strengths and remember that school board members have students in the system and that in the end...everyone has to answer to a higher power.
The meeting was opened, a gentleman addressed the tax issue concerning adults over 65 and was quickly shut down as the board addressed the concern as an issue that needs to be taken up with local legislators. Then I took my turn at the microphone. Stated my name for the record and reminded the board that I am not here on behalf of the Butler HS PTSA...just as a concerned tax payer, a grad student, and a parent of a soon to be freshman at ASU. I collected a few comments and emails from individuals who knew I would be attending and requested a link or form be placed on the RCBoEd home page where individuals who could not attend the public hearings could still submit recommendations.
Most people are not aware of their assigned school board member because you may vote for a school board member in your voting district but then your students attend a school which falls under another school board member's district. I also requested that the textbook budget be reviewed for an opportunity to purchase laptops for every student in the district. Because we are a military town, many property owners may be deployed or could not attend the three scheduled meetings but many people are concerned with a school system not making AYP coupled with a graduation rate of 48%, 57%, 62% depending on who publishes the numbers.
I share this link with individuals who are concerned about the budgets (salary & travel) for any of the educational districts, universities, state agencies, technical colleges, and universities. The link for GA Department of Audits and Accounts: https://www.audits.state.ga.us/esa/index.html . This link will take you to the memorandum stating the GA DoAA requirements and require the user to select the "I Understand...Proceed" button. Multiple reports can be pulled from this collected data, so users can compare and contrast positions, school districts, job titles, etc.
The Richmond County School System is not even close to being participants in Classroom 2.0, Students 2.0, the Horizon and Flat Classroom Projects (or the many other wonderful initiatives) because the system is in a state of Paradigm Paralysis. There are people who want to move the school system into the digital world but the number of digital inequities, coupled with the anti computer attitudes of those choosing not to migrate is frustrating.
My hat is off to Dr. Dana Bedden for surviving his first year in the Paradigm Paralysis in Richmond County. Requesting the audit and implementing some suggestions (but not all) and his discovery of the $13.4 million shortfall. I thank him for taking this job, Greg Gelpi from the Augusta Chronicle, and the school board members who make for great research material in my assignments. Nothing like real world application to make educational theories stick. I support Dr. Bedden's efforts and continue to support the students who will eventually become the leaders of Augusta. While I do not support the tax increase because actions exist that could be implemented to reduce the budget and I do not believe in throwing good money after bad. With the tax increase...will we see an improvement in the graduation rate or implement pay reductions for leaders making 3x the starting salary of a new teacher?
I am not a parent who sits on the outside looking in. During the last two years, I took one day off per month from my job and volunteered at the school. I substituted 2x, revitalized the PTSA, connected the parents, students, teachers, and community partners through MySpace, web site, and newsgroup, attended football games for two losing seasons, met Wycliffe Gordon and worked with him as he donated $1000 for the PTSA to host a county wide talent competition, met an awful lot of people who tried to drag me into a paper based world as I reminded them of my digital native status, attended every Saturday school to assist in whatever was needed, provided gum and mints to all students arriving at Butler to take the monthly SAT, and many other events to minor to list here.
As a Google girl, I volunteered at the local library and conducted Google products and scholarship workshops. There are many passionate people in Richmond County concerned about education, but are too busy to speak their mind, intimidated by the past decade of bureaucracy by a lame duck superintendent, jaded by a bureaucratic process that requires parents to jump hurdles to retrieve an answer to specific questions, or those who just do not know where to turn.
Based on the turnout of the two public hearings, the board will hold their 3rd and final public hearing on Monday, July 28, 2008, 4PM. The board will reconvene at 4:30 to pass the vote which will increase our taxes for the second time in one year.
It is said that the sweetest revenge is living good...so I will continue to live the best that I can, while seeking to improve my weaknesses and capitalize on my strengths and remember that school board members have students in the system and that in the end...everyone has to answer to a higher power.
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