& EDITORIALS
"Declare among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard;
publish, and conceal not." - Jeremiah 50:2
A 2018, 2017, 2016 winner: Editorial Fage excellence
"20111 winnen Best Headline Writing /0~~
2o1++++, ++++,+ +'o+e+ t':'++'l
201B + r: +o+t +or+o++ +o' Oo,he
2018, 2017 winner: Best Humorous Column+ On the Porch ~ ~
ON THE PORCH by Will Davis
A round February, readers start asking me the
[ question.
"So,Will, what are y'all giving away this
,JLyear?
Yes, in our efforts to keep
and gain new subscribers at
our Forsythia Festival booth
each year, we have created a
monster. I mean isn't it enough
that for a measly $40 per
year, we give readers so much
good content that it takes four
copies of the local daily paper
to equal what you get in one
Reporter?
Yes, that should be enough.
And it is. We hear that from
you all the time.
But the truth is, we ENJOY
giving you a little something
extra to show our appreciation to our readers.
The first three years after we bought the paper, 2007-
2009, it rained or snowed almost every year for For-
sythia. We gave away umbrellas almost every year, and
of course got blamed for the continued bad luck.
"Can't we move this Festival to April?" I asked wearily.
But lately, the weather has been much better. And
we've expanded our giveaways beyond umbrellas.
We've done the Tervis-style tumblers and Yeti=style
cups (notice we use the word "style" to save us from
having to pay full price for the real thing). We have
served lemonade with the cups. We've had T-shirts.
Then one year, Dr. D (that's me) gave away free Smart-
ies pills with your "prescription" to the paper. That was
one of my favorites.
This year, thanks to our friends at Mossy Corner
Nursery in Smarr, we are giving away forsythia plants
to everyone who subscribes or renews to the Reporter.
So you can show your love for Forsyth by planting a
brand-new forsythia plant in your yard, and demon-
strate your heart for your community by reading the
newspaper every week, keeping up with what's happen-
ing in your hometown.
I like selling subscriptions, and we enjoy having more
revenue to pay our bills and employees. But really, the
reason I love sitting at the Reporter booth at the For-
sythia Festival is having the chance to interact with you,
our loyal readers. We enjoy a special relationship. For
many of you, we only communicate through the writ-
ten word. But at Forsythia, I have the chance to shake
your hand, see your smile (or scowl), and hear your
story. We all need to do more relating like that.
I walk my dogs a good bit. You know what I notice
as I walk the streets? Too many people -- and this is
a problem across America -- come home from work,
sit on the couch, and never leave the house or interact
with anyone. It's a problem. Our social fabric is frayed
because too many people, if they relate to anyone at all,
only do it online. And I say this as someone who would
rather you send me a text message than call me. But I
realize that's a problem. We need real relationships with
real, li ng, breathing people, not an exchange of bytes
and letters.
When God wanted to begin a relationship with way-
ward human beings, He didfft send a text or post on
social media. He came in person. He got into the muck
and mire of daily living. He went to weddings and par-
ties. He talked to people one-on-one. That's how real
relationships happen. Forsythia is a great opportunity
to do just that.
www. MyMCR.net
is published every week byThe Monroe County Reporter Inc.
Will Davis, President Robert M. Williams Jr Vice President
Cheryl S. Williams, Secretary-Treasurer
STAFF
Will Davis
Publisher/Edit0r
publisher@mymcr.net
Richard Dumas ~
News Editor
f0rsyth@mymcr.net
Carolyn Martel
Advertising Manager
ads@mymcr.net
Trellis Grant
Business Manager
business@mymcr.net
Diane Glidewell
Community Editor
news@mymcr.net
Brandon Park
Creative Oirector
graphics@mymcr.net
Official Organ of Monroe County and the City of Forsyth
50 N. Jackson St PO Box 795 o Forsyth, GA 31029
Periodicals Postage Paid at Forsyth, GA 31029
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
THE MONROE COUNTY REPORTER 478-994-2358
SUBSCRIPTION RATE: In County: $40 Out of County: $48 Single Copy: $1
Deadlines noon on Friday prior to issue. Comments ~aturecl on opinion pages am the creation of
the writers, the do not necessarily reflect the opinions of]be Reporter management.
Publication No. USPS 997-840
PEACH STATE POLITICS by Kyle Wingfield
In almost a decade of writ;
ing about school choice, I ve
heard every excuse imaginable
to oppose giving students and
families educational options.
I've heard critics say school
choic.e is only for "the rich." Not
true - families of
means already have
options, thanks to
their ability to pay pri-
vate school tuition or
move into a neighbor-
hood with good public
schools; school choice
is about extending
that liberty to those
without means.
I've heard critics say
school choice hurts
students who remain
in public schools. In
"fact, as a 2016 review
of the 33 empirical
studies on the topic reported, "31
find that choice improves aca-
deniic outcomes at public schools.
One of the remaining studies finds
that choice has no visible impact
on public schools, and (only) one
finds a negative impact."
All of the complaints boil down
to one notion: There isn't enough
money to support.public schools
properly and pay for choice pro-
grams.
This zero-sum argument is of-
fered without proof, much less
with any acknowledgment that this
year Georgia is fully funding .pub-
lic schools and planning to raise
teachers' salaries by more than
$2,500 and offering $100 million in
tax credits for private scholarship
donors and supporting dozens of
public charter schools and paying
for the Special Needs Scholarship.
+
There's enough pie for every-
one to have a slice, despite the
zero-summers' protests. Now we
have evidence they have it exactly
backward:+School choice can actu-
ally lower public school districts'
costs by more than the amount
they stand to lore in
funding due to choice
programs.
That's the finding
of a brand-new study
by Jeffrey Dorfman, a
professor of econom-
ics at the University
of Georgia. Dorfman
looked at the marginal
cost for districts to
educate students: how
much more they would
spend if one more
student enrolled.
Or, as far as school
choice is concerned,
how much less they would spend if
one fewer student enrolled.
Dorfman looked at spending and
revenues for Georgia's 159 county
school districts. (Due to difficulty
in obtaining the appropriate data,
he did not examine the city school
districts.) He calculated both their
variable costs - which change with
the number of students, versus
fixed costs - and their average
marginal cost.
What he found was telling: "state
funding per student was below
marginal cost for all county school
districts." In other words, if a child
were to leave a public school - tak-
ing the state's contribution to her
education with her - her former
school district would on aver-
age save money, no matter which
district it was. That's because it was
going to spend more educating her
than it was going t.o receive in state
funding.
Its not even close in most cases.
Of Georgia's 159 county school
districts, Dorfman found 20 would
save at least $5,000 on average; all
but four would save at least $1,000
on average. Half of the districts
would save more than $3,825.
It's important to note these are
averages. At any particular mo-
ment, a district might be able to
absorb one more student with
minimal additional cost - or it
might reach a tipping point and
be forced to hire an additional
teacher. The average accounts for
both of these extremes and all pos-
sibilities in between.
In any case, the bottom line is
clear: School choice programs
don't harm school districts if they
are tied to state funding levels.
As it happens, two bills in Geor-
gia this year would create Educa-
tional Scholarship Accounts for
students: House Bill 301 and Sen-
ate Bill 173. Both bills would allow
students to use the state portion of
their school's funding for private
School tuition, homeschooling
materials, tutoring, or even save
some for college. All 159 county
school districts would, on average,
be better off financially if some of
their students took ESAs, since
they would reduce their costs by
more than the reduction in their
funding.
No more excuses. Give Georgia's
students the tools they need to
obtain the education that's best for
them.
The president and CEO of the
Georgia Public Policy Foundation,
Kyle Wingfield's column runs in
papers around the state of Georgia.
TAKING A LIKENS TO YOU by Dale Likens
II
he legendary Let-
termen trio were
in concert at the
Monroe County
Fine Arts Center this past
Friday celebrating the 58th
anniversary of their first
hit record, "The
Way You Look
Tonight" Tony
Butala, the only
original mem-
ber of The Let-
termen since
they began
performing in
1959, explains
that he was
the 8th child
of 11 children.
Born Nov. 20,
1940 in Sharon,
Penn Tony
Butala began his singing
career in 1948 when he ap-
peared on a radio program
in Pittsburgh. In 1951, at
the age of 11, Tony moved
to California with his
mother where he first sang
in a boys' choir and later
as the singing voice for
"Lost Boy Slightly" in the
animated film "Peter Pan"
As a teenager Tony sang
with a quartet which also
included another beauti-
ful, well-known singer
named Connie Stevens.
I must confess that nei-
ther my wife nor I attend-
ed The Lettermen Con-
cert that was held at our
Monroe County Fine Arts
Center last Friday evening.
I must also confess that I
have never met any of the
Lettermen so what is my
purpose of this article? I
do remember their records
and I did enjoy their music
as I was growing up.
The truth is, I remember
walking those same streets
of Sharon, Penn. where
Tony Butala spent his first
11 years of life. I was born
in Sharon one yearbefore
Tony Butala was born. My
mother and
my brothers
and sisters and
I lived on 1st
Street with
our grand-
mother and
Uncle Buck
during our
early child-
hood years.
The stores that
once lined
State Street
70 years ago
still line State
Street today. Shanango
River still chases its
muddy waters under the
bridge on Main Street. The
only difference one would
suddenly discover are
three of the four beautiful
movie theaters that once
lined the 14-mile stretch of
Main Street have long ago
been torn down.
I remember the Colum-
bia. Theater. How proudly
it stood with its ornate col-
umns, its picturesque en-
trance and colorful lights
flashing as one entered its
colorful halls with large
pictures of famous actors
and actresses lining each
wall as you first enter its
door. Needless to say, we
children seldom entered
those doors.
Then there was the.
Nuluna Theater which
showed movies more
in line with the average
person's pocket book. Next
was the Liberty Theater
and finally the Gable The-
ater which we understood
to be named after the
famous actor Clark Gable.
The Gable Theater was
the theater my brothers
and sisters and I attended
when we could round up
enough dimes and pen-
nies to attend. I guess this
is where I learned more
about cowboys than any
book I had ever read. I
remember the films often
breaking during the mov-
ies and we small crowds
that often attended would
stomp our feet until the
movies began once more.
But now I take you back
to the Columbia Theater.
Although it was closed
many years ago it was
never torn down as the
other theaters were. For
some strange reason the
Columbia Theater still sits
in the same place as it did
many, many years ago. As
my wife and I pass by the
theater on our trips back
to Ohio and Pennsylvania
we notice the front of the
theater has been removed.
The rest of the theater
still stands as it once did.
Today we have been told
by people who now walk
Main Street in Sharon,
Penn the Columbia The-
ater has been beautifully+
remodeled to accommo-
date those people who are
interested in the Finer Arts
and great concerts Sharon,
Penn. has to offer.
"That's a wonder-
ful idea!" We replied to
their explanation of what
happened to the great
Columbia Theater. "Surely
that would take a consid-
erable amount of money
to change the theater to a
Fine Arts Theater!"
"Have you ever heard of
Tony Butala?" They ask in
return.
"Sure! We know of Tony
Butala. He's part of that
great trio known as The
Lettermen!,
"Well, Tony Butala was
born in Sharon and lived
here until he was about 11
or 12 as we understand it.
They say he is the person
who initiated the idea and
financially supported the
change"
*I have no facts on the
above information I just
reported. What people
from Sharon have told
my wife and me is exactly
what I have reported. I
know good reporters
check their facts before
reporting, but'I trust the
people of Sharon, Penn.
Anyhow, I belie% them.
Either way I say, "Thanks
to you, Tony Butala, for
being a member of the
great singing trio Iknow
as The Lettermen! Thank
you for never forget-
ting your home town of
Sharon, Penn.! And thank
you for what I am sure
was another outstand-
ing performance at the
Monroe County Fine Arts
Center this past Friday!"
God bless.
Dale Likens is an author
who lives in Monroe
County.
