During a partisan speech to teachers at the Welcome Back event, several walked out after Superintendent Chris Ragsdale told them that if they didn’t agree with his political views they should not be in the classroom.
Now, reporting shows that Ragsdale has launched an investigation into the teachers who left and if the past has taught us anything, they are in danger of losing their jobs. We are calling on Vice Chair of the Cobb County School Board David Chastain to do his job and rein in the superintendent.
“In every other county in the State of Georgia, the board manages the superintendent. Not the other way around,” said Cobb County Democratic Committee Chair Essence Johnson. “We have an emotional man, who is unfit to lead, bullying teachers because he feels slighted. Ragsdale was never an educator and his petty habit of revenge on teachers must be reined in.”
Chastain has the opportunity to intervene, but again if the past is anything to go by, it’s not expected. CCDC is encouraging members of the community to mobilize and reach out to him through text, phone calls, and email to demand he stick up for teachers, one of the pillars of our community.
“Teachers should not be living in fear. They should be teaching,” said Johnson. “The superintendent’s remarks were inappropriate and if no one else will stand with teachers, then the Cobb County Democrats and their candidates will.”
Chastain can be reached by phone at 678-896-6399 and by email at [email protected]. Call, text, and email. Do not let him shy away from his responsibilities as board member. He is accountable to the public, not the superintendent’s fragile ego.
