Robert Spence on Education

I read the Education Roundtable in the CA Viewpoint on Sunday and was very impressed that one of the participants realized that the key to improving education has nothing to do with more money or oversight from the federal government.

African-American Attorney Robert Spence spoke very eloquently that students must value an education to receive one. He said this value can only be instilled by their parents and it does not matter if they are rich or poor. It was great to see him take Memphis' #1 Limousine Liberal, Gayle Rose, to task on her calling for more government spending on housing, education, health care, blah, blah, blah.

If our party is serious about outreach, Chairman Conrad should personally contact Mr. Spence and let him know that we agree with his conservative views and we'll work with him to improve education in a manner that will bear permanent fruit.
-- from an email by Robert Hubbard to the Shelby County GOP group

While Spence appears to be on the right side of this issue, one must be careful in choosing who to support. I would like to know a little more about this Memphis City lawyer, and also why he was allowed to skirt ignore the rules governing the state lottery:

A Memphis law firm selected to provide legal counsel for the Tennessee Lottery was formed the day the selections were announced, and was chosen despite the fact that it did not meet the minimum requirements outlined by the Lottery's board of directors.

The two-man firm of Spence & Wade PLLC was included in a consortium of four firms chosen by Nashville-based Tennessee Education Lottery Corp. to provide general legal services and corporate counsel in August. ...

According to records filed with the Tennessee Secretary of State's office, Spence & Wade, of which Memphis City Attorney Robert Spence and City Council Attorney Allen Wade are the only partners, was formed Aug. 18, 2003 - the same day the Lottery named the winners of its lucrative contract.

That would appear to put the firm at odds with the minimum eligibility requirements outlined in the Lottery's Request for Proposals issued in July, which stipulated that, to be considered, a law firm "must have been in business for a minimum of 3 years." ...

Spence & Wade is the only minority-owned firm in the consortium. As such, they fulfill a key mandate of the Lottery policy statement that calls for a minimum 15 percent minority participation level in all Lottery affairs. Spence and Wade were co-authors of the Lottery's policy statement on minority participation, which Spence presented to the board Aug. 25.

 

Posted on Saturday at 4:09 PM in category Memphis
| TrackBack (0)

---