| Kathy Cox | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2002 |
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| Governor | Sonny Perdue |
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| Born | August 10, 1964 |
| Political party | Republican |
| Profession | Educator |
Kathy Cox (born August 10, 1964) is the current[update] superintendent of public schools for the U.S. state of Georgia, and is a Republican. A high school teacher by occupation, Cox also served two terms, from 1998 to 2002, in the Georgia General Assembly, representing Peachtree City, Georgia, prior to her election as superintendent in 2002. Cox sought re-election in 2006, defeating Democratic challenger Denise Majette (a former U.S. representative), earning almost 60 percent of the vote.
Cox is not related to Cathy Cox, a Democrat who was Georgia's elected secretary of state from 1999 until 2007. The similarity in names became the subject of mostly humorous news stories in 2002, when Kathy Cox's defeated opponent, Barbara Christmas, complained that she had lost because of voter confusion between the two Coxes.
On September 5, 2008, Cox became the first million-dollar winner on the American television game show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? Her final question was, "Who was the longest reigning British monarch?" Cox intended to donate all her winnings to three schools in Georgia: Georgia Academy for the Blind in Macon, Atlanta Area School for the Deaf in Clarkston, and Georgia School for the Deaf in Cave Spring. All three schools are under the auspices of the Georgia Board of Education. [1] These plans were affected by her personal bankruptcy in late 2008.[2]
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Evolution controversy
Cox made national news in 2004 by proposing to strike the word "evolution" from Georgia textbooks and replace it with the phrase "biological changes over time." In justifying her decision, she claimed evolution was a buzzword that created problems for teachers in conservative and rural areas, and that she had not been attempting to water down the subject matter.[3] Former President Jimmy Carter criticized Cox, saying he was "..embarrassed by Superintendent Kathy Cox's attempt to censor and distort the education of Georgia's students... there can be no incompatibility between Christian faith and proven facts concerning geology, biology, and astronomy. There is no need to teach that stars can fall out of the sky and land on a flat earth in order to defend our religious faith."[4]
Personal bankruptcy
On November 17, 2008, Cox and her husband declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy, listing $3.5 million in debt and $650,000 in assets. [5] The bankruptcy also affected the money won for the schools on Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader. Fidelity Investments, the investor charged in creating a fund for the donor schools, donated the winnings back to Fox in December 2008 from the schools, putting the prize money in jeopardy. [2]
On August 19, 2009, protestors representing deaf and blind children picketed the office of bankruptcy attorney Gary W. Brown in Newnan, over his efforts to take control of the winnings. According to Brown, the winnings belong to the bankruptcy estate, and should be used to pay back creditors.[6]
External links
- Georgia Department of Education website
- Kathy Cox For State School Superintendent
- Kathy Cox, Evolve! - Georgia School Superintendent Proposes Dropping Reference To 'Evolution'
- Georgia Considers Banning "Evolution"
- Cox to Appear on "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader"
References
- ^ [1]
- ^ a b Atlanta Journal Constitution: "School chief’s bankruptcy has $1M prize in limbo", 1/28/2009.
- ^ CNN.com - Georgia considers banning 'evolution' - Jan. 30, 2004
- ^ Carter Criticizes Cox
- ^ Larrabee, Brandon, "Struggling finances prompt superintendent\'s bankruptcy", Athens Banner Herald, http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/112208/new_358628089.shtml
- ^ Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Protest set today over Cox's winnings: Superintendent won game show jackpot, then filed bankruptcy", 8/18/2009.
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