Clergy throw support behind Williams-Brown

ALBANY, Ga. — The Concerned Citizens and Clergy of Albany on Friday threw its support behind incumbent at-large school board member Anita Williams-Brown in her re-election challenge against Lane Price.

“Dr. Brown is a lifelong resident of Albany, she graduated from the Dougherty County School System and has taught in this system,” CCCA spokesman Henry Brown said. “She is the most qualified candidate, and she is already working to fix the problems in the system. The Dougherty County School System is 86 percent black, and we can’t depend on the powers that be to fix the problems.”

When asked who “the powers that be” are, Brown replied, “I don’t want to get into that right now.”

Later, Williams-Brown was asked about the recent Title I problems with the state Department of Education.

“We’ve always had problems with Title I, at least since 1994,” she answered. “I think a lot of our recent problems we’ve been having are aimed at my candidacy. A lot of things have been coming out since I announced.”

Then she specifically addressed the Title I issues.

“From what I understand, the superintendent (Joshua Murfree) has already sent in the information the DOE was asking for,” Williams-Brown said. “I think we have some miscommunication issues, but there is no doubt that we need to follow the guidelines better.

“Many of our problems come from budget cuts and getting a new finance director. What people aren’t looking at is how our test scores and dropout rates are improving.”

Williams-Brown and Price will square off in the July 31 Democratic primary.