DeKalb must take an unflinching look at cronyism
A DeKalb grand jury reindicted former school Superintendent Crawford Lewis last week.
There are new developments in the criminal case against former DeKalb school chief Crawford Lewis and construction manager Pat Reid, developments that only underscore the imperative to take an unflinching and unapologetic look at who holds which positions in the district and how they got them. The same should be done for all contracts.
The task facing new superintendent Cheryl Atkinson is not an easy one. She has years of grime to clean and a long, long history of cronyism to undo.
An updated indictment was issued last week, elevating the role of Lewis in the mess: The indictment states:
Lewis “abused his position for his own personal gain and the benefit of his friends [and] his family…”
“Rather than operating in the best interest of DeKalb County’s children, Crawford Lewis, Pat [Reid] and Tony Pope stole or facilitated the theft of millions of dollars, performed or approved payment for substandard work, blocked legitimate contractors from receiving or completing contracts and manipulated projects to meet their own unlawful objectives.”
There is a long story on AJC.com. Here is an excerpt but please read the full piece:
The updated indictment released last week says former school district construction chief Pat Reid did what she could to bloat existing design contracts with then-husband Tony Pope and to steer new ones to him, and Lewis signed off on everything, then did what he could to block the ensuing investigation.
What started as a probe into Lewis’ use of a school system charge card for vacations to the Bahamas ballooned into a complicated racketeering case. It’s laid out in 132 pages based on more than 80 boxes of documents.
The new indictment updates a 2-year-old one that charged Reid, Pope and Lewis with racketeering, theft, bribery and other crimes. The indictment accuses Reid and Pope of pocketing taxpayer funds allocated to four school construction and renovation projects. The indictment is unclear what Lewis gained in total. Under the bribery charges it lists tickets to the 2008 and 2009 Masters golf tournament costing almost $39,000, tickets to the Atlanta mayor’s ball valued at $5,000 and two dozen Atlanta Hawks box seat tickets in 2009. The indictment says the tickets were given by various construction companies.
Reid also demanded tickets to Atlanta Falcons football games, the Final Four Basketball Tournament, Masters Golf Tournaments and shows at the Fox Theatre, according to the indictment. Reid was the first defendant listed on the old indictment brought by former District Attorney Gwen Keyes Fleming, but Lewis was the first of the three to be listed on the new one.
“There is more of a focus on his activity,” current DA Robert James said Tuesday. “It enhances the alleged role of Dr. Lewis.”
Prosecutors and defense attorneys are scheduled for court Monday to discuss deadlines and the trial schedule. Defense attorney Tony Axum, who represents Reid, said the case probably won’t get before a jury until next year.
Pat Reid, who changed her last name from Pope after she and Tony Pope divorced, expects to be cleared, Axum said.
A DeKalb Superior Court jury will have to review emails, construction contracts, change orders, competitive bid documents and investigators’ interviews to decide if it all adds up to a criminal operation. The allegations surround millions of dollars in contracted design and construction work at Columbia High School, McNair Cluster Elementary, Arabia Mountain High School and the Mountain Industrial Center, which includes the new school administrative offices.
The indictment charges each defendant with four counts of violation of the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations Act, one for each construction project. RICO cases are complicated, and more often brought by federal prosecutors than county district attorneys.
While Lewis appeared to be in more of a supporting role to Reid, the indictment said Lewis signed off on the contracts and payments that Reid approved.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
62 comments Add your comment
Old timer
May 6th, 2012
3:46 pm
There is cronyism in every school system I have ever worked in. In a rural area I taught for a few years…everyone working was related to everyone else. The county office had twice the number needed to do anything…shamefully.
Beverly Fraud
May 6th, 2012
3:53 pm
And to think people used to criticize Dr. John Trotter for calling DeKalb a “gangsta” system.
Digger
May 6th, 2012
3:56 pm
Who could have thunk it?
Beverly Fraud
May 6th, 2012
4:28 pm
Well from the looks of it, it appears Lewis and Reid were at least RIGOROUS about it.
Jerry Eads
May 6th, 2012
4:49 pm
The people who come out of the classroom to be leaders should be the ones who don’t really want to leave the classroom, rather than the ones who couldn’t teach in the first place, hated teaching, AND DIDN’T HAVE THE ETHICS TO DO SO in the first place.
Errol, forgiven for the moment for never having taught in a P-12 classroom (as have not I), pointed out our primary problem recognized by my favorite folk at a certain state agency: be it public, centrally controlled nonrepresentative “charter” schools or for profit schools: “It’s the leadership, stupid.”
Most of our teachers sweat blood every single day (for 10-12 hours a day) doing way beyond their level best to take our kids to the stars, people. Let’s stop blaming the “workers” and fix management. That is NOT, to be clear, a slight against the magic folk who manage to become wonderful principals (Hi David) and superintendents (Hi Kelly) in spite of our dysfunctional promotion system.
Beverly Fraud
May 6th, 2012
5:04 pm
I wonder how much education would improve if we spent even a TENTH of the effort ensuring we had quality leaders as we did on “fixing the teacher”?
Beverly Fraud
May 6th, 2012
5:08 pm
-Rod Paige
-Beverly Hall
-Michelle Rhee
-Crawford Lewis
-Linda Schrenko
And we think the problem is the TEACHER?
another comment
May 6th, 2012
5:26 pm
Too bad I don’t live in Dekalb. I would love to get called to Jury Duty on this one. DA. James could still call me as an Expert witness in Construction projects. I have been certified in Federal Court as an Expert Witness in Federal Court in the Construction of Public Buildings. I would even do it for free.
I really hope it comes out that Pat Reid, aka Pat Pope does not have a Purdue Construction Engineering or Purdue Civil Engineering Degree from the the West Lafayette Campus. Which is the only place they were offered at the time span she claims to have gone to Purdue. I was one of two females in the graduate program at Purdue at the time. We were both White. Also, I was a TA to the undergraduate students, at this same time period and their were no more than 4 females and they were all white as well. I was absolutely stunned one day when Crawford Lewis claimed that Pat Reid or Pat Pope was a Purdue Construction Engineering graduate. I say, hell no she was not!. The Engineering Program was not taught at the Calmute Campus. Maybe a Technology program. But not an Engineering Program.
One of the top 100 General Contractors that I worked for in Atlanta, mistakenly hired a guy who had a Purdue Technology Degree, from West Lafayette, not the Engineering Degree. Which I had and a couple of other guys in the office had. The moment they told us they hired him, we tried to tell them that was not anywhere near our degree program. It was for people who flunked out of Engineering 101. Within 6 months they found out and fired the guy. Of course, they had tried to free lance this hire, and not hired him through the school’s Engineering office like us or through a Head Hunter.
Pat Ried, misrepresented her qualifications and degree. She was nothing but an affirmitive action hire for everyone she worked for. When she couldn’t hack it and she thought she was smarter than everyone else she thought she would steal and commit fraud for her husband and a few others.
Dunwoody Mom
May 6th, 2012
5:32 pm
And to think Eugene Walker believes Crawford Lewis has done nothing criminal – only make poor decisions.
carlosgvv
May 6th, 2012
5:37 pm
Cheryl Atkinson does have “years of grime and a long, long history of cronyism to undo”. What are the chances she actually cares about doing this? I’d say slim and none.
daylin
May 6th, 2012
5:39 pm
Please pray for our school district. Many employees are being hurt now by not only the bad housing conditions but also the actions of others. This impacts our students greatly. Some of the finest, well trained educators that I know did not get contracts. These are not people with made up degrees. These are graduates from UGA, Ga State and Morehouse College. Many of the Career Tech teachers did not get contracts. None of the Social Workers got contracts. If we lose many of these people, our students will suffer. These are not people with relatives in the school district. These are just people that love education and want to serve. How did we allow so much to happen?We are in the most critical time of the school year.People in the schools are trying hard to stay focused on our students, but many of them are very aware of the problems facing our schools and teachers.
bootney farnsworth
May 6th, 2012
5:42 pm
@ Beverly,
don’t forget the USG. we do a pretty good job at being bad ourselves.
but don’t feel bad for Crawford Lewis.
he looks like an excellenct canidate for a USG presidency. making stupid decisions, fiscal irregularities – hell, he’ll fit right in.
bootney farnsworth
May 6th, 2012
5:44 pm
@ daylin,
there aren’t enough prayers in the SBC to save DCSS. you’re on the way to making Clayton look good.
DCSS doesn’t need prayers, it needs a professional nuking.
bootney farnsworth
May 6th, 2012
5:45 pm
Cheryl A. isn’t all that sweetness and light herself.
bootney farnsworth
May 6th, 2012
5:46 pm
A sincere question for Dr. John when he shows up:
CAN DeKalb be saved?
bootney farnsworth
May 6th, 2012
5:51 pm
Actually, a better question:
SHOULD DeKalb be saved?
Finally
May 6th, 2012
6:00 pm
Tell me one school system that the god ol’ boy system s not in action: Cherokkee, Cobb, Dekalb, Atlanta Public Schools, Fulton and the list goes on and on. It’s all about who you know and not what you knw…Let’s be real
Snafu
May 6th, 2012
6:00 pm
You mean this is some new revelation? Come on ,this is just par for the course here in the Ol’ South. All one has to do is look at Nathan “Bad Deal”, Sonny “Qakey Woods” Perdue, Shirley “breakfast club” Franklin, the list goes on and on. Its the culture of cronyism, crime, lies and deceit in this backwards woods of a state. When you elect crooks to the run the state legislation, governor, lottery corporation, etc, what do you people expect, Angels to tell you what is going on?
As long as the people stay stuck on stupid the crooks will continue to steal, and the cronyism will continue to happen. So either take action and find out what is going on or ease back on that recliner and flip through these garbage NON Reality SHOWS!
Newton County SOS
May 6th, 2012
6:02 pm
Newton County needs to look into cronyism and nepotism too. What does it take for the rest of Atlanta to take notice of what is unfolding here?!
http://www.covnews.com/section/1/article/28547/
marcus
May 6th, 2012
6:19 pm
this whole thing is a joke! atlanta has become the mecca for thieves and criminals, but now they come under the veil of legitimate positions. no wonder people across the state have a disdain for what goes on here. this is why we can’t make progress with the social and educational programs needed to make atlanta a truly great city. even the mayor is not immune to this corruption; look at the recent bids for the airport and city contracts. these pompous fools think that they are immune to doing things the right way. even our state politicians are caught up in the corruption, taking gifts that they know are improper. i thought “pay for play” politics was something that was the norm in the northern cities, but atlanta has caught on.
Doris M.
May 6th, 2012
6:36 pm
Cronyism was/is the norm in all the school systems in Georgia. If you’ve ever worked in one, then you very well know that I’m telling the truth.
bu2
May 6th, 2012
6:39 pm
Don’t forget the Gwinnet School real estate purchases, Gwinnet commissioners real estate, Cobb County Electric Co-op. The Atlanta metro area really is a mecca for this type of stuff.
Old timer
May 6th, 2012
6:41 pm
And …it is not just here in the south..I have a cousin in Ohio, in Iowa, and in North Dakota…..cronyism everywhere…and those states have good schools for the most part…
Who my baby daddy?
May 6th, 2012
6:54 pm
Crawford, you no uze my baby daddy!
Dred Scott
May 6th, 2012
6:54 pm
Here is the Webster’s Dictionary example of why parents and communities need charter public schools. Put communities in charge of their own. Allow parents, teachers, and community leaders govern their own public charter schools so that they can shield themselves from the likes of Crawford Lewis and the DeKalb Board of Education. More charter schools now. More public school options today!
And you wonder...
May 6th, 2012
6:59 pm
And you still wonder why parents are clamoring for charter schools?
This is why.
The corruption.
The greed.
The incompetence.
Charter, Baby, Charter.
TimeOut
May 6th, 2012
7:28 pm
Surveys were conducted in Cobb County that permitted feedback in the form of commentary. My comments included assertions of the damage done via cronyism,nepotism, and other such ‘isms.’ When I checked the results of the survey, my commentary was no longer listed. If we do hire an ethical leader one day, I hope that we have the good sense to hold him/her close to our bosoms and shelter him/her from the rabid attacks sure to emanate from the pathocrats who run most systems………………….
Burroughston Broch
May 6th, 2012
7:59 pm
The voters of DeKalb County are also culpable in this travesty. The majority of the present Board of Education were in office during Dr. Lewis’ reign, asked no questions and did nothing. They were like the the three little monkeys, “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.”
It is high time for the voters to clean house at the Board, and replace all Board members who were in office during Dr. Lewis’ reign.
Marney
May 6th, 2012
8:04 pm
@ Dred Scott….And what about Peachtree Hope charter school? The nameplate on the door doesn’t matter nearly as much as the quality of the board and administrative leaders within.
Pardon My Blog
May 6th, 2012
9:11 pm
The whole Board kept giving Lewis a pass. Anyone remember the Darren Ware debacle? That was a result of his intention to hire only those who met a certain “criteria”. And of course Walker will defend him, as they say “birds of a feather…”!
dekalbed
May 6th, 2012
9:27 pm
Maureen,
Now is the time for the AJC to finally do something about this. The AJC recognized that the APS cheating scandal hurt everyone-the students, the taxpayers, the businesses-in the metro area. Well, doesn’t the corruption and dysfunction in Dekalb cause a similarly destructive result?
Please look into the following:
1. Compare Dekalb’s published testing data for the Iowas and the CRCTs to the district’s couirse offerings. Exactly how many freshmen are intellectually capable for the “college preparatory classes” that Dekalb limits most of its students to?
2. Find out how many of Dekalb’s higher-ups making or informing instructional decisions (from Assistant Principals of Instruction to the Coordinators of Instruction to the Department of Instruction and Learning) taught core classes, and for how long? What “data” informed these appointments?
3. How many Assistant Principals of Instruction, Coordinators of Instruction, or Directors/Chiefs, etc.. (it’s hard to keep up with all the titles) in the Department of Instruction and Learning have ever modelled instruction, or visited a classroom and offered instruction (as one would expect from individuals given such positions)?
4. What “data” informed the appointing of Instructional Coaches-those teaching experts offering advice and techniques to the classroom teacher?
Attentive Parent
May 6th, 2012
9:48 pm
On Charter schools and districts-as long as SACS and its parent AdvancEd retain accrediting power, any genuine reform will be futile. It is the AdvancED so-called Quality Standards that undermine any academic emphasis in anything they accredit. That includes charter schools.
The charter is a legal operating agreement and education is full of terms a reasonable person would assume had a known meaning but that actually mean something else. Parents and taxpayers in good faith think they are agreeing to one thing. The charter agreement is steering them somewhere else.
Plus you get a stinker principal and you have little recourse as SACS requires deferring to the “professional” in charge.
When I reviewed Fulton’s Charter it read far more like an AdvancED Transformational Outcomes Based Education dream than anything the parents and taxpayers have in mind.
Just be careful in thinking charters are the panacea.
Not until we start to recognize that accreditation is a big part of the poison delivery system. We have to wonder if part of the reason things have gotten so out of control in some of these districts stems from the belief of supers and other central admins that as long as they keep pushing AdvancED’s desired policies and practices on schools and in the classrooms, they are essentially untouchable on other mischief. Unless, of course, cameras are rolling.
JAR
May 6th, 2012
10:20 pm
Dekalb is but a microcosm of the State of Georgia. Lets Start by cleaning up state goverment first. How about the Georgia National Guard…
RESPECT in Dekalb
May 6th, 2012
10:35 pm
@Dekalbed
Do you really expect the AJC to get that information? How would they get? Will Dekalb HR release that info as it is “personal”?
You remind me of someone tilting at windmills though the basis of your question is cogent.
Actually, the folks in charge about whom you speak “…ran away from the classroom” before ” these elixirs” were being peddled “state and federal” snake oil merchants.
dteacher
May 6th, 2012
10:56 pm
RESPECT,
Question 1 is pretty easy to answer. Dekalb’s website already publishes the test scores. And there are only 22 high schools. What’s so hard about finding out the courses offered at each school, and finding out how many students are enrolled in each and comparing that number/percentages to the number/percentages that didn’t meet the CRCT standards or pass the EOCT?
Every educator’s certificate is public record, so it’s easy enough to get the names of assistant principals of instruction (start with the high schools) and look up their certification areas.
You’re right about the other stuff, but they’re still questions that should be asked.
Dekalbite
May 6th, 2012
11:05 pm
SACS needs to take some responsibility for continuing to accredit DeKalb School System.
This is how SACS terms Accreditation:
““The accreditation process is also known in terms of its ability to effectively drive student performance and continuous improvement in education. But such definitions, though accurate, are incomplete.
While accreditation is a set of rigorous protocols and research-based processes for evaluating an institution’s organizational effectiveness, it is far more than that. Today accreditation examines the whole institution—the programs, the cultural context, the community of stakeholders—to determine how well the parts work together to meet the needs of students.”
http://www.advanc-ed.org/what-accreditation
Does this sound even remotely like DeKalb Schools?
How can SACS be the accreditation agency for schools and colleges when they cannot recognize problems that are so apparent?
I have lost all respect for SACS. I’m sure many others have as well. They should not be an accreditation agency for schools and colleges.
Why
May 6th, 2012
11:35 pm
Here’s a hilarious joke: Tom Bowen, who was the chair of the DCSS Board of Education during the Crawford Lewis/Ramona Tyson/Pat Reid-Pope era is running for County Commission!
If he had one ounce of integrity, he would has resigned when Lewis and Reid-Pope were indicted. Now he believes he is actually qualified to be a county commissioner. Unfathomable.
RESPECT in Dekalb
May 6th, 2012
11:44 pm
@Dteacher
2, 3, and 4 not so much….
LoFlyer
May 7th, 2012
12:19 am
I was lucky to graduate from the DeKalb school system during the mid seventies, when Jim Cherry was superintendant and made damn sure we got the chance for a quality education. I worked for DeKalb government for 25 years (not the school system) and moved out of DeKalb 15 years ago.. I could see where DeKalb political leadership was going and it was not a pretty sight. Events have proven I was wise to leave DeKalb county. DeKalb citizens keep electing poor leaders and cannot understand why the government and school-system are so fracked up. Heres a hint. A single political party that dominates the county. Politicians who’s number one goal is either to get reelected, get elected to a higher office, or fleece the citizens for the benefit of their friends or themselves. Yes there are one or two fairly honest politicians in DeKalb government, but its people like commissioner Sherry Barnes-Sutton or people like Reid, Lewis and Pope that run the government and school system into the ground with the feeling of personal entitlement and insufferable ego’s. I hope the entire lot get their just rewards and spend some serious time in jail.
To DeKalb citizens. WAKE up and start electing real leaders with quality ethics.
crankee_yankee
May 7th, 2012
12:35 am
This is a primary difference between northeastern & southern school districts. LOCAL control. I’ve posted this before, you get what you pay for. In the northeast, each town has its own school system, each town had its own school superintendent & teacher workforce. The BIG systems, Newark, NYC, Philly, etc. are the exceptions, not the rule. Compare that to the mega systems here, Gwinnett, Fulton, Dekalb, Cobb, etc. Everything that pundits point to as problems in education up north focuses on the mega systems. Bergen County NJ (about 1/2 the geographical size of Gwinnett) had 88 individual school systems when I worked there. Taxes were high because there was no economy of scale but the local towns regulated their schools and spent their money on them, some more than others and they had better systems, teachers, etc. My point being, it was a LOCAL decision.
Well, here we go with economy of scale with county sized systems. Local control is not as local as you would like to believe in this scenario. Another layer of beauracracy only separates governance of the schools from individual localities. The further the separation, the more room for mischief (i.e. Dekalb & APS).
Now look at the move for state-controlled charters and imagine where we are headed. STATE control IS NOT LOCAL control. COUNTY control IS NOT LOCAL control. We are moving in the wrong direction.
Two Cents
May 7th, 2012
2:51 am
These two need some time at the Cross Bar Hotel and probably some of the past and present School Board members who defended these two belong there also. Their arrogance is outrageous.
yes i am worried
May 7th, 2012
6:04 am
crankee-yankee
The amount of fraud in NJ School systems is unbelievable. Watch the documentary, The Cartel.
For other reasons, I agree with your assessment on size. DeKalb is too big to actually meet the needs of its students.
WAR
May 7th, 2012
8:55 am
foreign countries dont have this problem with their schools. wonder why.
Anonmom
May 7th, 2012
9:01 am
the media was presented with a lot of what was going on and didn’t do anything with the information. Ironically, it was not until Dr.Lewis got mad at Pat Pope and turned her over to Gwen Keyes that it all came a crashin….. The media (I say this for local and national purposes) should not be giving “passes” on any issues for any politicians here or elsewhere as there are serious consequences when that happens. A free press which can investigate and report is one of the items actually covered by one of the first ten amendments to the US Constitution and is absolutely critical to a free society. Think about it.
Dr. John Trotter
May 7th, 2012
9:19 am
Having taught and coached in DeKalb County in the 1970s, I can say that the school system has certainly changed…for the worse. It is sad. Beverly Fraud, you are right — on several occasions in different media (TV, newspaper, etc.), I called the DeKalb School System “a gangsta system,” while Crawford Lewis was still in power. I presume that this is why he had me “banned.” Ha! I understand that I am not “banned” anymore. “Bans” have never worked on me. I do love being a free man!
Dekalb taxpayer
May 7th, 2012
10:36 am
Dare we hope that the political winds are shifting? Wasn’t it just in February that DA Robert James stood with his buddies Tom Bowen and Eugene Walker and declared that there was no need for a special grand fury investigation into DCSS because the system was capable of policing itself? At that point, I felt that there was no hope at all because it seemed that the corrupt and ineffective school board had the backing of the DA.
Now there is a second grand jury saying the same thing. I must confess that I don’t know how grand juries come about. Are they brought at the request of citizens? Is there a judge somewhere in Dekalb who is fed up with the status quo? Will this one not be pushed aside like the first one? After years and years of the situation just getting worse and worse, I am afraid to hope.
A Conservative Voice
May 7th, 2012
10:55 am
Unless and until the DCSS stops being a “Jobs Program”, ain’t nuthin’ gonna change. Folks, let face it…….”There is no logical reason why the DCSS should remain open”. It should be shut down and everyone “fired”. Start it over in some other form…….
AlreadySheared
May 7th, 2012
10:57 am
But where are my friends & family gonna all work together, if not in the school system?
Anonmom
May 7th, 2012
11:03 am
The real answer lies in breaking the system apart….
Dekalb taxpayer
May 7th, 2012
12:10 pm
As strange as this may sound, I don’t have a problem with nepotism per se. If there are two (or more) equally qualified candidates for a position and one gets the job because he or she knows someone, this doesn’t necessarily cause any harm to the organization. But the Dekalb form of nepotism has clearly been extremely harmful to the system. In DCSS, unqualified, incompetent people with connections have been placed in positions while qualified, competent people have been passed over. And these connected people have often been given salaries which are way out of line with the marketplace. In a poor county, and particularly during a long recession, this has been devastating. When an entry-level secretarial position which requires two years of college and one year of experience comes with a price tag of between $50,000 and $70,000, you clearly have out-of-control nepotism and cronyism.