DeKalb business group releases its school board endorsements. Does it influence voters?
EduKALB today announced its endorsements in the DeKalb school board races, taking a pass in the District 4 contest in which incumbent M. Paul Womack Jr. faces three challengers, Jim McMahan, Jim Kinney and Tom Gilbert.
How valuable are such endorsements? Hard to tell. In elections held in the dead of summer, turnout seems to be the most critical factor.
I am assuming that the lack of an endorsement in District 4 reflects the lack of consensus on the best choice. As an editorial writer involved in endorsements for 12 years, we had a hard and fast rule that we could not deadlock: Voters had to make a choice so we had to as well. It can be tough in races where everyone offers something worthwhile or in races where there is no good option. Having met all four candidates for District 4, I am assuming that this is a case of the former.
A chamber-led group of business and community leaders that organized in response to the school system chaos, eduKALB endorsed five school board candidates last year. Of the five it endorsed, only two won their seats, incumbent Gene Walker in District 9 and newcomer Donna Edler in District 7.
Here is the group’s choices in the remaining three races this year:
District 2: Marshall Orson
District 6: Denise E. McGill
District 8: Pam Speaks (Incumbent.)
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
The AJC is looking for engaged voters with opinions about political issues. The AJC is building a contact list of voters to interview for future political stories leading into the November elections. If you are willing to talk with a reporter on the record about your views on state and federal races, please complete a short questionnaire and we will follow up with you.
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168 comments Add your comment
over it
July 20th, 2012
9:43 am
@FSC Supporters:
So should the Fernbank Science Center teachers also be defunded?
GotBusted
July 20th, 2012
9:54 am
@Can someone help…. You and your family will be in my prayers! HOW can the head of ode in dekalb county be such an angry, resentful, mean person? YES, it’s time to let NEA and GAE know what he is doing on this blog. Instead of trying to work out problems with you, he is throwing such painful attacks when you are already under stress not knowing what kind of paycheck you will get in August. Can we call HIM a coward for not standing up to dcss FOR the teachers? Every classroom employee has the right to know what the golden palace is telling the principals. Schutten sounds more like a DC lobbyist than a teachers advocate
LOGIC
July 20th, 2012
11:18 am
@over it
Are science teachers only available at FSC? Teachers need to be in the schools or supporting the schools.
I have been catching up on this particular blog today and am amazed that we are not focused on resolutions tied to actually providing NEEDED and required education. Going back to the Greeks – an educated society is a progressive society. DeKalb residents are watching the destruction of the school system at the hands of this Board and unfortunately this (poorly qualified) Superintendent. Just look at the missteps of her first year – band, calendar, open house debacle, teacher contracts and a whole host of other item and see that it is not just the Board that is detrimental to our children’s education and to our county as a whole. Remember that we have 70%+ of our taxes going to DCSD and that special little SPLOST that fuels this monster.
Can this school system survive with such disparity between the districts? I understand supporting your home school, but I see little support here of actually being a DeKalb resident and understanding what it is going to take to move this county forward. I am amazed that Fernbank folks have not seen the writing on the wall for years to move towards a 501(c)3 model and TRY to get off of DeKalb’s dime. Which other county has a science center? It has been too easy to milk the taxpayers at the expense of poorer parts of the county.
Being in District 4 and a long-time DeKalb resident, I can say that it is time to get out. The animosity, divisiveness, special interest groups and ineptitude have become too much to bear. I used to love being here, but reading this blog today has really made me want to just get out of DeKalb all together.
Miss Management
July 20th, 2012
1:01 pm
@LOGIC: ” Going back to the Greeks – an educated society is a progressive society. ”
I’m not sure that’s our goal in this country anymore.
Married with (School) Children
July 20th, 2012
2:40 pm
Logic @ 11:18 am – “Going back to the Greeks – an educated society is a progressive society.”
I suggest you do some reading, starting with the Wikipedia page “Slavery in ancient Greece”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_ancient_Greece
DeKalb Teacher
July 20th, 2012
5:15 pm
It would seem that Mr Schutten and Mr Orson are very close. I can only assume that Mr Orson provides the same level of service as Mr Schutten. I don’t live or work in Fernbank and Mr Orson is no friend to those outside of Fernbank. The conversation surrounding these two guys is sad and depressing.
my2cents
July 20th, 2012
5:26 pm
Clean sweep. Don’t ask me for anything else. Anyone with past or existing work connections, nepotism – forget it. Sick of it.
DeKalb Teacher
July 20th, 2012
5:32 pm
I have been really stressed over all of this. I have been following Don McChesney’s blog. I just sent him an email and he replied right back.
He’s having coffee talk for whoever wants to show up at Cafe Intermezzo on Ashford-Dunwoody until 7pm or so. I’m going to go talk to him. From one teacher to another I’m hoping he understands what I’m going through and can tell me what’s going on.
GotBusted
July 20th, 2012
6:34 pm
DeKalb Teacher, …It would be really interesting to hear what you might have to report…??? I did not know about it or I would have gone. How interesting that a board member will meet face to face with the public. Will look for his blog as well… thanks!
The Deal
July 20th, 2012
11:02 pm
@GotBusted, Don McChesney and Nancy Jester have both been hosting talks at local coffee shops for the past year. Anyone is welcome, and no topics are off-limits.
Lori LCTucker
July 22nd, 2012
7:17 pm
I would suspect that Mr Orson fought for Fernbank because his children attended Fernbank. Each of us would do the same. As a School Board member I would expect Mr. Orson to broaden his support for all of DeKalb County students, using his personal experience in the Fernbank & Druid Hills district. If you are tired of the status quo, then it seems logical to cast your vote for Orson. Having been involved so heavily in his school district, and having extensive financial & legal experience in his career, he should bring strong fiscal oversight to the board. Considering the weak oversight we’ve seen, that would indeed be an improvement.
Dekalbite@Lori LCTucker
July 23rd, 2012
12:26 am
Mr. Orson fought for Fernbank even when it was to the detriment of the rest of DeKalb students. Why do you think he would change if he is elected? Almost idea Mr. Orson has championed, Eugene Walker has championed. Eugene Walker garnered tremendous support from the Fernbank community. Do not expect any change with Mr. Orson. He is all about the status quo.
DeKalb Teacher
July 23rd, 2012
7:41 am
@GotBusted
I met with Don McChesney on Friday. I got there a little late, but he was still there. I sat down and talked to him for 10 or 15 minutes. Mr McChesney turned out to be a normal person. He asked me all sorts of questions about the things that were stressing me out. In return, since he wasn’t in any rush to get out of there, I traded questions with him about his race against the Fernbank guy. He gets it … he knows exactly what I’m talking about.
The one thing that stuck with me is that the Fernbank guy and Schutten are making it very difficult to build a consensus about keeping teachers. Mr McChesney, Ms Jester and Ms Speaks are firmly against teacher layoffs. But, whenever he makes progress with the Superintenent or the other board members, Schutten and the Fernbank guy destroy all of that by saying “teacher layoffs are inevitable”.
He said he keeps communication channels open with his website, blog and emails. He asked me to go to his blog, make comments and let him know what I think about the various issues.
Mr McChesney has a number of Meet and Greets over the next week (Schedule is on his website). I highly recommend sitting down with him and talking. You will be pleasantly surprised how normal and open he is. After all, he was a teacher for 30 something years.
I’m heading over to his blog to make a comment!
D
July 23rd, 2012
8:30 am
“I would suspect that Mr Orson fought for Fernbank because his children attended Fernbank.”
“Mr. Orson fought for Fernbank even when it was to the detriment of the rest of DeKalb students.”
Are you referring to the redistricting of Fernbank Elementary School?
If so, you need to know that Mr. Orson sought to make the district more inclusive rather than exclude students from the Fernbank district.
Dekalbite@D
July 23rd, 2012
6:18 pm
Are you referring to the redistricting of Fernbank Elementary School?
If so, you need to know that Mr. Orson sought to make the district more inclusive rather than exclude students from the Fernbank district.”
“Fernbank ES was 100 students over and did not want to participate in redistricting so Orson and Company proposed a new school for Fernbank – even though Fernbank ES got a brand new $2,000,000+, 13,000 square foot addition in 2005 (30% of their square footage).. Look at the facilities report from the consultants hired by DCSS:
http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/www/documents/vision-2020/facility-report-fernbankEs-(2011-09-13).pdf
Keep the new wing and renovate the rest of Fernbank ES: $7,000,000
Tear down the $2,000,000+ wing and replace the school: $13,500,000+
So what did Fernbank get from this altruistic suggestion? A new school and no redistricting
Pretty smooth move – avoid redistricting and get a new school
Recently, when DCSS found out we are $40,000,000 short on SPLOST money because the last administration forgot to pay interest on a bond and the new SPLOST money had to find cuts, guess who not only didn’t get bumped or delayed and in fact is first on the list to get their new school – Fernbank.
Supoort for Eugene Walker has been a good move for Orson and Fernbank.
DCSS does not need any more partisan politics than we already have. That’s a major reason we are in the shape we are in.
GotBusted
July 24th, 2012
8:35 am
@ DeKalb Teacher…. Thanks for all of this information! I find it very interesting and distressing that schutten is SUPPORTING teacher layoff!!! How two faced of him! I will definitely point this particular blog out to many many other teachers that I know pay into ode. They certainly do not deserve to be represented by an organization that does not support teachers. YES, I know we are a “right to work” state, but that does not give schutten OR ode the right to do the dirty dealings they seem to do behind closed doors (or in back room meetings). What a twisted web of garbage we live with in DeKalb county! I have two interviews at other jobs this week. Attempting to MAKE ends meet. I would still LOVE to see the bryant center investigated… they need an audit. I would still love to see an audit of the Mountain Industrial complex (fondly known as the golden palace).
DeKalb School Watch
July 24th, 2012
11:18 am
DeKalb School Watch editors painstakingly put together documentation that we believe showed that budget cuts were NOT made as directed by the school board. This documentation formed the basis for an article in DeKalb School Watch blog: “The HR and Budget Reports: 2008-2011.” [http://dekalbschoolwatch.wordpress.com/2012/07/16/the-hr-report/] Then we sent this documentation to Paul Womack on July 15, 2012. We also stated publicly that a forensic audit of Finance and HR is absolutely needed. We use software (not Outlook) that reports back on when and for how long important e-mails were opened and, presumably, read. Womack has never opened the documentation we sent, even though it went to both his DCSS e-mail and his personal e-mail.
Now, though, Paul Womack is dishonestly using the copyrighted DeKalb School Watch masthead and the copyrighted first paragraph of our article, The HR and Budget Reports: 2008 – 2011, without permission, combined with his own narrative — designed to look as though it all was published in DeKalb School Watch — in a campaign flyer. He has no shame.
Womack’s arrogance and dishonesty are only two of the many reasons why DeKalb School Watch strongly endorses JIM McMAHAN for District 4.
DeKalb School Watch’s school board endorsements are:
District 2: Don McChesney
District 4: James (Jim) McMahan
District 6: Denise McGill
District 8: Pam Speaks
GotBusted
July 25th, 2012
8:05 am
@DSW… thank you for continuing the discussion concerning the quite blatant misconduct of the dekalb county school system and it’s boe! PLEASE keep up the good fight. It seems that nothing will get done until someone actually listens. Also, add the fact that the technology department needs a thorough audit as well. Being afraid of retribution, I can say no more than that. I don’t know who can see my information.