DeKalb election results: Mixed message on school board
Interesting results in the DeKalb County where voters seemed to deliver conflicting messages on their satisfaction with their current school board.
DeKalb voters in District 2 turned out incumbent Don McChesney for parent and activist Marshall Orson by a decisive margin, 62 percent to 38.
But many District 4 voters still support incumbent Paul Womack, who, with 47 percent of the vote, fell short of the percentage needed to win outright in a field of four candidates. He is now in a runoff with parent activist Jim McMahan, who won 28 percent vote.
There is also a runoff for Tom Bowen’s District 6 seat between former school system employee Melvin Johnson and ative PTSA member and parent Denise McGill.
Incumbent Pam Speaks retains her District 8 seat, although her opponent — who ran a fairly low-voltage campaign — drew an impressive 48 percent of the vote.
Here are the results:
District 2
Marshall Orson 7,214 62%
Don McChesney (I) 4,396 38%
District 4
Paul Womack (I) 6,705 47%
Jim McMahan 4,019 28%
Tom Gilbert 2,001 14%
Jim Kinney 1,617 11%
District 6
Melvin Johnson 4,973 39%
Denise McGill 3,807 30%
Latasha Walker 2,551 20%
Terrilyn Rivers-Canon 1,262 10%
District 8
Pam Speaks (I) 23,102 52%
Michelle (Mimi) Jenkins-Clark 21,618 48%
–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
100 comments Add your comment
Dunwoody Mom
August 2nd, 2012
7:04 am
@Mandella, at least her constitutents care enought to contact her with concerns and questions. It shows they care about what is happening in the school district.
TuckerMom
August 2nd, 2012
7:41 am
I am happy Pam Speaks won because her opponent’s calling post brought up the north/ south inequities which immediately turned me off. She clearly is not going to represent the entire district. Pam has a sensible head on her shoulders.
We need to focus on retired families and parents without students to inform them that Paul Womack needs to go. Please email and hit the pavement to ensure a change in District 4.
Pardon My Blog
August 2nd, 2012
9:29 am
No, I do not work on anyone’s campaign but it is time to face reality. This Superintendent was not hired based on any stellar career and is in over her head. If she truly wanted to make changes, she would have totally cleaned house, would have gotten rid of 2/3 of central office and consolidated positions, and she would have reduced the salaries to bring them in line with the positions. More importantly, though, DeKalb needs to rid itself through a special election to rid the Board of the three I mentioned earlier as they are guilty of looking the other way while Crawford Lewis totally screwed up the system.
The Deal
August 2nd, 2012
10:01 am
There will be no improvement in DeKalb County schools until the entire board, superintendent, and top 2 levels of administration are gone. In other words, there is no hope for this system. Instead of working within the schools (futile effort), I’m going to advocate for vouchers and changing the state constitution to allow new districts.
no great choice
August 2nd, 2012
10:41 am
@No thinking person takes DSW2 seriously
You are right some of the stuff that gets posted on DSW is out there, sometimes way out there.
But the reality is, no matter how many hours you put into your child’s school, the system as a whole gets worse and worse. DeKalb lost many great teachers this year, and that was with little notice, as the budget was passed so late. By this time next year, DCSS will have lost many more, at every school, especially the stronger ones.
After a while, the little perks of working at school like Vanderlyn, Fernbank, Lakeside, etc wear off. The strong teachers move on because they have choices.
In addition, the quality of principals and APS in DeKalb is lower than surrounding areas. Your school may be ok today, but just wait until there is a vacancy.
What you get in return won’t be nearly as good,because DeKalb doesn’t attract the best and the brightest, it will attract only people who have no choice.
Even Marshall Orson won’t be able to protect you from that reality.
DSW
August 2nd, 2012
11:49 am
@ Pumpkin
You did not get published on DSW — not because of your slimy and questionable content, but because you had already posted under 3 different names, which we have asked you not to do. Pick one name and stick with it.
Smoke Rise Mom
August 2nd, 2012
11:54 am
I’m coming around to the same conclusion as The Deal. I really believe in public education, but DeKalb is so broken. All DeKalb students deserve better than they’re getting, but aside from paying outrageous property taxes, I have to make the best decisions I can for my kids. I can’t wait around and hope things will turn around. Watch out Fernbank, Lakeside, Dunwoody – Smoke Rise parents have given up and started their own school. The blight will soon reach you.
DeKalb Teacher
August 2nd, 2012
11:55 am
@Pardon My Blog
South DeKalb BOE members are beloved in their community and are doing exactly what their constituency wants them to do. Given the tyranny of the BOE majority, we are lucky the Dr Walker gang picked Dr Atkinson.
Returning DCSS Parent
August 2nd, 2012
12:14 pm
All South Dekalb BOE are NOT beloved in their community. Some of them have sacrificed the education of our students and are not even aware of what is going on in their respective districts (Jay Cunningham)! I have sent my son to private school for the past 7 years because my local school was terrible and my property taxes keeping getting higher. My son will attend Arabia Mountain HS this year and my hope is that the school board and community continue to support this awesome school, the administration, teachers to keep it from becoming mediocore. Jay Cunningham, I am watching you and how you vote!
all
August 2nd, 2012
12:21 pm
I just moved out of DCSD but not before I voted against Womack.
alm
August 2nd, 2012
12:24 pm
Darn you auto spell.
I just moved out of DCSD but not before I voted against Womack.
The Deal
August 2nd, 2012
1:11 pm
@Returning DCSS parent, I hope for you that AMHS does the job, but I fear DCSD has reached the point where they are intent on destroying every good thing about our schools.
@Smoke Rise Mom, I predict Smoke Rise Prep will be a model for many communities in the years to come. Now we need to work to get our tax dollars back into our own pockets so that we can enrich our children’s education in the way we see fit, not to overpay executive directors.
It’s not like any of us can move. No one is moving here.
Pardon My Blog
August 2nd, 2012
2:26 pm
@DeKalb Teacher – the tyranny you speak of actually comes from the very group you say are so “beloved”. Are they truly beloved or are they just doing the bidding of outside sources and no one will dare speak ill of them. By the way, have a great furlough day on Monday.
Dekalbite@No Thinking Person...
August 2nd, 2012
9:38 pm
“DSW is just a small group of dysfunctional idiots with little influence outside of their clique.”
So why are you still reading DSW?
Marshall Orson and the Fernbank community are very smart, very affluent and very politically connected. It’s not the deficits of DSW as much as the assets of the Fernbank community that made the difference in this election.
“any intelligent and informed citizen knows that election results by precint are available at the county elections office.”
Well, color me stupid and uninformed because I would truly like to know the link you are going to for this information. It is really hard to see your comments as credible if you can’t provide the source.
No thinking person takes DSW2 seriously
August 2nd, 2012
10:27 pm
Denise, while we understand your need to cow tow to the idiots on DSW2 because they endorsed you, we are disappointed that you apologized for their stupidity, ignorance, bias, slander, libel, and lies. The fact remains, DSW2 has little influence outside of a small clique of North DeKalb bigots. You lost my $100 check and many others. I do hope you beat Melvin Johnson, who is in the race to help Walker keep the corrupt friends and family network in place. However, your flawed support of the equally corrupt FSW2 mafia has called your judgement into serious question.
Crawford Lewis
August 2nd, 2012
10:43 pm
http://www.11alive.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=1763076912001&odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|featured
The Deal
August 2nd, 2012
10:57 pm
@No thinking person. You need to chill a little on DSW2. Sure, they take things a little personally, but, if I spent as much time as they do digging out and researching all of the things that DCSD tries to hide, I might be a little sensitive and edgy, too. Bias, yes, but it’s a blog. Do you have specific examples of slander, libel, and lies?
Mandella1099
August 2nd, 2012
11:26 pm
@Dunwoody Mom – Come on now DM! This is one of those times when you are way off. You just expressed your concerns about Marshall Orson focusing on a narrow band of issues but praise Nancy Jester for doing the same thing! And then the implication that parents in other districts don’t care about what is happening…I’m a little disappointed! Rise above the DSW 2 party lines – you’re smarter than that!
Dunwoody Mom
August 3rd, 2012
6:47 am
@Mandella…LOL…Orson focuses on Fernbank and Fernbank only…period…the…end – at times to the detriment of other schools in DCSD. While I don’t always agree with Nancy, her focus in on what is best for ALL students in the district, not just in her own district.
btw, believe me. I don’t tow the DSW party lines….I am my own person…my thoughts are my own and they are swayed by no one.
No thinking person takes DSW2 seriously
August 3rd, 2012
2:58 pm
Someone previously posted link to election results. DSW would be far ore credible if they put their namesans contact information behind their so called research. What’s the point of hiding if you are legitimate?
Dekalbite@No Thinking Person...
August 3rd, 2012
6:58 pm
Why do you need commenter and/or poster names if there are links to credible sources? The original source material is not written by the commenters and/or posters nor do they claim to be the authors of the statistics published by the school system or the state of Georgia. The source information is primarily written by the school system or the state of Georgia or comes from a quote from a newspaper such as the AJC or CrossRoads. Does linking to the state of Georgia school system data make the data less legitimate because you don’t know the name of the person who created the weblink?
DSW is just a blog. How much influence it has on the body politic is more a reflection of the dissatisfaction taxpayers/parents have with the status quo that has failed so many of the students in DeKalb County Schools.
Since you are so keen on names and contact information, perhaps you could comment using your name and ensure all readers of this blog have your contact information.
bu2
August 3rd, 2012
10:26 pm
“No one should be surprised at DSW’s biased slant and editing of opposing remarks. It is a mouthpiece for Jester and McChesney, short on facts, but long on innuendo, slander, libel, and character assassination.”
The appropriate title for the blog would be “Friends and Family of Don and Nancy.” I’m glad Nancy Jester is on the school board, but they almost worship her. Its ridiculous.
There actually is a lot of good info, but the hypocrisy and bias is so extreme its just amazing. The childish posts about Don losing are hilarious. I didn’t think they would make themselves look so bad. The one district McChesney won by a good margin was the one where, to the detriment of other schools and the school district as a whole, he did a favor for 100 students in that school and got them redistricted to a HS that was perceived to be better. Yet you hear all the nonsense about Orson being interested only in the school he happened to be representing as part of their PTA while McChesney was on the school board and worked for 100 students to the detriment of other schools in his own district 2.
bu2
August 3rd, 2012
10:35 pm
Speaks is knowledgable and was IMO the least objectionable of the 7 long term incumbents, but she deserves to be held accountable for the many failures of the DCSS under her watch. She managed to squeak by against a weak opponent.
I think Orson will be an excellent addition. He is willing to take unpopular stands to get things done that need to be done. In 2010 he was saying the school district needed to get more efficient and close more than the 4 schools proposed to be closed. The school board unanimously decided to do nothing that year and didn’t close schools until the next year, when they closed 8. I hope he will hold the superintendent’s feet to the fire to produce a budget on time and be willing to vote on a budget, unlike the current board, which apparently still has a lot of teachers in limbo, a week before school starts.
Johnson will not be a big disaster for the board. Instead, it would be more of the same. That is Bowen’s seat and Johnson sounds like he shares the same priorities. McGill has the potential to be a positive change.
Dekalbite@bu2
August 3rd, 2012
10:48 pm
Look at DSW before Nancy Jester ran and after she ran. There’s really no difference in the tone and tenor. All of the posts are archived so it’s easy enough to do.
No one resents Fernabnk for their involvement in their school and community. The resentment lies in the influence they wield as they shape school board decisions that sometimes negatively impact the rest of the students in the county.
Orson has been in the forefront of these parent groups. Can he turn his political will to work for all students evenin it doesn’t fit in with Fernbank’s plans? He has championed special programs and schools while our regular education students sit at up to 40 to a class. He has publicly called for tax increases while DeKalb has the highest tax rate in the metro area, and many formerly affluent taxpayers are struggling to keep their homes.
There is a reason why DSW is read so widely. It everything was fine for students in DeKalb, there would be an infinitely lower number of posters, readers and commenters.
The Deal
August 4th, 2012
12:24 am
Dekalbite, I have long said that I wish there were no need for DSW original or DSW2. If DeKalb schools were run with a shred of common sense and compassion for students and teachers, the blog would die off. In the meantime, I consider it a valuable source of information. When something posted is speculative, they say so. Employees, parents, and local leaders provide information on the blog, and I find it a very grass-roots way to disseminate information that our school system refuses to share. Do I agree with all of the opinions of the blog owners? No. Have I been “yelled at” or shamed by those blog owners for posting something they didn’t agree with? Yes. But I still have admiration for their passion and endurance in the face of such a disaster of a system. Except for some obviously sketchy posters, I haven’t read anything on there that didn’t turn out to be at least mostly true. I will take the good (all sorts of information the system isn’t sharing with us) in spite of the bad (slightly sensitive blog owners).
Cere
August 5th, 2012
11:49 am
@Pumpkin
August 1st, 2012
3:41 pm
Here’s why your post did not get posted at the DSW2 blog: Because they don’t allow rumors and stories to post as fact. Sadly, obviously, the AJC does not uphold the same standard. DSW2 constantly requires data to back up accusations, although, many opinions are posted as such as long as they are framed as ‘opinions’ and do not defame anyone who is not a public personality. Anyone could say anything about anyone or make up any kind of random story if your kind of comments were allowed to go unchecked. This is very hard to do as people are generally pretty ruthless on the blogs. They usually have some kind of agenda as well and we found many of them to be ‘team’ tagging that agenda. It’s disheartening and basically why I have given up a majority of my blogging as well as my Polly Anna idea that anything could be fixed or changed. It’s extremely difficult to dissuade people from posting nasty ‘rumors’ and ’stories’. I know, I personally deleted hundreds such comments on the original DSW blog.
bu2
August 5th, 2012
11:57 am
There’s a strong tendency in Dekalb to try tp destroy what is good to drag everything down to the lowest common denominator. To be for opportunities for good students to excel is not to be for the interests on one section at the county at the expense of others. While you may have different prioriities, you fail to see the difference between that. Whether you agree with the priorities, Fernbank Science Center and the magnets are open to the whole county and don’t benefit Fernbank Elementary any more than other schools. In fact, the magnets benefit Fernbank less as they are in the north and south ends of the county.
Cere
August 5th, 2012
12:10 pm
Additionally, I and my fellow bloggers on the original DSW never advocated for simply ‘closing’ programs. We only advocated for equity in spending. Programs are great – as all students are not the same – however, that should not give carte blanche to overspend on some students, while cutting back on others. We have some unbelievably expensive, tiny programs in DCSS. However, the outrageous pushback we experienced from those who protect their special programs at ANY cost was astounding. I came to the conclusion that there are very few people in DeKalb who truly seek equity. Well, let’s just say, they’re all for “equity” as long as their kid or their school doesn’t have to give up anything to provide that equity to others.
Cere
August 5th, 2012
12:56 pm
FWIW, my excellent former blog partner, and stand-up human being, Kim Gokce, also gave up on getting any kind of overall traction within the school system administration or the blogs and focused his efforts strictly on Cross Keys HS. Now, happily, Cross Keys has risen to the expectations — in SPITE of a total lack of support from the administration — and taken the national Winston Solar Car Challenge and the coveted Guntis Terauds Award in Texas!
The moral of the story: Do not waste too much energy trying to change the ’system’. It truly has become a high-paying Jobs Program for the well-connected and the majority of the board will continue this transfer of wealth. Local parents and schools have little power there. Instead, focus like a laser on your own schools. Demand as much funding from the money that’s left after the administration pilfers it and demand as much autonomy within your school building as possible. Support ALL of the teachers and ALL of students with ALL of your energies. That’s when and where you see results.
no mas
August 5th, 2012
1:39 pm
@Cere -
Sadly, I agree with you about focusing on your own schools. If parents are able to reach out to one another across school lines, however, it will benefit the schools and the students – if something is working at your school, it might work for the next school as well. It could be the back door to local control – ignore the BOE and the administration and just get ‘er done.
All politics IS local.
Anonmom
August 5th, 2012
1:57 pm
unfortunately, for anyone person on the board of ed to have the power to really fix the problems requires a majority on the board of ed — so Nancy or Pam or Don or Marshall need 5 votes to accomplish what they want to accomplish – they can not do it alone – they need 4 others to agree with them and to go along in order to make progress. When everyone works for their own “kingdom” then we don’t get anywhere for the district at large — everyone needs to operate for the “whole”– all 100,000 kids — then we might make some headway. Right now, the majority of 5 sees the district as a jobs program to transfer wealth (taxpayer money which is never subject to forensic audits) from one source into specific other pockets — in this way, the district will be bankrupt and ultimately the children lose their futures.
bu2
August 5th, 2012
5:26 pm
@Cere
Your objectiveness is lacking by the current moderators. Moderators set the tone by their choice of topics. Maureen appeared to me to have an agenda to prove there was a fair amount of blatant racism and ran a bunch of topics that generated a lot of hateful comments and she chose to do very limited moderation. Finally, she apparently realized (or her bosses realized) that what she had generated was not constructive and she started doing more filtering and moderating on such comments.
The current DSW2 moderators insult people who disagree with them and choose more topics that show their extreme opinions. And fact supporting is limited to those who disagree with them. For example, one writer flat out lied and claimed the person interviewed about McChesney’s sexist e-mail was a “Fernbank lawyer.” The fact is that person had no connection to Fernbank Elementary or Druid Hills HS. Bizarrely enough several people gave a thumbs down to someone who merely pointed out that it wasn’t true.
bu2
August 5th, 2012
5:32 pm
If a majority of the population thinks the school district should be a jobs program, you won’t have much of an impact, but I don’t think that’s the case. The majority of the school board believes that. And with Walker likely to have to run against Cunningham in 2014, the school board can be changed. Elder is persuadable and two districts are in runoffs with a clear choice of the status quo vs. something different. The school board could potentially be very different in 2014.
Jo
August 5th, 2012
6:12 pm
Cere and no mas are completely correct. Expecting the 5 board members who see DCSS as a “Jobs-and-Transfer-of-Wealth Program” is like expecting a pig to fly — never gonna happen. Trying to convince those 5 to do the right thing is like trying to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig.
The African-Americans who have DCSS in a death grip dislike whites, but they dislike poor blacks more. So, they lie to their constituents and tell them the source of all their troubles are greedy North DeKalb parents — when in reality the greed is entirely with the “Fab Five,” keeping their friends-and-family on the DCSS gravy train. The dog-and-pony show at the beginning of each board meeting is designed to be a smokescreen, obscuring DCSS’s failure to educate the students in a school system that is majority black and run by a bloated and incompetent majority black administration and school board.
What the Fab Five bullies and their accomplices in the majority black administration are counting on is for everyone else to “play nice” and spend time in a useless attempt to bring everyone together “for the whole.” Cere is right: “Focus like a laser on your own schools. Demand as much funding from the money that’s left after the administration pilfers it and demand as much autonomy within your school building as possible.”
Or maybe it is just time to break up DCSS into 2 or 3 manageable independent school systems where honesty is possible and successfully educating students is an achievable goal.
Dekalbite@bu2
August 5th, 2012
11:29 pm
“For example, one writer flat out lied and claimed the person interviewed about McChesney’s sexist e-mail was a “Fernbank lawyer.” ”
And look how quick other bloggers pointed out that she was a lawyer that resided in the Lakeside area.
Cere
August 6th, 2012
7:44 am
This is true Dekalbite. No one gets their info exactly correct 100% of the time. But the beauty of the blogging community is the pool of knowledge and information. Any misinformation is usually quickly corrected by someone who knows the truth of a matter. MOST of the bloggers are intelligent, caring, stable people who really want to improve our schools. But then, there is a small group (trolls) who use the blogs to forward their agendas by posting as several different people appearing to agree with each other or posting hostile comments (even threats) about others thus hijacking the conversation away from the focus at hand. This is purposeful and I have wondered at times if it isn’t coming from paid operatives within the system or a political group. They are very hard to fight and the worst thing you can do is engage them in an argument. That’s why we just used to flat out delete their comments. Watch out for trolls. Recognize them and ignore them. Stay focused on your original conversation.
Onward to the runoffs! Be sure to vote August 21st!
Pumpkin
August 6th, 2012
10:02 am
@Cere
August 5th, 2012
11:49 am
Cere I respect your opinion but I must disagree with your statement here.
“Here’s why your post did not get posted at the DSW2 blog: Because they don’t allow rumors and stories to post as fact. Sadly, obviously, the AJC does not uphold the same standard.”
What I posted was either something I witnessed myself or confirmed in direct conversation with someone who was there. Otherwise I would not have posted it. I could have been more clear in my original post. In the case of the election results, the information is easily researched by others. I deliberately did not post the identity of the person(s) involved because none of them are public personalities although I do know who they were. My point was that the negative behavior had the exact opposite effect of what the man apparently intended to accomplish and I wonder what he was thinking.
“DSW2 constantly requires data to back up accusations, although, many opinions are posted as such as long as they are framed as ‘opinions’ and do not defame anyone who is not a public personality.”
So name-calling is an allowable “opinion”? Defamation is okay as long as you defame a public personality? Derogatory comments are okay as long as they are directed at the right community? Based on the allowed commentary it would seem the answer to these questions is yes.
The tenor of DSW has degraded significantly since you turned it over to new management and it has become an instrument to pit one community against another. I am certainly not the only one who holds this “opinion”. There is a very real and wide rift developing between north and central DeKalb communities and DSW is really helping this division. Meanwhile Rome burns.
Dunwoody Mom
August 6th, 2012
10:15 am
Cere, you know how much I respect you, but DSW2 has become an unbearable community to be a part of, so I have chosen to distance myself from it. The new moderators, one in particular, is intolerant of views with which he/she does not agree. I was verbally taken to the woodshed by this particular moderator. No one deserves to be addressed in such a manner. It has taken on a tone that everything within the school system is bad and must be taken down. Yes, there are many, many issues that we are all aware of, but there is still much good in the district and that is what I choose to focus on. You cannot build up if you are trying to tear down at the same time.
Hope all is well with you Cere.
Ernest
August 6th, 2012
1:14 pm
Wow, I did not realize there were active comments on this blog…..
No surprise, I agree again with Dunwoody Mom. DSW2 definitely has a different tone when compared to DSW1. It’s one thing to have disagreements with fellow posters but I’ve seen more repulsive comments about individuals, communities and groups of people than before.
Ironically I went to a public meeting this past weekend where Dr. Atkinson was the featured speaker. I’m sorry to say there were at least 6-8 uniformed police officers there, in addition to her security person. I understand when there are RIFs that angry people make threats. I’m sure reading some of the comments on DSW2 about Dr. Atkinson has also heightened concern for her safety.
Cere, hope you are enjoying retirement from actively moderating the blog!
Crawford Lewis
August 6th, 2012
1:14 pm
Yes, people are wasting their time trying to wean the Fab 5 Board members and the Friends and Family off the trough of public money. DeKalb is and will continue to be a Jobs Program for the incompetent and well connected. They are simply a cabal of professional parasites and will stop at nothing to get their hands on their share of pork. They cannot resist looting the school systems budget. Can anyone say “I smell BACON”!!!!!
Dunwoody Mom
August 6th, 2012
1:28 pm
It’s no secret that I am not fan of Marshall Orson. That being said, I hope upon hope that Marhsll will, as a BOE member, make decisions as to what is best for the entire district – even if it means his beloved Fernbank is affected. I’ll be watching.
Anonmom
August 6th, 2012
5:11 pm
I like Marshall — I think he’s bright and articulate and has great ideas. I respect his education and background as an attorney. That being said, I think that Don, who I did not like when he went on the BOE and did everything tha Paul wanted him to do, really did do a good job of preparing for meetings, reading about the issues and trying very hard to learn about the various issues involved and trying to do what he believed was best for the district as a whole. He had his heart in Sagamore and made some promises there that he kept but overall, to me, who really did not like him, I thought he tried to look out for all of the children at a time when doing so was very difficult. I think the e-mail he sent for the meeting with Dr. A was dumb and unnecessary but I don’t think he was such a bad member of the BOE. There are much worse.
Cere
August 6th, 2012
5:12 pm
Ernest, I checked over the DSW2 blog and although people (teachers mostly) are very upset, there don’t appear to be any threats that should make Atkinson feel that she has to have a half-dozen security police around her. That’s a bit dramatic.
Also, the ‘repulsive’ comments have always been there on the blogs. It’s disheartening. It’s why I retired DSW1. You guys just have revisionist history. People will do the craziest things – like post as several people and then converse with themselves – or make threats to the blog moderator or purposely start strange rumors or or or… In fact, I once shut the blog down completely after getting personal threats and threats against my children. I also was subpoenaed in the Heery-Mitchell trial (which was eventually dropped thank goodness!) It was all just too much babysitting and craziness for me. That said, I do miss many of my ‘friends’ from the blog. It’s weird how you can form a kinship with people you just would otherwise never ‘meet’. There were some fantastic people participating in the blog as well!
And although I do try to stay informed as to the DCSS events, I have happily stepped left. I’m now free of DeKalb schools and free of property ownership in DeKalb and I wish you all the best!
Anonmom
August 6th, 2012
7:47 pm
The DSW blog did, has done and continues to do, an unbelievable of getting information some “sunlight” — if there was such a vehicle around when Dr. Lewis tookover and at the beginning of SPLOST 2 … DCSS may not currently be on the verge of being bankrupt. If, the legislature were to pass legislation requiring that all p-card and check register transactions be posted on line perhaps all transactions would get the “sunlihgt” that they too deserve and the corruption could finally start to be minimized. At least the DSW blog has started to make people start and take notice of what has really been going on. Everyone should give Cere a big “thank you” and pat on the back — the blog went a long way towards exposing lots of wrongs in the face of heavy opposition.
Dekalbite@Ernest, Pumpkin and Dunwoody Mom
August 6th, 2012
11:43 pm
DSW2 is being overtaken by teachers in DeKalb. It’s interesting to see that in the last month teachers have begun to post on DSW2 in record numbers. If blogs are barometers of public opinion, then it appears that teachers are entering the fray. Teachers are reticent, conservative and not ones to “make waves” so this is a rough measure of the morale that exists in the classroom where students are being instructed.
Remember that the teacher and his/her students share the same environment. If you negatively impact teachers, you negatively impact students. Wanting teachers to have a rougher time of it economically because “other” workers are suffering in this recession just means that students have a more difficult time since there is no separating the teacher’s environment from his/her students’ environment. That is in essence the difference in teachers and every other non teaching worker be it in the school system or in business. Children are our future and protecting them from the effects of the ill winds of this economic recession should be paramount. You cannot protect children is you do not protect their teachers.
The grave sin the DeKalb administration has committed is not understanding that asking teachers to “take the same hits” as the non teaching staff is that the students are really the ones being asked to “take the hits”. Cutting EVERYTHING and EVERYBODY not in the classroom where the students reside should have been on the table before cutting teaching positions in the classroom and increasing class sizes. Protecting the classroom has not been the primary objective of DCSS, and this is proving devastating to their educational process.
Cere
August 7th, 2012
11:48 am
So true. I often cite my hometown in Ohio, which has excellent schools. Teachers there are paid very nearly six figures. They are treated with great respect. And they attract the best and brightest teachers who do an amazing job with each and every student in their classrooms. This includes art, music, sports, dance, work-study, career exploratories. languages, sciences and AP courses. I will say that their taxes are higher than ours, but not exponentially so and certainly nowhere near places like New Jersey. It’s possible to do an excellent job in education as long as you put your main focus on teachers and students and let the rest follow as support of the teachers.
In my work, we do a corporate exercise called “My Five Big Rocks” where you put 5 rocks in a jar and name them as your most important parts of your life and work. Then you fill in with smaller rocks and stones until the jar is full. It’s a conscious choice to name your focus and stick to it. In DeKalb, we are filling the jar with small stones and rocks leaving little room for our 5 big rocks — our teachers. That is what needs to change – equitably across the system. Everything else will follow.
Ernest
August 7th, 2012
2:04 pm
Cere:
I think the term ‘going postal’ reflects my impressions of what I’ve been reading on the DSW2 blog. See this definition:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Going_postal
Knowing what I know about added security due to threats, I’m sure she did not request it. Unfortunately it comes with the territory when you are in a leadership position and are required to make tough decisions.
I also recall you mentioning the threats you got. Plain and simple, it was wrong. The cloak of anonymity makes some people do strange things.
In your hometown, I’d be interested to see the level of parental and community involvement. I would speculate it is collectively higher than it is here. As an earlier blog inferred, when teachers are supported by parents and administrators, they can be more effective. This is something like the three legged stool analogy, all must work collaboratively to support the students.
AnonMom
August 7th, 2012
10:30 pm
when my children were still enrolled in DCSS schools, the teachers were feeling the pressures of a dysfunctional school system. These pressures were being felt by my children in the classroom — ultimately, my husband and I decided to spend our retirement on private school and we pulled them out. Meanwhile, the pressures being brought to bear on the teachers in the classroom have only escalated in the years since we left (youngest has been out 2 years — oldest 4.5) — there are many more kids in each class (and mine were entitled to gifted staffing) — planning time has been reduced and the curriculum changes every odd year or so… even the most sainted of the teachers can not fail to take these pressures out on the children while their salaries have declined year by year. The focus of the system has been on corruption, friends and family and not on the children in the classroom who desperately need the adults in charge to give them their futures. The scars left by teachers taking their frustrations out on them — hour by hour — in overstuffed classrooms can last a lifetime. On the contrary, a good year, with an incredible teacher, in a classroom where learning takes place during the 6-8 hours the child is there at an appropriate pace and level can also leave its mark and make a positive impression for a lifetime. One can lead to college and grad school and the other other to welfare and prison. DCSS is heading our children down the wrong path. Society will continue to pay the price — we have only just begun.
Crawford Lewis
August 9th, 2012
9:24 pm
Thank you Cere for putting the spotlight on where it belonged. We can only imagine the pressure you dealt with.
Cere
August 10th, 2012
2:23 pm
You’re exactly right, Ernest. Parental involvement is high in my hometown. However, not as you might think. Parents are very active in extra-curricular, but no so much during the school day – you don’t see many parents in the building during school hours. (In contrast, Oak Grove’s hall are streaming with parents, which is what makes that school so successful.) But back at home, teachers are trusted to get the job done. That said, some parents are trained to help tutor early readers as these schools have deemed good reading ability JOB #1 and work very hard to identify and help early strugglers.
All in all, there is basically a skeletal administration, with most of the finances going toward high quality teachers, great buildings, supplies and equipment. Everything is focused on student achievement and all around education: be it the arts, physical ed, traditional core, and vocational/career tech.
The arts education is remarkably better than here. You absolutely would be blown away by these kids high school plays.
I’ll tell you what the big difference is: There are plenty of resources to go around. My family in Ohio would be mortified to be asked to bring in basic supplies like paper towels and copy paper to school. The schools in my hometown do not want for anything. They have quality teachers, fantastic support staff, art, music and PE in all grades and very nice, well-maintained buildings. They do not grapple with the fighting over scraps and power groups in conflict like here in DeKalb. In DeKalb, there are far, far too few resources and a gap in even basic supplies that cause us to look like a third world country fighting over the rice bags delivered by Unicef. Just like in corrupt third world countries, FAR too much is used up at the top, leaving far too little for the classroom.
A major component to their success, I believe, is their size. Almost all of the smaller towns have fantastic systems in the north and midwest. The local control and small (volunteer) school boards deal only with school issues at hand – they don’t have the corruption and saturation of inept employees. But then, when you get into the big city school systems, you get into crime, family and poverty issues along with the corruption that occurs with enormous budgets. They also have a nearly impossible time finding good teachers – no one worth their salt likes to teach in those environments.
DeKalb is split that way – it’s like a small, city districts in some areas (that still have to deal with corrupt, inept leadership however) and inner-city, rough schools and poverty-minded thinking in others (case in point, the guns brought on property by adults at Arabia last year, and Towers open house yesterday.)