The morning after: Did Erroll Davis provide a convincing case for the North Atlanta High shakeup?
Students were among the 800 to 900 people who attended a meeting with Erroll Davis at North Atlanta High on Tuesday night. (AJC/Johnny Crawford)
In his explanation last night to about 900 parent and students at North Atlanta High on why he gutted the school’s leadership team in a blitzkrieg Friday, APS school chief Erroll Davis cited the school’s performance.
Among his comments:
“My view is this school needs to be a lot more than it is presently.”
“Performance data for this schools says it has to improve and improve quickly.”
“From 2007 to 2011, this school did not make AYP. Now, it is an Needs Improvement school, which means under some level of state monitoring.” (Here is the link to the North Atlanta High state report card.)
“The graduation rate is higher than system average. It is at 62 percent, seventh from the bottom at APS. This is not what I want for APS. This is not where we need to be. It means we are failing four out of every 10 of our children.”
Davis was unflappable and polite under tough circumstances. Many people in the audience supported the deposed principal Mark MyGrant, evidenced by the deafening standing ovation MyGrant received when he suddenly appeared and walked through the crowded gym.
Davis took about 60 questions, some of which included sharp criticisms. And he made a good argument that North Atlanta High was not performing up to its potential in its graduation rate.
But then Davis offered a less convincing argument for the purge at North Atlanta High when he cited Adequate Yearly Progress, a measure used under No Child Left Behind to rate schools.
I took two hours this morning to examine that claim.
As of this year, Georgia is no longer bound by AYP. Georgia was among the states that contended AYP was unfair as a school could fail on the performance of only a small number of students. Now, standardized test scores still will count in schools’ annual evaluations, but will carry far less weight as Georgia transitions to a system that will measure students’ readiness to attend college or begin a career after high school.
New designations — Priority schools, Focus schools and Reward schools — replace the “needs improvement” label that state school chief John Barge described as unclear and unhelpful.
The performance of Focus schools is slightly stronger than those on the Priority schools. Priority schools are the lowest-performing 5 percent of public schools in the state; Focus schools represent the 10 percent of schools just above them. The reward designation goes to high-achieving schools.
The state released its list of Priority and Focus schools in March.
North Atlanta was not on either list, although there are plenty of Atlanta high schools on the priority list. (See below where I list them.) The reward list has not yet been released by DOE and is expected soon.
Despite Davis’ emphasis last night on AYP, he hired a new principal for North Atlanta from a school that also did not make AYP.
Gene Taylor is coming to North Atlanta High School from Lilburn Middle School, where he has been principal since 2008.
According to the state 2010-2011 Report Card, Lilburn Middle School did not make AYP in 2010-2011 for academic performance. It was among the 20 percent of Gwinnett schools that missed making AYP, which, in part, stemmed from the escalating standards built into the No Child law
And Lilburn Middle is also on the state’s Focus list this year.
But AYP doesn’t tell the whole story of Lilburn Middle, a 93 percent minority school where 92 percent of students qualify for free and reduced lunches. The system-wide average in Gwinnett for free and reduced lunch is only 52 percent.
When you look at Lilburn’s CRCT performance, you see steady improvement, especially in reading. In fact, 68 percent of eighth graders at the school met the standard for reading and 26 percent exceeded, a remarkable accomplishment for a school where 22 percent of students have limited English proficiency, according to the state report card. The school achieved Title I distinguished School Status in 2009 and 2010.
But neither does AYP tell the whole story of North Atlanta, which exceeds the APS district-wide average on many measures and is, in fact, showing progress.
According to the state report card, 84.7 percent of its students are “Meeting and Exceeding Standards.”
From the report card:
Georgia High School Writing Test: 96.53 Percent Meeting and Exceeding Standard
11th Grade – GHSGT English Language Arts 89.13 Percent Meeting and Exceeding Standard
11th Grade – GHSGT Science 88.13 Percent Meeting and Exceeding Standard
11th Grade – GHSGT Social Studies 83.09 Percent Meeting and Exceeding Standard
To be clear, Gene Taylor has done remarkable work at Lilburn and North Atlanta ought to be thrilled to get him.
But it still isn’t clear why Davis thought that he had to yank the administrative team out of North Atlanta considering that Atlanta has 14 schools on the state’s Priority list and most are high schools. (Here is the AJC story announcing the priority schools.)
Atlanta Public Schools on Priority List:
- South Atlanta School of Health and Medicine (achievement)
- Booker T. Washington High School — Banking, Finance & Investment (achievement)
- Booker T. Washington High School — Health, Sciences and Nutrition (achievement)
- Maynard H. Jackson High School (achievement)
- Hillside Conant School (achievement)
- School of Technology at Carver (achievement)
- Forrest Hills Academy (achievement)
- School of Health Sciences and Research at Carver (achievement)
- South Atlanta School of Computer Animation and Design (achievement)
- Therrell School of Law, Government and Public Policy (school improvement grant)
- Therrell School of Engineering, Math and Science (achievement)
- Therrell School of Health and Science (achievement)
- Crim High School (school improvement grant)
- Douglass High School (school improvement grant)
–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
139 comments Add your comment
Chris Murphy
October 10th, 2012
8:02 pm
@NAHS Former Parent: So, what you’re saying is that is that year after year after year parents get transferred when their kids become sophomores? Or what other schools do they transfer to- what schools are showing a rise in their sophomore numbers of 150-200?
Or would it be that they are dropping out, and when APS’s cursory check for them goes unanswered, they are marked as transfers?
Chris Murphy
October 10th, 2012
8:12 pm
Site: http://app3.doe.k12.ga.us/ows-bin/owa/fte_pack_enrollgrade.entry_form
Concerned Parent
October 10th, 2012
8:21 pm
So, Dr. Davis said that his main reason for these changes was due to the dismal graduation rates and AYP and that he would expect this school to do much better. Can anyone separate the SAT and graduation rates by “in district” versus “transfer” students? (No matter their IB status, or color/race.) If this shows that the graduation and testing scores are much higher for students withing the district, all he would need to do is stop transfer students from coming in and his goals would be met. There are so many of us “in-district” Buckhead parents, paying over $5,000+/yr to APS on our taxes, who would love to be able to utilize the public high school, but can’t for the sake of our children. My son tried it for two weeks and I cannot even begin to tell you how badly he was treated by some students. I sure hope that the newly built school will cap the rate of students to under 1,000, since it seems like we don’t have that many students in our area attending, and don’t want to attract more from out of district. For those from out-of-district, why don’t you just work harder at improving your own schools? Or move?
waitaminit
October 10th, 2012
8:28 pm
hard to believe hpw eerily similar this is to Lakeside High (DeKalb) in 2007
Fritz Neumeister
October 10th, 2012
8:31 pm
The irony here is that Errol Davis and Beverly hall have the same haircut and moustache.
Jeff S
October 10th, 2012
8:32 pm
I am the NAHS parent quoted by Ms. Downey regarding graduation rates. I obtained my data directly from the Ga Dept of Education archives. Those rates use the older AYP formulae, not the newer COHORTS formula quoted by Davis which results in lower numbers…for all schools.
But that is not my point. My point is that over the last three years NAHS is trending up at a rate several times greater than the state average. How can Davis then claim a manufactured urgency regarding leadership change?
RenewContract?
October 10th, 2012
8:42 pm
Given the current debate and performance of Mr Davis, is this the time to renew his contract for two years? Pls refer to articles on the WABE website. If you have a strong opinion, please contact your BOE Representative and the BOE chair, Ruben McDaniel.
Chris Murphy
October 10th, 2012
8:57 pm
The new building’s capacity will be 2,400.
appalled
October 10th, 2012
9:06 pm
@Chris Murphy, I like how your brain is working!
@55% of these posters: SHAME ON YOU! This is the 21st century and your comments sicken, sadden and disgust me and HUGE majority of us that live in this neighborhood!!! We happen to LIKE the diversity of our school and recognize the value of our neighbors that come from the outskirts of our community. Chris Murphy is right when he said that in the incoming freshman class last year, only 10, NOT 10%, were transfers. The school didn’t allow any transfers this year at all. The “all white school” that you want will NEVER happen and I, along with HUNDREDS of other parents want you to know that we will FIGHT you to the end about this. YOU will move your racist selves out of this city before it’s through.
This is about performance and our school isn’t meeting the grade. I loved the student last night that said, she wanted us to know that testing scores are low because parents come in demanding their childs grade be raised instead of making their child buckle down and study and stop cheating and LEARN something. What is wrong with parents that think their child is entitled to whatever they want just because their income levels are sky high. Gimme a break! Make your child own his or her own grade and stop coming in to the school to bully teachers into higher grades. What a complete joke!
Also, Davis, it seems to many of us, is looking out for us that actually WANT our children to actually get a great education. I want my child to be prepared for life and not have to rely on their trust funds to get them out of messes. I want them to know how NOT to get into them in the first place.
Lastly, I have forwarded all these blogs to ALL our black neighbors who bankroll way more than most of us do. They live in the biggest houses in the most pretigious parts of our Buckhead community. I wonder how they will feel when they read your nasty and disgusting posts?
I feel sorry for the anger that you carry but I feel so much better for finally speaking up. YOU DON’T SPEAK FOR THE MAJORITY OF OUR BELOVED COMMUNITY!
Concerned Parent
October 10th, 2012
9:21 pm
Holy Smoke! 2,400 High School Students in this neighborhood? If you figure all of Buckhead private schools and public schools, they don’t even come close to this number. Where will they all come from?
Julienne4wonder
October 10th, 2012
9:29 pm
I am white student on reduced lunch, and live within the so called “zone requirements” That is ridiculous. You sir, are an idiot.
Please take a look at the uneducated comment below:
“North Atlanta would be the same quality as 80% of Private Schools if the zoned requirements were adhered to. The Free and Reduced lunch would be well below 20% as well, with just a few students from apartments off Roswell Rd., Peachtree Rd, in Garden Hills, and Underwood Hills, off Defoors, and Collier Rd.
The real Demographics would be about 65% white, 25% hispanic, 2% Asian and 3% Black or something pretty close. If there was not busing to a so called Magnet and all the line jumpers. look at what the Real Demographics of the area are. look at what the Tax Records of the area are. Then you would see how low the free lunches should be.”
Old South
October 10th, 2012
9:35 pm
@jsmith,
You hit the nail on the head. The folks here are probably just not in a position to pay for a private school. The ones who can, but choose APS simply aren’t putting their kids first. It’s like those people who buy in Grant Park with kids and think they are ahead of the curve. oops.
I’d be po’d if I owned a home anyhwere near an APS school. Actually pretty much the whole metro is dismal public-school wise.
RenewContract?
October 10th, 2012
10:05 pm
http://wabe.org/post/aps-board-looks-extend-superintendents-contract
Please read this article. Do you want the APS Board of Education to make this decision now?
Point/Counterpoint
October 10th, 2012
10:14 pm
@BoBo probably boils down to a person’s character and integrity, not so much where they come from. To be a truly effective educator at any level requires one to care about every student.
Questioning Parent
October 10th, 2012
10:20 pm
This is a wonderful blog and thank you everyone for your comments.
I appreciate the link to the APS Transript of Tuesday night’s meeting, which is here:
http://www.talkupaps.com/
It is NOT an accurate Transcript.
I personally asked two (2) questions last night:
(1) Why would any qualified person ever want to come to North Atlanta knowing they could be treated like the Administrators were last Friday who were ousted in a bloodless coup d’etat?
(2) The best decisions we make are when we reverse ourselves. It’s never to late to start all over again. Will you change your mind?
Neither of these questions nor the answers thereto are published on the APS link. listed above!
Now, I did, in fact, ask these questions. Here is aa link to a Fox 5 TV video that broadcasts the first question:
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/story/19770783/aps-scheduled-to-meet-with-parents-over-n-atlanta-firings
I cannot wonder why MY questions, as well as other “hard” questions (”What could be worse than you?”) are absent from this Transcript.
Do you suppose it is related to the “unintended” system wide glitch that resulted in the loss of local control of the NAHS website?
H m m m ……………..
Private Citizen
October 10th, 2012
11:41 pm
Need to call out this management action for what it is: bullying. It is possible that Mr. Davis thinks that by bullying he will elevate his profile for contract renewal. It is possible that he is doing the bidding and will of this school board and will therefore be rewarded for going out there and bullying a target. It sounds like how a gang operates, doesn’t it? People say appeal to the board re: is Davis should have extended / renewed contract. Unfortunately, I have no confidence in this political organization and I am embarrassed for the City of Atlanta that such egregious conduct from management is allowed to happen in the first place. I can understand if a school requires to be reconceptualized etc. and so, and I fully understand the dilemma of two schools under one roof, etc. but this does not allow such reckless and immature action from management and I challenge every person here to recognise, that whatever are your beliefs regarding class, race, apartments, homes, taxes, etc., that this is not acceptable to do this attention-suck move on a school in the middle of their school year. It is amateur hour management style, it is abusive, it is collective punishment, it sets a bad example for the state, and it needs to stop. For those of you who think otherwise in the name of re-doing the school, what if your boss walks in tomorrow and tells you abruptly that your services are no longer needs because a decision has been made that (insert your strategy reason here). It is a horrific and below-professional way to treat people. Hey, let’s take a vote. Does this look like Gangland activity, where someone is told to go out and do an ambush to prove themselves to the gang? Well, answer that for yourself. Is this the Little Detroit school of management? Speaking of Detroit, I can’t really explain it, I wish it wasn’t so, but for some reason this news story makes me think of this recent ambush, where fake-values are used to play make-believe that the aggression did not occur. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/10/10/forced-to-live-alongside-squatter-in-my-detroit-house-woman-says/
Errol David, I don’t know where you’ve come from, but if you think you are applying corporate management to Atlanta citizens, it is my opinion that your methods to not match or resonate the values and methods of what makes for great corporate success. Atlanta is not a medium market. Atlanta is the economic center of the southeastern United States and is a city that is legion for success in business due to innovation and primarily making people happy and comfortable and willing to do business. I’ll be frank. I do not think you are upholding the traditions of this great city, a titan among cities, a leader in the world. Real business does not treat people in the manner you have done. If you’re stuck here for a while longer, I really you hope you clean up your act. I suggest you make some friends in the real business community, the one you probably do not know about and perhaps have not yet met. Maybe someone will take you in and teach you some manners. I certainly hope so. If you want to tear the world apart and make it better, there’s a way to do it and you’re not there, yet. If you want to evolve, that’s up to you. I’m not going to hold your hand but I can ask you to become a man, shed the snake skin, and respect the Phoenix.
Atlanta Mom
October 10th, 2012
11:49 pm
Questioning Parent,
The “transcript” was done in “real time”. I don’t think it is meant as a court reporter type transcript. It is for people who can’t make it to the meeting, but would like to have an idea of what was happening at the meeting.
Private Citizen
October 10th, 2012
11:57 pm
FYI Atlanta from the Ashes, more commonly known as The Phoenix, is a bronze monument located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, symbolizing Atlanta’s rise from the ashes of the Civil War to become one of the most important cities in the world. The sculpture, dedicated in 1969, depicts a woman being lifted from flames by a phoenix, in reference to the phoenix of Egyptian mythology that was consumed by fire and rose from the ashes, just as Atlanta rose from the ashes after being burned to the ground by William T. Sherman’s Union Army during the Civil War. The female figure has long hair and is seen nude above the waist, looking upward. In her raised arms she holds the legs of a gilded phoenix. The sculpture is mounted on a rectangular base. The monument is located in Woodruff Park, located in Downtown Atlanta.
The monument was a gift of the Rich Foundation in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Rich’s Department store. The sculpture was designed by James Siegler, of Houston, Texas, but it was both sculpted and fabricated in Italy, by Gamba Quirino, and Feruccia Vezzoni, respectively. The monument was originally located on a viaduct adjacent to the first Rich’s Department store on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive at Spring Street from 1969 to 1995. In 1995, the sculpture was restored and moved to its current location in Woodruff Park.
Since its creation, the sculpture has become an iconic symbol of Atlanta’s rise from out of the ashes and destruction of the Civil War to become one of the most important international cities.
Private Citizen
October 11th, 2012
12:21 am
And just to keep it balanced and quash any indulgent daydreams and screeching about race, it seems there are a few people who are “born to bully” and it caught up with this person. http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/i-team/usada-calls-evidence-lance-overwhelming-article-1.1179148 Sure works for a while. I guess people like playing make believe and want to “Live Strong.” What a propagandist. Think of the other cyclists who were crushed by this fiend.
Private Citizen
October 11th, 2012
1:00 am
to Parent @ 6:11 pm, In part, one of the things that the best schools do is stay out of people’s way. As one poster indicated, school is an accessory to real life. If you want your kids to be successful at this “failing school that needs to be fixed” you best foster an intellectual or otherwise direction outside of school. That means: read books, real ones, literature not garbage, visit the art museum and know the architecture around you. A quality school is a peaceful place that does not interfere with your life. That’s the key part, YOUR life. You own it, you direct it. Your own time and direction should be more valuable than looking at the school as your service provider. Maybe I’m the exception or something, but the only time my parent(s) interacted with my school was twice, to register me for the first day and in my final year when I wrecked the single family car in the rain. Otherwise, nothing. See, we work all the time and do not interlope at the school. How many times did I utilize a “school counselor” to apply to college? Not once, although I left a year early and was in college when I was 17. I did not need a “school counselor” to do this. I simply applied to the college on my own. The one thing I did was spend about 4 hours a day on math homework. School was a peaceful place. It did not distract me from my personal momentum. The same principal and teachers were there the entire time I was at high school. There were no changes. The were no meetings. There were no initiatives. I think this calm and consistent environment was probably the greatest asset to my academic success, which was not particularly stellar however I had a good sense of self. No one got into my business and no change to my school surroundings for the brief time I was there. To the current students of NAHS, I apologize to you for what you are having to endure and the one thing I can wish for you is to get on with your life and when you go out into the world, do and demand better than what has been do to you. It may not seem like it, but there is a world out there and much has good bearing on how to do things and the word “Leadership” is not ever spoken, and is most definitely not considered an asset to any scientist or engineer. Recognize propaganda when you see it and run for your life. As adults, we have the responsibility to stand up to these issues.
Mom for Education Karen Alston
October 11th, 2012
1:15 am
People, you’re doing exactly what Davis wants you to do – talk about the BS he’s feeding you. That all was a way to throw you off track. The real questions you should be asking are as follows:
1. What is the real story behind MyGrant’s hiring of those two teachers?
2. Who are the two teachers?
3. What happened at the school or what did the District discover that prompted such drastic and swift action?
4. What does Nancy Meister hsve to say about all of this? We North Atlanta parents know how tight she’s been with MyGrant since even before she became a board member. We also know she was making administrative decisions for him while she was president of PTA at Sutton and NAPPS.
5. What is the entire story behind the investigation?
To the Sandy Springs parent:
You are racist. You are envious of Buckhead dwellers. You slept with some black football player who obvioudly dumped you. (This is something you stated in one of your ignorant rants on the blog from Saturday. ) You hate AKAs, the black sorority whose colors are pink and green. You thinl black women are envious of you because you were once with a black man. Let me tell you, we aren’t. You hzve a complex and self esteem issues. Why are you chiming in on issues in a district you don’t live in? Let’s talk about some of the issues at Riverwood. IT AIN’T SO GRAND! Riverwood has a lot of issues, as many, if not more than North Atlanta.
I know of more white students from upper middle class families at North Atlanta who didn’t grsduate. One of the smartest kids who graduated last year was Hispanic. Black and Hispanic kids have grsfuated and gone on to top tier and even Ivy League schools. There are white students who sre on free or reduced lunch, who are bussed in, and are special ed. Being on free or reduced lunch , nor riding the bus signifies there’s something wrong with your brain. The kids at North Atlanta are not racist snd have a mixed array of friends. Kids learn racism at home first. Please stop making the AYP issues about race.
crankee-yankee
October 11th, 2012
1:21 am
Concernedmom30329
October 10th, 2012
1:50 pm
Taylor came on my radar when he was at Crews MS. I heard positive things about him, Crews always has ranked high in Gwinnett’s pecking order.
Something the county office did not like was going on at Lilburn MS and the they asked Taylor to take it over. Rumor has it he made certain demands which included the removal of some pf Lilburn’s AP’s. Once there,he exhibited a heavy hand in decision-making, more dictatorial than team-building in nature. Lilburn was a mess so maybe it was necessary, of that I have no direct knowledge.
But his asking for administrative purges before he takes over a troubled building seems to be a developing track record for him. Those left behind can expect some top-down decision-making.
Private Citizen
October 11th, 2012
1:56 am
Dear Mom @ 11:15, re: 3. “What happened at the school or what did the District discover that prompted such drastic and swift action?”
There is nothing to prompt this action. You may wish to recognize that this type of management action is inappropriate and outside of the norms of good management. They way you manage a work environment is to solve problems, not eradicate people. It is my opinion that you should not accept this type of action or treat it as a norm or something that is justifiable under any circumstance, particularly considering the collective nature of the action. Higher management has responsibility to follow process. If “heavy lifting” is required, there is a set process that must be followed. It’s called, “Hey, higher management, How about if you do YOUR JOB?” (Isn’t it odd how many in higher government seem to forget how to do their job?) The abrupt nature of these recent actions is inappropriate and must be clearly recognized. Do not gloss over or otherwise ignore this unprofessional management style. It is not acceptable and it sets a pattern and precedent for abuse of workers. No doubt there are real and substantive stimuli that must be addressed, but this must be done using process and order. To do otherwise is management not doing their job, inappropriate, unprofessional, and creates liability, malfeasance, and real damage to individuals and to the City of Atlanta. Additionally, it is not acceptable to make action of this type and then not inform the public to the point that people have to make FOI Freedom of Information document request to find out the truth and basics of the stimuli to which the management has reacted. Reactive management is not pro-active management. No citizen should accept these methods from managers who hierarchically have more responsibility for ethics and process than the workers that they govern.
You are correct that by doing an act of aggression and getting the public / parents and students to react, it is a keen method of keeping the public distracted. If I was a judiciary and made a ruling on this case, it would be as follows, in order of importance:
1. Require due process for handling of personnel matters.
2. Require the public to be informed of cause for any significant or public personnel decisions.
3. Address the original concern, which should be expected as part of standard operating procedure.
And I hope that is exactly the ruling that is made by judiciary who examine these actions.
Private Citizen
October 11th, 2012
2:04 am
If Georgia is going to be a “non-union state” it is going to have to elevate its standards in how government management treats workers. This is not the wild west and government employees can not just abruptly do what they want with or to the workers that they manage. I think this needs to be clarified via the court.
Private Citizen
October 11th, 2012
2:23 am
Re: #3, in other words, public administration managers should expects issues and events to arise and it is their job to handle issues without incident. Certainly there is a catalog of worker related issues that arise in the work place and the appropriate remedy and process to address each. This reminds me of the event a day or so ago where they found a box at the CDC so someone decided it was a terrorist threat and they shut down the building, bussed out the workers as an emergency, and called the fire department. Well, the box was probably a box someone set out in the hall and there was no terrorist threat in this instance. When you call the Dekalb County Fire Department to a call of this nature, somebody just spent $20,000. (or more?). That is the cost of this type fire department call. I once saw an administrator go all “Red Alert” because someone had set a box of donation magazines outside a doorway. Maybe they were having brain fizzies or something.
bootney farnsworth
October 11th, 2012
6:51 am
@ private
I have been a supporter of establishing either a real ombudsman office or some kind of independant watchdog office for over a decade, while the cronyism and corruption of state gov’t. has always been bad here, it has gotten exponentally worse since the late 70s and the rush of money into the state.
we sidestep our own rules, hide malfesence in plain sight, and dare you to look behind the curtain – no matter what you see, the political class will serve itself above all else.
Georgia is a right to work state (right to fire, actually) not because its good for business, but because its good for the political class.
JIm Brown
October 11th, 2012
9:32 am
If this situation has always been about the need for NAHS’ excellent performance to be better, why was that line of reasoning utterly missing from both Superintendent Davis’ (non-)explanatory letter last and Mr. Alford’s “official response” on Saturday?
C Jae of EAV
October 11th, 2012
9:36 am
@Atlanta Mom – Nice try at attempting to help the APS Central Office cover their tracks but I don’t by it.
L.M. Entry
October 11th, 2012
10:15 am
With the timing of this unilateral move Mr. Davis is providing the best case scenario possible for the supporters of the charter school amendment while it will remain fresh on voters’ minds. I don’t suspect the overly touted “reverse racism” that is being bandied around as much as reverse psychology being applied by this interim superintendent.
Questioning Parent
October 11th, 2012
12:36 pm
Dear Atlanta Mom,
IF APS “Transcript” was in real time, why omit my questions?
Maureen Downey had a “real time” “Transcript” and SHE did not omit my questions.
How can you explain why the “…can’t be worse than you.” question was also omitted?
How can you explain why the “unintended glitch’ that removed local control of the NAHS website occurred precisely during the Friday coup d’etat and STILL has not been fixed?
There is only one logical explanation: APS is trying to control the message and the communication system. Does APS really think the NAHS Community is so dumb that we do not recognize this pathetic attempt at censorship?
Everyone makes mistakes. That was the point of my second question to Supt. Davis: It is never too late to start all over again.
I guess for Supt. Davis, there is no turning back.
APS High Schools in Practice
October 11th, 2012
1:48 pm
At the “State of the Schools” report, Davis noted that APS is the tale of two districts. One higher performing and one lower performing with an inexplicable achievement gap that did not trend like other urban districts.
Ms. Downey’s article makes me wonder why APS didn’t “transform” the lowest performing APS high school first and then work its way up the line from the bottom?
This just does not make logical sense unless there is something else involved other than building one district of schools that are all concentrated on upward movement academically.
I smell a rat. Wonder where he/she lives? Is he/she an elected official who bears grudges? What is his title and what governmental wing does he work for?
Christopher Adelman
October 11th, 2012
1:54 pm
I am genuinely appalled at the reaction to this change, and embarrassed for us parents. As usual, we seem to be blaming others for our own lack of participation. While at the auditorium I was astounded by how uninformed and insulting some of the most adamant protestors proved to be. It often sounded like they were seeking applause rather than information.
Mr. Mygrant has amassed a group of extremely vocal, yet willfully ignorant followers.
The long and short of this story is that it is first, and foremost an HR problem. Mr. Davis stated at the very beginning that there were performance issues involved, which he could not speak about. He can’t speak about them, because … they’re HR issues! He and APS could be sued if he opens his mouth about the specific performance issues related to individual(s) who were either released or reassigned. It’s not that he wouldn’t say anything…He can’t.
The administrative issues of logistics and underperformance of NAHS were raised as subtext for making an immediate change of various members of the administrative staff, including: potential reprisals by admin’s on teachers during evaluation of NAHS; the right of the new principal to bring in his own staff; and so on.
As a parent of a sophomore at NAHS I am very pleased that Mr. Davis is prioritizing the school for sweeping improvement. It is in dire need. I hope and expect an accelerated rate of positive changes to come.
IMHO this protest has been misguided, but well-intentioned. There are at least two potentially positive outcomes: (1) greater community attention and participation; and, (2) heightened awareness of APS to the need for communication with concerned parents and students.
Rather than focusing our energies on maintaining the status quo, wouldn’t we be better served shouting and protesting for change and improvement? The public school system is already a bureaucratic nightmare. Achieving change of any kind is extremely difficult – and usually comes in drips and drops.
We should be applauding Mr. Davis – not reprimanding him. I am certain that I am far from alone in my dissatisfaction with past NAHS administration, and suspect that a less vocal majority of parents and students are extremely pleased with what we hope is just a beginning, a taste of sweeping change to come.
NA Parent
October 11th, 2012
2:52 pm
@ Jim Brown – in response to your question:
October 11th, 2012
9:32 am
If this situation has always been about the need for NAHS’ excellent performance to be better, why was that line of reasoning utterly missing from both Superintendent Davis’ (non-)explanatory letter last and Mr. Alford’s “official response” on Saturday?
I think I have an explanation. If parents had been handed this information on Friday, they would have be prepared at Tuesday night’s meeting to challenge it with data related to AYP, graduation rates, trends over the past 5 years, comparisons to other schools in the district, etc. I initially thought Davis was crazy to send out such a vague letter. Now I understand the benefits of it for him.
@ Christopher Adelman – I agree with you in large part and think you are right that there is a more quiet group of parents that are also not as bothered as others. There was an extreme response from some parents that seemed to be at least partly emotional based on personal ties developed with the adminstrators and having children who were closer to graduation. I get the sense that another factor at play is a large sense of mistrust of Errol Davis and APS as a whole. No matter how benign some of his statements were (I want more for this school – for example), some were set on seeing lies, coverup, misdirection. I’m not saying I think Davis was completely honest. I do think some of the performance data is a joke and his focus on AYP was misleading. He probably definitely either carefully crafted answers or outright lied about investigations (unless MyGrant was lying to AJC and channel 2 about an open records act request, which seems unlikely).
In the end – either Taylor requested a clean slate as crankee-yankee suggests or Davis wanted a fresh start for the school (we could go on and on speculating about those potential motivations)- and as Superintendent, it was within Davis’s authority to make it happen. The fact that he did it without notice is probably due to his prior experience with the parents in the district and his belief that this was the most effective way of making it happen – even if not the most amicable way of making it happen. Maybe there was a motive to somehow prevent evidence from being collected, but if there is an investigation, it’s unlikely that we won’t find out about it; MyGrant already has his documents collected; and if any other administrator had evidence, APS cannot wipe out their memories/testimony.
At this point, I think everyone is moving on. The kids had their protest yesterday. Time for them to get back their heads back in class.
JD
October 12th, 2012
1:13 am
I’m still trying to make sense of these things: suddenly ousting the principal &all administrators in a manner that looked like they were suspected of very serious wrongdoing, Davis saying Tuesday night something along the lines of “that is standard protocol in sensitive announcements”, replacing 4 of the ousted administrators with 8, and Davis mentioning that they would be conducting an “assessment.” To me, assessment is just doublespeak for “investigation.” With 2 people assigned to each of 4 administrative positions, one can be doing the actual job and the other can be “assessing”. What would they be assessing and how? Well, racial inequity seems to be a theme that keeps cropping up in these blogposts, so I’m guessing they would be looking for evidence of that. They could look at racial patterns in the way students are distributed in the various school programs, the strengths and weaknesses of each program, notes and documents in files and computers. They could also interview teachers and students. By removing the former administrators from the school, teachers and students who have negative opinions of those administrators would feel free to speak up. The “assessment” could be completed before the new principal takes over. And when that assessment is finished, I would expect 4 of the temporary administrators to leave NAHS. The others would stay until permanent replacements are hired. When the assessment is finished, Davis may change the school’s procedures for assigning students to particular SLCs and classes. When new administrators are hired, they would be subject to the new procedures. New administrators would NOT be trained by the old ones and transfer of institutional knowledge would not take place because NEW procedures will replace the former practices.
That’s just speculation, but it’s the best rationale I could think of for (1) ejecting so many administrators and then installing a greater number than were removed, (2) using “protocol for sensitive announcements”, and (3) announcing an “assessment”.
Does anybody have a better explanation?
JD
October 12th, 2012
2:21 am
@ Questioning Parent, Thanks for pointing out what’s missing from the talkupaps transcript. Your first question had not dawned on me, but it is important! After seeing how Mygrant & the other administrators were treated last Friday, who would want to work for APS now?
Jennifer Dharling
October 12th, 2012
9:29 am
“While at the auditorium I was astounded by how uninformed and insulting some of the most adamant protestors proved to be. It often sounded like they were seeking applause rather than information. ”
I had the same observation.
I was appalled by how rude and disrespectful many of the question askers were, especially the young people.
Is that really something we should be proud of?
Jennifer Dharling
October 12th, 2012
9:31 am
” The fact that he did it without notice is probably due to his prior experience with the parents in the district and his belief that this was the most effective way of making it happen – even if not the most amicable way of making it happen. ”
This seems like a reasonable explanation.
It seems that there was some uproar by the “vocal parents” at NAHS over the first principal who was hired back in June (the guy from NY).
NAHS Student
October 12th, 2012
11:33 pm
As a student at NAHS I can honestly say each administrator had our best interest in mind. They always wanted to know how to better us and what we needed to be successful. I can accept change but I feel as if Davis did it without good reasoning. I was willing to give his idea a chance until he told us he had never been in a NAHS classroom and that we were under-performing. For someone who had never entered one of OUR classrooms he sure did have alot of opinions. This was idea that wasnt thought about with the students in mind and I do believe it will backlash. For now, I will continue to learn like my administrators would’ve wanted me too.
Questioning Parent
October 14th, 2012
9:53 pm
This weekend I learned one of my child’s teachers has “resigned.”
Now my child has NO teacher and NO Academy leader.
But, per Supt. Davis, that is “progress.”
If that is progress, I can make you a good deal on a bridge that crosses Peachtree Creek.
We have no choice except to ride it out for the balance of the year,
Maybe the Charter Amendment vote will create alternatives.