North Atlanta drama continues. Parents now alarmed over teacher resignation.
I am getting copied on emails between parents at North Atlanta High School and APS, and it doesn’t sound like detente has been reached over the purge of the school’s leadership team a week ago.
I am also getting calls now on the resignation of an English/journalism teacher whose hiring created tensions between principal Mark MyGrant and APS, although it remains unclear why.
The resignation of Amy Durham, coupled with the reassignment of Laura Brazil, academy leader for North Atlanta High’s Global Broadcasting and Journalism, has alarmed many parents with children in the program. One parent said her child is a finalist for a $200,000 scholarship but needs recommendations that he now can’t get.
You can read Durham’s resignation letter here. (She actually does not resign in the letter, but retracts her pledge of employment since she was never approved by the board.)
Durham and school board member Nancy Meister were middle school PTA co-presidents together and remain friends. When I asked Meister last week about why APS was dragging its feet approving Durham’s contract, she declined comment, saying it was a personnel matter.
MyGrant said he has been frustrated and upset by the board’s inaction on Durham and vague allegations against her that have never been formally outlined or ever substantiated.
He told me last week: “In August, I was contacted by Deputy Superintendent Karen Waldon on three separate occasions reporting anonymous allegations alleging that I was planning to fire a employee leaving for maternity leave, and was hiring two new teachers that were ‘racist.’ I did all I could do to investigate these claims with the very limited information I received, but one of the teachers never got processed and the one that signed a contract and is currently working has never been approved by the board. Her name was taken off the gains report in August and didn’t return in September or October. I tried for weeks to get answers from the very top on down, but was completely stonewalled. “
Many parents believe Durham was the casualty of a school board dispute. I can’t speak to what concerns APS may have about Durham’s hiring, but I can say that many parents spoke highly of her teaching to me this week.
A second point of contention has been the counselors that APS school chief Erroll Davis promised to the the North Atlanta High audience Tuesday.
But, in an email copied to me, a parent wrote:
Frankly, in light of the precipitous removal of the respected administrators, I considered Mr. Davis’ offer of outside grief counselors to be both a recognition of the injustice the students felt (which is traumatic), and an appropriate attempt at reconciliation. I am sorry that many students were told their were no grief counselors and were unable to access the services.
North Atlanta interim principal Sidney Baker responded:
Yes, there were four additional counselors on site in the media center. I am sorry for the confusion. Also, the NAHS counselor team was also available for any student as well.
Someone on the blog suggested that North Atlanta High was probably returning to normal. I don’t think that is the case, yet.
–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
182 comments Add your comment
Wilbur
October 14th, 2012
6:49 am
I see the small minded APS apologists are back in force here, attacking children and trying to distract people from Davis’ arrogant and poorly explained actions. The idea that state was going to “take over” is ridiculous. There are several hight schools in APS worse than NAHS, will the state take them over? Will Davis replace their leadership team? We will know shortly.
Or is he on a race based witch hunt?
long time educator
October 14th, 2012
6:59 am
APS sounds like a complete mess. If many of their schools did not make AYP legitimately. perhaps the whole thing should be shut down. Does the state not have a responsibility to address this given the cheating and poor performance? All of these schools reside in a county of Georgia which already has a county school system. Why not reasign them to the district where they are located and disolve the APS? Breaking up this mafia-like city system could be a lifeline for the poor students and teachers trying to soldier on under these bullies.
Jack
October 14th, 2012
7:35 am
“Race-based witch hunt” sounds about right.
Right one
October 14th, 2012
8:00 am
Simply put, Mygrant has become a martyr to those who wish for Buckhead to become it’s own municipality. Thank you for that Errol, although I suspect that the real henchmen somehow convinced you this was the right move. Also, is it factual that you did not even meet the new Principals at North Atlanta and Jackson until you presented them to the board last Monday? A pattern is developing here, you are sure signing off on a lot of things these days that you are hoping work out.
concerned
October 14th, 2012
8:08 am
@ karen alston Kelly Day was not slipped the keys or given undue access. She was the single go to person for the renovation of that building in the first place. Without Kelly Day North Atlanta will still be under going renovation, the teachers would not have had any of their materials in place still and there would be text books in heaven knows what kind of condition or location. As for her getting access to student records and rilfing through them to gossip- that is malicious and slanderous gossip yourself. if you actually spent any time in the school you would practically never get to see her sitting down she was that darn busy, She had the misfortune of being an exceptionally capable and hard working person along with the other people have were relocated and the wonderful teacher who pulled her employment agreement.
The chill this has put on other hard working people in the school is remarkable. The message is hard work will be punished not rewarded.
indigo
October 14th, 2012
8:11 am
I knew from the start that race was the fuel running this contemptable engine. I also knew that any attempts to blame this sorry situation on race would result in accusations of playing the “race card”.
Well, this is motivated by black school leaders who see the KKK behind every tree.
If you are a white teacher, I would suggest that the Atlanta Schools are not the best place for you to be employed.
concerned
October 14th, 2012
8:13 am
Kelly Day had an official position in the school and was officially there- badge and all from APS as was Mrs. Durham.
As for the previous posting about questioning when Mrs. Durham’s certification was proceessed and she was truly eligible. The is just laughable considering the slow as paint drying at getting anything processed involving certification down at HR. How about all those teachers two years ago who had to scramble to get their certification in alignment with NCLB because the HR people were totatly screwing up the processing/record keeping.
HR is a nightmare and Karen Walden sounds like an unprofessional person if nothing else for not actually provided any level of professional communication to a stake holder in the system. That would get a teacher put on PDP atleast.
Laura
October 14th, 2012
8:30 am
Godspeed Amy
concerned
October 14th, 2012
8:50 am
This whole situation is so frustrating. I have one child enrolled at North Atlanta and I considered the input of a great many parents and teachers when I did so. I am not so sure that I will continue next year as hard working people are not at all rewarded and treated with such disrespect for just being professionals. If there was institutional racism, was it necessary to create a frenzy over two weeks of time right when there was so many important things going on in the school. I visited the school and watched and heard about Kelly Day= she was remarkable at handling the renovations and the last I saw of her she was up to her neck with textbooks being inventoried. I am not so sure that North Atlanta will attract that level of hard working professional at any of the positions as hard work, regardless of the color of someone’s skin, is not rewarded.
concerned
October 14th, 2012
8:51 am
I also heard that North Atlanta pep rally for homecoming had one of the administrators back in the building but not any of the others. Why was this allowed but not for the others?
Point/Counterpoint
October 14th, 2012
8:59 am
@concerned…I wasn’t questioning when certication was processed, I stated I went to the GAPSC website and checked.
Bill Mackinnon
October 14th, 2012
9:01 am
Dr. Davis at best dissembled at the meeting last Tuesday, at worst lied. He also had an opportunity to show LEADERSHIP at a time when he and EVERYONE else was demanding it. He absolutely failed but cited his having been a CEO of a Fortune 1000 corporation (I have lots of questions about that, but for another time). @Indigo intimates that black leaders see the “KKK” everywhere. Well, guess what ,from this white man, it is true (read “The New Jim Crow” and look for the effects on black teens). It is also true that RACISM GOES BOTH WAYS. All it takes to ruin a professional and personal life is to accuse someone of racism. Like accusing someone of sexual predation. Throwing the race card if you are black legitimizes your complaint immediately ( and accomplishes many things). Whites throwing the race card gets a much more diffuse and unfocused reaction. I don’t want to just comment on the truth of the dramatic and messy problems that have erupted at North Atlanta. Everyone involved has been hurt: the students, the teachers, the administrators who “left”, Amy Durham (a parent and a teacher), the parents who are involved and those who silently depend on North Atlanta to educate their children. Ranting and raving can only serve one purpose-to bring the causes of this drama to the light of day and LEARN LESSONS to avoid repetition. Meanwhile how to we go forward? It requires leadership, starting with Errol Davis, The Board and moving down into the classroom. The start is for Errol Davis to acknowledge his mistakes in acting so precipitously, fire those on his staff who promoted and encouraged him to act this way. Davis needs to come forth with a VISION for North Atlanta that is part of a comprehensive VISION for APS. He needs to communicate this vision repeatedly to ALL the North Atlanta constituencies (down to the students and up through the APS Board) and get their support for this vision. He needs to hold that Vision clearly and stubbornly.
The APS is trying to heal from a terrible illness and has a long way to go. Like the human body, if the toxins and germs are encapsulated and put away, they will only come out later and do more damage. What is required is the courage to shine the light on the cause of the illness and scrape them out of the corpus of the organization. APS has not been able to do that yet, after all their former leader has not been held accountable for the poisonous toxicity that flourished during her reign. Cleaning out the poison will probably never be complete and this situation with North Atlanta is an example. The Vision is the antidote and needs to be applied liberally.. If Errol Davis can’t or won’t rise above and do it, then he is the wrong person for the position and needs to be replaced.
Pride and Joy
October 14th, 2012
9:15 am
Simply put, if you are a white teacher, student or parent in APS, you’re screwed.
Private Citizen
October 14th, 2012
9:24 am
In the current law for German military, organizational structure is well defined, and soldiers have a right to not follow an order that violates human dignity.
“Unfeasible orders, as well as orders which violate human dignity or are without official aims, need not be executed.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_and_obedience_in_the_Bundeswehr
____________________
Germany also made a clear and formal distinction between academic content and politics/values. They are put into two separate categories and it is illegal to teach “values” in the school house. Student / teacher interaction is limited to content only. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1990, this was a difficult transition for many teachers from East Germany who were used to spending 50% of their energy indoctrinating students with “values” and many Each German teachers equated this with being “caring.” It took a decade of working with these teachers to get them to shed this habit as many reverted to it automatically.
Beverly Fraud
October 14th, 2012
9:44 am
APS needs to hire better apologists if this is the best they can come up with LOL
Beverly Fraud
October 14th, 2012
9:46 am
If and when the economy recovers is there any doubt there is going to be a teacher shortage in America?
RAMZAD
October 14th, 2012
10:18 am
I find all this tempest delightful and liberating for the vision of State chartered public schools. The Buckhead Mafia wants to believe that it can be part of the Atlanta school system, but not of the Atlanta School Board- local control. This is clearly not possible. You can’t have it both ways.
The local control of public schools needs to be gutted all over America. Local control has met the enemy and it is they.
Worked for Taylor
October 14th, 2012
10:28 am
Maureen, I have offered to tell you where to look for evidence of cheating and massaging the numbers @ Lilburn Middle School by Dr. Taylor (incoming principal for N. Atlanta High School). His record of turning LMS around is only possible due to falsified AYP statistics submitted by Taylor. North Atlanta has no idea of the train-wreck that is approaching with the impending arrival of Gene Taylor! You have my email, contact me if you want a real story about this lying, cheating clown…
Private Citizen
October 14th, 2012
10:35 am
You know when your spider sense is tingling? When you have intuition? That’s where I’m at with that a “board of education” must approve a teacher hire before it becomes active. Why this makes me uncomfortable:
1. It creates the illusion to that the teacher-worker “owes their job” to the local board of education. Some places, this is openly stated. I have seen one one happy.connected teacher ask another, and this is a quote, “How many years have you been *with “the board”*?” It’s sounds like a lover or something. It’s weird.
2. Main thought: It violates organizational hierarchy. The building management should do their own hiring. Having “the board” involved in teacher hiring confuses organizational hierarchy.
3. It is micro-managing, which is destructive to the workplace. It is skipping caste, where the high caste toys with the lower caste. Although it is illegal, there are also “board members” who will come into the school house and hover around parts of the school / teachers / classrooms which violates the boundaries of the building management, although they have to go along with and fawn and play host.
4. For all the talk about corporate management, in a corporation, managers are given the power to hire the workers they need and are given the responsibility to make these decisions.
5. Hiring process is supposed to check for credentialing and formal background check for crime., etc. Manager (principal) is supposed to hire the people they need to accomplish their mission. What is the justification for outside monitoring of individual hires with power to veto same? That’s the system, right?
6. When upper caste meddles with lower worker caste, it is not good management and is an example of poor boundaries. I would think it would obstruct productivity on many levels.
7. In the interview video with the principal from the quiet high performing school in Finland, the place with nice big windows and light streaming in, and lots of nice tables and teaching supplies, the principal states with emphasis (quote) “I run this school. There is no politician that tells me what to do.” Since Finland has very high requirements for acceptance to teacher training programs (5% of applicants accepted or somesuch) and the principal is boss over this caliber worker, this principal probably knows what they are saying. but over in Finland, teaching is treated as a profession.
8. On the training side, US teachers are required to go through one of these US college teacher training programs, and from what I’ve seen these programs are absolutely dominated with textbooks from the likes of UK Pearson publishing and there is a lot of busy work and values training and very little emphasis on training in teaching specific subject areas, i.e. content. But that is a different subject. The same companies selling the testing to the states / counties have a strong hold on the textbooks used in the teacher training programs. There is very little diversity on textbook publishers / sources.
Ron F.
October 14th, 2012
10:39 am
@RAMZAD: so you see the charter school movement as a plan to remove “local control”? Interesting when the supporters of the movement tout it for its power in establishing “true” local control. For once, I think you may be right.
ChartersStarter, Too
October 14th, 2012
10:40 am
@ Cat Lady, I agree.
@ Bootney, very helpful information for Ms. Durham – an spot on, too.
.human
October 14th, 2012
10:43 am
Amy Durham and Mygrant get the shaft from APS ..while APS hires back tainted principal for Douglass …..good job APS and Errol …..you never cease to amaze me
Bill Mackinnon
October 14th, 2012
10:50 am
@RAMZAD
This is exactly why the Charter should be voted down. Putting local issues with school systems in the hands of appointed or state-wide elected politicians is boneheaded. What will you do if the resulting charter school is no better than the local public school? You think you will have your concerns listened to or responded to more effectively? It is difficult enough to get the local people to listen and act, much less to add layers issues at the regional and State level. If scoundrels are to run things locally, I want “my” scoundrels in charge, not someone else’s.
Ed Johnson
October 14th, 2012
11:02 am
From…
“What’s a Good Leader or Manager to Do?”
http://www.nist.gov/baldrige/insights.cfm
“One of the frequently referenced commentaries on leaders and managers is several decades old, from the 1989 book On Becoming a Leader by Warren Bennis. He composed a list of differences:
• The manager administers; the leader innovates.
• The manager is a copy; the leader is an original.
• The manager maintains; the leader develops.
• The manager focuses on systems and structure; the leader focuses on people.
• The manager relies on control; the leader inspires trust.
• The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective.
• The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why.
• The manager has his or her eye always on the bottom line; the leader’s eye is on the horizon.
• The manager imitates; the leader originates.
• The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it.
• The manager is the classic good soldier; the leader is his or her own person.
• The manager does things right; the leader does the right thing.
“One could summarize many of these points through the concepts of management being transactional and leadership being transformational.”
Clearly, and to @Bill McKinnon’s excellent post, APS remains in great need of leadership.
Beverly Fraud
October 14th, 2012
11:27 am
The Buckhead Mafia wants to believe that it can be part of the Atlanta school system,
Which is worse; the Buckhead Mafia or the APS Mafia? Remember they BOTH conspired to work together to “finesse past the governor” widespread systemic cheating.
Or have we forgotten so quickly who was on the “Blue Ribbon Commission”?
Rockerbabe
October 14th, 2012
11:56 am
What a shame that such a willing and hard working teacher is left to dangle in the wind. When the politics of any situation becomes so unresponsive to a simple request for clarification, then it is no wonder that well educated teachers leave for greener pastures. I wish Ms. Durham well in her future endeavors.
Prof
October 14th, 2012
12:03 pm
I am struck by something that ex-Principal MyGrant said to Maureen, reported above: “In August, I was contacted by Deputy Superintendent Karen Waldon on three separate occasions reporting anonymous allegations alleging that I was … hiring two new teachers that were ‘racist.’ ” One of those two teachers was Amy Durham. WHY was the Deputy Superintendent reporting such allegations, allowing them to remain “anonymous,” and evidently expecting MyGrant to take action upon them?
I can think of several legal consequences, none of them good. Isn’t it a cornerstone of American law that the accused has the right to face the accuser? And hasn’t Ms. Durham’s professional reputation been damaged by this anonymous accusation?
Prof
October 14th, 2012
12:08 pm
I think that the highest APS administration is circling its wagons to protect one of its own, who is about to become part of as large a scandal–though very different in nature– for APS as the cheating scandal. I also think that Superintendent Davis may not WANT to have his contract extended at this time.
KIM
October 14th, 2012
12:19 pm
Why would anyone want to be part of APS when it is so drama filled? Why would anyone want to be in a system that does not have leaders that reflect any of the proven leadership behaviors that result in quality performance? E DAvis needs to move on. When, oh when, will the board hire a superintendent? This is a mess. Taxpayers, get on with the pressure.
KIM
October 14th, 2012
12:20 pm
To all the charter school amendment proponents: this is NOT a scenario that would be eliminate with charter schools. If anything, there will be less accountability, not more.
The Laseter Family
October 14th, 2012
12:23 pm
Amy Durham is one of the most concerned, compassionate and dedicated people that we know. We have seen her put in countless hours through volunterring to the Atlanta Public School system over the past ten+ years in a variety of roles in several different schools. She is selfless in her efforts to help others — especially the kids. Amy does not see differences in people, but truly sees the uniqueness in each of us and seizes the opportunity to help when it is needed — even if it includes personal sacrifice. She is tireless in her efforts to bring out the best in others. We have never seen her say or do anything that would favor one group over another. Her compassion and dedication run deep. Amy Durham is someone that we should all work to emulate.
Attentive Parent/Invisible Serfs Collar
October 14th, 2012
12:40 pm
Bill-part of what is going on at APS comes out of what is called the Regional Equity Movement. It is driven not by wanting APS to cease being dysfunctional but to force the high achieving suburban districts like Cobb and North Fulton to cease their emphasis on high academic standards. It was also a component of the Integrated Math statewide mandate.
I have said before that my reading on Fulton’s charter is that it guts academics. That is also my reading of the 2017 Strategic Plan. Last Friday I went to the ARC breakfast because I had read Bruce Katz’s Reflections on Regionalism book and he was the guest speaker. I wanted to make sure I understood what Regionalism looked like in 2012.
For those who have never heard of it, Regionalism argues that racial justice will not be met until measures are created “ensuring that people of color have equal access to jobs, schools, and housing throughout metropolitan regions.”
In education this mandate pushes nonacademic visions and economically it is a highly interventionist government directed economy. Hence the lure of Green Growth and Low Carbon Technology a la Solyndra. That’s the context for a whole lot of public policy right now. You can dictate what credential are sufficient to gain which well-paying jobs because the Green Economy is all govt led anyway.
Somebody like me who lives and breaths history and economics will point out there is no mass prosperity in such an economic vision. And if education reforms are based on this dirigiste vision, and my research shows they are, then we are educating for a future without economic prosperity.
Which I believe we need to be talking about right now. Before it gets worse.
Please note that Erroll Davis’ background as a Utility Executive may be relevant to an economic vision centered on New Types of Energy where all the incurred costs can be passed onto consumers with a % over and above tacked on as the designated profit. The more spent the more that 8% captures in absolute dollars.
You can begin to believe that all Business should be state directed like that which was precisely my take on Mr Katz’s speech. It was quite the Corporatist future vision with the phrase “Collaborate to Compete” between business and government officials.
Does that help explain more about what is really going on in the schools? You cannot separate it from the desired social, economic, and political Transformation. And that Transformation will negate current levels of prosperity unless you belong to the politically connected class that lives at taxpayer expense.
Who will teach our children???
October 14th, 2012
12:41 pm
The lack of respect shown to the administrative staff at North Atlanta HS is indicative of the culture of disrespect that now permeates APS–particularly among its teachers. From forcing teachers to reapply for their jobs for the 2012-2013 school year; to how they put teachers who weren’t picked up by their schools in a virtual ‘trash pile’ ; to adding 4 teacher furlough days when APS teachers have not had a salary increase since 2009; to increasing the class size; to doubling the students’ and teachers’ work load by changing the academic schedule at high schools from a 4 by 4 schedule (four classes each semester) to a 4 by 8 schedule (four classes each on alternate days which increases student failure rates academically); to changing the teacher pay schedule from the 5th and 20th simply because this schedule was not an industry standard (causing accounting hell across APS for those who use automatic bank payments for expenses); to creating a climate of fear and intimidation if the system’s unrealistic goals are not met–APS will soon see teacher resigations increase as teachers flee to other districts and choose less pay for more sanity.
Attentive Parent/Invisible Serfs Collar
October 14th, 2012
12:42 pm
Maureen-I am showing up as “Waiting for Moderation.” Please free me from Blogging Purgatory.
crankee-yankee
October 14th, 2012
12:45 pm
I’ve been watching, amusedly, from the sidelines but there are a few points that should be clearly stated.
1 – Personnel issues should NEVER be discussed publicly. Period, end of sentence. If that is the underlying issue, Davis should be more clear about it.
2 – The note from MyGrant to Maureen mentioning ORR documents MAY point to why the administrators were escorted out of the building. APS didn’t want any possibility of documents being released.
3 – If board members are discussing personnel issues outside of closed boardroom doors, they should be open to legal action by those impugned, and I hope they are sued.
4 – This whole thing is about something not yet made public, if it ever will.
crankee-yankee
October 14th, 2012
12:46 pm
Beverly Fraud
October 14th, 2012
9:46 am
Certainly in Georgia.
Can someone please explain institutional racism to me again?
October 14th, 2012
1:23 pm
Florida Passes Plan For Racially-Based Academic Goals
“Palm Beach, Fla. (CBS TAMPA) – The Florida State Board of Education passed a plan that sets goals for students in math and reading based upon their race.
On Tuesday, the board passed a revised strategic plan that says that by 2018, it wants 90 percent of Asian students, 88 percent of white students, 81 percent of Hispanics and 74 percent of black students to be reading at or above grade level. For math, the goals are 92 percent of Asian kids to be proficient, whites at 86 percent, Hispanics at 80 percent and blacks at 74 percent. It also measures by other groupings, such as poverty and disabilities, reported the Palm Beach Post.”
http://tampa.cbslocal.com/2012/10/12/florida-passes-plan-for-racially-based-academic-goals/
Given that the above institutional behavior is what currently passes for ‘correct’ educational policy, I am curious to know if the teachers accused of racism were requiring that all students, regardless of the color of their skin, meet the same academic standards.
bootney farnsworth
October 14th, 2012
1:30 pm
@ Beverly,
(tongue firmly in cheek)
but at least, thank God, she didn’t have a union to protect her from all this
bootney farnsworth
October 14th, 2012
1:32 pm
unless something has drastically changed, Erroll Davis is not one to acknowledge he has mistakes.
the rest of the world is incapable of understanding his genius
bootney farnsworth
October 14th, 2012
1:33 pm
why on earth am I going into moderation?
Another Mom
October 14th, 2012
1:50 pm
Maureen, Is it common for school systems to listen to/give credence to “anonymous” allegations? It seems like anyone with an ax to grind could say anything.
MDHansen
October 14th, 2012
2:33 pm
I have known Amy Durham and Kelley Day for 16 and 8 years, respectively. Both women made the choice to become active school volunteers when their kids were young. Between them they have contributed well over 25 years of high quality, unpaid work that would be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in a corporate workforce before they assumed paying positions at North Atlanta. All APS schools are better off for their involvement, be it directly or indirectly. If this public exposure has a bright side for either of them I hope it’s to catch the eye of an employer who is looking for intelligence, drive and commitment because Amy and Kelly each bring that and a whole lot more to any job they tackle.
David in Midtown
October 14th, 2012
2:38 pm
Kelley Day is one great lady. The positive things that she did for North Atlanta while she was there, and for Sutton Middle School before that, couldn’t be missed by anyone with even one eye open. And she has done it all while raising two children as a single mom and working nights and weekends to support herself and her family. It is almost inconceivable that she would be treated so shamefully. Through it all, she has managed to keep a smile on her face. Amazing.
Maureen Downey
October 14th, 2012
2:46 pm
@bootney, Everybody is. My policy for when I can’t be on the computer for several hours. One kids had a tennis tournament today; another has a concert. So, moderation will continue.
Maureen
Carlos
October 14th, 2012
3:12 pm
There needs to be a forensic audit of what happened within the APS HR department leading up to the the retirement/transfers at NAHS.
It looks from a distance like HR needs to be beefed up with people of sufficient stature to contradict “hot-under-the-collar” board members or senior administrators yet still remain in their positions. If this doesn’t prevent situations like NAHS from occurring in the future, then I would be in favor of changing the law to have the Mayor appoint School Board members, possibly subject to approval of the City Council. What we have now doesn’t seem to be working.
Rumors fly under circumstances where there is no due process, an authoritarian administration and little open, frank communication. Capricious, arbitrary decision making behind closed doors and and rumor seem to have been rife at APS long before Superintendent Davis was appointed. If he wants to modernize the organizational culture, then he’s going to need to do some revising of his administrative procedure manual and transfer some of his senior administrators back to a classroom — for starters.
Even competent people with the best of intentions won’t stay put (or survive) for long in an atmosphere like is being described in newspaper stories and the comments to Maureen’s blog.
APS central administrators sound like they REALLY prefer switches to carrots.
Maybe the state should be funding employee research to monitor attitudes at school systems throughout Georgia, with administrative audits triggered in systems where principals, in-school administrators and teachers feel that they have no voice and are can be fired or transferred unfairly.
Little good will happen in districts where the teachers feel that everything is determined by central staff fiat with which they disagree and that there is no due process for them if they are threatened with transfer or dismissal. This is probably true in MANY GA districts.
Educational excellence can’t be ordered by fiat. The same is true for other types of service/consultative/training business. The people who actually do the work need to be front and center and feel effective and respected. In the last analysis, central administrators are as much there to empower principals, in-school staff and teachers to improve student performance as to guide and discipline them.
Former NAHS and Sutton Mom
October 14th, 2012
3:34 pm
From the phone call last Friday until today, all I can see is despair from those of us that have worked long and hard to start turning the schools in Atlanta around. Our children were in Sutton and North Atlanta long before it was acceptable. Yes, we were there so often that one child complained that we shouldn’t be allowed….and yes, when he got in trouble, we knew about it before he got back home….but from other parents. Our expectation was that the teachers were there to teach, and we were there to support them when we could (even though we were working full time, too)…not to “get our way”.
The volunteer hours put in by many parents often go unnoticed….but these schools could not, and do not, run without them. Just follow the complaints of those parents that think the “Buckhead Bettys” are taking over…..they have evidently not tryed to reach out to get to know the other parents. There are many opportunities, other than PTA, where a parent can be involved…even if it is just stuffing folders before school opens (you could always take them home and do them, if your “day” job doesn’t afford that time). We have all put in our time.
Starting in elementary schools here, getting to know the educators, we have been lucky to have these educators follow our children through their years in the public schools. We have also had parents that did the same…..As a parent, have you taken the time to go back to the teachers in elementary, middle and high school that made a difference in your childs life? Have you emailed them lately to see how they are faring with this “lack of confidence” from their employers? We have had incredible support from these same teachers, many who had Amy and Kelley’s children in school, and knew that 1) these were hard working parents, involved from day one with their children’s schools. 2) were always willing to do whatever was needed to help “all” of the children in the class….not just the ones they liked.
Talk to the kids that received help from Amy and Ms. Rasheed in the college zone….how many hours did they spend with the students helping them work on scholarships, and college applications. Ask the kids that looked to Kelley day in and day out when she was helping them through their latest “issue” with the school.
Do you think that they were in the job for the wonderful benefits? Were they PTA co-presidents, so that they could get a job working at the school? Come on….If that was what they were looking for, they would have been elsewhere already. Both ladies were willing to do what was required and more, for little or no pay.
Although our children are graduated, the NAHS “family” will always be a part of our lives….these were our community schools, and we were proud of ALL the families that were there. Shame on Davis and APS for treating them the way they have…..it is our loss to lose Amy and Kelley, along with the administration, that have put blood, sweat and tears into our children.
Ron F.
October 14th, 2012
3:42 pm
bootney: one more reason the dreaded unions were started in the first place: to offer employees some protection from the whims of overzealous or personally vindictive retaliation without “due process.” Detractors forget that many of the workplace benefits they all enjoy currently are the result of decades of often contentious union bargaining. I’m not saying they’re perfect and are, in many cases, subject to their own brand of corruption. But sometimes it would be nice to think this sort of thing could be challenged.
Ron F.
October 14th, 2012
3:45 pm
“Maureen, Is it common for school systems to listen to/give credence to “anonymous” allegations?”
@Another Mom: It depends on who makes the allegations, who they know, and what axes there may be to grind. In this case, I’d say all three will end up being part of the equation that has led to this very public, very sad mess.
2 Decades in APS
October 14th, 2012
4:42 pm
Davis is clearly listening to the wrong people. If he had bothered to do even basic fact-checking he would have discovered that the accusations levelled against these two women are simply untrue on their face. The AJC’s Truth-o-Meter should register “Pants on Fire.” In the same way, the “statistics” he relied on to label North Atlanta High as failing its community just don’t hold up in the light of day (Thank you, Maureen and your colleagues, for pointing this out). Would every one of the Buckhead schools be bursting at the seams if they weren’t doing something right?
My children have been blessed by their contact with each of the educators forced out. Mark MyGrant took two schools that were failing by every possible measure and, in partnership with teachers, students, parents, and the community as a whole, built them into places where every child can choose to be successful. Amy Durham is the parent of four kids in our schools, but she truly believes that ALL the students at NAHS are her kids. In her previous job in the College Zone as well as in her classroom this year, Amy worked 2-3 times the “authorized” hours to help each and every student. During the two years Amy worked in the College Zone, she helped students of every race, color, language, and socioeconomic level earn over $30 MILLION in scholarships. Kelley Day is the kind of person every school, and indeed every institution, needs: Kelley will do ANYTHING for ANYBODY. Need a logon for the online parent system? Go to Kelley. Need to change the sign in front of the school? Go to Kelley. Need money for lunch or a Marta pass? Go to Kelley. Need a shoulder to cry on? Go to Kelley. And all this while working extra jobs because APS didn’t pay her enough to raise her own two children.
NAHS isn’t perfect — no school is. But these wonderful people, and the others who were summarily removed in a way that can only have been designed to ruin their reputations and careers, were a huge part of the best of NAHS.
nahsparent06
October 14th, 2012
4:45 pm
Its a sad day when two outstanding people like Kelley Day and Amy Durham are treated so poorly. Each of them have spent years working hard to insure all students achieve success. I don’t favor the charter school amendment on the ballot in November but I now favor activating one of the charter school options already available. Whose with me?