School board rep: Until we know truth about North Atlanta High, delay extension of Erroll Davis’ contract
School board member Nancy Meister, who represents the North Atlanta High School community, clashed with board chair Reuben McDaniel over allegations of institutional racism at North Atlanta High, as revealed in emails obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
APS school chief Erroll Davis replaced the leadership team of the Buckhead high school 12 days ago, angering hundreds of parents who packed a meeting last week to demand an explanation.
At the meeting, Davis was in the unusual role of attempting to convince 900 parents and students that their beloved school was not nearly as good as they thought. Many parents remain dissatisfied with Davis’ explanation of why he purged the school leaders and believe there is a political subtext at work.
Their suspicions have been fueled in part by a series of emails.
In the emails, board chair McDaniel asked APS Associate Superintendent Steve Smith to collect data from North Atlanta that breaks down the school’s graduation rates, and other performance metrics, by race. He asked for an ethnic breakdown of teachers and staff who were recommended for positions by interim principal Mark MyGrant.
“I think it is critical that we understand these issues as we go through the principal selection process so that we can factor in some of the skills required to address the racial issues at North Atlanta in our new leadership,” McDaniel wrote in an email.
Meister responded in an email 35 minutes later that the analytical search for evidence of racism shouldn’t be focused just on North Atlanta, which is in her district. “We should have this conducted for all high schools across the district. This will allow us to have an equitable and fair analysis across all schools,” Meister wrote.
McDaniel wrote back that he agreed gathering data across the district “would be interesting,” but not practical. He wrote: “My purpose for requesting the data is to begin to understand statistically the evidence I have received from parents at North Atlanta indicating that we have a problem there that is based in an institutional racism mentality.”
Now, Meister is taking her concerns public. Here is a note she sent out to her District 4 constituents:
I have received hundreds of emails and telephone calls over the past week. In response to your concerns, and in an effort to answer your questions about my position, I am copying you on a note that I have sent to the Board Chair, Reuben McDaniel.
As many of you may or may not know, I have been a parent in this system for 16 years and my sons graduated from North Atlanta. There are so many of great families, amazing teachers and incredible students at this school. Although this past week has been extremely painful, I have confidence that this community will remain committed and engaged. Decades of work has gone into this cluster and I know we have a committed community here to make our schools the best they can be.
And here is the note that Meister sent APS school board chair Reuben McDaniel:
I understand from your email that there is a possibility of a legislative meeting next week, the purpose of which is to consider an extension of Mr. Davis’ contract. This letter is to inform you, the entire board, as well as my constituents who have been inquiring about this topic, and the state of North Atlanta, of my grave concerns about scheduling such a vote at this time.
First, I believe any consideration of extending Mr. Davis’ employment should be delayed until a complete and thorough investigation of the controversial firing and reassignment at North Atlanta High School has been initiated and completed.
While I fully understand and respect that it is in realm of the Superintendent to hire, fire and re-assign employees, the way in which the termination of Mr. MyGrant was executed and academy leaders reassigned, is cause for concern. The complete reassignment of an entire administrative team, a new Principal taking over at the end of the month, without any consideration to the repercussions, remains a mystery. At the very least, I believe that the district representative and not just the Board Chair should have been apprised of the situation and asked for opinions with regard to their constituency, prior to its execution.
Additionally, I firmly believe the entire Board should have been made privy to an unprecedented decision of this magnitude. While the Superintendent claims this to be a simple personnel issue, I can tell you my/our constituents have lost all trust in Mr. Davis, given his changing explanations and abrupt actions.
On Friday, Mr. Davis gave no reason other than he wanted to give the new principal an opportunity to put his permanent leadership team in place. That explanation failed to clarify why Mr. MyGrant was abruptly terminated two weeks before his long-scheduled departure. Subsequent, Mr. Davis’ explanation to a meeting of nearly 1000 parents and students became one in which he acted to save North Atlanta from being taken over by the State of Georgia as a “failing” school.
When the State DOE unequivocally denied that it ever contemplated such an action the explanation changed again, claiming that North Atlanta was woefully underperforming academically. I believe this to be factually inaccurate. If I am incorrect, I question whether it was ever communicated to the interim principal, prior to coming out of retirement that this situation existed. It is my hope that the Superintendent’s team would initiate a plan with any school in this situation.
In addition to the reconstitution of North Atlanta, I believe the Board should, before voting on Mr. Davis’ contract, investigate the anonymous allegations of alleged racism at North Atlanta, an issue you raised in a series of e-mails with me and mentioned in response to a question from a TV reporter on Friday.
I believe you and I should agree to publicly release those e-mails so the public can make a determination as to the delicate nature of the libelous allegations. We need to clear the air on this issue once and for all, given the nature of the accusations, the anonymous nature and the lack of any factual support.
Finally, I believe we should postpone any decision on an extension until the Board concludes its Superintendent visioning work for APS. When a contract extension was first brought up, the Superintendent’s Visioning Committee had preliminary discussion about a visioning session. While we have done some work as a full board, it is not complete. Through our diligent SACS work we agreed that oversight and accountability, a topic we addressed in the past, was one we committed to focus on in the future. Given the State of the Schools speech in August, this Board needs to govern and set administrative expectations with an immediate sense of urgency so that the parents of the children attending one of the failing APS schools identified by the Superintendent have some hope of improvement.
Remember, Mr. Davis said 80% of APS’ schools were failing, that we’re operating a dual system of schools, and that none of the over 220 education reform models and initiatives tried by APS over the years, had worked.
We owe it to the students, parents and taxpayers of Atlanta to make sure we have the answers to all of these questions before extending a contract for an additional year. However, should this Board decide that a vote is in order, it is my desire that through our lessons learned and our SACS agreement, we adhere to our previous endeavors.
As a reminder in our SACS work required action #5 suggested that a final selection of the Superintendent should be determined by more than a simple majority vote of approval by the Board. We, as a Board then made a decision to require a 7 to 2 vote of the seated Board members, for hiring of a Superintendent or Interim Superintendent. It is my hope that we come to a consensus around this.
I hope you can appreciate and understand my concerns and those of the community that I serve.
Nancy
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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80 comments Add your comment
Robert Dolan
October 17th, 2012
1:24 am
Maybe, it is time for the State Department of Education in Georgia to take over the school. They did this in Connecticut with the Hartford Public Schoolls and for Georgia to be so low nationally, maybe, it is time for unions to take control where there is a direct correlation between student achievement and strong teacher unions.
bootney farnsworth
October 17th, 2012
1:48 am
delay extension?
fire his butt and institute a civil rights and RICO investigation against both APS and the USG.
bootney farnsworth
October 17th, 2012
1:49 am
oh yeah….
accuse him of systemic racism. let him try to unbreak that egg off his reputation like he’s set so many others up for
Top School
October 17th, 2012
2:04 am
And you ask …Who runs the show at APS?
BUCKHEAD runs this show!
Don’t ask questions that might expose the corruption in Atlanta’s Northside APS schools.
These public schools are PRIVATE.
Right one
October 17th, 2012
4:34 am
Wow, as a Black male, I am appalled at the high level of stupidity by APS leadership, those emails, are simply scandalous. In essence, Erroll is carrying the water for Reuben. Not a good look. A new low for the high handed proceedures APS.
SEE
October 17th, 2012
5:54 am
The allegations of racism is that the particular teacher in question did not hold a reception for a black student for getting into Harvard. What? That is ridiculous. I’ve never heard of a school holding a reception for any student because of what school he/she was accepted into. According to North Atlanta High, they didn’t hold these types of receptions. So let me get this straight…teachers and administrators now need to give preferential treatment to black students or be labelled “racist”! All this because preferential treatment wasn’t given.
concerned
October 17th, 2012
6:20 am
I applaud Mrs. Meisters letter. No this contract should not be extended at this time for the very well written reasons above. I applaud her restraint for not making a very divisive situation worse. I cannot believe that the Harvard reception for an admitted student is the reason but the rumor mill is rife with an under perfoming student not feeling as if they did not get the full support to reach out to Harvard during the yearly Harvard recruiting receptions that are held NOT by NAHS but are set up by Harvard as is the case with a great many schools that have alum in the area. That school discipline which was incredibly low is now being severely disrupted, trust in the school system drastically eroded and there is another black eye to the building up of the APS school district for this level of concern is impossible to imagine. It is seemingly playing into the hands of the pro charter legislation that will erode local control and make these scenarios common place in the future. Hmmm, sounds like someone higher up maybe took it upon themselves to stir the pot for a function highly invested school to disrupt things before an important vote. Could this really be about race– the issue that had to be handled with out the two week period of time left remaining on a principal’s time after he was asked three different times to come BACK from retirement.
Mrs. Meister- please keep asking for open records and yes as I agree with Right One- Errol Davis carrying water for Ruben McDaniel who one would image will financial benefit from the impending charter for profit boom that will move into the district. Mc Daniel might be the face of the all good for public schools but since the financial market is all in for charters and for profits, his real motive might be to help his financial portfolios and his future business interests. McDaniel has had dealings with the hedge funders who plundered Florida for charter schools and it seems a pretty small potatoes fight that would be resolved peace fully after a real investigation. But, having someone else disrupt the apple cart of public schools- a very good public school not withstanding the falsehoods of Errol davis- while McDaniel sits back and keeps his hands cleans really does raise some questions.
Medical doctors have to disclose financial dealings that could sway their judgement and I believe with the rapid encroachment of privatizers, I think that should be something that should be necessary information that the board members should disclose since decision making that feeds into the hands of the privatizers is exactly the playbook that ALEC works by and even pays for.
concerned
October 17th, 2012
6:22 am
School discipline under the hard working efforts of all the staff was incredibly high- infractions were minor and were very low. Sorry for the grammatical errors. There are others but that one was the most egregious.
Wilbur
October 17th, 2012
6:48 am
The race pimps are out for their brand of justice and the APS is getting mauled by its own so-called leadership.
Dunwoody Mom
October 17th, 2012
6:53 am
In the emails, board chair McDaniel asked APS Associate Superintendent Steve Smith to collect data from North Atlanta that breaks down the school’s graduation rates, and other performance metrics, by race. He asked for an ethnic breakdown of teachers and staff who were recommended for positions by interim principal Mark MyGrant
Board members interferring where they should not? Hmmm….where have we heard that? SACS, you may have another school district to add to your ever-growing list. I’m ot one to yell “racism”, but these actions by McDaniel are puzzling. Perhaps he should step down from the school board.
Ivan
October 17th, 2012
7:31 am
This is ridiculous. Davis said he’ll take a bullet. All right, he took it and he’s created huge turmoil in the NAHS and Grady clusters . Now we have a lame duck Superintendent and if they decide to renew his contract he will never have credibility which will only further fuel the angst and confusion while he’s around – which will prevent us from truly moving forward and educating our kids. Whether you like Davis or not, he has now put himself into a position where he is ineffective and a lightning rod and the Board needs to find a great replacement quickly.
Double Zero Eight
October 17th, 2012
7:32 am
Looks like Davis is as much of a bully
as Hall. As a matter of fact, he is probably
worse. Hall would have at least had the
courage to meet with Mygrant before taking
action.
Entitlement Society
October 17th, 2012
7:35 am
@Maureen, you need another word in 2nd paragraph sentence – “12 days ago” maybe…
Entitlement Society
October 17th, 2012
7:49 am
“Remember, Mr. Davis said 80% of APS’ schools were failing, that we’re operating a dual system of schools, and that none of the over 220 education reform models and initiatives tried by APS over the years, had worked.”
Obviously APS needs a clean slate. Nothing is working. Those stats are pathetic. Let’s start over. Remove every single one of them from office.
Metro Coach
October 17th, 2012
8:14 am
Turn APS into a charter system and see if it improves. It obviously can’t do any worse than it already is.
Solutions
October 17th, 2012
8:18 am
I have lost all respect for Harvard University, I am placing a Do Not Hire note in HR for all Harvard grads. These “special” admissions create confusion in the minds of the public, who think these people have earned their admission on the competitive battlefield. No, they are admitted with SAT scores two standard deviations below the class average, imho.
Dixie Rules
October 17th, 2012
8:20 am
APS is a joke and full of reverse racism! Businesses are starting to avoid moving to Atlanta for fear of corruption at every level of metro Atlanta! They are moving into places like Nashville and Charlotte for good reason. Atlanta will be the next Detriot in ten years! ” A City To Busy To Hate”
Please tell that to all of the blacks that hate whites! Mr. Davis is no better than Ms. Hall. Pray for Charter Schools!!
Maureen Downey
October 17th, 2012
8:22 am
@Entitlement, Thanks. Drawback of posting at 1 a.m.
Maureen
Entitlement Society
October 17th, 2012
8:25 am
skipper
October 17th, 2012
8:26 am
Racism works both ways……….APS has CERTAINLY done everything possible to prove that! As opposed to concerns about education, factual information, etc. the primary goal has been to “keep your own” in office, no matter what. Yes, back in the day whites did the same; agreed. However, qualifications these days for a school board do not even require a decent command of the English language. And there needs to be more focus on family structure, etc. Lets make public the absentee/tardy records for all kids in North Atlanta High, etc. You MIGHT see some of the so-called “racist” remarks put to rest. Lets see which group, black, white, or other brings up the rear. I guess it is now the goal to screw up all the schools as bad as the inner-city ones are.
DunMoody
October 17th, 2012
8:35 am
Superintendents should be elected, not hired by partisan school boards.
APS Concern
October 17th, 2012
8:55 am
I applaud Mr. Davis for doing his job!! North Atlanta parents, you no longer have someone like Dr. Hall to do what you want. You all have gotten away with what you wanted for years.
skipper
October 17th, 2012
8:58 am
@Dixie rules;
Unfortunately, you are probably right. When you listen to the news, (2,5, or 11) see where (and who) the shootings, carjackings, etc. are coming from. Nobody would move down here (save a few crusaders) where they would have to put their kids in one of these inner-city warehouses. Call that racism or whatever….it still is a fact. Until there is an overhaul of behaviorial issues, responsibility taken, etc. it will stay that way. To all the liberals on this or other blogs; do not tell me you would move to Detroit and put your kids in an inner-city school. It is not race as much as culture, but it is what it is. Of course there has been past discrimination…..however it is actually being perpetuated by those who NOW have the power but do not have the ability……
concernedmom30329
October 17th, 2012
9:00 am
Dunmoody
And how would that work in DeKalb. Gene Walker could be superintendent! He has long been one of the most popular public figures in S. DeKalb and given how easily certain school communities are willing to sell their votes, someone like him could easily be elected.
Yeah, no.
puff
October 17th, 2012
9:01 am
Does the APS have no mature leaders at all? The only specific racism allegation to this point is an anonymous complaint about not giving one Harvard-bound student a party. And that supposed offense leads to all this turmoil? Why don’t they all just put on clown noses?
reality check
October 17th, 2012
9:15 am
It is clear there is considerable racism on the APS Board and Erroll Davis looks like an incompetent fool.
DunMoody
October 17th, 2012
9:16 am
@concernedmom30329 … disagree about your conclusion. Gene Walker’s voting base is not county-wide. Voter turnout is very strong in North DeKalb and we would all have the opportunity to effect a change.
Tangled
October 17th, 2012
9:17 am
Before I left APS because I was so tired of the level of ignorance in the administration, I wrote the superintendent and indicated to him that allowing principals to hire their own teachers would have unintended consequences. The only Board member who ever gave me an ear about anything was Nancy Meister. To Mr. Davis, who decided not to pay attention to most of the truth that I said to him, “the chickens have come home to roost”. And to Mr. McDaniel, your absolute flaunting of absolute power and absolute desire to ignore those you feel are beneath you will lead to your absolute replacement in the next election or earlier absolutely.
tc
October 17th, 2012
9:17 am
So I guess if african american leadership wants to analyse race break downs on what ever they want and make decisions based on those findings that is perfectly fine. How about publicizing their findings? Aren’t those records public? And how far should we go with this analysis or do we only want to selectively use it for the purpose of the APS racist agenda?
Former Supt
October 17th, 2012
9:17 am
@maureen
Does APS have a policy which allows the Supt. to make personnel changes without BOE approval? The law is quite clear that hiring, firing, and reassignment can only be done by the BOE upon the recommendation of the Supt. Has the law been changed?
Janet
October 17th, 2012
9:24 am
I agree with puff — 1 student didn’t get a speical party when they thought they should have one… THAT is the cause of all of this??? It sounds like a silly elementary school power struggle between 2nd graders who are learning that you don’t always get what you want or think should be yours.
I also agree with Dixie and Skipper — my forsyth county neighborhood is full of families who moved from Atlanta, Dekalb, and Gwinnett trying to get away from exactly these types of situations.
Old South
October 17th, 2012
9:28 am
Who wants to fund a new, state of the art private school in North Atlanta? We’ll pay the teachers well and hold student achievement as the result. My door would be knocked down by cash if this came to pass.
The one problem- we crate two Americas, the have and the nots.
catlady
October 17th, 2012
9:30 am
Break APS up into smaller districts. It is too large to function.Hire superintendents based on proven ability to lead; pay them $100,000 each, and tell them their time to make a difference is dwindling fast.
Nahs dad
October 17th, 2012
9:31 am
I lived in detroit for 7 years in the 1990’s and witnessed the fallout of racial politics. The racial turmoil in the 1960’s has taken decades to simmer and cool. The south was long seen as an inferior place in the USA due to racial backwardness. Racial politics, either way is calamitous.
Coleman young was the mayor of Detroit for twenty years. An infamous quote from early in his mayorial term, paraphrased, is “whitey hit 8 mile.” There were 1.7 million people in Detroit in 1970, and 700k today. The Detroit police chief just suggested people not visit his city because he couldn’t guarantee their safety.
Atlanta had more inward migration of white residents than any other city in the USA from 2000-2010. That is going to affect the racial chemistry in public schools.
Mr. Mcdaniel’s actions and comments mirror Coleman Young. “whitey hit 285″ seems to be mr. Mcdaniel’s politics. Kasim Reed and state leaders can’t compete globally in business attraction with this nonsense. Atlanta is the city to busy to hate..well this sure seems like destructive hate politics to me.
I recommend investigating mr. McDaniel with a thorough open records request, and putting mr. Davis’ extension on the slow boat
The other Prof
October 17th, 2012
9:42 am
I am a liberal, a strong Obama supporter. I will vote democrat in national elections, however, I will vote republican in GA elections. We need a super-majority in GA house, to change some state rules without a constitutional amendment.
Bill Mackinnon
October 17th, 2012
10:27 am
Holy Cow, if a student not getting a reception thrown or paid for is racism, then I have a claim. One of my children was nominated for the Governor’s Honors program, but no one told us how or even that we had to apply. We didn’t know. We were told only when it was too late, and yes the nominating teacher was of the “other” race. And I thought it was just a case of thoughtless expectation and missed communication. If I had known I could claim it was racism, I could have maybe gotten my child into the Honors program by screaming racism.
For those who don’t get it, this is an obviously sarcastic comment. It is based revenge and vindication. It is entitled, self-centered and based on the insecure need to have everyone celebrate me and mine to prove value. It is simply “social bling” for the same purpose as bling bling-see me, cheer for me, and only me. These are not the values I want to follow, or expose my children to.
There are obviously serious problems that the NAHS debacle has uncovered. It has brought various unbalanced points of view to the light of day-the worst of which is the existence of the social pestilence of racism in BOTH directions. Reuben McDaniel asking for statistics from one school to analyze on a race conscious basis, sure looks like an effort to prove something nefarious so he can protect against racism. Meanwhile the MAJORITY OF APS SCHOOLS ARE FAILING!!!!!!
All this damage to NAHS has not improved anything at any other school. This is a very difficult situation and the worst part is I know many of the people who have been really hurt here.
My fear is that the next school board election will pit the NAHS supporters against the constituencies of Reuben McDaniel and he will be re-elected. Erroll Davis and McDaniel have emerged as the ones who need to be gone.
We need a Desmond Tutu Truth and Reconciliation Commission to clean as much of the poison out as possible. APS has the financial resources to do that.
Over the Top
October 17th, 2012
10:32 am
Tempest in a Teapot.
skipper
October 17th, 2012
10:43 am
Typical……gotta find fault anywhere success happens…….and it is always somebody elses fault! APS is a cluster.
Maude
October 17th, 2012
11:07 am
I no longer have respect for Harvard grads. If they are now accepting people who will yell racism when they don’t get a party they are no longer a great school in my book. How did this person ever get accepted in the first place?? I don’t care what race you are to yell racism because you don’t get a party is stupid. Maybe how students are accepted at Harvard needs to be checked.
RenewContract?
October 17th, 2012
11:27 am
The unsubstantiated assertion that the racist issue is because of one grad and a party is not grounded in fact. The family in question is mortified by the insinuation and is,in fact grateful to Mrs Durham for her efforts which were above and beyond the call of duty. The racist slur did not come from that corner….
The student in question is an outstanding student who demonstrated outstanding qualities and leadership as a honor student and top performing athlete. Several Ivies accepted him and wanted him to enroll based hese merits and these merits alone.
Now lets focus on all the issues regarding McDaniel’s involvement and Davis’ contract.
Beverly Fraud
October 17th, 2012
11:33 am
Looks like SACS got hoisted on its own petard LOL
Shar
October 17th, 2012
12:19 pm
The NAHS situation has all the hallmarks of a politically-motivated witch hunt, and Errol Davis’ handling of the situation has only reinforced that perception.
If he did indeed sweep into North Atlanta in some academic SWAT maneouver, he needs to present the evidence that compelled such a drastic response. To date, the “evidence” he presented has been debunked. In addition, if the justification is in fact academic, he needs to make very clear the reasons why it was necessary to focus on NAHS when there are so many other high schools in APS that are performing at far, far worse levels. Why don’t those students deserve immediate intervention and remediation?
If the current suspicions are correct and this is the result of an anonymous accusation of racism, that needs to be admitted and the nature of the accusation made public. The hypocrisy of an administration raiding the NAHS administration due to charges of racism when their own hiring policies have been long known to be limited to the applicant pool from “The Morehouse-Spellman Mafia” is appalling, and the idea that the complaint that touched off the raid was not even attested to by name but rather just a petulant, anonymous smear of a target’s character and career is even more disgusting. Mr. McDaniel’s insertion of himself in trying to instigate a race-driven “analysis” to justify the raid after the fact is one more indication that a racial witch hunt is ongoing.
The Board should agree with Nancy Meister’s suggestion that no contract extension be offered to Davis until this situation is clarified. Further, they should resolve not to give credence to unsupported, anonymous accusations unless there is evidence that a student is in immediate danger (e,g, child predators in the classroom), and that APS’ hiring policies should be examined to root out the institutional racism that has flourished under Dr. Hall and the dug-in bureaucracy.
What would happen if all the APS high schools were examined?
October 17th, 2012
12:35 pm
McDaniel wrote that, “My purpose for requesting the data is to begin to understand statistically the evidence I have received from parents at North Atlanta indicating that we have a problem there that is based in an institutional racism mentality.”
In that case, then you have to look at all the high schools in APS using race-based criteria. Let me explain: You need to establish a baseline in order to find the outlier. If all they look at is NAHS data, then there is no baseline, and it is impossible to know if NAHS is an outlier.
If all APS high schools were included in the analysis, and NAHS is the only institution in the system with racial disparities, that would really stand out.
Surely McDaniel has no problem with that – because the analysis would show that all the other APS high schools have zero racial disparities…right? Right??
Prof
October 17th, 2012
12:36 pm
Once again, as on an earlier blog about this NAHS situation, someone else is using my long-standing moniker “Prof” (9:42 am). The person seems to be trading on earlier statements I’ve made; this is not a random mistake. 9:42 is especially infuriating to read since I voted early yesterday, and voted a straight Democratic ticket. locally as well as nationally (save where the only opponent of the Republican candidate was a Libertarian, when I voted for the Libertarian). I notice this person uses the pejorative “democrat” rather than “Democratic.”
Maureen, when are you going to Allow us to register our blog-names? And can anyone just use anyone else’s name? Are Ron F., catlady, and Mary Elizabeth really who we think they are?
another comment
October 17th, 2012
12:37 pm
It is very clear that Reuben McDaniel needs to go!.
As an Engineer, I will clearly state that Errol Davis’s actions are not those of a qualified Engineer. Engineers logically think through and analyis various different options before taking action. Errol Davis obviously different. This proves to me that Errol Davis, has never been a competant Engineer. In fact he has no idea of how Engineers think, as Engineers or as Managers or he would not have put himself in this quagmire. He has just proved to us all that he is an example of Affirmative Action gone wrong.
I have hired some great women and minority engineers. I am myself a female engineer, so I know I have to be twice as competant. I have also seen some really incompetant engineers the results of affirmative actions. I had one that litterally hid during the work day. I had another that tried to kiss butt and lie about everyone below to upper management. I had one who claimed to work on every major engineering project their ever was ” the staff called him Forrest Gump”. I dotted my eyes and crossed my T’s and gave them substandard ratings. After all how can you do your work when you hid all day, because you don’t know how to do it. Some of these people had been promoted up from the companies they came from that was the way to get rid of them. I would not do it. Did I have EEO complaints filed, yes. But, I treated everyone the same, if you a white male, asian female, white female and didn’t do the work, you did not get a superior rating from me. HBC’s are the absolute worst preparer for young minorities their are. They also give false sense of compentcey.
We need to get rid of Affirmative Action and hire based on who is the best for the position. The reverse descrimination in Atlanta, Dekalb, Clayton and Other areas of the metro area are completely outragous.
Prof
October 17th, 2012
12:38 pm
P.S. @ Maureen. After all, you have our personal email addresses to distinguish us.
Dr. Proud Black Man
October 17th, 2012
1:18 pm
WOW! A lot of anti-racist/affirmative action white folks posting here today. Where were you people at from 1865 to the mid 1960s…….?
Ray
October 17th, 2012
1:18 pm
For those accusing Mr. Davis of reverse racism, please recall that black people from an all black south Atlanta school that Davis had slated for closing during redistricting handed out pamphlets in April that depicted Davis in photo shopped Ku Klux Klan garb (robe and hat).
Entitlement Society
October 17th, 2012
1:44 pm
Here’s some food for thought… a North Atlanta elementary school (Sarah Smith) apparantly has NO playground equipment. From a co-worker with a child there, there was an issue with the grounds and APS ripped out all of the existing equipment and will only pay for dirt to be put back, no equipment. How would that go over in South Atlanta? Instead of whining and complaining, the PTA has organized a fundraiser to purchase all new equipment with its own money since APS refuses to pay for any equipment. Instead of crying entitlement, these parents are working to provide for their own children. I dare ask, would the same thing happen in a school in South Atlanta or would you hear cries of inequity that Buckhead had superior playgrounds and they had nothing? Just asking…
RCB
October 17th, 2012
1:52 pm
Dr Proud….most of us weren’t alive during that time period.
Prof
October 17th, 2012
2:11 pm
@ Maureen. I want to thank you for changing the 9:42 am posting name to “The other Prof.” Just so there’s a distinction. (Not to be confused with the posters “The prof” or “GT Prof”…..)
APS High Schools in Practice
October 17th, 2012
2:16 pm
@What would happen if all the APS high schools were examined? – October 17th, 2012 @ 12:35 pm.
EXCELLENT QUESTION!!!!! Are the Mc”D” Brothers (McDaniels and Davis) moving the railroad tracks higher than I-20 and now to the southern border of the NAHS community? Are you now saying that the African-Americans living above that line or whose kids are enrolled in that cluster matter more than the African-Americans living below that line or whose kids are enrolled in clusters to the south of that line don’t matter to APS?
Mr. McDaniel, you infrequently travel outside of the NAHS community to hear and meet with your city-wide constituents. Now it seems clear why. Your actions show that you truly place less value on African-Americans whose homes don’t carry a Buckhead zip code.
Mr. McDaniel, are you aware of the large number of educated and affluent African-Americans who choose to attend NAHS over Grady HS because of what they claim is institutionalized racism at that school? Are you also aware that in the almost all African-American schools that their issue of “ism” is class and they are disenfranchising the “Title I” students?
McD Brothers, if you are the conductors of an APS Train leading to the path of educational excellence and equity across APS, then why aren’t you stopping each and every APS high school to disaggregate the data by race, sex, class and special needs/gifted to see which stops serve ALL children and which stops serve only SOME children? Your refusal to do so is quite telling to the rest of the city.
APS shouldn’t hold it against the children who don’t get to pick their parents or their zip codes. 50 years after the desecration of the Atlanta City Schools, surely, we can do better. Do you really think the United States Department of Justice going to turn a blind eye if this issue is raised?
Mr. McDaniel, I challenge you as board chair to “Take a ride on the APS train” throughout the city and post disaggregated data for all high schools out by grade and SLC or SLS on the APS website and each high schools’ website. If APS can’t do that, then why? What are you hiding?
Or, is this just a political move for your own self-interest to pretend you care about African-Americans or APS? We’ll know by where the train travels.
Ray
October 17th, 2012
2:35 pm
Yes, “APS High Schools in Practice” confirms my earlier point. Some scream: Davis/McDaniel are racists! While others scream, even on the same issue: Davis/McDaniel are reverse racists! Only in Atlanta.
Dr. Proud Black Man
October 17th, 2012
2:55 pm
@ RCB
I was being sarcastic. When you get through with your GED pstudying, look it up if you’re still confused.
skipper
October 17th, 2012
3:06 pm
Congrats to the APS school board…..they have done more to perpetuate (and, unfortunately, substantiate) racism than the klan. If whites do stuff…its “racist” (and sometimes, is, for that matter.) But, God forbid let a black (see APS) act like a ‘hood and its all about payback. MLK is rolling in his grave..is the buffoonery of APS what he fought for???
Beverly Fraud
October 17th, 2012
3:14 pm
It APPEARS that SACS wanted a 7-2 “supermajority” to make sure a BOE suddenly racked with guilt did nothing untoward Beverly Hall (the “bidness” choice) before her contract ran out.
Now it looks like Meister is using that same SACS mandate to keep the McDaniel crowd from sweeping this ALL under the rug. Her leverage?
She doesn’t need 5 votes now; she only needs THREE. The question APPEARS to be, if she gets the three, will Markie Mark Elgart try yet ANOTHER political power play and try to bully the three, much the same way the Furious Five were bullied when they tried to oppose Hall?
Now what happens if the three are WHITE? Does the “bidness” community eat three of their own in order to pave the way for Davis to remain?
Or are these conversations a little too impolite to have at the Piedmont Driving Club?
RCB
October 17th, 2012
3:24 pm
Dr. Proud….Okay, you were being sarcastic. Nice try. Insults about a GED are not insulting to me personally, but may be to those who are trying to obtain one, DOCTOR.
JD
October 17th, 2012
3:41 pm
Former Supt wrote: “Does APS have a policy which allows the Supt. to make personnel changes without BOE approval? The law is quite clear that hiring, firing, and reassignment can only be done by the BOE upon the recommendation of the Supt. Has the law been changed?”
Can anyone answer those Qs?
APS High Schools in Practice
October 17th, 2012
3:48 pm
@Beverly Fraud. Great points except that SACS didn’t want a supermajority, Mr. McDaniels and the others in his clique wanted it when they were the minority on the board.
Mr. McDaniels would have his clique of 5 votes (with Byron Amos who carries any water jug McD asks him to in exchange for being named as Vice Chair at his second official board of education meeting), but for the other whitey on the board who represents the Grady HS community will likely defect to the north of I-20 line.
Mr. McDaniels is going to disappoint Mayor Kasim Reed and his klan because he is stumbling on the Davis’ contract extension they told him to get. The AEF and the business community should take note about his political effectiveness before they push McDaniels higher up in Atlanta political arenas. The only thing he has really done is to take the head musical chair and seat his pick for vice chair as well as throw the NAHS community into topsy turvey.
Mayor Reed, you need to find a new lackey.
Top School
October 17th, 2012
3:53 pm
“Grady is a tale of two schools. High income white children get one education. Low income black children get another and it is not fair.” @midtownTeacher
The special privileges of white administrators elementary to high school in Northside APS were allowed under the Buckhead manipulated leadership of Beverly Hall.
SEGREGATION = to separate or set apart from others or from the main body or group; isolate: to segregate exceptional children; to segregate hardened criminals.
Anyone on the APS board can see this clearly in video testimony at Top Public School Corruption Atlanta. The Northside APS administrators work around the APS systems set of rules for hiring, additional bonus checks to Northside teachers, falsified student attendance to obtain additional teacher positions, the hiring of family members by a Principal…these are only a few of the unethical private school attitude acts that were allowed under the Hall administration.
What should Davis do?
Expose the NORTHSIDE segregation and the high income privilege of a select few in APS.
I think he has taken the bullet to expose the shameful hidden acts of segregation of ATLANTA’S minority run public schools in the NORTHSIDE APS DISTRICT 4.
bootney farnsworth
October 17th, 2012
4:26 pm
if APS extends Davis while this disaster plays out,
1-APS should be investigated
2-APS should be sued
3-APS should have all funds frozen until they reverse said decision.
JD
October 17th, 2012
4:40 pm
During the meeting in NAHS gym Oct 9, a questioner asked Dr Davis something along the lines of “Why did you oust the administration in this particular fashion? Why did you humiliate them?”
His answer was something along the lines of “We thought about and planned this for a long time. We decided to do it this way in this unique case. Now we will go back and review how this worked out to see what improvements we might make in the future.” (If anyone can find his exact words, please post them.)
I’m wondering whom Dr Davis was talking about when he said “we”. I don’t think he meant the “royal we.” He did not mean the APS board. He did not consult with the whole board, nor even with the one Board member who represents NAHS’ district.
So who DID he consult with? Did they have authority to do what they did?
Did they follow appropriate procedures? Did they leave appropriate notes & records of their decision-making process?
A dozen days have passed since NAHS’ “bloody Friday” and I still don’t know answers to those questions.
Top School
October 17th, 2012
5:02 pm
Posted by Pragmatic1One – Wow!!! When Mr. Davis was bringing the ax down on the Black educators, the media and the white constituency was singing his praises & wanting him to stay. Now that his “heavy hand” is being equitably distributed and is now affecting the predominantly white community, he needs to go. Accountability cuts both ways and I am glad Mr. Davis is letting the white constituency know they are not immune to ACCOUNTABILITY. As for Blacks, always remember history & reflect from a historical context coupled with your current observations. Systemic racism is more rampant than ever, although it may not be overtly de jure, it is definitely de facto.
I think I posted back five or ten years ago on Maureen’s blog…that the Atlanta Public School Systems problems stemmed from race issues that were not properly addressed in the history of integrating the schools during the civil right movement.
Now that it is properly surfacing … Atlanta can deal with these hidden secrets and offer up solutions that can properly heal the wounds.
Both races are responsible for hiding these issues…
I think it is honorable for DAVIS to attempt to challenge the BUCKHEAD political machine that drives this train wreck.
Was not a year ago that I stood at the NAPPS meeting at Garden Hills Elementary and asked Erroll Davis — Will the new Superintendent allow Buckhead Administrators to receive special privileges in the cheating in their schools? Will ALL individuals involved in cheating be carefully scrutinized before the opening of next school year?
It has taken a full year of his administration for the issues of Northside Privileged to surface.
Now, that the ugly truth about what has been going on in the politics of Black Privileges to white schools in exchange for White corruption in the hidden attempts to segregation of ALL students both black and white on the lower end of the scale.
Ms. Meister needs step up to the plate with the BUCKHEAD political leaders and look for the solution. Instead she seems to engage in politics that continues to hide it. This issue has been dodged and hidden for sometime now. It is time to act with some honesty and integrity….and deal with the facts that make this so difficult to solve.
Maybe someone should file a grievance…LOL
That’s what I attempted to do! Signed Sealed and Delivered…I proved that doesn’t work!
Prof
October 17th, 2012
6:16 pm
A vast silence from Superintendent Davis since his school meeting last week.
As I posted earlier on another blog-thread, perhaps Davis doesn’t WANT to renew his contract at this time.
another comment
October 17th, 2012
7:24 pm
Please run for Mayor Mary Norwood. Then everyone must prevent the blatant stealing of the election by 700 votes by the Atlanta Black Mafia. Everyone sees how corrupt Reed is with his $1,000 gravel contract to his buddy during the storm. The concessions contracts, stop and start to include his buds. The inclusions of minorities who are no longer disadvantaged, including Mayor Jackson’s widow and daughter Brook. His business partner having the limo dispatch contract and a limo contract. My question is, is he having the card games at his house on Friday nights like Mayor Campbell. That is how Campbell got the bribe money by winning the card games, not the gambling trips. Ricky Rowe, made the mistake of telling a friend of mine he wasn’t welcome to a prebid meeting at the Water Department. Only Friday night poker players were. My big question is when will Kasim be outed? I have a feeling we are getting very close.
yagottabekiddingme
October 17th, 2012
8:02 pm
@APS High Schools in Practice: “Mr. McDaniel, are you aware of the large number of educated and affluent African-Americans who choose to attend NAHS over Grady HS because of what they claim is institutionalized racism at that school?”
Nice try, but one cannot ‘choose’ NAHS over Grady due to the enforcement of enrollment documents. You go to school in the district where you live. Magnets are no longer the APS format. Get your facts straight!
Former APS student
October 17th, 2012
8:31 pm
You North Atlanta parents is in deep denial if you think that YOUR school was serving ALL students well. BECAUSE THEY WERENT. Those administrators was just looking out for the ones whose parents can potentially write the big checks when ever needed. Many kids was being left behind at North ATLANTA. TOO MANY STUDENTS! its not JUST ABOUT YOUR little darlings. That administration responsibility was to over see 1200 children education Errols Davis responsibilty is to over see 50,000 children. Black, white, hispanic, asian, rich poor, homeless, special ed or gifted. It is their job to make sure that each child who walk through those doors get a decent education. And that, North Atlanta parents, WAS NOT HAPPENING AT THAT SCHOOL during the last five years that pricipal was employed at that school. That is a problem. A problem I am GLAD Dr. Davis had the guts to address this . I am glad that he is NOT kissing yall behinds!!! Because the only people you care about is your lil darling, because you dont give a damn about anyone else. If you did you would be outraged at the fact that the sorry principal and his administration held their position for so long. They shouldve been gone a long time ago!!!!!!!!!
Top School
October 17th, 2012
8:43 pm
@Former APS student … I think the posts you are censoring would be allow the debate to continue. What’s going on Maureen? Are Buckhead parents banning together to try to put the fire out? Beverly Hall was a scapegoat…used by the business community to drain the ethics of the system. They continue to protect her in exchange for the secrets she keeps for them.
Just like the Northside issues…Northside parents run the show….and Davis is attempting to change the dynamics so that ALL children benefit from the Northside educational program.
Truth in Moderation
October 17th, 2012
11:00 pm
@Prof
Add a little “TM” by your name and trademark it. You can sue if someone tries to use it. Hey, it worked for a blogger named Fred.
JD
October 18th, 2012
12:19 am
The emails between McDaniel and Meister show that McDaniel wanted data from North Atlanta, and he wanted it broken down by race. Is that what the temporary administers are working on there? Is that the “assessment” they are doing?
Here’s why I’m asking: Dr Davis replaced NAHS’ 4 4 administrators with 8. He said “From talkupaps’ transcript – Dr Davis explaining why he’s installing 8 transition administrators to replace the 4 being reassigned:
“I’ve gotten comments about why so many people coming in here. They are going to be working on assessments among other things. We will talk to Dr. Taylor about assessments so that by the time he gets here we will be able to give him appropriate information.”
Does anyone know what type of assessment they are doing? Is it a breakdown of data by race or some other assessment to dig up data to support a charge of institutionalsystemic racism”? Will the assessors interview existing teachers and students?
Private Citizen
October 18th, 2012
5:28 am
Have the receipt right here, recently purchased crushed concrete (similar to gravel) for $18. / ton. Recently stopped at the upscale place to check price, quoted retail for gravel @ $38./ton – bring your own truck. First price is contractor price, second price is high retail to general public.
Southside Parent
October 18th, 2012
12:31 pm
I don’t understand the outrage directed towards McDaniel. Here’s what McDaniel’s emails show:
1) Many NAHS parents came to McDaniel alleging black children were being treated unfairly at NAHS. We all know this is true, because there are a large number of NAHS parents on this blog making those same statements.
2) McDaniel asked APS staff to pull together the information they could access so he could see if there was validity to concerns brought to him by constituents.
Isn’t this what you want out of your elected officials? I don’t always agree with McDaniel, but I’m always impressed with McDaniel at board meetings and the one time I’ve spoken to him directly. He understands complicated information and tracks it. I am unable to say the same of Meister. The email change between Meister and McDaniel heightens my perception of Meister as a nice but emotionally reactive person who isn’t keeping her focus on the substance.
Prof
October 18th, 2012
1:31 pm
@ Southside Parent.
1) Anonymous bloggers’ comments aren’t evidence of anything. There were an equal number of bloggers on those blogs claiming that black children were not being treated unfairly, many of these posts by self-identified black students at NAHS.
2) A charge of institutional racism in a school that receives public funds is a very serious charge, not least because it breaks federal law. If McDaniels is going to investigate to gather evidence, then he should do so for all the APS high schools. That is Meister’s point. As another blogger pointed out, one needs to do that to see whether NAHS is typical or just an exception (an “outlier”) that should be addressed. If it’s typical, then correction should be done for all the APS high schools as well.
It looks as if McDaniels is selectively choosing one school because he is unduly involved in this particular personnel case….also called by SACS “micromanaging by the School Board.”
Also, if you look at the data assembled in the later blog on this subject, you’ll see that the ethnic group with the most problems at NAHS aren’t the African American students but the Hispanic students. Maybe McDaniels should refocus his concerns onto this group.
Right one
October 18th, 2012
6:03 pm
Mcdaniels child attends Sutton, I believe
IB Mom
October 18th, 2012
9:23 pm
McDaniel’s daughter does attend Sutton but I believe it’s because her mother lives in the school zone. Don’t know which school district Rueben lives in.
Southside Parent
October 18th, 2012
11:47 pm
@Prof:
1) I didn’t mean NAHS the claims are true. I meant that we know it is true that the claims have been raised by NAHS parents. (& Grady parents, & probably coming to Jackson in the next 3 to 5 years.)
2) McDaniels represents NAHS. McDaniels resides in NAHS. McDaniels has constituents complaining about a specific situation. He is checking into that specific situation. If you called the gas company because you suspected a leak, would you be angry if they checked your house? No, of course not. As to legal liabilities, it’s not the investigation that creates the liability. It’s the underlying facts that create the problem, and will only be worse if left to fester.
Prof
October 19th, 2012
12:39 pm
@ Southside Parent.
1) Oh. When you wrote, “We all know this is true,” I took “this” to mean the allegations, not those making the allegations. I see your point.
2) McDaniels represents an entire school district that includes the one school, NAHS, doesn’t he? I think that Meister is requesting that he investigate all the schools in the district the way that he wants to investigate NAHS, to see if they too have such “institutional racism.” Is it a pattern for all the district schools, or just NAHS? Again, it is a federal crime. If it is indeed true for all the district schools, then it is imperative that all correct it at once. If it’s only true for NAHS, then just the one school can be corrected, more quickly. Why single out one school? is I think Meister’s point. I also doubt that NAHS is the only APS school where this complaint haws been made. For example, you suggest that it may be true also at Grady and Jackson.
One more thing. McDaniels is chair of the entire School Board, so his concerns should be with the entire APS and not just one district.
Prof
October 19th, 2012
12:49 pm
P.S. A suspected gas leak in one house really isn’t the same as suspected institutional racism in one school. The school isn’t literally in imminent danger of blowing up. Also, physical gas leaks can be immediately detected, unlike the general, indirect nature of institutional racism in schools.
Atlantaparent
October 19th, 2012
2:58 pm
Mr. Davis must go and please don’t forget your staff on the 8th floor!!!!!!!
Right one
October 19th, 2012
9:33 pm
Looking for Erroll to ride off in the sunset on Monday. He doesn’t need this