Outgoing DeKalb school board member says goodbye and beware
DeKalb school board member Don McChesney lost his District 2 seat to challenger Marshall Orson. Here is McChesney’s farewell statement:
Ladies and gentlemen. Tonight I would like to take a few minutes to comment on my four years on the DeKalb Board of Education. I would first like to sincerely thank the voters of District 2 for allowing me the honor of representing you for the last four years. It has been a challenging four years with very few dull moments.
I would also like to thank my colleagues for their contributions to my education about board service. I have truly learned something from each one of you, both past and present.
I have worked for three superintendents in 4 years. I have definitely been broken in properly. My experiences are probably more like having served multiple terms. I definitely know what change is about.
Please allow me to give a few thoughts on areas that we all need to work on. Let’s look at how this school system appears to define diversity. The dictionary defines diversity as having to do with variety. People and processes that are different from one another. I do not believe we understand that in our school system. Our student body is about 75 percent African-American. Our workforce is probably in excess of 80 percent African- American. Our direction has been to increase those percentages and call it diversity. That definitely skirts the true meaning of the word. There definitely needs to be an increase in Asians, Hispanics, and Caucasians. Failing this, we will not have diversity of thought or action.
Let’s look at our future seven districts and their interaction. Did you know that school board members are the only elected officials that are specifically held to voting on issues that affect the entire district? That means ignoring the very constituents that elected you on many issues. That is one reason why there is so great a misunderstanding amongst the public and the board. It puts terrible pressure on your board to accommodate the very people who put them in office.
Let’s expose the issue where this is most apparent to the Board of Education and those that elect them. How about redistricting? The main question I am always asked is “How can you send children from a school that passes state testing guidelines and send them to a school that does not pass? Last year this would be referring to AYP.
Ladies and gentlemen, the BOE cannot build fences around the performing schools and exclude those from the poorer performing schools. There are those coming that want to cherry pick students for their neighborhood schools at the expense of other schools. Look at any redistricting plan DeKalb has done and you will see gerrymandering or social engineering. Remember every parent wants the best teachers, buildings and leadership for their child no matter where they live. Just ask Cross Keys and their feeder schools.
Did we redistrict two years ago with catering to those who wanted SPLOST funds to build them a new school? How do you get on top of the list? Is it by political influence or need? Why do we continue to pour money into districts that continue to decline in enrollment and leave their schools open even when it is bad for all county taxpayers?
Why did Ashford Park not get a new school? These are questions that deserve real answers that should factor out politics. The hardest decision for a school board member to make is… Will I vote against my district’s narrowed wishes if it has ultimate negative impact on the entire school system? It is hard to do that. Beware of those who only represent their own interests and pummel you with excess verbiage.
Let’s look at ethics for a moment. The school board has a very good ethics policy based on state guidelines. Ask your board to abide by those guidelines as they govern themselves. One of those areas is attendance and punctuality at meetings. I am proud to say I did not miss one board meeting in 4 years.
This board has had extreme pressure put on it from outside of their control. Remember some of the BOE’s major critics about the way we ethically approached things was the DeKalb delegation. It is interesting that those that charged the BOE with ethical questions refuse to have an ethical policy for themselves. They can look at my emails, but I cannot look at theirs.
In closing let me address one more issue. You have been told by someone that I have a bias for women. I would like to comment on that. On this board I have two very close friends. They are both women. Dr. Pam Speaks and Nancy Jester. They have been wonderful to work with and have always shared their thoughts with me. They also have always had my back. They are great board members. They inquire, study, and know that it is about the students and not the adults. You should always seek people like them to represent you. I will let you ask them if I am gender biased.
The most important person in my life is also a woman. My wonderful wife Melinda. We have been married for forty one years. She is the greatest supporter anyone could have. She always stands with me, encourages me and accepts me for what I am. All that I may have accomplished over those 41 years is in great part owed to her. I wonder often how she could have lived with me all these years if I did not put women on an equal plane. Thank you dear for being the best. I chose well.
Finally, beware of those who only represent their own interests and the interests of a narrowed view. They will not help the school system return to greatness.
Remember two things. One is bumper sticker philosophy. It says “Don’t believe everything you think.” The second is that it is about the “kids” not the adults.
Thank you for letting me serve you.
Don McChesney
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67 comments Add your comment
Claudia Stucke
December 14th, 2012
12:25 pm
I agree with Mr. McChesney about the misconceptions regarding “diversity.” More than ten years ago, when I was interviewing with several schools in the DeKalb County system, a school administrator enthusiastically touted his/her school’s diversity, saying, “We have a very diverse student population, nearly all African-American.” ??? I didn’t question his definition, but I found it puzzling.
I do question our assumption, however, that “black” equals “African-American.” Many of my students were African citizens or first-generation American citizens whose parents were refugees from countries such as Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Congo, Libera, Sudan, Somalia . . . . There is true diversity within color, including a multitude of languages. Despite the language barriers, though, these were some of my best students and certainly among the most motivated.
“Diversity” is a tricky issue.
Private Citizen
December 14th, 2012
7:02 pm
In Dekalb County, I have know persons, personal friends, from Zimbabwe, Rwanda, and Eritrea. I do not think the power structure is so diverse in Georgia. It is either US black, not African black, or it is white. I know of one Latino person who got up into the power. They were a real shark on the way up and threatened people at meetings and such. I guess they showed themselves to fit with the powerful or something, as far as the management culture here. Only so many of those $100k+ jobs to go around. It’s not like a laid back engineering firm and there is a lot of movement and transition, too. I’m just carrying a rock on my back, pardon me, seen too much. It would be better if there were no central officers or if the people at the central office got the same pay rate as the teachers. It would be a big improvement.
Private Citizen
December 14th, 2012
7:04 pm
ps Not intending to generalise Latinos as aggressive power players. this type behavior mode comes in many flavors from many peoples. Arne Duncan is a good example of it. He’s “in command.”
Private Citizen
December 14th, 2012
7:06 pm
and Trinidad / Tobago, too.
Private Citizen
December 14th, 2012
7:07 pm
There is nowhere else in Georgia that has the people diversity that Dekalb County has, however the power structure does not have such diversity, as far as I know.
Shayna Steinfeld
December 15th, 2012
9:46 am
I ran for School Board 4 years ago at the same time as Don did… we didn’t really see eye to eye. When you run for office on the “same cycle” you see a lot of each other. Garbage is thrown at the wall and sometimes people buy it. I’ve watched very closely over these past 4 years at what was really happening. I have told Don what I’m posting here — even though my perception was that he didn’t care much for me — I grew to have respect for him and how he handled himself on the BOE. I am able to respect how he was consistently prepared for meetings; on time for meetings; tried to do what he thought was best, overall on almost every decision I really paid attention to him making (keeping in mind that this job is about 100,000 children and not about the adults or about 1 district); and stuck with his principles. These are characteristics that aren’t seen too frequently in BOE members (perhaps across the state although I’m most familiar with DCSS).
Observer
December 15th, 2012
12:30 pm
@ Private Citizen. 16 of these comments, between Dec.13, 7 am and Dec. 9:46 am, are yours, most rambling on about something other than the DeKalb BOE. And that’s not counting what you post on all the other Get Schooled blogs. You must sit in front of your computer all day communicating with anonymous bloggers and giving your thoughts on the universe. You’ve posted that you’re an unemployed teacher (which may explain your nasty comments about the Milken Teacher of the Year). Shouldn’t you be out job-hunting, instead of offering your opinions on subjects you don’t know about (as you admit in your Dec. 14, 10:27 pm post here? Ueeediot and Y-axis seem to agree with me.
Private Citizen
December 15th, 2012
5:29 pm
Observer I assure you I have no anxiety whatsoever about awards, teacher awards or otherwise, and I have received at least a couple myself. I note you seem to have zero comprehension of the strategy or conflict of interest practiced with the Milken Award. Since you asked, the awards that I have received do not contain conflict of interest and being enlisted as an agent of the award-giver. When I have received an award, there was a check and a dignitary in person handing me a check and giving me a handshake. I was not expected to go to their conference to meet them and then be used for propaganda and promotional purposes. I also had a professor who won several awards and cautioned me about the nature of things. Most school teachers do not have such professors. Maybe I am fortunate. I have had a charmed life but I also do not hesitate to innovate and accomplish things. In the right circumstance, this “connects.” I innovated in my teaching and literally delivered a 100% pass rate with my students. No one nodded in my direction. I said to myself, “Self, I don’t mind working hard, but I will not be stepped on.” Therefore, I have stepped back. I also do not want to be indoctrinated with Race to the Top requirements. Allow me to repeat, if the state recommended me to the Milkens, I would ask to them to please stop and to not recommend anyone else due to the conflict of interest. The Milkens are using the state in this regards. You should note the Milken cartoon like description describing “an emotional ceremony and the crowd cheers” on their website. This is what they describe attached to when they “surprise” someone with their manipulation. If you do not see this as marketing, you have little experience with business. There are awards where they surprises teachers or academics and pay them well with the award. A real award does not have strings attached and sign you up for “professional development opportunities.” I think you should defend the integrity and dignity of the state and their charges is what I think. There is already enough selling-out going around. I say put it in reverse and let out the clutch and go backwards, away from the manipulation of the venture capitalists. It is one thing to do good business and compete. It is another thing to mess around with people and award them to promote yourself and legitimise your business profile. It is extremely obvious what they are doing and it fits the definition of marketing: “The action or business of promoting and selling products or services.” Their award distribution promotes their brand. There is an ethics issue in the state being involved because the award is a conflict of interest from a vendor. It is significant. It is like if I was one baseball league and I went over and gave an award to a player in a different baseball league. The Milkens are practically their own free standing school system with 300,000 served, if you actually paid attention to what they’re up to, “Observer.”
Private Citizen
December 15th, 2012
5:44 pm
Seriously, Observer, I know I am a little long winded, but it is not cool what they are doing. We should defend the integrity of the state and not be used as puppets.
Private Citizen
December 15th, 2012
6:17 pm
Use of propaganda / Appeal to Emotion “this kind of thinking may be evident in one who lets emotions and/or other subjective considerations influence one’s reasoning process. This kind of appeal to emotion is a type of red herring” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_emotion
“names are announced at emotional all-school assemblies. In a moment’s time, cheering students, proud colleagues, an entourage of distinguished officials and the media” http://www.mff.org/mea/
Private Citizen
December 15th, 2012
6:36 pm
Milkens appear to think they can buy a school assembly for $25k. I didn’t know one was for sale and I think it is illegal to sell your students. The state should take note.
Private Citizen
December 15th, 2012
8:30 pm
Cropper GIS, a consulting firm that specializes in redistricting http://www.croppergis.com/
Edulog demographic consulting http://www.edulog.com/
Shayna Steinfeld
December 15th, 2012
10:02 pm
In running for the BOE it become very clear that different parts of the county view “diversity” differently — as a white Jewish woman — I tend to put all non-whites into the “diverse” category — so Blacks, Hispanics and Asians would go into the “non-white” pool and a school like Lakeside or Henderson or Cross Keys begins to look incredibly diverse. I believe that Black members of the county view “diversity” differently — they put the Asians and Hispanics into the “white” category and, therefore, see schools such as Lakeside, CrossKeys and Henderson as “white” because their Black populations are apps. 25% (give or take) — even though from a white perspective, the white population may also be at around 25% — other schools are seen as “very diverse” when the population is 100% Black– the problem becomes in how “diversity” is defined — or, perhaps, in the fact that we’ve lost sight of individuals and are “grouping” everyone. No one is paying any attention at all to Religious diversity…. It was pretty eye-opening actually.
Private Citizen
December 16th, 2012
8:17 am
Politics is power and who has the power to define the use of words and terms. When diversity can mean “me” and “my religion,” where “be flexible” can mean “you do what I say and then you change what you do when I tell you,” when “love” equals dereliction and abandonment, where “differentiated instruction” means every student gets the identical test, expectation, and single directed career path,
Private Citizen
December 16th, 2012
8:21 am
Where “reward performance” means sabotage and subvert those who perform.
And where “right to work” means no protection for worker.
ATM
December 16th, 2012
9:22 am
The DekalbCounty School system needs a complete overhaul. I have lived and raised 2 daughters in this school system for 30 years. It is run by a bunch of morons who don’t know anything about education. My daughter spent an entire formative year being taught by a very nice woman who had no ability to use correct grammar and yet was teaching second graders how to read and write. Get a grip on reality people your children are failing because the standards are misplaced. Revamp the entire system.
bu2
December 17th, 2012
9:32 am
@Dunwoody Mom
I’m not attacking North Dekalb. Just pointing out facts. I’m not attacking the residents of N. Dekalb, just the group (i.e. see DSW2) with the bizarre obsession with anything called “Fernbank” (the elementary school is in the Druid Hills neighborhood). Those people have earned the right to be called hypocrites. Some of them flat out make up stuff. I’ve seen it several times on DSW2. And if you had read my comment, the 2005 addition was a gym & a couple classrooms, not a “renovation.” I doubt it has even been decided whether that wing stands or gets torn down. Clearly it was bad planning, but it has nothing to do with the physical status of the bulk of the school.
I’m not attempting to “turn” the conversation. Its just necessary to point out the lies and distortions that people reading might otherwise think are “facts.” People could be mislead. I’m never going to convince the people saying those things or change their prejudices. But prejudiced people often sound reasonable when you don’t know the true facts.