Decision day for DeKalb: State board considers fate of school board Thursday
The state Board of Education will hold a hearing Thursday on the fate of the fractious DeKalb school board, which was the subject of a devastating critique by the district’s accreditation agency.
Last month, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accused DeKalb officials of engaging in bickering and nepotism while letting district finances collapse. SACS placed the district on probation. The probation could lead to full loss of accreditation if the many problems found by SACS in its six-month review are not corrected in one year.
But the school board may suffer more immediate repercussions from the probationary status.
Under a new state law, the state Board of Education can recommend that the governor suspend members of the DeKalb school board and appoint temporary replacements. The state board will hold its hearing at 1 p.m. in the Twin Towers in downtown Atlanta.
Historically, DeKalb has suffered from cronyism, nepotism and racial and economic divides. The current reality of fewer resources has exacerbated those divides, and some board members have exploited them to their own political advantage. The “friends and family” policy — in place long before the current administration came to power — has led to questionable hires and inflated titles.
The constant political gaming has created deep suspicions among the DeKalb parents who pay attention to the board. Those parents, well informed, data savvy and vocal, now question everything the board does or says. The parents do not trust the people running their schools. And the people running the schools have come to view those parents as adversaries rather than partners.
The SACS report outlines clear instances of school board meddling and poor governance. Anyone reading the report would believe that this is a system in decline rather than on the rise even though DeKalb can point to a few positive trends in its academic performance.
While the DeKalb school board doesn’t serve the citizens well, voters keep electing people who are not qualified to run the state’s third-largest district.
That said, I question the SACS stance, also reiterated in its reports on other districts, that school boards should speak with a united voice on most issues. Board members have a right to question and a right to disagree.
Board decisions don’t have to be unanimous. However, those decisions, no matter the vote tallies, ought to be well reasoned and based on what’s best for the entire system. That is where DeKalb falls short.
Serving on a school board requires that elected officials sometimes put aside the desires of their constituents, the people who live on their street and belong to their church, for the betterment of the system as a whole. That challenge is more pronounced in DeKalb where the county divides into north and south factions, each contending the other earns favored treatment and more resources.
Here are some of the most damning passages from the SACS report:
Evidence supported a finding that board members intimidate staff and attempt to direct the activities of staff members. There is a general feeling that many of the board members feel that principals within their respective voting districts are “their” principals, and they treat them as such. In addition to the previously cited example, one instance includes an employee leaving work crying and distraught after an explosive interaction with a board member
Interviews revealed that there have been instances where promotions have been given to individuals who are highly favored by a board member and not on the basis of merit or qualification. Instances have been cited where Human Resource policies and procedures, including salaries, have been implemented in an inconsistent manner leading to distrust and suspicion across the school system. Various forms of evidence confirmed that there is Board interference in hiring considerations.
One example includes an email dated August 24, 2012, from the board chair to the Superintendent containing the subject line: Candidate for TAPP Program. The email from the board chair to the Superintendent read in part, “This is the individual I referred to the program that I asked you about, with his strong background and personal demeanor I feel that he would be a great candidate to work with our kids in our schools while filling one of our critical needs areas. Please know that I have met this young man and he is the brother of one of our Board… I would appreciate any assistance that you could provide.” This email confirms and supports the common belief of many stakeholders that there exists a problem with nepotism and preferential treatment in the hiring practices of the DeKalb County School District.
Based on evidence from numerous interviews, several board members continue to make harassing calls and visits to schools. There was frequent mention of board members who make special requests of district office staff, bus drivers and teachers, making threats to fire them if they do not comply with their individual requests. It was reported that individual board members have made requests to place people in certain positions, hire who they insist should be hired or provide allowances for certain parents.
These interviewees used terms like fear, harassment, and intimidation to describe the behaviors of board members. In one interview, the individual stated that one board member threatened a teacher with getting him/her fired, quoting the board member as saying, “You don’t know who I am.” Those interviewed consistently expressed that board members have created a level of animosity, and that both teachers and principals operate in fear.
Interviewees described a feeling of hopelessness across the district that it is useless to bring issues to the Board and expect fairness and professionalism, when they witness behavior from board members who routinely exhibit unprofessionalism and unethical behavior.
Here is the AJC story on the SACS report:
Students in DeKalb County have to study using worn textbooks held together by glue. Meanwhile, school employees are getting promotions they haven’t earned because of who they know. Such allegations — contained in a damning report by a school accrediting agency — illustrate the dire state of DeKalb school finances coupled with the “extreme dysfunction” of the culture that created the situation.
In the 20-page document, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools threatened to strip the system’s accreditation a year from now, likely damaging the local economy as well as students. “The most important thing to me is the ineffectiveness of the board to govern the system, ” said Mark Elgart, president and chief executive of SACS’ Alpharetta-based parent company, AdvancED.
Should the district lose accreditation, it would be the first time that’s happened in metro Atlanta since Clayton County in 2008. Clayton was the first system to suffer such a severe sanction from SACS since Duval County, Fla., more than 40 years ago. It was a major blow for Clayton, with 3,200 students leaving the district, and surely exacerbated the effects of the economic recession. As many as 20,000 people moved out of the county, the unemployment rate rose and housing values plummeted.
Gov. Nathan Deal has authority under a new state law to remove the DeKalb school board if that’s what the state board recommends. The state board has 30 days from Monday’s release of the report to schedule a hearing on the matter. (That hearing is Thursday.)
The DeKalb system’s budget drew scrutiny in the SACS report. The system routinely has under-budgeted for expenses such as utilities and legal work over the past several years, contributing to its current deficit. (State education officials recently confirmed a $14.5 million deficit at the June close of the fiscal year.)
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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184 comments Add your comment
Dunwoody Mom
January 14th, 2013
9:21 am
Does any board member (except Jester who has raised the issue that administratiave salaries are actually higher now than last year YTD) review those monthly HR reports and compare them month to month? If so, you will realize that the nonsense about decreasing the Central Office was and is nonsense. Has any board member asked Atkinson why? No.
The BOE was due to answer the GADOE as to how they intend to correct the budget deficit, which I believe is around $20 million. Has this report been delivered to the GADOE? This district is $20 million in the hole and yet, this board continues to approve expenditures for MORE legal fees, etc., That alone should merit suspension.
fedup
January 14th, 2013
9:22 am
@LOGIC, please explain your statement that “…Jester’s lobbying to save her own hide is not disguising her greater ambitions”. Show where she’s lobbying to save her own hide, and please explain her greater ambitions…and ambitions greater than what?
Dunwoody Mom
January 14th, 2013
9:23 am
So sorry about typos and grammar issues. When I type when angry, my brain moves faster than my fingers.
Bill & Ed's Excellent Adventure
January 14th, 2013
9:31 am
@Dunwoody Mom maybe on Thursday the state board can also vote to remove certain communities from DCSS as well…I’ll put a call in to request that.
DeKalb Inside Out
January 14th, 2013
9:31 am
ConcernedMom
I agree. Walker 5 hired Dr Atkinson. She started making decisions they didn’t like, so now they are trying to get her out. Questions 1) Name one thing the board hasn’t let Dr Atkinson do. 2) What is the administration’s responsibility in this mess?
Ernest
I think the culture of the BOE advocating for citizens (for better or for worse) is born out of the administration not listening to the public. The BOE rep is the only place people can go sometimes.
Dunwoody Mom
I would like to defend the BOE to some extent. The BOE is between a rock and a hard place. The job of the BOE is to set policy. We would like the BOE to ask questions and get to the bottom of things. SACS has made it perfectly clear that asking too many questions is a bad thing and threatens accreditation. Where is the administration’s responsibility for coming up with those crappy budgets? The threats to parents, principals and teachers are coming from the administration.
Dunwoody Mom
January 14th, 2013
9:34 am
@Bill & ED….don’t appreciate the smart comment. My first priority is and has always been to remain and FIX this school district. If it doesn’t seem possible, then yes, I would advocate for the ability to create individual school district.
Ernest
January 14th, 2013
9:38 am
Dunwoody Mom, you’ve also got to ask why are Board members doing many of the things that they do. My recollection is that Dr. Atkinson presented a balanced budget however Board members did not approve it. As a result, they went through a very public process of reviewing line items and approving at that level. This opened the budgeting process up for the community to advocate for various programs/services. In my opinion, detailed analysis involving the community is not the role of a Board member. I don’t know of any other school district that goes through a budget approval process like DeKalb.
I will also say that Dr. Atkinson, like Dr. Brown, inherited a mess. As she has begun to unravel what she is finding and make the tough decision, she is being undermined by the community and Board members in doing so. We are constantly seeing a ‘rob Peter to pay Paul’ type of scenario with the budget. At some point in time, you have to bite the bullet and make the tough decision however she isn’t being allowed to.
A long time saying in DeKalb is ‘The squeaky wheel gets the grease’. There is a LOT of squeaking going on.
Dunwoody Mom
January 14th, 2013
9:39 am
DIO, I am not disagree with you at all – or at least I don’t think so. But, the discussion of the ills of this school district cannot be laid at the feet of SACS. It is mismanagement by the BOE and criminal behavior, incompetence, laziness…(I’m running out of adjectives) by the DCSS administration (prior and current) that has led us to this point – probation. Again, maintaining the staus quo will led to loss of accreditation. Something, everything has to change.
Dunwoody Mom
January 14th, 2013
9:42 am
@Ernest, that budget may have been “balanced”, but it was devastating to our children’s classrooms. No budget should be offered up that was as devastating to the education of this district as that budget was. The BOE should have rejected and told Atkinson to go back and produce a budget that didn’t affect class sizes, teacher salaries, teacher benefits, etc.,
Ernest
January 14th, 2013
9:46 am
DeKalb Inside Out, you have a point however this resulted in a culture of appeasement when we did not have budget shortfalls. Board members should not bypass the chain of command in addressing constituent concerns. I’ve spoken to principals who have been undermined by their Board members. Once citizens realize they can go around someone. they pass the word on and consistently do it. Talk about undermining the local school leadership.
Remember back in the mid to late eighties, many schools were closed or repurposed with the move to middle schools and to address white flight. That was a tough decision made to address the realities of a changing school system. It was done for the good of the district. We should have continued to tweak schools throughout the nineties however some schools were kept open when they should have been consolidated.
Private Citizen
January 14th, 2013
9:52 am
Richard Braswell, I can make grapes grow on corn stalks and I like doing it – a lot. Unfortunately, this activity is not supported in official required role playing culture. From what I can tell, Georgia either plays “dumb / nobody home” or else they intend for kids to not be educated. Many for-real educators run into a complete brick wall and bulldozer coming at them from the political caste, aka “school management.” It is notable that state heads allow distant initiatives from Gates / Duncan to place and enforce a system of incoherence and “complexities and shadings” to everything. And that way the state head can collect their paycheck and role play “helpless” and “seeking.” But let me tell you, some of know what we are doing and know how to do it. And from what I have seen, it is these who say “I’ve had enough of this sh- – , I’m out of here.” And it is not the kids or the work they know how to do that is giving them trouble. Grapes / corn stalks? No problem. There’s also people who can competently rebuild electronic racing transmissions. Believe it or not, there are some people who know which end is up.
Ernest
January 14th, 2013
9:54 am
Dunwoody Mom, the budget that was approved was not much different than the one she presented. Instead of a 2 mill increase, it included a 1 mill increase along with additional cuts. In an environment where expenditures are rising (health benefits, supply costs, etc.) and budgets are shrinking, something has to give.
The reality is every school district has to make tough decisions given the decline in school budgets. The superintendent is hired to make the tough decisions. Collectively we seem to not want to deal with this reality.
I’m married to a teacher and our household budget has been impacted by the salary and benefit reductions all employees have experienced. My children’s class sizes have gone up significantly. I’d love to see all employees get a raise along with reducing class sizes but ultimately how will we pay for it? What may seem like fat in the budget to some may be a critical expenditure to others. That is what I see going on, everyone trying to protect their turf and asking Board members to be the arbiters.
Private Citizen
January 14th, 2013
9:59 am
One problem is that the entire state education management culture is anti “know what we are doing and know how to do it.”
They have all been lobotomised by the outside money and Gates / Duncan brain washing. Their idea of top level management is to be on standby waiting to be told what to do.
Hey Dunwoody Mom, http://www.topcultured.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/internet-high-five.jpg
Private Citizen
January 14th, 2013
10:01 am
Seek another accreditation agency? Does AdvancED / SACS have competition? Is there such a thing?
By the way, agreed that state finance regulators should be the ones supervising the finance/accounting.
Dunwoody Mom
January 14th, 2013
10:03 am
Ernest, it’s really easy imo, you cut that Central Office until they are rattling around in that huge facility. We can cut para’s and put 40 kids in our class, but do we really need a “Field Trip Clerk” or more “administrative” personnel in the Central Office. I review the job postings on the PATS system daily and am alarmed and disgusted by the number and type of non-teaching positions listed.
Private Citizen
January 14th, 2013
10:06 am
Education management in Georgia is people who profess to not know what they are doing trying to force other people who do not profess that they do not know what they are doing to act like they do not know what they are doing. PS Corporate-culture labor requirement version 1.0, no revisions necessary: Apologise continuously and without stopping. Oh, and by the way, your career depends on this. If you want it any different, better find a different hitching post. Many do. Many many do. And what do you have left? Either people with a rock on their neck, or careerists.
bu2
January 14th, 2013
10:06 am
Race is overplayed as an issue creating the board incompetence. Rarely do we have whites and blacks running against each other and an someone unfit of the district’s majority race winning. Unfit people have beaten people of the same race (for example Ms. Copelin-Woods).
And yet, Bowen, Walker, Speaks and Jester were all highly qualified, intelligent individuals. And 2 were on each side of the board split on most issues.
The issues are the priorities. Bowen and Walker have emphasized the employment aspect of adults over the children. They seem to have viewed the administrative employees as who they were supposed to represent.
The other problem in Dekalb is tribalism as someone phrased in a little different way above. For example, some North Dekalb groups pursue their own interests while accusing other groups of pursuing their own interests at the expense of the district as a whole. There are “tribes” like that all over the county with differing interests and distrust of the other groups, each feeling they are being discriminated against (and only the heavily immigrant population along Buford Highway has much of a case). Their representatives often represent the distrust and the need to protect their “tribe.” Now race does contribute to that distrust, but the distrust transcends race.
Logic
January 14th, 2013
10:07 am
@fed up
A gag order should have been placed on all BOE members until they testify in front of the State. Blogging does not get you ed policy cred, but working with the proper people to implement the change is what is needed and elected officials are supposed to do that and not blog incessantly with no results.
No one is getting to the heart of the matter as to why we spend more per child than our neighboring counties yet provide less to our children. A lot has to do with educational policy, how we allow schools to operate and the empowerment of the principals to do what they need to do to provide for the students.
There are many things that I agree with her on, but critical decisions are not meant for the blogs, but for working with the people who can impart change. Even those of us on this blog are not doing much good unless we are writing letters to the Governor, the DeKalb Delegation, etc.
And, she LOST my vote after 2 key things: 1. a little too much “involvement” in two key schools 2. Map shenanigans. There are other items that reinforce why she would need to be removed also.
Dr. John Trotter
January 14th, 2013
10:21 am
We have been pointing out for going on five years now the sheer hypocrisy of Mark Elgart’s and SACS’s actions. SACS’s so-called “standards” are a way to keep elected school boards in line and a way to protect superintendents and the politically-connected (uh, perhaps certain school board attorneys? Hmm.). SACS is simply used as a tool to keep the politically-connected in some kind of control once they have lost the control at the ballot box. See Clayton County and DeKalb County.
The Atlanta Public Schools (APS) was different because the politically-connected (uh, King & Spalding, Price Waterhouse, et al., perhaps) were still apparently getting what they wanted. So, a blind eye (literally a “blind eye”) was given to the shenanigans of the Beverly Hall Administration. And, these same “connected” people and institutions apparently took an active role trying to cover up these shenanigans and to prop up the already-disgraced Beverly Hall Administration. I believe ole Markie Mark Elgart also took an active role in trying to keep Hall’s house standing…before it came crumbling down.
What Mark Elgart and SACS did in Clayton County was unconscionable. This was all started because the two apparent favorites of SACS (Chairperson Ericka Davis and Vice Chairperson Rod Johnson) were seeing their unethical actions exposed and their powers slipping between their fingers. Hence, these two apparently thought that they could just use their friend Mark Elgart and SACS to scare Norreese Haynes into submission. Mr. Haynes was bringing about most of the heat on these two by his courageous expose of such matters as the now-infamous “land deal” in Clayton County, a deal that was pushed through without the signature of the superintendent. Richard Belcher on WSB TV 2 did a two-night report alone, interviewing Mr. Haynes at length. On one day alone, the four main local network news stations in Altanta as well as the national FOXS News called Mr. Haynes for interviews, but trying to be a “team player” on the school board, he turned down their requests for interviews.
After this and other matters which Mr. Haynes exposed, Rod Johnson filed a formal complaint which consisted of mush. Mr. Haynes responded forthright with a 12 or 13 page complaint of detailed information with about 20 or more exhibits to SACS, demonstrating with great persuasion the unethical actions of Ms. Davis and Mr. Johnson who were apparently pointing the finger at him and others. What did Mark Elgart do with this detailed complaint provided to him and SACS (and sent, I believe as well, to attorney Glenn Brock, who seems to work hand-in-hand with Mark Elgart)? Well, Mr. Elgart just observed the “pass over.” He just passed right over it.
Instead, Mr. Elgart and SACS came out with a “report” that was, as Norreese Haynes labeled it the very day that it came out on February 15, 2008 in his own press release that was carried in the AJC and attached as a PDF, “a sham and a farce.” I read the so-called “report.” It was pitifully written and of virtually no substance. In fact, it was full of factual errors as well. SACS didn’t want to know the truth about what was going on in Clayton County. Initially one of the Central Office administrators in Clayton County called me and asked if I would be willing to interview with the SACS “investigation” committee. I assured him that I would love to interview with the committee. On the day of my scheduled interview, I was called by this same gentleman to inform me that SACS had changed its mind about interviewing me. Mr. Haynes stated to me that when he went before this same committee and reached in his brief case to pull out documents which would buttress the claims which he had made, the chairman of the committee hastened to let him know that he and the committee were not interested.
The Clayton County situation was an open-and-shut case from the very beginning. The “investigation” stuff was a joke. Same thing for DeKalb. What happened in DeKalb is that board members were getting way too independent and couldn’t be called in by a friendly phone call by the politically-connected. Glenn Brock’s offer of his services for a “search” for a new superintendent was rebuffed. Then the school board went out and inexplicably hired a lightweight superintendent from some small town in Ohio. Obviously, some members of the DeKalb School Board knew the connection between political power and money. Political Science 101. Pretty basic. But, sometimes the politically-connected are so arrogant while feasting at swanky places like the Piedmont Driving Club and discussing the billions of dollars associated with public school systems that they seem to forget that the elected members of school boards who may just dine at This Is It! Restaurant also see the money involved. And, guess what, they have the legitimate levers of power, viz., elections at the ballot box. But, ah, those feasting on seared salmon, scallops, and asparagus at the Piedmont Driving Club have SACS.
Yes, this is where SACS comes in. It is a private organization with absolutely no oversight from the State. No accountability whatsoever and scads of conflict-of-interests. Its money comes from the public coffers, from the same source which it “evaluates.” Mark Elgart and SACS have smarmy relationship with the States’s superintendents. They love SACS. SACS acts in a distinct way as their “union.” I have said many times that SACS should more accurately stand for Still Advocating for Cronies and Superintendents (SACS).
Oh, yes, let’s return to Clayton County. The next month after the so-called SACS “report,” I presume that Ms. Davis and Mr. Johnson saw that Mr. Haynes was not one bit intimidated by Mark Elgart and SACS. So, Ms. Davis contacted Eldrin Bell to do an “investigation” about where Mr. Haynes was living. Mind you that this is none of Mr. Bell’s business (by the way, he was slaughtered in this last election by Jeff Turner), but he got the Clayton County Police Department to “investigate” where Mr. Haynes lived. They did a pretty horrible job because they went to his former residence in Morrow and apparently knew nothing about him moving to Conley in a house still in the district. I knew about it and had visited Mr. Haynes at his Conley home. Mr. Haynes had even officially changed his address with the school system and the Registrar’s Office in Clayton County. But, when you are not really looking for the truth, you won’t find it. Despite the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office conducting an extensive investigation of Mr. Haynes’s residence and issuing not one but two different reports stating that it could not find evidence that Mr. Haynes lived outside his voting district, this same foolhardy Ericka Davis led the push in the March 2008 school board meeting to kick Norreese Haynes off the Clayton County School Board. Not all board members voted to kick Mr. Haynes off the school board, but all the remaining eight school board members either stepped down under duress and apparent shame, beginning with Chairperson Ericka Davis, or were removed by the Governor.
The State Law clearly states that an elected official of Georgia cannot be removed without first obtaining “judicial determination.” Mr. Haynes’s lawyer, Preston Haliburton, clearly and eloquently pointed this out in Judge Deborah Benefield’s courtroom, but Judge Benefield apparently did not have the stomach or nerves to hear the case and, quite frankly, would have gone all the way to Hong Kong back to try to find an excuse not to hear the case. She demurred. A real act of judicial cowardice. She was indeed a profile in cowardice.
What did Mark Elgart and SACS do? Ericka Davis, not in conjunction with other school board members but acting alone (which violates SACS’s precious standards), called on the County Commission Chairman, Eldrin Bell, to “investigate” Norreese Haynes’s residence. The office charged with this type of investigation is the Georgia Secretary of State. What about when the Clayton County Board of Education illegally voting Mr. Haynes off the school board? What did Mark Elgart and SACS do about this illegal move? Nothing. The same thing that Mark Eldart and SACS did with the Cobb County Board of Education even admitted to holding 57 illegal school board meetings. Heck, I remember when Mark Elgart and “advisor” Glenn Brock and two State Board Members met illegally behind closed doors with the Clayton County Board of Education. That was a real irony. I presume that it is O. K. to violate the State’s Open Meetings Law if you are connected. Hmm.
I write all of this in some details to simply demonstrate that Mark Elgart and SACS are hypocrites. Several years ago when Crawford Lewis and Beverly Hall were riding high, I came up with my list for The Three Biggest Educational Hypocrites in Georgia. I later abridged this list to include Edmond Heatley of Clayton County. So, my list consisted of Hall, Lewis, Heatley, and Mark Elgart. The first three stepped down or were pushed aside rather disgracefully. I am hoping that the public will finally see the light of the great hypocrisy of SACS and its leader, Mark Elgart. I have offered to debate in a very public forum Mr. Elgart concerning the arbitrary and capricious application of SACS’s so-called “standards.” I have made this offer several times for almost five years. He has not even responded. I will debate him in Jekyll Island (he may be more comfortable at The Jekyll Island Club) or the Piedmont Driving Club (perhaps in the Alston Room), at the 29th Street Gym in Columbus, Georgia, in the Comer Auditorium in Bibb City, Georgia, at the Dairy Lane Barbeque in Sandersville, Georgia, at the Busy Bee Restaurant on Martin Luther King Drive in Atlanta, at Butch’s Chicken House Restaurant in Jonesboro, at the Big Chicken in Marietta (here Glenn Brock won’t have to travel far), or at Paschal’s on Northside Drive. Heck, I would even travel up to Mt. Alpharetta where Zeus Elgart lives. I don’t think that Mark Elgart wants to defend his actions in public. I would have more respect for him if he submitted his actions to a rigorous debate, with a thorough and sifting examination of these so-called “standards.”
Folks, the emperor is naked. SACS is a joke. It is a control mechanism. I prefer to allow the voters to control their politicians at the ballot box. This is how a democracy works. Anything else smacks of a pitiable Gnostic oligarchy. © GTSO, January 14, 2013.
http://www.theteachersadvocate.com
http://www.georgiateachersspeakout.com
Ernest
January 14th, 2013
10:21 am
bu2, interesting analogy using tribalism. DeKalb is truly a melting pot of different cultures, communities and perspectives.
Dunwoody Mom, I think the size of the central office has become a ‘red herring’ for some. I can reasonably question it but also acknowledge I don’t know many of the functions and the value they provide to the local school and community. I do know that some are subsidized by a combination of state and federal law.
A school system in not a manufacturing plant that can automate most functions that could be performed by humans. When someone calls the main number, more than likely they want to speak to a person not an automated attendant. I recall when that was done once, the community complained.
I spoke to a friend that is a speech pathologist. She works out of East Campus and her headcount is assigned to the central office. She provides services to children at several schools. This is the kind of position that those who don’t understand the job function might look to cut without realizing the impact it would have on children learning. There are many more services like these that perhaps our children don’t receive but are vital to others in the district.
DeKalb Inside Out
January 14th, 2013
10:23 am
Dunwoody Mom
Short of independent school districts, how do you feel about Nancy Jester’s Portfolio District?
I’m saying that SACS and the State DOE has enabled administrations to do a horrible job. BOE’s are 4th in line for responsibility for what’s going on.
Ernest
I’m with you to some extent. I’ve heard many examples of board members WAY overstepping their bounds.
Dunwoody Mom
January 14th, 2013
10:30 am
DIO, I think the Portfolio District is somethng that should be researched. I, personally, don’t know enough about it to give it a thumbs up yet, though I believe that any approach that returns control of schools to the individuals actually in those schools is a priority to look at. I’m tired of my child’s education being determined by individuals sitting in a building 30 minutes away while those who are with my child every day are being told how to teach, what to teach, when to teach, etc., The decision-making has been removed from our teachers, many of whom have been teaching for decades and know what they are doing. Especially, when those same people in that building 30 minutes away dismiss any and all input from parents. The DCSS Administration loves parents when they are raising funds for items that should be the district’s responsibility, i.e. bulbs for promethean boards, copy paper, toilet paper for the bathrooms and I could go on, but otherwise we are dismissed.
Ernest, with all due respect, I disagree that the Central Office issue is a red herring.
Sorry for the rant….
DeKalb Inside Out
January 14th, 2013
10:37 am
Logic said but critical decisions are not meant for the blogs – I praise Ms Jester for being the only one to tell us what is going on!! I’m tired of all these deals going on behind closed doors. Let’s get it out into the public. SACS and the administration won’t listen to her, but I will. Public pressure is the only force that will change things. SACS and School administrations benefit from the status quo.
Who brought these issues to light via her newsletter and blogs? Who is trying to change things via the Portfolio District? Who is risking their job and personal hide by not shutting up? Who is one of the only honest reps to sit on that board in the last 10 years?
Ms Jester lost your vote? Have you lost your mind?
Woody
January 14th, 2013
10:40 am
I think what the SACS was driving at, was that ideally a Board’s contention and politics would be ironed out in private, so that measures would be amended to everyone’s satisfaction before a public meeting and vote. I learned as head of a Board (not of education), the hard way, that if a matter can’t be settled unanimously prior to a public vote, there is something seriously wrong with it. It’s all about show – the appearance, if not the fact, of unity. A Board of Education is not the Congress of the United States, and is not a proper place for grandstanding and media-chasing. If contention is allowed to take over, then the morale of staff and students suffers.
Beverly Fraud
January 14th, 2013
10:42 am
Somehow (someone spiked my coffee with LSD?) I can picture Orson Welles doing a Citizen Kane like movie on the DCSS school system, accept in this version, instead of Charles Foster Kane saying “Rosebud,” a nameless DeKalb County citizen, representing “everyman” is see muttering “FUBAR”
Of course this being DCSS the movie would come in $25 million over budget…
Ernest
January 14th, 2013
10:45 am
Dunwoody Mom, I always respect your opinions and disagreements. To clarify my point regarding the Central office, I believe many believe that the solution to our funding shortfalls is to reduce the size of the central office. For that reason, I believe it has become a ‘red herring’ in discussions regarding the budget. Again, my recollection is that it has been significantly reduced albeit through reassigning many jobs functions back to the school house. I recall when 3 separate people handled oversight of the magnet, theme and charter schools. It is now handled by one. I also understand that someone has been hired (or at least is responsible for) handling all the open records request. I personally don’t think that is a good use of budget dollars but we see what happens when they are not turned around in 3 days as prescribed by law.
To ignore the ‘tribal battles’ that go on in this county is to also put one’s head in the sand. I attended the school organization meeting last week at MLK. Regretfully I heard some of my neighbors accused my neighbors in North DeKalb for the outcomes of one of the recommendations (converting Chapel Hill MS to a middle theme school). If I had the opportunity, I would have pointed out that this initiative was being driven by many who live in that community. Unfortunately my friends on other side of town was made out to look like the ‘bogeyman’ again, merely because some know how to raise the ire of some in the community.
If I have the opportunity to speak at one of the upcoming meetings, I plan to clarify this without regard for what may be said about me because we need to come up with creative problem solving not old time blaming. I believe this ‘blame game’ happens partially because not many have a global view of how to address the current challenges in DeKalb. Ironically aren’t we seeing similarities with our current Congress????
Dr. John Trotter
January 14th, 2013
10:50 am
Maureen: Are my comments still “awaiting moderation”? Darn. Is the standard fare for me these days? My comments always have to wait to be “moderated”? Ha!
Chain of Command
January 14th, 2013
10:53 am
@earnest,
I’ve used the “chain of command” for issues and gotten nowhere. When a teacher refused to meet with me to even discuss my problem, I went to the principal. She was sympathetic but couldn’t help me. I went to the area superintendent who mostly ignored me. Then to the Deputy Superintendent who ignored me and finally asked the area superintendent to deal with my problem. We finally met and she still couldn’t resolve the matter. I asked who could and was told me the Superintendent was the only one who could make the call. I asked for a meeting with the Superintendent and was told that I was not entitled to a meeting. Now my lawyer has they file. The chain of command worked brilliantly to not help me and now will cost the taxpayers money in legal fees. The last stop is my board member but they can’t help according to everything I’m reading. I’m a taxpayer and we have no recourse to make the unelected administrators do the right thing or even meet with us.
Do you know that principals are being told by this administration to “control your parents”? How is that supposed to work? This order from above is going to run off the hand full of good principals we have. I guess maybe that’s the plan. The fewer smart leaders you have, the easier it is to control things. Sad. I don’t see any fixing that until you let each school control itself. I think that’s what I see the portfolio strategy doing. It’s our only hope.
skipper
January 14th, 2013
10:54 am
Here is the deal, folks. This system is a cluster….period. Also, this point is non-debatable. It is a cluster. Something has to be done. and anybody can see this. And lastly, the present hierarchy ia NOT the way to go. There is no cure for this mess under present leadership (my sincere apologies for the blatant misuse of that word.) Leave the present system in place and 10-20 years from now, the unthinkable (though expected) thing will happen: it will get worse.
Dunwoody Mom
January 14th, 2013
10:58 am
Ernest, how can we not “blame” the BOE and Administration. Just, look at our school district. It’s an mess, morally, financially and academically – and they are responsible for this. Some days I ask myself why I should care so much. My youngest is a Junior and then I can be done with DCSS. But, I choose not to be. I was sent an article several weeks ago, about empty-nester parents finding their new “passion” as their children leave. My passion right now is trying to “fix” this school district. I grew up in DeKalb…I graduated from DeKalb schools…I want all students in this county to have the kind of educational outcomes that I had and my children have had. I don’t want to leave DCSS in the mess is in now.
I cannot control what other areas of the county say and believe. There are people that will have to answer for that nonsense because it takes away from the real conversation we, as a county, have to have. Can you imagine what this school system would “look” like if we don’t do something? It would be devastating.
The status quo of DCSS cannot continue.
catlady
January 14th, 2013
11:17 am
I’m not sure if the state taking over Dekalb schools would help Dekalb, but I am pretty certain it would help quite a few other systems who might have the FOG put into them!
Beverly Fraud
January 14th, 2013
11:23 am
“I believe ole Markie Mark Elgart also took an active role in trying to keep Hall’s house standing…before it came crumbling down.”
Not only do you believe it, the AJC believed it; in fact they (correct me if I’m wrong Maureen) reported it; reported in fact that Markie Mark tried to “strong arm” the board into reinstating the former board chair who the AJC reported (correct me if I’m wrong Maureen) actively conspired with Beverly Hall to cover up evidence of cheating.
The thing was Dr. Trotter, the AJC editorial board had egg on their faces over their unabashed support of Beverly Hall. To admit you were years ahead of the curve on the cheating in APS would have been too much to bear, after spending the better part of a decade trying to demonize you.
Dr. Trotter, what do you think about a teacher “trigger clause”? If 75% of a teaching staff, in an anonymous survey, said the principal was “weak and ineffective,” what are the odds are that principal is indeed weak and ineffective and it would be in the best interest of the school to replace that administrator?
Might stop some of that administrative retaliation if there was some real recourse, and 75% should be more than a high enough number so that effective administrators don’t have to worry about a few malcontents cutting them off at the knees. (Wouldn’t mind seeing someone like Dr. Henson weigh in here)
I’m sure PAGE and GAE would support this call, as they are well known for being
as fierce as Barney Fife confronting the Hell’s Angels“take no prisoners” advocates for teachers when it comes to administrator abuse.Beverly Fraud
January 14th, 2013
11:29 am
Maureen, why not do a “point-counter point” editorial on the role of SACS with Markie Mark on one side and Dr. Trotter on the other?
Seems the readers responded in a positive manner, when the AJC was finally willing to go after the truth about Beverly Hall; I would imagine it would be the same for SACS, considering their influence.
DeKalb Inside Out
January 14th, 2013
11:33 am
Woody
said “Board’s contention and politics would be ironed out in private” – Why bother having public board meetings if everything is going to be ironed out in private? This is a HUGE problem … SACS is encouraging everything to be done behind closed doors. I very much appreciate the public debate. I want to know what people are saying. I want to know who is standing up for the children and taxpayers. This is why we have Sunshine Laws and SACS wants just the opposite. If we don’t want to hurt staff and students, then don’t screw them over.
CJae of EAV
January 14th, 2013
11:35 am
To all the contributors to this blog who exclaim and exhault the virtues of local control when the subject matter revolved around the recent charter school admendment, where are is your hue and cry about the dismantling of the virtues of local control while we’re falling over ourselves trying to place the fate of this school system in the hands of an unelected State School board and an unelected private third party accreditation service.
My basic point, if you’re truly for local control then I guess you must suffer the slings and arrows of your elected officials until you can vote them out of office or have good Gov Deal fire them and appoint his own cronies to meet the unanmious voting standard SACS thinks is befitting of a quality local board.
This situation as well as in Clayton County is a complete mess. The operational structure and goverance of public education in GA needs some overall on multiple fronts.
Ernest
January 14th, 2013
11:38 am
Dunwoody Mom, please don’t misinterpret what I am saying, the BOE and administration are directly responsible for the current state of the school district. As the SACs report indicates, both entities respond to a culture that exists which involves bypassing the chain of command. Ultimately they are responsible and perhaps should have told more in the community ‘no’ when their advocacy was not in the best interest of the school system.
I believe the Board should be replaced with citizens appointed by a grand jury (after a thorough application and review process). I think Dr. Atkinson deserves a chance to be evaluated by that Board to determine if she can be an effective leader. I think Jim Cherry and Robert Freeman would both have challenges working with the current Board. One doesn’t know how successful she can be until given the chance without constant interference and micromanagement.
CJae of EAV
January 14th, 2013
11:46 am
@Dekalb Inside Out et al — After reading Nancy Jester’s blog posting concerning “The Portfolio District strategy” is interesting how remarkably simular it sounds in practice to the concept of Charter School governance.
I’m just saying, its amazing the traction around an idea when you change the term used to refer to it.
alm
January 14th, 2013
12:07 pm
All 9 BOE members need to go. If you try to cherry pick it will turn ugly VERY quickly. I don’t think it’s an issue of central office vs school house as much as people that don’t work with students vs those that do. If something does not directly impact students/teachers then its value needs to be questioned and possibly cut.
Remember to write to the state BOE and let them know what you think.
Ernest
January 14th, 2013
12:08 pm
skipper, no one is denying that in its current state, the school district is a cluster….. My belief is you need to research and understand how it got to be that way. Otherwise changing the Board without changing the ‘behind the scenes influencers’ in merely like moving the deck chairs on the Titanic. Like Dr. Trotter is suggesting, I also believe there are some ‘money people’ behind some of this though I can’t prove it.
Like Dunwoody Mom, I have Juniors that could be impacted by the district possibly losing accreditation. I’m motivated to work and see this does not happen.
Wilbur
January 14th, 2013
12:09 pm
DCSS is a mess. Just like ClayCo was a mess. And for the same reasons.
DeKalb has some opportunity to fix the situation but it does not seem likely. Conspiracy theories, continuing race hatred and community support for the boobs that made this mess are not encouraging. In most counties, the perps in the system would be bounced out and parents and voters would demand improvement. If DCSS does not get it’s act together, Dunwoody and Brookhaven will have city schools too.
bu2
January 14th, 2013
12:23 pm
I think APS is a perfect example of why Deal should not appoint a board. The business community supported Hall and her schemes to the end. And a board appointed from recommendations by the Dekalb County state reps would be even worse than what we have now. Further, if Deal reappointed some (even if there were a logical basis, like those elected in the last two years), it might make matyrs of the others and help their reelection.
For now, keep their feet to the fire, but leave them in place. If they don’t make progress, Deal can re-consider. We have 5 relatively new board members and 2 who barely won their last election, one at-large whose district probably goes away. The other two (Cunningham and Walker) are likely to be in the same district next time when we go down to 7 board members as they live very close. Everyone is up for reelection in 2 years.
ShooShee
January 14th, 2013
12:30 pm
Ernest, you are so right! Superintendents have brought strong cuts to transportation as well as consolidating schools in order to save MILLIONS, yet the board squabbles to please ‘their’ constituents and ends up saying no to some or all of the cuts. And now — we’re broke!
bootney farnsworth
January 14th, 2013
1:12 pm
@ DeKalb in/out
IMO, honest to God, I think the DCSS system is broken beyond repair. while I acknowledge there has been some turnover, turnover to what? to who? whose agenda?
there needs to be a major priority change in how the voters cast their votes, and why. otherwise, same poo, different people.
and frankly, I don’t see it happening
bootney farnsworth
January 14th, 2013
1:20 pm
@ beverly
while I love the idea of an honest to God independent advocate, I’m reluctant to let the trigger and out machanism work.
too much of a chance of turning into popularity party / mob mentality politics. it is possible to be a horse’s behind and still be good and ethical at your job
I could endorse when you reach a certain trigger point and an independent third party comes in to investigate. as annoyed as I was with GPC for lack of due process in ruining 282 + lives, I don’t wish to see it done to someone else. even some horse’s behind administrator types
bootney farnsworth
January 14th, 2013
1:26 pm
getting on my own soapbox here
for some perspective after reading Dr Trotters stuff.
GPC went millions in debt, was guilty of gross mismanagement and cronyism leading to 100s being laid off or not renewed, and had a president relieved of his responsibilities during the academic year.
and all SACS did was a mild letter. you really think SACS will give a rats butt about DCSS?
concernedmom30329
January 14th, 2013
2:08 pm
Bu2
You are wrong. The Board needs to be replaced. I suppose that the three newly elected members could be seated, but SACs and citizens have been holding various boards feet to the fire for many years and it has gotten us nowhere. Two years is a long time to wait to replace Walker and Cunningham and Copelin Woods.
Watch tonight when the Board Chair is elected. There is a possibility Gene Walker will be reelected chair. There are members of the DeKalb delegation who are pushing board members to vote for him. However, I am not sure he has the votes. If he wins, watch carefully to see who supports him. Let’s try and guess what deals were made for those votes.
There are already personality conflicts among the new board members and some of the remaining board members. If nothing changes, we don’t stand a prayer.
Macon is Next
January 14th, 2013
2:14 pm
Always follow the money! No doubt some big ego’s and personality conflicts, and fighting over fiefdoms’s also plays a role as well. County education budgets are massive. We are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars often being managed by people without even a rudimentary knowledge of finance, accounting, or budgets. How can you not expect tens of millions of wasteful spending or budget shortfalls. I realize DeKalb’s issues are far more complex than simple budget matters, but certainly that plays a key role since the money is not being properly allocated to get the most educational bang for the buck.
The BOE and superintendents in DeKalb and all around the country are more of a hinderance than a help. They need to hire good principals that are held accountable and give them far more autonomy to run their schools. Head teachers also need more flexibility to run their classes and departments. Until we come closer to this model where the educrats and BOE just get out of the way and let schools do their jobs nothing will change.
Private schools manage to do a far better job without hundreds if not thousands of non-teaching admin staff and a BOE micro-managing every decision. I realize this is because they also can be very selective on what students they choose to admit, but at the same time much can be learned from this model. Public schools can never have the same level of autonomy as private schools due to state and federal mandates and miles of other red tape they must follow, but surely a happy medium could be achieved.
At the end of the day, you have a lot of people that have absolutely no direct or even indirect impact on the education of the children trying to justify their positions and worth. You could probably reorganize the district along the lines of the portfolio model and fire over half of the non-teaching admin type jobs and get far better results. Let teacher’s teach!
DeKalb Inside Out
January 14th, 2013
2:39 pm
ConcernedMom
Replace the board with who? If Deal replaces the board, he’ll have to lean on the DeKalb Delegation for recommendations like they did for district maps (heaven help us). All seats are up for reelection next year. Appointed board members would have limited time to get anything done before we are back to the same old mess.
watch carefully to see who supports [Gene] – You obviously know something and are making a big deal about this (again). Why don’t you just tell us who you anticipate supporting Dr Walker that is going to be this big surprise.
Ernest
January 14th, 2013
3:06 pm
concernedmom30329, you comments are also another reason why I believe citizens have ‘given’ too much perceived power to Board members. My understanding is that the primary role of the Board chari is to serve as the spokesperson for the collective Board and preside over meetings. They are democratically elected by other Board members not citizens. This means their vote is equal with the other Board members. There is also a policy that spells out the duties of a Board chair. It is Policy BBA and can be found at:
https://eboard.eboardsolutions.com/epolicy/policy.aspx?PC=BBA&Sch=4054&S=4054&RevNo=1.12&C=B&Z=P
I’ll admit to having concerns regarding how Nancy Jester is communicating her views regarding SACs and the Board. While I agree there will be disagreements between 9 people on the direction of the school district, how you handle those disagreements reflects on the perceptions the public forms about your interactions. Again this goes back to making tough decisions. Some have brought up that Nancy did not vote to hire Dr. Atkinson. Does that mean she should not work with her because of that? To be clear, I an not accusing Nancy of not being a team player but some seem to suggest that because Nancy did not vote for Dr. Atkinson, she is justified in appealing to her constituents on how she would handle things. I personally see this as a slippery slope.
DeKalb Inside Out
January 14th, 2013
3:30 pm
Ernest
Actually, Pam Speaks and Nancy Jester are the only reasons Dr Atkinson still has a job. The Walker 5 is doing everything they can to get her out of there.
Dr Atkinson isn’t following policies. SACS is telling Ms Jester to be quiet and that if Dr Atkinson doesn’t want to follow a policy, then it’s a bad policy.
What do you recommend? We need big changes in DeKalb. Administrations and board members come and go and nothing changes.