What would you tell the state board today about the performance of the DeKalb school board?

Dunwoody Mom

January 16th, 2013
10:57 am

More time to respond to concerns? Seriously….Good Grief…this BOE has had 2+ years to straighten up their act. Do you really think a few more months is going to do anything? The children of this school district CANNOT wait another minute for something to occur to shake up the educational issues facing this county.

Catlady

January 16th, 2013
11:08 am

Suspend WITH PAY? Ya godda be kiddin!

And more time? Like they did with B. Hall in APS? At what point do you think they will do better?

Bill & Ed's Excellent Adventure

January 16th, 2013
11:08 am

Though I completely understand the vitriol and calls for the removal of Dekalb’s Board, I would tell the state BOE to allow the current board – with three new members who were sworn in Monday – a six-month period to develop and present a plan to address SACS’ concerns and get back in good standing. Despite calls to turn the apple cart over, a state takeover of Dekalb’s system may not be the best scenario. Walker, Cunningham and Copelin-Woods need to go, but voters in those districts should be the ones to send them home, not Nathan Deal. I know many here will disagree with this assessment.

10:10 am

January 16th, 2013
11:25 am

I’d tell the state board that real solutions await the state’s full support for parental choice.

JohnA

January 16th, 2013
11:27 am

Fire the entire Board. Hire Nancy Jester as the new superintendent.

RCB

January 16th, 2013
11:28 am

I would tell them to disband the Board. Enough time already! You could have an election tomorrow and Walker, Cunningham and Copeland-Woods would be re-elected. They are incompetent, but the voters who keep putting them back in office are uninformed (putting it mildly) and nothing will change until this school district is separated into 2-3 smaller districts. Those of us who try to elect decent Board members don’t have a chance. But hey, education is still getting 64% of my property tax.

Private Citizen

January 16th, 2013
11:49 am

Everybody is piling coal on the head of teachers and building administrators, but regulation of school boards and “light” and “liberal” and “will govern itself” or somesuch. Things are so out of balance these days with so many people passively accepting a caste system.

Private Citizen

January 16th, 2013
11:50 am

I would tell the regulators that misapplication of funds is criminal and people who do finance fraud with public monies ought to be treated as criminals and jailed.

20/20

January 16th, 2013
11:52 am

To fire board and supt and do the same thing in Atlanta Public Schools. They are just as corrupt and dysfunctional as Dekalb.

curious

January 16th, 2013
11:59 am

Dear Members of the State Board of Education and Superintendent Barge,

I am a DeKalb County taxpayer and parent of a school-aged child. I also have a child who graduated from XXX High School in May 2012. I am writing to urge you to recommend that Governor Deal remove all members of the DeKalb County School Board.

As Advanced Ed wrote in its report placing the system on probation status, the school system’s problems are really too numerous to list. As a taxpayer, however, some of the problems that are most serious to me are those stemming from the board’s failure to oversee the budget. The idea that the system, for multiple years, spent tens of millions of dollars beyond the allocated budget — and that the board failed to discover this problem or to hold any person accountable — is infuriating. As a parent, the problems most serious to me are those stemming from the board’s failure to focus on its ultimate priority, educating the children of the county. When former Superintendent Crawford Lewis and former Board Chair Thomas Bowen each assured the public that jobs would not be lost in spite of the down economy, I could have screamed. Predictably, those jobs were saved by packing classrooms with more students than teachers could safely and effectively teach, by failing to ensure that students had the materials they needed, and by other sacrifices made by the students. This is the perfect example of the board and the administration putting the needs of the adults above the needs of the children.

The board’s failure to remedy the deficiencies found by SACS two years ago indicates an inability to take the necessary steps to bring the district back into full accreditation. Dr. Eugene Walker’s comment upon the release of the report that SACS found “nothing eregious” indicates a failure to understand the gravity of this situation. Although not all board members are incompetent, my understanding of the law is that all members must be removed or no member can be removed. If this is true, then it is absolutely essential that all members be removed.

I thank you for your service to the state of Georgia, and I appreciate your taking the time to read my email.

Returning DCSS Parent

January 16th, 2013
11:59 am

I would tell them to give the board no more than 6 months to make the required improvements. Getting rid of the entire board and not knowing who will replace them does not help the students at all and inevitably, the parents and voters of DeKalb will have an issue with the new board as well. If after 6 months, there is no improvement, replace the ones that need to be replaced and put new members on the board.

@RCB
Stop with the criticism of people you don’t know. I live in one of the districts you are referring to and I am far from being uniformed. Stick to the topic at hand and keep your racist, uniformed (putting it mildly) comments to yourself.

Angela

January 16th, 2013
12:00 pm

I would tell him to fire the replace the incumbents and let them work with the three new ones. DCSS is horrible. We wish that we could sell our home and move away. We moved to DeKalb County years ago to be closer to our jobs and for the “great” school system. After reading the SACS investigation, the board members are looking out for themselves and family members, not the children. Some people can’t handle power. It goes straight to their heads.

Dr. John Trotter

January 16th, 2013
12:03 pm

I would suggest to the Georgia Board of Education to allow the voters of DeKalb County to deal with the DeKalb Board of Education. This is how a democracy works. A Gnostic oligarchy allows “the knowing ones” (viz., the enlightened ones) to make decisions for us pedestrian voters. If the voters of DeKalb County are satisfied with their elected school board members, then so be it. Leave them alone.

What has changed since the Georgia Supreme Court ruled in May of 2012 that Governor Deal overstepped his authority by removing the Miller County Board of Education members? This is not a rhetorical question. I really want to know. Maureen posted a blog back in May when the Georgia Supreme Court stated that the Governor’s move was unconstitutional because school board members hold Constitutional Offices in Georgia and were not subject to the statute that was used to remove these school board members. Was there a constitutional amendment passed that now allows the Georgia Board of Education to recommend to the Governor to remove the board members and then allows the Governor to do this? I am really in the dark on this. Here is the link to Maureen’s blog on that issue in May of 2012.

http://blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-blog/2012/03/19/state-supreme-court-rules-that-governor-cant-yank-school-board-members/

I see that The Wall Street Journal published an article by Hank Brown this week in which Mr. Brown takes SACS to task for trying to run the universities as well as the school systems. When the Board of Regents at Thomas Jefferson’s University of Virginia decided to remove UVA’s president, SACS got involved and issued a “Warning” to the University of Virginia. Good grief. Mark Elgart really is a megalomaniac when it comes to control, it appears. Perhaps the DeKalb County Board of Education is in good company with the University of Virginia…and Wake County, North Carolina, a very sound school system. Perhaps a “Whiskey Rebellion” will groundswell and the peasants will metaphorically storm the SACS Castle in Alpharetta.

What are school board members to do when they are stonewalled on information by the educrats who are trained (intimidated is more accurate) by the superintendents to engage in obfuscation with the school board members. How can school board members be held accountable for the actions of the administration when they are kept in the dark? Why would someone like Nancy Jester on the DeKalb Board of Education be punished for simply asking some tough and pertinent questions? I might not agree with everything that Chairman Gene Walker or others on the board do or say, but I do believe in the democratic process, and think that it is up to the voters to deal with the DeKalb County Board of Education, not some appointed group of well-connected politicos who meet at the Twin Towers and who don’t have to face any voters in any elections. Last time that I remember two of the Georgia Board of Education members getting involved in the Clayton County imbroglio they traversed Jonesboro Road and met, along with “advisor” Glenn Brock and SACS’s Mark Elgart, with the Clayton County Board of Education behind closed doors in an egregious and flagrant violation of the State’s Open Meetings Law. Perhaps it is best to remove the log from one’s own eye before trying to remove the speck of dust from the other person’s eye.

These are just my opinions, and I think that I have the law and democracy on my side.

LOGIC

January 16th, 2013
12:09 pm

Seeing that this is a true hearing and that the Board members will have actual representation, I would show them the facts:
1. This Board, and many of the sitting members, were there when DCSS was under advisement 18+ mo ago – things have only gotten worse
2. There are 2, if not 3, DeKalb Grand Jury presentments requesting investigations into this Board
3. These Board Members, in the last two years, have voting records that reflect how they only have represented the few pockets of special interests and not the entire county’s student body (magnet bussing, coralwood shuttle)
4. These Board members do not know how to develop effective policy to manage their employee – the Superintendent
5. These Board members were responsible for allowing the district to pay for two Superintendent salaries at the same time – taxpayers footed the bill for over $500k in expense because they are bad contract negotiators – we had Tyson and Atkinson on payroll at the same time – wait, Tyson is still on the payroll
6. These Board members could not collaborate on getting the best superintendent for our 98k students and $1B budget. They were part of the leaks of negotiations through their Friends and Family channels to chase out two stronger candidates. So, we wind up with a Superintendent who did not disclose a family bankruptcy, who came from a low-performing school district and whose former district was happy to see her go. AND, we pay her top dollar.

The sad thing is, if I really thought about this, I would be writing forever. These are just the things that pop into my mind when I think about this Board.

Dr. John Trotter

January 16th, 2013
12:14 pm

I reviewed the link that I provided, and I see that the Supreme Court’s decision was based on Title 45 and the Ethics Law. This decision was handed down in March of 2012, not May of 2012. I am trying to understand how OCGA 20-2-73, albeit it was passed by the General Assembly and was signed into law by the Governor, could get around the Constitutionality issue. It is still giving one branch of the government the power to remove a Constitutional Officer. Perhaps this law should also be challenged like the statute in Title 45 was successfully challenged.

fed up with it all

January 16th, 2013
12:16 pm

I know that this blog is about Dekalb, but let’s pose the same question as it relates to the CCPS board, particularly its board chairwoman, Pam Adamson. Pam Adamson is the problem with the board. The system is in shambles; teachers are talked to like animals by some new and inexperienced principals. Moreover, the county is offering remediation, but they do not want to pay teachers until May. Who does this? Who asks teachers to render services without receiving pay for several months? Where is the money in CCPS? True, property tax collection has decreased, but that is not the main reason behind the lack of monies. Money was squandered to scratch the backs of corporate CEOs. What is Doug Hendrix’s job now? What is his wife’s job? Is she still the “lead counselor?” Pam Adamson, as the chairwoman, was/is well aware of the unethical things that are happening in Clayco. Instead of trying to get the governor to rid the board of Jessie Goree, maybe she should step down. She is the head.

abcd

January 16th, 2013
12:17 pm

I agree

LOGIC

January 16th, 2013
12:22 pm

@Dr. Trotter

How would you go about “impeaching” this board for negligence and the entire host of issues? I wish that the law would be more forceful to not let some of these folks run again based upon the (factual) findings.

How do we ensure that the elected individuals are doing their documented job? I will never again on what one person thinks should be done v, what I think, but we should all be able to agree that this Board has not done their job and were already under advisement for not doing it.

Another point to add – the SACS report was informed by employees, Board members, parents and community members – SACS is not making this stuff up on their own. I am not a SACS fan, but the documentation shows that they are incapable of fulfilling their elected duties.

This isn’t about circumventing the electorate, but ensuring that there is some accountability and stewardship of our tax dollars, in addition to proper representation.

Concerned DeKalb Mom

January 16th, 2013
12:25 pm

I have to say…I am so deflated and disappointed that I don’t even know what to request.

Simply put, our children need help. Informed voters can’t get it done as we cannot vote for EVERY board member. Board members elected in parts of the county in which I do not reside have just as much say over my children’s experience as board members I have the power to vote in and out.

This board cut paras. This board increased class size. Any of them been in a kindergarten with 24 students and one solitary teacher? A fifth grade classroom with 34 students and NOWHERE to store bags/coats/lunches? Anyone been in a high school science class with 40+ students? And then tried to do ANYTHING productive for those children?

Until these people vote FOR the children of DeKalb…and that includes the state board who had to OK waivers on class sizes…there’s really nothing I can say that changes would change the status quo.

Dr. John Trotter

January 16th, 2013
12:25 pm

Amen on the real problem in Clayton County being Chairwoman Pam Adamson. I wrote an article to this effect a few months ago.

http://georgiateachersspeakout.com/2012/09/27/governor-deal-pam-adamson-is-the-problem-in-clayton-county-queen-pammie-is-acting-like-a-political-control-freak-mark-elgart-and-sacs-teetering-is-on-silliness-and-compulsive-obsessive-disorder-rel/

Private Citizen

January 16th, 2013
12:29 pm

One might ask, “What is enabling basic financial mismanagement?” What mechanisms allows such “light regulation” or those who control spending public money? There is no “light regulation” for property owners. If you don’t pay the property tax, the government takes the property and sells it. Tax payers should be much more fierce in protecting the monies they pay. Seems like a double standard. Property owners are held to the fire, school finance people do what they want with huge sums of money. It’s crazy. The individuals / public are marginalised, the school system managers are given a free pass with “other people’s money.” And it goes on for years and years and cumulatively, in aggregate, hundreds of millions of dollars.

jennchiz

January 16th, 2013
12:32 pm

There needs to a standard set of minimum qualifications to be eligible to run for the Board of Education. Having college education should certainly be among those qualifications. I’m amazed that some members of the BOE are not educated, but yet the set tone and standards for educators.

living in an outdated ed system

January 16th, 2013
12:36 pm

I would tell the state board that the Dekalb Board of Education has failed. They have been a barrier to reform efforts and the students have suffered. It needs to be fixed. I would be open to seeing the Governor reappoint the three new members – they may be the new voices the board needs.

And it’s not just their fault – Atkinson also needs to be held accountable because this has all happened under her watch.

I suspect that Dekalb could become a precedent decision for the Georgia DoE.

Dr. John Trotter

January 16th, 2013
12:37 pm

@ LOGIC: If you don’t like how the individual school board members are acting, you vote them out of office. If these same members engage in illegal activities, I believe that DeKalb County has a very fine District Attorney. I think that I remember his name as Robert James. Mr. James has demonstrated that he is not a political hack but a very fine and conscientious District Attorney, and he knows how to go about getting an indictment.

“Advisement” from SACS? Wjat a joke. SACS is a private, jaded, money-grabbing organization (with absolutely no accountability) that at best arbitrarily and capriciously applies its so-called standards. I have written on this extensively. Just wrote another article on the “fakeness” (I like this quirky word) of SACS. SACS has long since worn out its welcome in Georgia and elsewhere. It is a meddling and controlling organizating, hell-bent on taking away local control. What some can’t accomplish at the ballot box, they try to use SACS to do its work for them.

http://www.georgiateachersspeakout.com

Private Citizen

January 16th, 2013
12:37 pm

The whole school board system is crazy when you take people untrained in public administration and give them great power to mess up and “do it yourself.” Meanwhile you have to be licensed to be a plumber or electrician so you don’t leave a trail of wreckage in your wake. Can’t make sense of it, the lack of governing in Georgia. It is like there is no such thing as a government crook in Georgia. In other states, the state regulates financial management. In Georgia, it is subcontracted out to laissez faire private management consultant who may or may not be home. It is not governance, it is something else. And blowing $100 million is treated lightly. Naturally, the dysfunction perpetuates. The basic regulatory mechanism is not solid, simple, or direct.

Truth in Moderation

January 16th, 2013
12:44 pm

This is a coup! An overthrow of duly elected officials! If they have committed a crime, then arrest them and charge them. If this goes through, all pretense of “public” schools is gone. Ignorant and foolish citizens!
Of course, I’ve always contended that so called “public schools” are not provided for in the Constitution.
If everyone home schooled, paid their own way and helped the less fortunate to educate their children, ALL THE SCHOOL PROBLEMS WOULD GO AWAY, AND WE WOULDN’T BE IN DEBT!
Bigger centralized government has proven NOT to be the answer.

Catlady

January 16th, 2013
12:47 pm

Dr. John: Fake-icity is the noun. SACS should be denounced and dis-accredited!

living in an outdated ed system

January 16th, 2013
12:49 pm

@Truth, I strongly recommend you read the book “Cheating our Kids: How Politics and Greed Ruin Education” by Joe Williams. Then tell me if you still support your comment.

Private Citizen

January 16th, 2013
12:52 pm

Isn’t there anyone trained in financial auditing and enforcement? Why is this a loophole in Georgia? Where does the governor stand on this issue? It is like the proper role of government has been de-powered and in the corporate system, governance is subcontracted out and expected to take care of itself. What we are seeing in the dysfunction of privatization where a private firm is expected to do governance. The whole mechanism is backwards, but is what happened when the public allows government mission to dilute and believes the marketing that private hired-regulation will protect the public.

Private Citizen

January 16th, 2013
12:55 pm

This is a byproduct on the concept that Georgia is “corporate business friendly” and “regulation weak.” You went along with it because you thought corporate business would bring you prosperity. So how’re you liking that “prosperity?”

oldtimer

January 16th, 2013
12:56 pm

I think each community in Dekalb needs to search long and hard for new board members. Encourage more to run. Do away with party labels. Surely some one in Dr. Walker’s community would bring new blood to the board. He has been there forever! Democracy will work when people step up to the plate…run…vote….
I guess the same could be said for Clayton County.

Neal Johnson

January 16th, 2013
12:58 pm

Idiots have been in charge of dekalb County for decades!!

skipper

January 16th, 2013
1:04 pm

The first order of business would be to congratulate them on a level of incompetence seldom experienced by any board of any given entity. Somebody has to be the worst, and apparantly this board is vying for that “coveted” position. But seriously, folks……………………

concernedmom30329

January 16th, 2013
1:05 pm

DeKalb school board elections are non-partisian and while Walker is old, he hasn’t been on the Board long.
He won because he promised the Fernbank community not redistrict them– so it isn’t just about S. DeKalb making bad choices.

LOGIC

January 16th, 2013
1:06 pm

@Truth

The real “coup” is by the actual Board Members. They are elected to represent DeKalb’s children – yet, it is well documented that their representation is only for a select few and the children are suffering. For taxpayers whose children do not have books in the classroom, this Board has effectively created taxation without representation. Each one of these seats has an impact on what happens in my local school, regardless of who I voted for. This Board has gone behind the scenes and jockeyed to get enough votes to pass what they want and leaves others in the dark.

Dr. John Trotter

January 16th, 2013
1:11 pm

@ Catlady: I can go along with “Fake-icity.” Ha! Thanks! But, “fakeness” sure does sound cracka-proof, and you know that I alwayscarry my Cracka Card, even down here in Brazil. But, I don’t picket down here. They don’t have the same blessed guarantee of free speech protected by the First Amendment like we have in the good ole USA. By the way, we have a good, juicy picket lined up for Middle Georgia tomorrow. Then we head back out to DeKalb. I think that you can see that I think that the real problems in the schools are the small-minded and weak-kneed administrators, not lay school board members who might have common quirks which irritate some voters, but our Constitutional system guarantees a government for the people, of the people, and by the people, and when the people actually grow weary enough of the elected ones, then they can throw them out on their proverbial ears.

I hate appointed-anything. I don’t like school boards appointed by the governor. (I didn’t like school boards which used to be appointed by grand juries here in Georgia.) I don’t like appointed State School Board members and appointed superintendents, but we will have to change the Georgia Consitution to change this. The biggest problem that we have in public schools in Georgia now is that we have appointed superintendents. In the old days (before the change in 1993), most superintendents in Georgia were elected, and when the people got tired of these superintendents, they voted them out of office.

I suspect today that the State Board will slap the DeKalb School Board’s collective wrist and give it more time. I think that it is ironic that an appointed board is taking an elected board to the woodshed. Something about this just ain’t fittin’.

Why, by the way, do the Fulton and Cobb school boards get away with so much. Don’t think for a good second that their actions are white as the driven snow. Hmm. That last statement was pregnant with implication, heh? I might have to call on my cousin, Earl of Ft. Liquordale (or is that Liqourdale?), to carry on a dialectical on that matter.

Private Citizen

January 16th, 2013
1:15 pm

Pretty good trick when a school board can mismanage and then use public money to hire lawyer counsel to represent them for doing questionable activities.

To reverse engineer, what is the definition of “mismanage” and what is the remedy or accountability? -Be thorough, it’s like bridge design. If someone messes up, cars are going to end up in the river.

bu2

January 16th, 2013
1:15 pm

I agree with Bill & Ed and Returning. Give the board 6 months to make progress. 3 are new, 5 of the 9 have less than 2 years on the board and all will be up for election in 2014 in new districts when the board is reduced to 7 members. Less than half of the current board is truly responsible for the existing problems. Support local control and the democratic process even if it sometimes takes a while.

Do insist on a nepotism policy with disclosures for board members and top officials in the administration. Also make sure the Director of Internal Audit reports directly to the board and not somebody 4 layers down in the administration.

Marney

January 16th, 2013
1:16 pm

This is what I sent to the three board member I know a few days ago:

I imagine that you have gotten many e-mails on the subject of Dekalb finally being put on probationary status by SACS, but I wanted to write just the three of you, because I feel that you know me from the many Charter School Subcommittee meetings I have attended over the years.

I have been watching the Dekalb board closely for over 10 years now. When I first started, my children were too young to be left at home–so I would bring them with me to many of the meetings. Once they could read they would only pay attention when the citizen speakers or debate got heated. I remember when my daughter, who was in early elementary at the time, looked up at me and asked: “Mommy, what is nepotism?”. That was 7 or 8 years ago.

As they got older they didn’t want to go. I remember one month that I and another ICS parent were on the citizen speaker’s list, trying to talk about the logic of ICS being allowed to rent the soon to be vacant Forrest Hills elementary building. When I went to pick her up, my fellow speaker had strep throat–but offered babysit the kids. Before the meeting I had an opportunity to tell an associate superintendent that my kids would rather risk strep throat than come to one of these meeting. He responded; “At least strep throat can be cured with antibiotics.” That was about 5 years ago. One of the reasons I came to so many of the Charter School Committee meetings over the years was that the reasoned logical dialog was such a hopeful foil to the politics and illogical decision making of both the board and administration in Dekalb.

I have seen a complete turnover in the persons on the board, and have some familiarity with the newly elected members. While there are individuals on the board that may be doing what they think best, I urge you to recommend that the Governor remove the entire board immediately. In my opinion, and this is stated with much observation, the personalities, values, and intellect of the board as a group are not capable of changing the cultural norms and paradigms that have brought us to this juncture. New members notwithstanding–6 more months of a grace period, as you gave a number of other boards, will only increase the likelihood that we will loose accreditation next year. Both the members and the structure of the board needs to be reconfigured. I would recommend 5 members with significantly larger overlapping districts(I recommended this to members of the legislative delegation 2 years ago).

My eldest is now in 10th grade. She is taking AP World history and knows what nepotism is. She wants to go to Georgia Tech. She is on track to get a Zell Miller scholarship, but knows that the actions of adults are putting that scholarship at risk. Replacing the board without delay is the correct decision.

Respectfully,

Marney Mayo

Bill & Ed's Excellent Adventure

January 16th, 2013
1:16 pm

Oh, concernedmom, this post about DCSS just wouldn’t be complete without you or Dunwoody mom pointing fingers at Fernbank. Would it?

Private Citizen

January 16th, 2013
1:18 pm

Certainly there are some qualified consulting firms (on a national level), with a track record of achievement, that can specify what a school board should be doing, or how a district can be run in an efficient and productive manner. One remedy is for the governor to specify hiring such a firm and requiring their specifications to be put into action.

Bill & Ed's Excellent Adventure

January 16th, 2013
1:22 pm

I’d actually be fine with dumping all but the three new members, who should be given a chance, since they all ran on messages of change and fixing the problems within the system. Voters see the need for change, it’s just not happening quickly enough for SACS and a lot of those who follow things closely.

bu2

January 16th, 2013
1:24 pm

The elections are non-partisan. Walker was in one of the superdistricts that comprise half the county. He won comfortably against novice candidates in his last election. There need to be better candidates recruited.

We need help from the state legislature. The districts for the 2012 election weren’t determined until the last minute, reducing the possibility of good opposition candidates. Both sides of the board were gerrymandering trying to make their districts safer. We need to get logical districts determined well in advance of the 2014 elections.

bootney farnsworth

January 16th, 2013
1:25 pm

1-fire them all
2-being RICO proceedings on them all, including the DCSS administration.
3-appoint a new temporary board from retired educators outside the south to get as far away from the
SACS cabal as possible
4-if possible, institute a RICO investigation against SACS

bootney farnsworth

January 16th, 2013
1:29 pm

oh, and create some realistic qualifications for the BOE to begin with

Dr. John Trotter

January 16th, 2013
1:30 pm

It appears to me that residents of DeKalb have three legitimate choices:

1. Engage in the political process. Recruit candidates or run on your own. Organize votes. Spend lots of time, money, and energy on campaigns. This is hard — very hard — work.

2. Send your children to private schools. This is a legitimate choice, and many choose this option.

3. Move out of DeKalb County.

Illegitimate Options:

1. Call upon an “outside influence group” (viz., SACS) to do your work for you.

2. Call upon the State School Board and/or the Governor to do your work for you.

3. Whine and complain (e. g., writing anonymously on blogs).

bootney farnsworth

January 16th, 2013
1:31 pm

this is a coop?
please.

Claudia Stucke

January 16th, 2013
1:34 pm

The current board and superintendent have inherited a financial mess from their predecessors. The former director of operations (Pat Reid), her former husband (Tony Pope), and the former superintendent (Crawford Lewis) all face criminal charges stemming from mismanagement of funds and their allegedly unethical conduct. However, it appears that “mismanagement” did not end with the departure of these individuals.

I continue to volunteer at the DeKalb County high school where I once taught. Taxpayers should visit their local schools and see where there money is going–or not going. Classrooms are overcrowded, which is problem all over the country; and textbooks are in short supply–to the point that students in many classes are not allowed to take books home but must share the same classroom set with students in other class periods. According to a recent SACS audit, however, the county last year requested and received $11,000,000 earmarked for textbooks, which it claims to have purchased, but there is no evidence of that purchase. The money is gone, and there are no textbooks. (See (See http://www.11alive.com/news/article/268748/40/DeKalb-County-DA-looking-at-SACS-report.)

Even before this news broke last month, outgoing board member Paul Womack, who in the past dismissed us teachers and our concerns and regaled us with his self-proclaimed business acumen (”I am the former CEO of a multimillion-dollar company!”) looked truly bewildered at a board meeting last year when asked about the DCSS’s financial shortfall–and millions of dollars in missing funds. “I just don’t know where it went.” Ineptitude or corruption? Or a combination of both?

bootney farnsworth

January 16th, 2013
1:36 pm

following up on Dr. John

when you vote, vote for the person who has the best thought out plan, not the person who looks like you, goes to your church, can make you the best promises.

(pigs will fly first, but wth?)

Claudia Stucke

January 16th, 2013
1:37 pm

Oops–I mean “their,” not “there”!

Dekalb Dad

January 16th, 2013
1:42 pm

I agree with JohnA. Why suspend/punish those BOE members who are always in the minority – trying to make changes but being consistently outvoted. I agree most should go, but it makes no sense to suspend Nancy Jester as one of the few reasonable voices on the Board who is trying to make a difference. Losing Nancy would be a great loss to the taxpayers of Dekalb.

Dr. John Trotter

January 16th, 2013
1:54 pm

When Crawford Lewis was hired, this was the first big mistake. The school board should have hired, in my opinion, the then Deputy Superintendent, Dr. Jim Williams. He went on and quetly retired. He served admirably under several superintendents. But, Lewis has been a P. E. teacher at the formerly all-white Montgomery Elementary School in earlier days and was closely aligned with the white voting bloc on the board. (At the time, I think that it was still a five vote majority, as hard as that is to believe. How soon we forget.) I don’t think that Crawford Lewis was that capable of the job. Then he put the Reed (or is that Reid?) lady in charge of Operations. What a disaster.

Dr. Doyle Oran was a good school man working at the Central Office back then, but ole Doyle was the wrong color. At this juncture, it had to be a black person, and I understand this thinking. I am not finding fault with it. Race does indeed dominate school board decisions.

The last choice for superintendent still mystifies me. Right next door in Rockdale County you had the Georgia Superintendent of the Year, Dr. Sam King. He is now in Norfolk, Virginia. He wanted to go to DeKalb, but the board reached, after many designed fumbles, all the way to Little Loraine, Ohio to bring in the current superintendent. I don’t know her. I am not trying to cast aspersions her way. She just might not have been that capable of running a very large school system. But, the interim before her wasn’t either, in my opinion. Perhaps Dr. Atkinson will grow into the job. I don’t know.

Bad decisions bring about bad outcomes.

Concernedmom30329

January 16th, 2013
1:55 pm

Dr. Trotter,

I thought you were concerned about the teachers. That is your website’s name, The Teacher’s advocate. As long as this board is in place, teachers in DeKalb will suffer. This Board hired a superintendent who has turned out to be terrible — what are you hearing about Kendra Marsh, her right hand person? This Board protects administrators first and foremost something you generally rail against.
In a perfect world, the voters of DeKalb would recall these board members and maybe they will. In the meantime, DeKalb’s students and teachers need assistance from someone,

Dr. John Trotter

January 16th, 2013
2:09 pm

@ Concernedmom30329: My previous post right before your last one deals with the superintendnents, including Dr. Atkinson. I also said earlier that the real problems in public schools are the small-minded and weak-kneed administrators. I know the problem. But, I am also a constitutionalist, and school board seats are Constitutional Offices, and I don’t take it lightly when certain people try to circumvent the democratic process.

I am indeed a teacher’s advocate. At MACE, we don’t believe that you can have good learning conditions until you first have good teaching conditions. It is just that simple. As Norreese Haynes says, “Order is the first law of the Universe, and schools have to have order.” No doubt…the DeKalb School System is short on order. Discipline is out of control. Does this mean that I want the Governor to take over the schools? No. First of all, I am a Constitutionalist. When we start allowing the Governor to appoint the school board members, then these appointed members will only be accountable to the Governor who appointed them.

The Deal

January 16th, 2013
2:10 pm

What the heck was the purpose of advisement if not a warning to get their act together?? Six months here, two years there, another election cycle here adds up to an entire school life in limbo. ENOUGH! Get rid of them all, fire the superintendent, and fire the top 2 levels of the central office.

Souther Opinion

January 16th, 2013
2:11 pm

Never should have purchased a “shopping center” for the board of education building!!!!!! Are you kidding? They stopped paying the TSA funds to teachers to cover “legal expenses”, etc. Teachers now make less than 10 years ago – REALLY!!!!!! Families will move due to the pure ludicrous nature of the board’s manipulation.

Ernest

January 16th, 2013
2:16 pm

I planned to post a comment but after reading what Dr. Trotter has said thus far, I’ll simply say I agree with him.

Rush

January 16th, 2013
2:27 pm

Cry all you want, Trotter but the governor has the power by law to remove the boards. Not sure how you refer to that as illegitimate but you do since you do not agree with it. Sure seems you have a lot of time to spend on the blogs….shouldn’t you be back in Clayton County screwing up something there again?

Private Citizen

January 16th, 2013
2:34 pm

Claudia Stucke, Classrooms are overcrowded, which is problem all over the country; and textbooks are in short supply–to the point that students in many classes are not allowed to take books home but must share the same classroom set with students in other class periods

Is it not notable that one does not hear a peep from Arne Duncan on this matter? But he wants to indulge in his authority fantasy as law ad everyone goes along with it. Resist the Borg! Confront! Was it Whitman who said Respondez-vous!

Dr. John Trotter

January 16th, 2013
2:46 pm

@ Rush: There is a Constitution in Georgia. Govenror Perdue thought that he too had the power of by law to remove school board members, but the Georgia Supreme Court set aside his decision. I am not crying. Just pointing out facts that you obviously don’t want to hear. You let me take care of my travel plans, OK? I’d say I’m dong a pretty good job “screwing up things” (as you call it) from long distance. Ha! These computers are pretty amazing. So is the good ole Magic jack phone. I’m just a shout away, and Delta is always ready when I am. And darn if that last voyage wasn’t very comfortable…First Class all the way! I must had two or three glasses of chamgagne before the take off itself. Life is good!

Rush, you need ot rush on down here, and the Mrs. andI will show you around. Don’t miss Cristo Redentor! It’s one of the Eight Wonders of the Modern World. By the way, I just read an article in The New York Times the other day, and the number one place that The Times recommended to visit this year was Rio. Do yourself a favor, brother.

Dr. John Trotter

January 16th, 2013
2:48 pm

Forgive my typos, Rush. Thanks, buddy.

DeKalb Inside Out

January 16th, 2013
3:00 pm

John Barge,
What says you, sir? Are you the State Superintendent or not? What are you going to do about about the educational malpractice going on in Georgia?

My take

January 16th, 2013
3:13 pm

The new folks are sharper than the ones they replaced.

Todd

January 16th, 2013
3:19 pm

@Dr.John–Putting aside for the moment whether or not the Governor CAN remove the school board members (as he clearly can since the law went into effect and remains so until otherwise), I am curious as to what circumstances, IF ANY, do you think the Governor (or ANYONE other than the voters) SHOULD step in? From your numerous posts, it doesn’t seem like you believe that there is ANYTHING (either act or omission, intentional or negligent….or criminal) that would justify doing so. If simply allowing the voters to decide is the answer, then why not kick them all out and if the people want them back, the voters will vote them back in?

@Dr. Trotter

January 16th, 2013
3:20 pm

I assume you are aware that one of the districts was recently gerrymandered to ensure a new BOE member with close ties to the old administration would qualify as a member of that district. How are citizens to enact change when district lines are being redrawn to ensure the continuation of the status quo? This doesn’t seem like the pure democratic choices you are espousing.

While it is lofty to say that the citizens of DeKalb need to wait on change, too many students are still sitting in 40+ classrooms with no toilet paper in the bathrooms and textbooks that hang together with glue. How long do students have to wait for a fiscally responsible administration (superintendent and BOE) that will put student acheievment first?

Perhaps you need to address your ideas to those students packed into classes like sardines with teachers that are being mismanaged and ill treated. Ask the students in those classes if they agree with you. After all, the school system is supposed to be set up SOLELY for their benefit. They may not vote, but it is after all THEIR educational experience that is at stake.

Justwondering

January 16th, 2013
3:30 pm

It will be sad if were stuck with that this board for the next six months. They have continually showed that they are unwilling to do their job of oversight and enforcing policy. Nancy Jester along with Don and Pam often ask hard questions but almost never gets answers. It will be interesting to see how Orson manages. I know both Jester and he very well and don’t believe that they are on the same page politically at all. They have very different visions for public education.
Right now, McMahan is in Orson’s pocket. I don’t know if we can expect him to be an independent thinker anytime soon.
It is important to understand the Dr. Walker has nearly a dozen family members who are employed by DeKalb County schools.
If Orson will ask hard questions and demand answers we will be in better shape than we are today. However his desire to eliminate an evening meeting is very worrisome to me because it seems like he’s trying to take the work of the school system out of the public site. That is problematic.

Hollywould

January 16th, 2013
3:37 pm

This has nothing on the farce going on in Macon. Money is flying everywhere except for the kids. The voodoo priest brought in there has put everyone under his spell but now some are fighting back.
Check some of it out in the Macon Telegraph.

DeKalb Inside Out

January 16th, 2013
3:49 pm

Mr Orson,
During the Work Session & Business Meeting, the administration doesn’t know the answers to many questions. If you do everything in one day, as you suggest, how do you vote on items for which you have open questions?
Thanks.

My Take

January 16th, 2013
4:03 pm

Dekalb Inside Out, Can you give an example of what your are talking about?

My Take

January 16th, 2013
4:04 pm

you- not your

Tucker

January 16th, 2013
4:16 pm

I cannot speak to the potential of the other two newly elected members, but Jim McMahan would be an excellent appointment by Governor Deal to the replacement board. Mr. Mahan was an overwhelming choice in his runoff with the incumbent, and a clear choice by the voters to inject new membership on the board.

DeKalb Inside Out

January 16th, 2013
4:21 pm

My Take
For example, the Work Session board meeting is generally 4ish hours long. The board asks numerous questions of the staff. From time to time a board member will ask for data or clarification regarding an agenda item (usually HR or Finance) that the staff doesn’t have or can not answer.

The budget is obviously quite complex. Perhaps the board would like to drill down into a category and see what items that total is made up of. Obviously the staff can not provide that on the spot.

The staff can not be expected to have all data and answers on the spot.

StnMtnMOM

January 16th, 2013
4:25 pm

The current Board has already been given sufficient enough time to get it right. They obviously don’t care about the students over themselves. If the law calls for firing all members as opposed to select ones, fire them all. However, the BOE needs to already have in mind suitable and qualified replacements so there is no delay in the transition. It is truly disheartening and inexcusable parents have to manuever to get their children in a decent school district, all because of incompetent and money hungry administrators. Oh, the BOE also need to look at firing the SUPER as well, because wasn’t she was recommended by current members of this Board or recently outgoing members?

Peter

January 16th, 2013
4:33 pm

I worked for DeKalb County for 10 years. I didn’t work for the BOE but I use to work in the IT department which is pretty much controlled by the CEO. I can’t speak on the BOE but if ts’s ran like the other parts of DeKalb county government it’s in total disarray and it’s irreparable. The only way to fix the issues that DeKalb is to dismantle it start all over. The best way to start the dismantling process is to SEND SOME PEOPLE TO PRISON!!! A few of the corrupt officials (trust me the word few is not strong enough) need to do some prison time so they can become an example of what will happen if you travel down their path. Think about it. When a well beloved highly decorated 25 year plus veteran police officer who worked hard and rose through the ranks to become police chief suddenly retire without a going away party or even a goodbye leaves in that fashion, that should tell you that something is totally wrong. My heart goes out the average employee and to every citizen of DeKalb because they’re really getting screwed. To quote Gil Scott Heron “I’m sorry, the government you have elected is inoperative.

DeKalb Inside Out

January 16th, 2013
4:34 pm

Tucker
Didn’t Jimmy Mac vote to approve more lawyers at the Work Session last week? I can only assume he understands the financial constraints of DCSD. I further hope he understands the desire of the taxpayers to stop paying for all these legal fees.

Jimmy Mac thus far seems like another rubber stamp.

Sally

January 16th, 2013
4:39 pm

They need to go! The governor gets to appoint a temporary new board right? So, it’s fine if he reappoints those who have just been elected. The rest of that bunch of criminals need to be run out of the state. Yes, I do consider it criminal what they have done to what used to be the best system in the state.

Concerned Biologist

January 16th, 2013
4:52 pm

@ DIO

“Tucker
Didn’t Jimmy Mac vote to approve more lawyers at the Work Session last week? I can only assume he understands the financial constraints of DCSD. I further hope he understands the desire of the taxpayers to stop paying for all these legal fees.”

They did not vote to approve more lawyers. They voted to continue with the ones they have now. Like it or not, they are entitled to legal counsel and continuing the current attorneys is much cheaper than hiring new ones. As I understand it this was regarding the lawsuit over the graduation coach RIF’s. There is no way around paying SOME legal fees, but certainly we need to use counsel wisely. In this particular matter they took the correct, most cost-effective action.

My Take

January 16th, 2013
4:57 pm

” In this particular matter they took the correct, most cost-effective action.”

Refreshing. I expect more to come.

Concerned Biologist

January 16th, 2013
4:59 pm

@ DIO

“Mr Orson,
During the Work Session & Business Meeting, the administration doesn’t know the answers to many questions. If you do everything in one day, as you suggest, how do you vote on items for which you have open questions?
Thanks.”

Gwinnett’s BOE manages just fine with this format. They meet once a month and the staff are expected to know all the answers to the questions put before them. This minimizes the amount of time staff must chase information but also creates the expectation that information will be prepared, accurate and available at the monthly meetings. It also reduces the frustration for parents who cannot drop everything and run out to multiple weekly meetings. Sounds like a good plan to me.

Tracie Scott

January 16th, 2013
5:01 pm

This is one of those times when the enemy of my enemy is my friend. DOE and Governor Deal, please be a friend to us in DeKalb. Too much is at stake to give this board another chance. The charges are too serious to ignore.

We need people who are dedicated to all of DeKalb, not just their constituency. I know people like this are out there because I’ve worked with them over the past several years. I will be glad to nominate some individuals who will put the needs of all of our children first.

Flabberghasted4sure

January 16th, 2013
5:10 pm

I’m with Concerned Dekalb Mom – most are at a loss for what to do and how to save our children’s education. No one has listened in years. Not SACS, not the state BOE, not DeKalb legislators, not Dekalb commissioners, not the Chamber or local business leaders. No leaders have been willing to stick their neck out and help us. What is clear is that doing the same thing gets us the same place. For that reason, I would ask the state Board to remove all BOE members including the new ones (heed the words of SACS about their interference even before taking office) and re-instate Jester and Speaks. They are the only ones willing to vote no to administration requests and hold the administration accountable. The current board with its 3 new members has not kept their own policy already – stalling the election of the chair and vice chair which policy states is to be done at their first meeting in January. Mr. Orson told the senators recently that the personality issues were with members of the BOE no longer serving. Not true – there are others on the current Board.

This whole mess is not only about the BOE. The adminstration has failed us miserably -they ignore votes by the BOE if they don’t suit their needs, they can’t find textbook purchases, they don’t have answers and are unwilling to answer questions when the Board asks so that the BOE can make informed votes, they botch school organizational plans, request new cars, say they want parent involvement but don’t walk the talk, cut teachers and salaries/benefits, increase class sizes, retract statements about redistricting, promote administrators guilty of book deals (make a mistake in DeKalb with taxpayer money – we forgive you – keep working for us!)

This Board has proved over and over that they can’t fix the problems. There have been ample opportunities for the BOE and administration to make strides on fixing the problems. Time is up. Three new members is not a majority so no matter how hard they try to make changes with their votes, they are still 3 votes. And they can only vot ethings up or down per SACS – heaven help if they ask a question!

If not the governor, who is going to help and when? Elections for the voters to make a difference is 2 years off and certainly no guarantee they will vote differently.

Concernedmom30329

January 16th, 2013
5:13 pm

biologist

To compare DeKalb to Gwinnett is ludicrous. They have a dictator strong superintendent and board members who have served 20 plus years. Parents have virtually no voice . Which is ok in a system that educates children well. DeKalb does not.

DeKalb Inside Out

January 16th, 2013
5:15 pm

Concerned Biologist
said “continuing the current attorneys is much cheaper than hiring new ones” – Is that right? If you’re in the know then do tell how much cheaper?

If you’re guessing, DCSD has a legal department and employs two law firms. What’s wrong with any of those options? I’m guessing the internal legal department is much cheaper. Law firm rates vary from $100/hr to $900+/hr.

Dr Atkinson is entitled to a lawyer, but not the best lawyer money can buy. I’m guessing the internal department and the two law firms DCSD engages just weren’t “good enough” for Dr Atkinson.

Concerned Resident - Out With Them!

January 16th, 2013
5:19 pm

We are a joke. My home value is going in the toilet. These folks are a joke. Too much nepotism. No professional folks who know anything about schools and kids. Buying books from insiders and friends, contracts. Don’t get me started today. Off with their heads. Let’s make DeKalb proud again as it was in the late 70s and early 80s.

DeKalb Inside Out

January 16th, 2013
5:22 pm

Biologist
Meetings are streamed on TV and the Internet. The format of one day meetings is all over the county. The “engaged” board members I know hate that format. The board members that aren’t engaged LOVE the format. That’s my perception.

This minimizes the amount of time staff must chase information but also creates the expectation that information will be prepared, accurate and available at the monthly meetings.

Riiiiiiight … pull on my other leg and it plays Jingle Bells

Concerned Biologist

January 16th, 2013
5:33 pm

DIO, I would presume that the legal department and/or the firms on retainer do not have the expertise to handle this particular matter. It is common for companies with internal legal departments to go out and hire outside firms with expertise in particular matters.

“If you’re in the know then do tell how much cheaper?” Cheaper by the number of hours it would take a new attorney to familiarize his/herself with the case, which could be many billable hours. Hiring a new attorney would basically trash the work done and money spent on the old attorney as well.

You don’t hire an attorney solely based on low hourly fees – you also must have an expectation that said attorney will have a proven record of competence and success.

I am not saying there is no problem with the overall approach to the system’s handling of legal representation. There is way too much redundancy and certainly no need to have TWO firms on retainer. However, as I said before, IN THIS INSTANCE, the board made the right move.

Concerned Biologist

January 16th, 2013
5:35 pm

“To compare DeKalb to Gwinnett is ludicrous.” Why? What’s wrong with looking to what they are doing since they are obviously doing something right?

@concernedbiologist

January 16th, 2013
5:51 pm

@concernedbiologist,
It’s a shame you aren’t paying close enough attention. The board approved the hiring of two additional firms for a specific legal matter. It wasn’t just one. Did you not catch that? There were dissenting votes. One law firm continued and one joined the fray. That’s on top of the two firms already working for the district. How did they get into this pickle? Kudos to those who voted no. Please don’t try and confuse us with half the truth.

@concernedmom is right about any comparison between gwinnett and dekalb. Why would you aspire to be a dictatorship with mega-schools and no respect for the public or parents? What will happen to their diverse world when their super and most of the board retires? The problems in dekalb will soon become their problems. Our new board members should champion transparency more.

Concernedmom30329

January 16th, 2013
5:59 pm

Biologist,

DeKalb has neither the administration leadership nor the board leadership to function as Gwinnett does.

If I could get the Governor to do one thing, it would be to clone Wilbanks and let him run our schools for a year or two. However, our the majority of our Board of Ed would have a fit if we had such a strong leader. And our parents would as well. (I am actually not much of a Wilbanks fan, but it is what we need now. )

Concernedmom30329

January 16th, 2013
6:02 pm

Also, I suspect that settling the RIF lawsuit is actually the cheapest option. But DCSS has a history of not settling which leads to more and more $$$s spent on legal bills.

Nan

January 16th, 2013
6:19 pm

Dr. Trotter,
You are a doctor of? You earned your degrees at? You earn your living by?
We are a democratic republic not a simple democracy where the majority rules unchecked. Two examples are our US Senate representation and the Electoral College. But being a doctor you knew that. Changes in Constitutions and Laws passed by legislative branches are considered democratic as much as any populist activity. It would be ideal if the three (Constitution, Legislation and Populists) were on the ’same page’ but that seldom happens and never has it been more unbalancedly misrepresented than in today’s media.
When my sons graduated from DC schools their Guidance Counselors informed us we could expect them to be considered for acceptance at any and ALL US colleges and they were not the highest acheivers (though they performed well enough) in their HS. They were accepted by their respective choices at the #1 and #2 best colleges in their field (both outside the south). Unfortunately I do not think DC Guidance Counselors can give parents any such advice today. That is disappointing as the DC taxpayers are paying much more for much less today. Why?
Uninformed voters like illegal immigrants ARE NOT CONSIDERED a RACE so why accuse those who speak out against them as racists?

PSDad

January 16th, 2013
7:02 pm

The problems with DCSS go well beyond the personality issues that were the cause of the Miller County Boards dismissal. If you combine the findings of the SACS report with the findings of the KPMG audit there should be enough evidence of financial fraud and self dealing to justify immediate dissolution of the board and a criminal investigation.

Private Citizen

January 16th, 2013
7:10 pm

Kind of odd how there can be such a difference in management methods in school districts a few miles apart (10-20 miles?). How is it that things can be so inconsistent? Why this opportunity for management indulgence and such variety? -I don’t think the highway department or water provision / treatment works that way. Roadways are pretty consistent throughout the state. Water sanitation is pretty consistent across the state. Why is it you can live in point A or point B and have reasonable expectation re: roads and water, but not school district?

DeKalb Inside Out

January 16th, 2013
7:21 pm

Concerned Biologist

Sounds like you have little confidence in the internal department. I’m inclined to agree.

Cheaper by the number of hours – That doesn’t mean cheaper by total cost. If Southerland costs half as much, it wouldn’t take long to see cost savings. I’m happy to do the math for you on that. Perhaps you can find somebody that knows the actual rates and we’ll do that.

If you’re not counting, we have TWO firms on retainer and last week DCSD voted to continue the services of one firm and start the services of a new firm!! That makes 4 law firms.

Why do we have 4 law firms? – We didn’t need to hire that new firm last week. Southerland handles new cases every week … what’s wrong with them? I’m confident they have the expertise to handle it.

THIS is why DeKalb tax payers are furious! DCSD just hired a new outside firm last week. You said we just continued existing services, but we didn’t. Dr Atkinson’s lawyers are continuing services, but a new law firm was brought on to represent the board. Dude, that’s what I’m talking about. We are always being lied to.

RCB

January 16th, 2013
7:45 pm

@Returning DCSS Parent…I am just returning from work, hence the delay in my response to you. I was responding to an earlier post about those 3 Board members in particular. I did not mention race; you did. A few districts managed to become more informed and replaced their incumbents. Hopefully yours will, too. It’s not a guarantee, and this district is out of time. Six months? That’s almost a whole school year.

Concerned Biologist

January 16th, 2013
8:23 pm

DIO

“If Southerland costs half as much, it wouldn’t take long to see cost savings. I’m happy to do the math for you on that.”

No need to be snarky. If Sutherland does not have the expertise, they would cost twice as much. Sorry, that is the nature of hiring law firms.

If you recall, I said that in this instance, the board did the right thing. And I do not think they hired a new firm in that vote, just approved the continuation of existing relationships. If you have proof otherwise then I stand corrected.

We are in complete agreement (and I believe I have stated this in my previous posts) that we are paying way to many attorneys.

Dekalbite

January 16th, 2013
8:25 pm

Readers and commenters can contact the state school board members directly.

Copied and pasted from the DeKalb County School Watch blog:
Again, contact members of the State Board of Education (click here). If you would like to provide a statement for the State Board to consider, you can email it to either Justin Pauly at jpauly@gadoe.org or Brenda Turner at brturner@doe.k12.ga.us.

If you would like to email the entire state board, here are their addresses as a group for you to copy and paste:

lzechmann@gmail.com, eragsdale2@doe.k12.ga.us, hrice@doe.k12.ga.us, disrael@doe.k12.ga.us, kmason@doe.k12.ga.us, bahampton@doe.k12.ga.us, mroyal@doe.k12.ga.us, wbarrs@doe.k12.ga.us, lwinter@doe.k12.ga.us, bburdette@doe.k12.ga.us, glewis@doe.k12.ga.us, arice@doe.k12.ga.us, mmurray@doe.k12.ga.us, state.superintendent@doe.k12.ga.us

Dekalbite

January 16th, 2013
9:06 pm

Look at the low standards of the DeKalb Schools administration even at the highest levels. How can this not negatively impact the members of the classroom (teachers and students) when ethics violations are not only tolerated but also handsomely rewarded:
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local-education/dekalb-school-official-i-am-not-a-plagiarist/nTycg/

bu2

January 16th, 2013
9:21 pm

Atkinson says its ok to plagiarize as long as you do it as a consultant and charge the school district, but don’t do it as an employee.

Its these sorts of things that worry me when the administration won’t produce its reports of purchases not large enough to require board approval. Buddies who are consultants.

@bu2

January 16th, 2013
9:54 pm

There is a DeKalb County Board of Education “Internet Safety and Acceptable Use Policy”. Is this a breach of Board policy? Internet Safety and Acceptable Use Policy applies to staff and students and everyone must sign that they understand Board policy with respect to use of the Internet.

“The Internet provided by the Board is an instructional research and educational business tool for students and staff and shall not be used for private, personal use. Students and staff are responsible for appropriate behavior while using the Internet. All users must sign the Internet Acceptable Use Policy.”

“All users should be careful to not violate copyright laws. ”

“Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement

“Users will not plagiarize works that they find on the Internet. Plagiarism is taking the ideas or writings of others and presenting them as if they were original to the user. Teachers, librarians, etc., will instruct students in appropriate research and citation practices.

Users will respect the rights of copyright owners. Because the extent of copyright protection of certain works found on the Internet is unclear, employees will make a standard practice of requesting permission from the holder of the work if their use of the material has the potential of being considered an infringement unless the article states it is public domain.”

http://www.dekalbk12.org/internet.html

TheGoldenRam

January 16th, 2013
10:14 pm

I sure hope that school systems like Dekalb County are at least receiving ‘consulting fees’ or royalties from the companies pushing charter schools. Because the breathtaking incompetence, cronyism and dysfunction these systems routinely display is playing a very large role in diminishing public perception of traditional public schools. The plagiarism story the AJC is now running is stunning.

I’m not sure what’s worse. That the plagiarist is an education *cough cough* professional. That he was paid $10,000 for an audit that reads like a 9th grade book report (at least until you get to the stolen parts). That he was subsequently hired by the system for over $100K/per year. Or that according to the AJC story, “School Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson said Taylor’s job is safe. “The infraction pertains to his work as a consultant, not as an employee,” she said through a spokesman.”

What a joke. Ask any college freshman what the consequences are for this type of transgression. Plagiarism aside, that ‘paper’ wouldn’t even pass a basic formatting standard.

Here is my question for my northern neighbors in Georgia. If your Governor and Legislature are both very pro-charter (like here in Florida), what would be the State’s incentive for intervening in this school crisis? Why not let the system implode like APS? You can avoid the political prickliness of direct involvement in that county and you can always sit back and say, “See? Many of these traditional systems couldn’t manage their way out of a wet paper bag. We need alternatives to address these problems.”

I honestly feel bad for Dekalb County’s citizens. School systems are so often the ‘canaries in the coalmine’. I’m friends with a couple that is relocating to the Atlanta area this year. She’s graduating from medical school and is going to work for some hospital in that area. They started looking around for a place last summer and were warned by a realtor about “Dekalb’s issues/uncertainty”. I actually turned them on to this blog when they mentioned that conversation. I think they ended up concentrating on Fulton. That’s a killer when a community gets the reputation that new arrivals must factor in private school costs. Most communities don’t come back from that type of decline.

My2Cents

January 16th, 2013
10:48 pm

It is completely unacceptable for the superintendent to provide support and encouragement for a plagarist. The schools in Georgia and, really, everywhere, have ZERO TOLERANCE for plagarism. The horrible DCSS reputation needs to be corrected – and the Ralph Taylor deceit should not in any way be rewarded or considered as acceptable. Stop the insanity.

@bu2

January 16th, 2013
10:50 pm

Oops! Wrong DeKalb County. My bad.

However, adhering to copyright laws are still part of BOE policy. After searching a bit, here is the DeKalb County School System (GEORGIA) Internet Acceptable Use policy. Adhering to copyright laws is mentioned numerous times in this Board policy document.
https://dcss.schoolnet.com/aup.aspx
DeKalb County School District Acceptable Use Policy

For example,
“The DeKalb County School System provides computers, networks, and Internet access to support the educational mission of the school system and to enhance the curriculum and learning opportunities for students and school system staff. ”
……..”1. Any use that is illegal or in violation of other Board of Education policies, including harassing, discriminatory, or threatening communications and behavior; violations of copyright laws, etc.;….. ”
………”Transmission of any material in violation of any United States or state regulation is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, copyrighted material…….”
……”The DeKalb County School System reserves the right to examine all data stored on workstations, servers, and storage devices within the WAN, LAN or school-wide networks, i.e. Intranet, to ensure that all users are in compliance with copyright, security and DeKalb County School System policies and procedures. ”
………”Users will not transmit or download information or software in violation of copyright laws.”…..
……”A copyright policy should be posted in any room where a computer is located. ”
…..”Electronic transmissions, uploading and downloading materials are all forms of copying. As specified in this Technology Use policy as well as Copyright and other Intellectual Property Laws, no unlawful copies of copyrighted materials may be knowingly reproduced, transmitted, or stored on or using DeKalb County School District?s web servers.”
……..”
6.0. COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT COMPLAINTS
DeKalb County School District respects the intellectual property of others. If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please follow the instructions provided under Contact Information and provide DeKalb County School District’s Communications Officer with the written information specified:
(i) an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner;
(ii) a description of the copyrighted work allegedly infringed upon;
(iii) a description of where the alleged infringing material is located on the DeKalb County School District web site; (iv) your e-mail and postal address, as well as your telephone number;
(v) a statement by you that you have a good-faith belief that the use of the alleged infringing material is unauthorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and (vi) a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are either the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf. ”

So infringement of copyright laws appears to be against Board policy.

Private Citizen

January 16th, 2013
11:58 pm

bu2, you ought to look up “Aaron Swartz.” but I don’t know if you would get it. Maybe search the term “Lessig Aaron Swartz.” then, if it is possible to do so, you would get it, but I’m not much optimistic here where the main pre-occupation in Georgia is pushing authority and manufacturing poverty.

GETtheCELLoutATL

January 17th, 2013
3:51 am

It appears to me that residents of DeKalb have three legitimate choices:

1. Engage in the political process.
We have done this to the best of our abilities as individuals and communities but the school system itself employs about a third of the entire county and a simple political mailer can cause many uninformed voters to do as they are told and vote for the choice their party tells them is the right one. Ditto for South DeKalb, but this influence comes from the New Birth Church instructions during sermons. And, besides having children to raise and jobs to hold, we are all in a time of economic crisis, Dr. John. Many people in DeKalb are struggling to pay bills, stop foreclosure, keep food on the table or look for work. It’s hardly the time to advise people to start saving their pennies for poster boards and markers so they can make a difference at the polls. Board members have come and gone and the outcome for our children remains the same. This is not as simple as voting for someone new every four years if you are not happy with the results. What are you suggesting we do while awaiting the next opportunity to vote? Let our children suffer the many, many problems in this system, the worst of which were not even addressed by SACS? Sorry, but that’s a pipe dream that many of us subscribed to when we thought the rules of this game might still be enforceable. We must take action now and sitting around waiting to talk politics in hopes I can convince others to vote the way I tell them seems a bit like SACS telling me to follow the chain of command – a joke. A very bad one.

2. Send your children to private schools.
Okay, I did that. Now what? My property taxes are still funding a corrupt system that is harming children, turning out criminals into our communities or filling our prisons. And, if you haven’t noticed, there is a recession going on, so no one I know can actually afford a private school right now without it coming at the price of sacrificing our children’s college savings fund. So, we either suffer now and save for later, or spend now and try to explain all this to our children later when we tell them they have to go into debt in order to fund their own higher learning because we had no choice but to blow our savings on a basic education so he/she could learn to read and write. Yeah, they should understand that. And, they will end up with debt over their heads as they start their journey into the “real” world, just like we did, and they will not get any further in life than we did as a direct result. Private schools may offer a way to ensure a decent education, but exempt me from paying my portion of property tax if that’s the only solution here. And refund the $50k I have already invested in the time I have lived here. After all, I thought I was paying for education of children, not the Superintendent and her friends from out of state who want their PHd’s or the board member’s entire families. If you are rich, then go buy a private school and leave the politics out of our public schools. Those who can afford private can also afford to pay off board members and get whatever they want for their own community while harming everyone else. Enough is enough already!

3. Move out of DeKalb County.
Sure, I would love to move, but the crappy schools have cost me close to $100K loss in my property value and even with that I probably wouldn’t be able to find a buyer now. And, what a crock anyway… why should I have to abandon my home just so my child can get a decent education without being bullied, sexually assaulted, or used as a guinea pig for an experiment on radiation effects from cell phone towers? We should not have to flee our homes and abandon our neighborhoods when we have done nothing wrong. These board members are the ones who should be forced to relocate and face criminal charges.

Illegitimate Options:

1. Call upon an “outside influence group” (viz., SACS) to do your work for you.
My work? Since when is it MY work to oust criminals from our government? We have followed chain of command and this is where it has led us. I just wish it hadn’t taken so long! No one has told SACS to “do work” of any kind, but there are a lot of people who have been complaining to any and every possible group for help. SACS decided to take the action on their own, with the help of the new legislation and likely the Governor. You don’t think it is all coincidence the way these steps are just falling into place, do you?

2. Call upon the State School Board and/or the Governor to do your work for you.
Again, the state legislature made this law and it is now a process that is working on its own. If nothing else, it will at least help inform voters without children that we need them to step up and vote right, too.

3. Whine and complain (e. g., writing anonymously on blogs).
How insulting. People have the right to privacy and an obligation to protect their identities when it is possible that their children could become targets for retaliation by the people in the system who may not like what is being said. We have a right to free speech and you should not be attempting to insult people who are trying to use that right in an effort to protect our children and stop the theft of billions of our collective tax dollars.

You are clueless about how things truly work here.

GETtheCELLoutATL

January 17th, 2013
3:54 am

previous comment is in response to “Dr. John” and his lame suggestions for what should be done here.

Waiting six months will only give these people more time to rob you all blind. Would you give a pickpocket a chance to do the right thing and put your wallet back into your back pocket while you without your judgment about his / her guilt?

Good people will not run for these offices because they do not want to endure the obvious stress of a dysfunctional system while knowing a single vote on a board of 7 or 9 will never make any true impact for change.

GETtheCELLoutATL

January 17th, 2013
4:02 am

And, I wish everyone would stop talking about this stupid north / south thing. We all have children we care about. We all want better results. This is not the time to start more bickering and blaming. It is time to band together. You have to start thinking in terms of what’s best for all the children, not just your own or the ones who live near you. We will never have a unified board if we cannot for once even have a unified discussion about how to rid our schools of criminals. Sheesh!

And, by the way, Dr. John, have you read the SACS report? Part of the reason the accreditation is at risk is because the board members are listening to questions from their constituents, so advocating for us to vote for better representative for our own areas is like telling us to go ahead and throw gas on the fire as the best way to put it out. Now, if we could have an opportunity to vote for ALL the board members, not just the ones in our little portion of the county, then we might see some progress. And, the non-partisan issue is a bunch of crap. If the schools are being used to run political agendas then we should be informed of the political parties of those running for office! Bring back the disclosure of the political party, otherwise we have nothing other than a name on a sign to guide us toward an understanding of how a particular person will vote on issues that concern us.

GETtheCELLoutATL

January 17th, 2013
4:03 am

And, yes, we are up at 4 a.m. preparing for today’s hearing so we can get a seat, talk to as many people as possible and try to bring about some real change for the better around here. Enough of this talk. It’s time for action! And, no, we are not lobbying for any power or position. We just like kids and teachers and don’t want to see anyone end up with a cell tower next to their home because they didn’t know it was coming.

GETtheCELLoutATL

January 17th, 2013
4:08 am

Last comment… the Governor would not be unseating elected officials, per se. He has authority to suspend them. They can then appeal the decision and possibly get reinstated individually. And they can always run for re-election.

Don’t feel sorry for the three new board members. They were all deeply entrenched in the muck of the system before they heroically decided to step up and run for these positions. No “real people” would have had time to run for an office because the maps were not completed so we didn’t even know what district we lived in, must less which one to vote in. The new ones are mentioned by SACS as aready out playing the game by the same rules as the old board, so they truly do need to all be removed and some fresh outside air brought in.

Dr. John Trotter

January 17th, 2013
9:51 am

@ GETtheCelloutATL: I feel your pain. I really do, but nothing (yes, NOTHING) will really change with newly-appointed school board members. I have seen it all. It stays the same.

The suggestions that I made to you, I too have followed. I was highly involved in the political process in Clayton County for over 25 years. It was only after the demographics of the country began to change precipitously and I began to help black candidates as well as white candidates that I became seen as “radical.” Everything in Clayton County (as in DeKalb now) was racially polarized. The school board in Clayton County was a mess when it was an all-white school board composed of eleven members and they fought like heck nearly every board meeting. And, by the way, we never heard a peep from SACS back then, and the children got along just admirably in the school system.

You don’t have to tell me how difficult it is to run campaigns. I have been there. At one time, there were six (6) of nine (9) on the Clayton County Board of Education whom I had recruited to run and had run their campaigns. (By the way, these were both black and white board members.) At one election cycle along, I was running or heavily consulting in 14 campaigns in Clayton County alone. So, you might be preaching to the choir about the amount of time, energy, and money is involved. My biggest problem was that I was too successful which engendered resentment and jealousies. That’s when people went to the media, SACS, etc.

One of the reasons that I was heavily involved in the school board races (I was involved all across the political spectrum, not just school board races) was because I wanted to do my part to see that finally an urban school system could have strong discipline. Needless to say, the discipline is horrible in Clayton County today.

I did send my children to private school – not all of my children and not for all of the school years, but for the bulk of their years in Clayton County. So, I followed that recommendation also.

I did move out of Clayton County. My youngest child is a senior at McIntosh High School in Fayette. His older brother graduated there a couple of years ago.

So, you see that I was not trying to insult you. I was just giving you what I think are the true legitimate options. SACS won’t save you in DeKalb. The Governor won’t save you in DeKalb. The Georgia Board of Education won’t save you in DeKalb. This blog – as fun and as informative as it might be – won’t save you in DeKalb.

I am sorry that I may have hurt your feelings. I truly am. I have been where you are today. It’s not fun. But, please look at my options again. In the long run, they may have your more heartaches.

REH

January 17th, 2013
11:08 am

Get rid of all the power hungry idiots on this board. Then go after the unbelievable top heavy administration that gets paid on average more than twice what teachers make.

DeKalb Taxpayer

January 17th, 2013
11:20 am

For future reference teachers and parents should stop voting to re elect any incumbent. Power corrupts. How could you vote for members of a board that did not know the Supt and COO were involved in questionable activities. And why did they not fire the CFO for overspending without telling them.

GETtheCELLoutATL

January 17th, 2013
11:54 am

Dr. John, my feelings are not hurt. I just don’t think today is the day for encouraging the voices of the people to quiet down or think of another option. This is the way the chips are falling and we need to make the most of it. I appreciate hearing about your involvement and that helps qualify your opinion, but this is a different day and time and perhaps we will not be doomed to follow the same pathway to destruction.

The more people who come forward and speak the truth, the closer we will come to an understanding of all perspectives. Nothing good can come from ignorance. Keeping quiet is what the “system” wants people to do. But, communication is the only way we will ever gain understanding.

Screw the politics. This is about our children!

Ella Smith

January 17th, 2013
7:13 pm

bu2

Thanks for the negative comment about me. In reality I did fairly well against Dr. Walker.

Dr. Walker did work very hard and promised Fernbank Elementary PTA parents whatever they wanted to help him get elected. I was there. I was on the other side of the table (at a debate). However, it was no debate. The deal was made and the microphone was handed to Dr. Walker to run the meeting and debate (it was not a debate). I have never seen such a side show. I had been at another debate at Fernbank and it was ran extremely professionally with respect for all candidates. However, there was no deals ahead of time.

I sincerly feel sorry for the three new school board members. However, according to the SAC report two of them have already broken ethical rules. This is not acceptable and they should go.

The lack of oversight and the decisions made to put the school system in a bad financial situation is not acceptable. For any school board member to say “I see color” when making decisions as a member of a school board is not acceptable. Hiring family friends and family members is not acceptable.

I have watched the disfunction of the DeKalb County School Board for years. However, the current school board the last year appears to be the most disfunctional board of them all.

I would recommend to the State Board and Governor Deal that the current DeKalb County School Board members be removed and replaced with appointed board members who do not have an agenda.

I think many board members have good intent but are too concerned with their own agendas and districts to do a good job for every child in the school system.

I feel strongly that if there was no pay (like the Decatur City Schools Board) we would have a different type of school board. I feel several of the school board members see being a member of the school board as a part time job as individuals who are retired. It should be truely a public service and the individuals who serve should be compassionate about the education of every child in the county and not just the children in their district and a part-time job.

I agree also that the quality of the school board would improve if the candidates had to be elected by the entire county, soas they represented the entire county and not just a section of the county. I think both lack of pay and having to be elected by the entire county would really clean out the bad apples. We would get public servants whose interest was in the education of our children in DeKalb. This is truely what the children of DeKalb County deserve.

senseandsensibility

January 17th, 2013
10:16 pm

I would say the DeKalb Board has had 5 years to get its rear in gear, but instead continues to steal money from its employees by hiring self serving administrators and nepotism. The Board should be fired and the new board should fire the current superintendent and asst superintendents. They don’t want to help employees survive and prosper nor the students. The students have 38 other kids in the classroom, the textbooks are falling apart and cannot be reordered. We are short textbooks and have classroom sets, but yet fees are being collected for lost books and no new ones ordered. They say they reorganized central office, but yet kept 50 plus idiots and gave them a new title. The superintendent got a new car and has a driver, she hired her plagiarizing doctor friend and yet everyone knows that a DR. knows to cite material that isn’t theirs. Spokesman say oh well he didn’t plagiarize he just forgot to give credit.. well duh… that’s plagiarism !!! Ron Ramsey is a state senator double dipping salaries.. how can you be in two places at once.. its one job or the other thank you!!! Employees haven’t gotten raises in 7 years and in fact have lost pay and I hear another 4% is coming.. it may be time for teachers to take matters into their own hands .. Chicago ring a bell with anyone!!! Our demands are not being heard yet the superintendent and principals and other staff get brand new IPhone 5’s yet we have no text books.. no raises.. huge class sizes.. unbalanced classes.. how can one class have 38 kids and another have 8.. yes its true.. 8 kids in one class and 38 in another!!! People can’t keep looking out for themselves.. they have to look at the whole system. Employees are in need of some kind of raise.. in this economy you would think we could fill a secretary position at a school.. no one wants to work for DeKalb.. they can’t keep bus drivers.. enough is enough.. clean sweep is needed and don’t look back. Good by board.. good bye super and cronies.. hello someone with morality and values. They took Premier out of Premier DeKalb because it was a LIE!!! Have some cajones and help DeKalb prosper…

roswelldickie

January 17th, 2013
11:12 pm

if the board is this stupid then how dumb are the people who elected them- again and again and again?

masr

January 17th, 2013
11:15 pm

If providing a sound education to students is a priority then this Dekalb County school board needs to be immediately removed.
Too many students, for too long have been negatively impacted by their ineptness, foolishness, incompetence, corruption etc.

Cynthia

January 18th, 2013
7:36 am

Clean house and start over! This has been a long time coming! Dekalb county school system is a mess! It’s been going down hill for a long time. When Johnny Brown was brounght in with his uniform crap and nothing more they should have done something then!

GETtheCELLoutATL

January 18th, 2013
10:15 am

I would ask the state board to follow their best judgment and do the right thing. Having watched their proceedings yesterday, I realized what a mockery of decorum our board actually is. The state board conducted themselves as well-trained, respectful adults who are capable of conducting business in an intelligent, respectful manner and always with the mindset of what’s best for the children. Our board members just didn’t seem to actually get it. They interrupted the state board members, denied their own personal contributions to the demise, seemed oblivious to the connection between what is taught and how they behave and had no real plan of action for saving the accreditation – just empty promises and denial.

We have not been a big fan of the idea of an appointed board. However, after seeing the difference between this state board and our own, we saw the first glimmer of hope for DeKalb. We actually felt for the first time like the future of our school system may actually, even if temporarily, be in capable hands.

Now, let’s just hope and pray that the politics do not corrode this process and no one succumbs to a death of natural causes between now and Feb. 21. Sometimes the best way out is to just close your eyes, cross your fingers and put the pedal to the metal. Let’s go DeKalb! The squeaky wheels are about to fall off this bus and, guess what? We actually had the ability to fly all along!

FransSusan

January 18th, 2013
10:24 am

Affirmative action and political correctness have RUINED education and the country. It is long past time for everything to be based on merit! It is obvious that the majority of the school board are incompetent and they must be terminated. Base your decisions on merit, on what’s best for education, on what’s best for the taxpayers! It’s time to consider taxpayers and stop with the political correctness!

FransSusan

January 18th, 2013
10:33 am

Affirmative action and political correctness have RUINED education and the country. It is long past time for everything to be based on merit! It is obvious that the majority of the school board are incompetent and they must be terminated. Base your decisions on merit, on what’s best for education, on what’s best for the taxpayers! It’s time to consider taxpayers and stop with the political correctness!r your comments here

DeKalb magnet school grad

January 18th, 2013
2:37 pm

I grew up in the “best” magnet schools in DeKalb, and graduated in 1997. The education then was pathetic and from the looks of things, it hasn’t gotten much better over time (Chamblee High and Martha Reichrath, thanks for driving me out of high school and into early college enrollment. Deciding I couldn’t spend another day at that trash-hole of a school was one of the better decisions in my life).

At Chamblee, I saw struggling kids harassed and goaded into dropping out so that bottom-line test scores would improve, I “learned” a bunch of extremely spurious facts about history that I then spent the rest of the day un-learning at a local college (joint enrollment was a trip!), and received a substandard education devoid of critical thinking skills and peppered with strange extracurricular (and mandatory) assemblies and activities with weird, uncomfortable religious overtones.

Getting rid of rotten and corrupt BOE practices and improving education in DeKalb is a huge undertaking — it’s far too big a problem to be solved by turning over one Board and reinstating a new group of administrators into a failed system.

I think the only thing that could turn DeKalb schools into anything less of a joke is to give the entire elementary/high system to the state Board of Regents and make it explicitly a preparatory program for the state’s higher-ed program. It’s a sad state that I had to leave the county’s flagship Magnet High School by 11th grade in order to secure myself a decent education.

DeKalb has been setting its kids up to fail for decades. It’s just coming to a head now.

Scooby

January 18th, 2013
10:49 pm

I’d tell them to allow democracy to run it’s course. We elected these folks to do a job and do not need a state that ranks 2 slots from the bottom nationally to appointing members for us. Slavery is over folks, the days of telling us black folks what to do are long gone. If the state removes any of our elected officials there will be a price to pay.

vanescooper@yahoo.com

January 19th, 2013
4:57 am

Ga. Northern District Court case 1:11-cv-2006-RLV ; please write to the Honorable Judge Vinings re your view on the hiring, employee assignment, promotion, neoptism practices at DCSD, the waste of taxpayer monies, corruptness, etc that is rampant in this system. Do this now as he is making a decision based upon summary judgement which will decide whether case goes to trial.

Please read plaintiffs response to motion of summary judgement submitted by Alex and Assoc. Give the Honorable Judge your take on the whole illegal practices within the district. Thank you. vanescooper@yahoo.com

gdfo

January 20th, 2013
7:30 am

If you are a teller in a bank and you mismanage funds continually you will be fired and if the funds are alot you will be prosecuted.

If you are a cashier in a retailer and you mismanage your till, you lose your job.

If manage a business and you cannot account for your labor costs and operation costs and customers are complaining and leaving, you lose your job.

If you are on the DCSB you just say that you are TRYING to correct the problems and part of the problem is that the public does not trust us, thus trying to shift part of the blame on the public themselves.

Investigate, fire and if perhaps prosecute. Replace the Board.

Jeffrey

January 21st, 2013
10:40 pm

I, would tell them to get rid of the trouble makers-Walker,Cunningham and Woods.Jester,Elder & Speaks are the only ones actually doing anything.Give a pass to the 3 new elected ones

What would you tell the state board today about the performance of the DeKalb school board?

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What would you tell the state board today about the performance of the DeKalb school board?

126 comments Add your comment

About Get Schooled

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Are You or Your School the ‘Best In Class’?

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College resources

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Subscribe »

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