Can the DeKalb school board reinvent itself in 30 days?
This is the digest form of the four-hour state Board of Education hearing today on whether or not to suspend the DeKalb Board of Education. If want all the details, scan my live blog from the hearing.
The DeKalb board is fighting for its survival after the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools placed the district on probation last month because of board mismanagement, meddling, nepotism and fiscal failings. The General Assembly passed a law in 2011 that gave the governor the legal power to remove errant school boards who jeopardize their district’s accreditation.
After the hearing during which every DeKalb board member testified, the state Board of Education delayed voting on recommending that the governor oust the fractious school board, instead approving a consent agreement and giving DeKalb time to show improvement.
But not as much time as the school board wanted.
It was clear some state board members were exasperated with the ongoing problems in DeKalb and doubtful that the nine DeKalb school board members had the ability to transcend their differences. But it was also clear that some state board members were reluctant to dissolve a local school board that includes three newly elected members who only took office 10 days ago.
At the start of the marathon hearing, lawyers for both the state Department of Education and the DeKalb school board urged the state board to sanction a consent agreement that would have allowed the board three months to initiate reforms recommended by SACS.
But the state board declined to grant DeKalb three months to right its ship. Instead, the state board approved a consent decree that gives DeKalb 30 days to register some progress rather than the April date sought by the county.
After approving the consent agreement, the state board immediately told the DeKalb board to return on Feb. 21 to report on its progress at which time the state board could choose to vote on suspension.
This gives DeKalb only 30 days to register some significant progress.
“If they’ve done a rock star job, we can give them to June,” said state board member Mike Royal. “Does that mean we have to vote to remove or not to remove in our recommendation to the governor. No, but April kicks this can too far down the road. This is a critical situation that is upon us now. It is not new and there are 98,000 children in DeKalb County depending on us now.”
However, the DeKalb board attorney maintained that 30 days is insufficient to produce change. ”We believe a two month or a two-and-a-half month process is fairer,” said DeKalb attorney Rocco Testani.
He asked state board members to consider what nine board members could realistically accomplish in 30 days.
Testani was assisted in making his case by the DOE attorney Jennifer Hackemeyer who warned that DeKalb citizens may be confused if the state board signs a consent order giving the DeKalb board three months to make progress but then turns around and brings them back in 30 days and vote on their fates.
Hackemeyer reminded the state board about what they were facing with Sumter County. (The Sumter board filed a civil lawsuit in November against the State Board of Education and Gov. Nathan Deal.)
In defending his board, DeKalb Chair Eugene Walker told the state, “We have had a number of rumors that confounded our ability to govern. People would rather listen to the rumors than look at the records. I admit at times we can be cantankerous but we have honest and decent people on that board. We don’t have people taking money.”
State board member Wanda Barrs raised thoughtful points on what actions will produce the best outcome for DeKalb. Is it ousting the entire board, including three newly elected members, in a month’s time? Or is it working with the board through better guidance and monitoring over three months?
Note that the Clayton school board was ousted and replaced by Gov. Sonny Perdue, but the problems in the district persist, just with a new cast of characters.
In addition, there may be a legal question to whether the state can oust brand new board members who were not in office when SACS placed the system on probation.
There were several comments today at the hearing about the absence of DeKalb Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson, who had a family medical emergency. But it was not just her physical absence that was commented upon; state board member Wanda Barrs pressed DeKalb school board member Pam Speaks on whether Atkinson had the “capacity” to help the board.
“I don’t think it is the superintendent’s role to fix our responsibilities as a board,” responded Speaks. “I do think the superintendent has the capacity to work in conjunction, in collaboration, with the present Board of Education to allow the board to carry out their role and responsibilities as well as for her to carry out her roles and responsibilities.”
A refrain by many DeKalb board members was that they did not knowingly violate any policies. Several expressed puzzlement over some of the SACS criticisms. All the veteran board members said that they did undergo the required board training, and believed their actions fell within the confines of their board duties and responsibilities.
That line of defense — we didn’t know what we were doing was wrong — did not go over well with some state board members.
State board member Brian K. Burdette wants a list of the training that every DeKalb school board member has undertaken, telling them: “Everyone says they had the training. If they had it, it didn’t work. If it had, we wouldn’t be here. As a board member, you are supposed to know what you can and cannot do. If you don’t know, it is up to you to find out and police yourselves. It is incumbent on you all. It is not incumbent on SACS. It isn’t incumbent on this board. It is incumbent on you to fix it. ”
–from Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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199 comments Add your comment
Bill & Ed's Excellent Adventure
January 18th, 2013
9:03 am
@Dunwoodymom – After reading the testimonies in the blog yesterday, I have to admit this is one of the few instances in which I tend to agree with you.
Dawn
January 18th, 2013
9:04 am
I agree with everything Teacher Reader said. I wish the board (only in this one instance to clean the slate) had that power. I also wish they would hire someone from the business world who knows how to get things done as superintendent.
Frankly, I’m mentally exhausted by this whole mess. I want to quit, give up. If I even dared to dream that anyone with a lick of sense would want to move to DeKalb, I’d try to sell my house and leave this cesspool.
I’ve never been more discouraged or hopeless about anything in my life than when I try to imagine my children getting a decent education in the schools my taxes pay for here in DeKalb. I wish I could take my property taxes and use that for private school. That would be the only hope of my kids getting a decent education as long as I live here. When we moved to DeKalb the schools were some of the best in the state. Oh what 20 years of the wrong people being in charge can do.
Think About It
January 18th, 2013
9:05 am
If the state get’s removes the school board, who replaces them! You bring in a crew who knows nothing about running the school system or do you let the state run your local school? As an elected official who do you represent, the people who put their faith in you by casting their vote for you or the county as a whole. If infighting is a big deal then we need to remove every congressman in the country, we need to shut down the local, state, and federal governments. Do they make all the right decisions, appropriate money in all the right places? Everybody can’t have their way, it’s gonna be disagreements when you are trying to get what’s best for your constituents. These are the people we elected to run this system, if they are not doing their job, come election time get rid of them. I don’t think this is a matter for the state to decide but for the people of Dekalb to do what’s best for the county.
CJae of EAV
January 18th, 2013
9:07 am
It would a considerable challenge for any long standing governance body to reinvent themselves in 30 day period. I don’t doubt members of the State BOE will spend the next 30 days being lobbied by prominent business leaders who either already do business with DCSS or are seeking to engage business contracts with DCSS in an effort to sway the next course of action.
Clearly it would be foolhardy to expect the DCSS BOE to have any sort of fundamental culture shift in 30 days. This tells me the State BOE already knows what it is going to do and therefore should have issued its edict right up from instead of engaging this unnecessary pomp and circumstance.
Private Citizen
January 18th, 2013
9:14 am
Currently the video is OFFLINE. I called the help number. It takes about a week? for them to edit it (removing dead air time?) and compile and then put link to archive page http://www.gadoe.org/External-Affairs-and-Policy/State-Board-of-Education/Pages/Webcast-Archive.aspx
Currently it is UNAVAILABLE and will be for “about a week…”
Astropig
January 18th, 2013
9:20 am
Real school choice -vouchers- would put people like this board back where they belong-in jobs where they could not screw up our children’s futures.Every comment on this board is another argument for taking our schools out of the hands of the corrupt,entrenched interests that run them presently.
alm
January 18th, 2013
9:21 am
“We don’t have people taking money.” Well Dr. Walker when friends and family are hired for too much money for too little experience then yes people are taking money from the school system. Members of the BOE may not benefit from it but they do nothing to stop it either.
Dr. John Trotter
January 18th, 2013
9:21 am
@ Fred: I appreciate your thoughts. I don’t really expect to change anyone’s mind. I really don’t. People believe what they want to believe, despite the facts. Ha! But, I do enjoy telling the truth. It makes me feel good.
SACS is a phony (or is it phoney?) organization…simply used by those politcally-connected to circumvent the political process when those politcally-connected people can’t control the local politics but still want to get their way. In my opinion, Mark Elgart is just a stooge.
Just Sayin.....
January 18th, 2013
9:24 am
If Clayton county is any indication, then the jerks who make up the Dekalb school board will take the “its not me, its him/them” attitude right to the end. Their hubris prevents them from making any meaningful permanent change. What is it about school boards that attracts/creates these mini tyrants?
I am just glad that Georgia has a way to expediently remove them.
bu2
January 18th, 2013
9:25 am
Barrs, who thought the 30 days was rather short, is a school board member. She understood. The most critical members, Burdette, Royal and Zechmann are the scary ones. Burdette is former chairman of a zoning board in his county. Royal is chairman of the corrupt Gwinnet zoning boad. Zechman does “business” partnerships with schools. They’ve got the type of background, who if they were on your school board, you would really need to hold onto your purse strings.
Nothing significant can happen in 30 days. Its not realistic.
Private Citizen
January 18th, 2013
9:29 am
Are they using Real Player because it is part of church culture? http://www.sljinstitute.net/%5Csermons%5Cnew%20testament%5Cgeneral%5Chebrews%5Chebrews29%5Crp_template.html Maybe someone speaking in “thee” and “thou” (which is a translation from the original) might note that the “eternal message” is being delivered by obsolete software that was invented pretty recently.
Astropig
January 18th, 2013
9:43 am
“SACS is a phony (or is it phoney?) organization…simply used by those politcally-connected to circumvent the political process when those politcally-connected people can’t control the local politics but still want to get their way. In my opinion, Mark Elgart is just a stooge.”
Dumbest comment…Ever. SACS is not perfect (no organization is) , but they are doing what politicians won’t do-Holding the crooks in positions like the DeKalb school board accountable.SACS doesn’t have to run for election and re-election,so they can tell it like it is.And it is…As bad as it can be in DeKalb.They are like a a smoke detector-You may not like what you’re hearing,but it’s important to listen and act.
These are our kids that we are talking about.Time to start cleaning house.
bu2
January 18th, 2013
9:44 am
@Sandy Springs Mom
Your comment is not only irrelevant, its untrue. I know plenty of Emory and CDC employees with kids in Dekalb schools. Since you are in SS, you wouldn’t know.
Private Citizen
January 18th, 2013
9:46 am
And the winning comment is: The system is shot full of these phoney time serving careerists with their phoney online degrees from top to bottom.
Somebody federal was trying to do something about the online for-profit degree mills. It looks like they are still in full play. The only way to deal with it is for the education establishment to stop accepting these as credential. The problem is, superintendents have them, too. This is a huge thing. And it makes a culture clash with bosses who don’t know any better bought online degrees that include a little work, but then they manage people with real degrees from real schools. The online degree people tend to stick together, clump together. It is not unlike the situation where “if a student can not plagiarise, a boss can not plagiarise.” When the bosses have decided to subvert credentialing and use school designed to provide quick faux degrees that use the title and form factor of traditional university, it is just a bizarre situation. Stephen King could not have thought this up for one of his horror movies. Any of the you thinkers of lawyers out there, what is the best way to moderate the impact and influence of these “Phoenix” and “Argosy” degrees that are quick and expensive? The real answer would be to have strict requirements for degree to go with job and require public administration degree and have these strongly accredited to include substantial components. The whole “leadership degree” thing is a perversion. It is like code-speak for “playah.” I’m not making it up. Serious. Can we write a law to prohibit leadership degrees as a credential for building administrator or superintendent? Those of use who are educated and have do the work to go to real schools need to start fighting back.
Private Citizen
January 18th, 2013
9:52 am
“Leadership” degrees are like Scientology. Countries with strong governance are throwing Scientology out of their country, or treating them as for-profit business not as tax-exempt church. Or banning them as criminals.Check it out. It’s like a list of who has their act together and who does not: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology_status_by_country
I wish there was a similar document for “leadership” degrees, where they are accepted and where they are banned.
bu2
January 18th, 2013
9:53 am
Think and CJae
You share a lot of my thoughts. Who replaces these people? Who understands enough to deal with Atkinson who clearly has been over her head so far in the budget and facilities planning processes (and who protects plagiarists if they are her hires)? The 3 new people all have extensive experience with the schools and their local PTAs.
Wondering Allowed
January 18th, 2013
10:05 am
@bu2 – The majority of professionals I know who live in the inincorporated area of Druid Hills, Toco Hills, the Medlock Park area and the Briarcliff corridor have moved their kids into private schools in the middle of this school year. The conditions in DeKalb County schools have gotten that bad that quickly.
More importanta than the people who already live in DeKalb, absolutely nobody wants to move to DeKalb County and have their kids go to these schools. There is a reason Decatur homes sell quickly and for top dollar. The difference between the price paid for a house on the northeast side of the Ponce/Lawrenceville highway split and the southeast side, or, for that matter, the north side and south sides of Pharr Rd is hundreds of thousands of dollars. The houses are similar. The schools are different.
Wondering Allowed
January 18th, 2013
10:07 am
that should be “northwest” side of Ponce/Lawrenceville versus southeast side…
Bill & Ed's Excellent Adventure
January 18th, 2013
10:37 am
@wondering allowed – thanks for the update on what your friends are doing. I’ve lived in Dekalb since 1984. I’m not thrilled about the current state of our local government or school board, but I’m not ready to pull up stakes and head for the northern suburbs just yet. We are looking at our options for middle school and beyond. Meanwhile, my children attend, in my opinion, one of the best elementary schools in Georgia. Despite the system’s current failures, we have a strong principal and our students are high achievers.
Maureen Downey
January 18th, 2013
10:38 am
@bu2, I have to add that I attended a meeting at a middle school where many of the parents who spoke were CDC employees.
Maureen
Pardon My Blog
January 18th, 2013
10:56 am
This Board will not change in 30 days, heck, most of them were parading around in front of the media saying they back Clew 100%. This dysfunction has been going on since at least 2002 (you really see the ineptitude when your child starts High School). They have been able to cover up many poor decisions by Lewis and others, favorability, inept staff, etc. and continue to do so.
The whole Administration needs to go, not just the Board. Central office is a joke and there is so much waste. Clean house, review salaries, check certifications, hire people who truly have the experience and qualifications for the position. Perhaps two districts make a lot of sense especially since issues are so different in the Northern side of the county as opposed to the South side.
Bottomline, don’t give them 30 days. The Board, all of them, are a big joke with the biggest clown being Eugene Walker. Then the State should take steps to get a decent Superintendent in here. Let’s do something positive for DeKalb!
Dunwoody Mom
January 18th, 2013
11:01 am
Maureen, do you know if the original consent decree agreed to by the State BOE Legal Counsel and DCSS BOE that was rejected by the State BOE will be made public?
bu2
January 18th, 2013
11:06 am
@Wondering
Are you talking about Ponce and Scott St. (as opposed to N. Decatur and Lawrenceville)? If so, that isn’t what the AJC reports on real estate prices are showing. They show that section of Dekalb doing well.
As far as Decatur, we bought about 4 years ago and looked closely at a lot of areas. For some reason I don’t understand, the city of Decatur significantly underperformed the real estate market in the 5 or 6 years prior to that time. It looked primed to takeoff, but it still hasn’t happened.
And I don’t know of anyone who has left our school in the middle of the year except for moving out of the area. Most large private schools don’t admit in the middle of the year.
Most everyone is pretty pleased with the elementary school. Everyone evaluates what to do with middle school. Urban districts just do not do middle schools well.
Maureen Downey
January 18th, 2013
11:06 am
@Dunwoody, It should be available as it is a public document. I can ask DOE.
Dekalbite@Dr. John Trotter
January 18th, 2013
11:10 am
You don’t live in DeKalb and your children don’t go to school in DeKalb so your words don’t carry a lot of weight with the citizens who live here and send their children to DeKalb County Schools.
DeKalb has many beautiful areas that are safe and close to all the amenities that a big city has to offer. Perimeter Mall as well as the Emory and CDC areas are economic powerhouses that feed the tax base of Georgia. We have Arabia Mountain and Stone Mountain which are beautiful parks and many more instances of lovely green space in DeKalb. I can be downtown visiting the High Musem in 15 minutes even in rush hour or dining in Midtown in the same amount of time. There are many advantagges to living in DeKalb. The main disadvantage is the school system, and that cannot be overstated as a disadvantage. Actually, neighborhood schools in the affluent areas of DeKalb have maintained their high academic standards, and for many years the seedy underbelly that passed for the administration of the the school system did not appreciably affect those areas. DeKalb Schools was a “Tale of Two Systems”. The Great Recession and NCLB helped rip the veneer off the incompetence and inequity that is DeKalb and accelerated a process of decline due to unbelievably poor management and active investment in everything but the classrooms. As the affluent and in some cases formerly affluent areas of DeKalb began to experience “the DeKalb Way” in their schools up close and personal, parents were forced to become more vocal and more active.
Advising citizens to move from DeKalb or place their children in private schools are not workable solutions for the 98,000 children in DeKalb who depend on public education. DeKalb students are not less intelligent, the teachers are not less hardworking, and the parents are not less involved than other systems with similar demographics. There is nothing inherently wrong with our children. Many of us do not want to throw up our hands and give up on a decent education for the majority of our children.
Dunwoody Mom
January 18th, 2013
11:10 am
Thanks!! I am curious to see exactly what those 11 items were that they all agreed to.
Private Citizen
January 18th, 2013
11:13 am
Altanta Media Guy EVERYONE AT THE PALACE MUST GO!
…to Six Flags!
Concernedmom30329
January 18th, 2013
11:19 am
Are you sure about that Bu– City of Decatur is doing very well, in large part because of its schools.
I suspect BU2 and Bill are both Fernbank parents. Fernbank has manage to insulate itself from some of the DCSS woes by having the ability to fully fund at least two teaching positions. Additionally, though they said they weren’t going to do so, I believe DCSS is still giving extra dollars to the IB schools.
For most of the rest of DeKalb, the budget cuts have been damaging and many families are beyond concerned. For what it is worth, Fernbank saw a small drop in its enrollment this year.
Finally, what saddens me the most is that what the parents pay for at Fernbank is standard in Fulton and Cobb and yet no parents in DeKalb demand more.
dekalbite@Sandy Springs
January 18th, 2013
11:24 am
My neighborhood is filled with CDC and Emory employees who send their children to the local schools and yes it is the Lakeside area. It’s not called the Clifton Corridor for nothing. Lakeside is bursting at the seams since so many younger people have been moving into the neighborhood as the retirees and older folk move out.
Private Citizen
January 18th, 2013
11:25 am
(thinking cap on) Another way to moderate the effect of “leadership” degrees is to regulate the salaries of central office and administrator staff. For example, if a teacher is $50k/yr., it is my opinion that central office administrative people should not be paid more than $75k/yr, or, in other words, 1.5x what a teacher is paid, although many teachers are paid closer to $40k. The whole salary thing is all over the place. It would be meritous to change / restructure the entire pay concept. I think the time-served graduated pay school is causing problems, too. Long term highly paid teachers are being routed out of their positions, meanwhile new hires teach with some other long-term teachers being paid twice as much as them. and then the whole “executive compensation” thing on the top end, with these imitation corporate salaries for public service. “Pay more to get more” doesn’t apply to teachers, why should is apply to admin. and executive staff? How can this be remedied, I wonder? It is pretty big concept. Real teachers do not do it for the pay. It would be a welcome development for those who teach because “that is what they do.” They pay would probably go up some for those without 10 years in the system, etc. and so on. I guess it would take some kind of organised initiative to do anything about it, but maybe the first step is awareness. Point is, these 100k+ salaries are an attractor for the whole “leadership” degree thing. I think it goes together.
Dr. John Trotter
January 18th, 2013
11:29 am
@ Astropig: If SACS would consistently apply its so-called standards, this would be interesting. But, SACS never does. Never. SACS always arbitrarily and capriciously applies its so-called standards. You don’t see SACS coming down on the foolishness in Cobb, Fulton, or Gwinnett, do you? Don’t try to say that is does not exist. It does.
“Crooks”? Are we really calling the school board members “crooks”? A little hysteria, don’t you think? If they are indeed crooks, then you don’t need to be calling on SACS for help you; rather, you should call on the District Attorney.
Nothing will change. I have seen it so many times before. You can’t get politics out of politics. By definition, a seat on the DeKalb School Board is a political position. Pure and simple. The same stuff goes on in Griffin-Spalding, Hart County, Hancock County, Richmond County, Muscogee County, Jackson County, Clarke County, White County, just to name a few. Politics will always be on the school boards and in the school systems. The difference in DeKalb? Too many influential and politically-connected (with the Governor’s Office) people still live in DeKalb. They can’t get their way anymore, and they are mad as heck about this. When the school board was still majority white (about five years ago) and hired the incapable Crawford Lewis, no one raised a stink…because, I think, the influential folk on Lullwater and in Dunwoody still trusted the school board. When the black got a little “darker,” that trust went out the window.
Get mad at me again for telling you the truth. I love seeing your reactions. Ha!
Dr. John Trotter
January 18th, 2013
11:33 am
Let’s try this again…or am I still be “moderated”?
@ Astropig: If SACS would consistently apply its so-called standards, this would be interesting. But, SACS never does. Never. SACS always arbitrarily and capriciously applies its so-called standards. You don’t see SACS coming down on the foolishness in Cobb, Fulton, or Gwinnett, do you? Don’t try to say that is does not exist. It does.
“Crooks”? Are we really calling the school board members “crooks”? A little hysteria, don’t you think? If they are indeed crooks, then you don’t need to be calling on SACS for help you; rather, you should call on the District Attorney.
Nothing will change. I have seen it so many times before. You can’t get politics out of politics. By definition, a seat on the DeKalb School Board is a political position. Pure and simple. The same stuff goes on in Griffin-Spalding, Hart County, Hancock County, Richmond County, Muscogee County, Jackson County, Clarke County, White County, just to name a few. Politics will always be on the school boards and in the school systems. The difference in DeKalb? Too many influential and politically-connected (with the Governor’s Office) people still live in DeKalb. They can’t get their way anymore, and they are mad as heck about this. When the school board was still majority white (about five years ago) and hired the incapable Crawford Lewis, no one raised a stink…because, I think, the influential folk on Lullwater and in Dunwoody still trusted the school board. When the black got a little “darker,” that trust went out the window.
Get mad at me again for telling you the truth. I love seeing your reactions. Ha!
Dr. John Trotter
January 18th, 2013
11:34 am
Are my comments still being “moderated”? Ha! Mr. Filter keeps my comments at bay.
Dr. John Trotter
January 18th, 2013
11:36 am
Were my words “Lullwater” and “Dunwoody” too incendiary?
Disgusted
January 18th, 2013
11:42 am
Concernedmom, you say “no parents in Dekalb demand more.” My experience has been that parents in Dekalb have been demanding more for at least a decade. Teachers give us and our students all they can and then some while working in horrible conditions with next to no resources; some administrators, not all, actually do all they can to discourage these parents (our board chairman refers to them as “disgruntled”) in hopes that they will leave the system.
Dunwoody Mom
January 18th, 2013
11:42 am
Dr. Trotter, you’re the only one who “sees color” in this conversation…well, you and Eugene Walker.
Dr. John Trotter
January 18th, 2013
11:55 am
@ Dunwoody Mom: I think that I am the only one who will tell the truth. This stuff only happens when white folks can’t get their way in school systems which have a majority black school board. I have seen so much foolishness going on among majority white school boards (Fulton, Cobb, Gwinnett, just to name a few), but SACS doesn’t respond to calls for help. I have read where parents say that they have written to SACS, but they got no response from SACS. Sorry, DM, but I am just stating the obvious.
Dunwoody Mom
January 18th, 2013
12:00 pm
What do you “get our way”? The parents of this school district just want a quality education for their children – race is not an issue here – it’s competence of the school board and school administration. Many have been just as hard on the caucasian members of the school board. Really, just stop with the racial issues – it’s not relevant to what is going on in DCSS.
Teacher Reader
January 18th, 2013
12:11 pm
@ Dr. Trotter, I am disappointed in you for bringing color into this conversation. The problems with DeKalb are not one color or group, the problems are with South DeKalb, Fernbank parents, and everyone in between. Everyone is out for their child, and no one is looking at the big picture. This is the biggest problem with DeKalb.
Everyone wants their special programs, reguardless of cost, number of kids, and countless other things that need to be looked at when making decisions. No one is caring if the kids in the regular schools throughout the county get a good education. If the teachers are able to teach kids in over crowded classrooms, or if we continue to pass kids along who have limited skills and are now in middle school on a 4th grade level.
No Dr. Trotter, this is not a white, black, Hispanic, Asian, green, purple or blue issue. This issue is about ADULTS caring about ADULTS, and not giving a darn about the children that they are paid to educate.
I have only been in DeKalb for 6 years. Taught in it for 3, having taught in other places around the country, and DeKalb was the worst teaching experience I have ever had, and frankly I’ve worked in much tougher places, but the lack of care and concern for the children is appalling. I wouldn’t send an animal to a school in DeKalb. We have stayed because we are underwater in our home, my husband has a nice commute to work, and I can homeschool my son. We are seriously thinking of selling the house for whatever we can get, ruining our credit, and moving to another location with better schools, less drama, and a longer commute for my husband.
You bringing up color really disgusts me, and is part of the reason why I want to leave DeKalb. I grew up in a very racially mixed area up North, and have friends of all backgrounds to this day from elementary and high school. I don’t see black and white. I see dysfunctional adults who are out for their friends, family, and themselves, and the children are a last priority all together. That goes for the two new school board members as well. I asked Orson to his face if he was going to be for the entire district or just our area, and he told me the entire district, and I didn’t see that in the hearing yesterday. One cannot understand the problems without visiting the schools, but you need to visit all of the schools, as each school has it’s own unique problems.
DeKalb won’t change until people stop talking about race and start looking with clear vision at the real problems. This is not Black or White, it’s about dysfunction and trying to get the most out of the district for those that you know. It happens in the county government as well. It’s pervasive in DeKalb, and really is no better than the Chicago politics that I saw when living in Chicago and that I see often happening now in Washington, except that those in DeKalb aren’t suave enough to cover their tracks.
bu2
January 18th, 2013
12:33 pm
Race is used by people, but its not a real issue. There are poor students all over the county. There are minority students all over the county. There are few majority white elementary schools and I don’t believe any are over 80%. At the HS level, I believe Lakeside is the only majority white HS, and as I recall, its in the low 50s. Last figures I saw, Dunwoody was around 40% white, Chamblee in the 30s, Tucker around 10%, Druid Hills 25%. Cross Keys is overwhelmingly Hispanic.
Dr. John Trotter
January 18th, 2013
12:35 pm
@ DM. Race is very relevant. It is the obvious thing that is going on by calling in SACS, The Guv, and the State Board. Get out there and help elect candidates of your liking. That’s how the process of democracy works. I hate gnostic take-overs. I hate oligarchies. I hate incompetence just like you do. But, more than incompetence, I hate seeing the powers-who-be circumvent the democratic process. Hey, I voted for Romney, but he didn’t win, did he? I didn’t pout and call upon the U. N. to take out President Obama. (For the record, I voted for President Obama the first time.) I didn’t like his economic policies and the government take-over of healthcare. So, I voted for Romney this past election. But, guess what? President Obama got the most votes, and he is still the President. Bully for him. He will be inaugurated for his second term. Quite historic, I think. But, I still didn’t vote for him.
If I lived in DeKalb, I would probably not vote for many of the incumbents. But, I would be recruiting candidates and/or helping challengers. I wouldn’t be calling on SACS or the Governor for help. Get off the couch and put up signs until the wee hours of the morning. Do the hard and dirty work to get elected or to get others elected. This is all that I am saying.
There is a pattern. SACS responds to the influential people who can’t get their way at the ballot box. SACS is as inconsistent as the day is long. SACS is a tool used by the influential…just like the old convict lease system was used right after the Civil War to take care of the “labor problem.” Only the wealthy and well-connected profited from the convict lease system. It was race-based…just like SACS is. Race has always been intricately woven into the very fabric of American politics…from the days of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787.
By the way, my great, great grandfather, Robert A. Alston, was the only State Representative in DeKalb in 1879, and he was murdered at the Georgia Capitol in the process of trying to outlaw the convict lease system. He is buried in the old Decatur Cemetery, and his antebellum home, the second oldest house still standing in Atlanta, is located on Alston Drive in front of the East Lake Country Club. Back in the day, he pretty much owned all of East Lake (about 400 acres). My grandfather, Robert Alston Trotter, Alston’s first grandchild, was born in Meadownook (the Alston house on Alston Drive). His cousin, Dr. Wallace Alston, was President of Agnes Scott College for 22 years. Others relatives lived in DeKalb for years. My brother and I both taught and coached in DeKalb County a few years back. I have a few connections to DeKalb, and I may just move back over there one day. Now this ought to stir up some mess! Ha!
LOGIC
January 18th, 2013
12:58 pm
@Dr. Trotter
The real “race” issue then becomes that the poorer high minority schools are worse off than they were 15-20 years ago with majority representation today. How do you explain the group that doesn’t even take care of its “own” children? Easily – they don’t care and are just taking care of themselves by creating an employment pipeline for the inept.
Race is an excuse when the reality is that these representatives haven’t met the needs of their own constituents and hide behind race as the issue. Look at what immigrants of all races and creeds can accomplish in this country with education in a few short years with the right mentality and work ethic when given access to opportunity that other countries don’t provide. Which excuses would you like to give to those who grow up speaking English, go to English schools and still can’t make it? Look at the examples around them – parents, communities, role models. Nepotism and ineptitude are not the examples they should see in leadership, yet that is what you are advocating for DeKalb to keep from Brazil.
We are fundamentally fighting for DeKalb’s ability to provide a solvent public educational system for ALL STUDENTS. I was impressed by several of the APPOINTED State BOE members and would like to see DeKalb get SOME qualified people.
Dr. John Trotter
January 18th, 2013
1:20 pm
“Which excuses would you like to give to those who grow up speaking English, go to English schools and still can’t make it? Look at the examples around them – parents, communities, role models.”
@ LOGIC: How can I respond to your line of “reasoning”? I am just advocating a respect for the democratic process. It appears that you have opted for an “appointed” process. Why would you expect me to give an excuse for anyone, much less the type of parents whom you are apparently describing? Is it my responsibility to give an “excuse” for anyone? I think that your rambling belies your deep-seated feelilngs about certain people in DeKalb. I am sorry that you feel this way. No one’s actions are my responsibility except my own, be they in DeKalb, Newnan, or Brazil.
I just offer up my opinions about what is driving this debate about calling in outside influence groups like SACS.
LOGIC
January 18th, 2013
1:36 pm
Thanks for the giggle, Dr. Trotter. Engaging in inane discourse with you is like shooting fish in a barrel. My “rambling” does show my deep-seated resentment for the following:
1. People who say they advocate for “All of DeKalb’s Children” and are only using the system as an employment pipeline and are fundamentally corrupt on several levels
2. DeKalb residents and those who don’t contribute to our tax base and our community who say that DeKalb “whites” are unhappy with the DeKalb “blacks” when we are the most diverse county with some of the highest performing schools in the state. Those of us who live here know that it is diverse throughout the county. Look at the numbers.
3. People who are happy to sacrifice the future of DeKalb’s children even though the electoral process at this local level does not have a proper remediation plan when elected officials are INCAPABLE of executing their elected duties, even with years of training. Even the President is subject to impeachment.
I respect your family history and really wonder why you would leave DeKalb which such a wonderful rich history. The fact that my family has been here for so long is the main reason I would like to build upon the legacy.
Please spare DeKalb your comments because they are not helping our children nor do they highlight the real issues as to why we are where we are. The number of people at the hearing and those who watched the webcast from all parts of the county show that we as an entire county are coming together for the sake of our communities and our children.
Disgusted
January 18th, 2013
1:41 pm
It seems obvious that after listening to the statements of the board members and questioning them, the state board members knew there was no hope of any improvement coming from this crew (Nancy Jester and the three new board members excluded). They seemed to only be concerned with protecting themselves when the inevitable taxpayer-funded lawsuit occurs. Perhaps the board should try a hail mary and fire Dr. Atkinson, whom they shouldn’t have hired in the first place.
By the way, I’m bothered that the plagiarism incident seems to be old news so soon after it was made public. If the board instructed Dr. Atkinson to fire Dr. Taylor (by the way, does anyone know where his doctorate is from?), would that be viewed as meddling in personnel matters by SACS?
And AMG, we would have to improve a whole lot to get to “mediocre.”
Dr. John Trotter
January 18th, 2013
1:53 pm
Well, LOGIC, I won’t “spare” you of my comments. We live in a country rich with freedom of speech and press. I like to write and to offer up my comments, despite whom I might offend. Sometimes I even intend to offend. Ha!
I am happy that DeKalb is rich in diversity. The school board is also diverse, right?
Why my ancestors left DeKalb? My great, great grandfather was murdered, and my great grandmother married a physician, Dr. Robert W. Trotter, and the family moved to the quaint town of Madison, Georgia to raise the five children. Other relatives stayed in DeKalb. In fact, I remember as a kid visiting my great aunt who lived in Avondale Estates.
I am happy to provide you shooting practice, by the way. I have never been compared to a Goldfish. I take that this was supposed to be an insult. Usually I am compared to much more heinous creatures. Ha!
I see that you make very broad and sweeping comments about the school board not carrying out their elective duties. What laws have they violated, if you don’t mind me asking?
marm
January 18th, 2013
2:06 pm
@sandyspringsparent: You obviously don’t know people who live around Druid Hills HS (it’s not NORTH Druid Hills HS by the way).
WillinRoswell
January 18th, 2013
2:15 pm
Let’s hope not.
Returning DCSS Parent
January 18th, 2013
2:21 pm
I don’t believe any significant changes can happen in 30 days. However, I am also concerned with who will replace the board members if they are let go. What are their backgrounds? Are they even qualified to be on the board or are they politically connected? Too many questions that are unanswered at this point. I do hope the board realizes it is time for a change and at least are wise enough to make an attempt to implement the requested changes by SACS. I kept my son out of DCSS for years because of these issues. Now he is attending Arabia Mountain HS and doing very well. I would really hate to have to go back to sending him to a private school and continuing to pay a large amount of my property taxes for the public schools. I should not have to pay for private school and public school. I have no intention of moving my family to another district because DCSB can’t get their act together. I think giving them until the end of the school year would make sense. If things have not improved by then, everyone including the superintendent should go and start fresh. If it means students will start and end the school year a little later, it is worth it. Our kids are worth the effort and deserve a quality education no matter what part of DeKalb they reside in.
The Deal
January 18th, 2013
2:23 pm
Oh, good heavens. This race argument is ridiculous. SACS isn’t here because of race; they are actually about five years overdue for actual, tangible violations and problems. Why aren’t they at all of the other places you mentioned? I don’t know, and I don’t care. All I care about is that finally some big-time attention is being paid to DCSD. If it begins with SACS, fine. If it began with the DA, that would have been fine, too. Whatever it takes. Pull them over for a broken tailight and discover a gun hidden under the front seat. SACS saw the broken tailight, an overall insignificant piece of the problem but a firestarter nonetheless.
Who else felt vindicated to see our school board members uncomfortable and moderately deferential? I enjoyed every second of it. They all showed their true colors. I can only hope the state board was even more shocked. We’re used to it; I wonder what they thought about the two sleeping board members (Walker and Cunningham) and the one who couldn’t hold her head up at the podium (Copelin-Wood), not to mention the couple of board members who can’t string together a coherent sentence.
This is what we have been dealing with for years, and if I hear one more person say, “just elect new people”, I will lose it. No amount of campaigning will have this central DeKalb resident having any success in deep south DeKalb trying to get them a decent candidate. Those are just the facts. The involved areas are turning over members. The other areas aren’t, and they are still in the majority.
Who says a board needs to be an elected group anyway? Maybe we should permanently shift to an appointed board and see how that works? There are politics in elections as much as in appointments. It’s not like they are going down the DMV and picking out 9 random citizens. Really, anything is better than we have now.
I am crossing my fingers that what the state BOE is doing now is crossing their t’s and dotting their i’s to ensure any legal action brought by the DeKalb BOE (and paid for by us) will not hold up after they recommend removal.