Former Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond: Good guy but can he lead DeKalb schools?
Michael Thurmond (AJC photo)
Didn’t see this coming. It appears the DeKalb school board is talking with former state Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond about the job of interim DeKalb school chief — if and when current Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson departs.
(I also find it surprising that the DeKalb school board has not confirmed that Atkinson is leaving. Pretending otherwise — until an interim is in the bag — seems a silly charade at this point.)
I have attended several editorial board meetings with Thurmond over the years, and he seems like a bright, capable guy.
When he left the labor department after 12 years in 2011, the AJC wrote:
Thurmond, who turned 58 on Wednesday, is a sharecropper’s son from Clarke County who once worked as a criminal defense lawyer. He spent six years in the General Assembly and later directed the state Division of Family and Children Services. He also guided former Gov. Zell Miller’s welfare-to-work reform.
At Labor, Thurmond was essentially CEO of a 4,000-employee agency with a $450 million budget, most covered by the federal government. He administered the state’s unemployment insurance fund and vocational rehabilitation programs.
Thurmond won national praise for his Georgia Works program, launched in 2003, which matches the jobless with potential employers. More than 60 percent of the program’s enrollees found a job within 90 days, the labor department says.
Thurmond is “most proud of” his department’s role in building the soon-to-open Roosevelt School, a residential and vocational complex in Warm Springs.
According to the AJC’s Ty Tagami today:
It may seem like an abrupt transition from the job of Georgia labor commissioner, but Michael Thurmond said he has a lot to offer the troubled DeKalb County School District.
Thurmond met privately with the nine members of the county school board Monday. He would not confirm if he talked to the board about taking a job as interim superintendent, but said his leadership philosophy was on the table and the words “interim” and “superintendent” came up.
“I’m here today because I’m interested in the future of public education in DeKalb County,” Thurmond told several reporters outside the district head office, after leaving the meeting. “I made it clear: I’m here to help.”
Rumors have been swirling for weeks that Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson is leaving her job. She’s declined to comment about them.
State Sen. Fran Millar, R-Dunwoody, was until recently chairman of the Senate education committee and has been monitoring developments in his local school system.
In a telephone interview Monday about Thurmond’s visit, Millar said he became convinced last week that Atkinson’s departure was imminent. He wouldn’t reveal his sources, but said he knew of several people who were approached to replace Atkinson on an interim basis, including one person with whom he spoke directly. Millar said none of them was interested because of the board’s precarious situation.
Millar said he thinks the DeKalb board should focus on the accreditation issues. He said Thurmond is “a very fine man and was a good labor commissioner” but that the DeKalb board should appoint a “placeholder” from within the system while it addresses the accreditation issues and prepares for its showdown with the state. He thinks the DeKalb board is trying to find a big name successor to bolster their own efforts to remain in office.
“What I am not happy with is that this board is willing to sit on this resignation, or whatever you want to call it, so they can say they have this wonderful interim,” Millar said. “This smells of desperate people trying to maintain their positions.”
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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70 comments Add your comment
bu2
February 6th, 2013
9:59 am
Seems obvious they are negotiating a buyout for Atkinson and having trouble finding a good interim.
Disgusted in Dekalb
February 6th, 2013
10:32 am
bu2, I shudder to think what Eugene Walker considers to be a “good interim.”
DunMoody
February 6th, 2013
10:57 am
Is the DCSS School Board (as a whole) focusing too much of its energy on a big name interim superintendent to divert attention from the upcoming hearing? If so, the big name tossed into the media for reaction suggests continued cronyism. Maybe Thurmond would be the rainmaker we need, but he would start with a huge mountain of public dismay to overcome.
Governor Deal stated in an interview with WABE that the superintendent issue is irrelevant to the core problems outlined by SACS and won’t change anything if the State Board recommends removal. http://wabe.org/post/talk-georgia-governor-nathan-deal-medicaid-expansion-dekalb-county-school-crisis.
We need intense pressure continuing on three fronts: on the central office (that’s a superintendent issue and it IS important), on the School Board (friends and family cronyism by an unhealthy majority of members has to stop), and on the Legislature to change the Constitution (to allow local control).
Private Citizen
February 6th, 2013
11:18 am
Pity that school systems are considered objects of attention as political fiefdoms.
“The estate or domain of a feudal lord. 2. Something over which one dominant person or group exercises control.”
Private Citizen
February 6th, 2013
11:20 am
It’s like a rain cloud and everybody under it is going to get wet. You like / require sunshine? Lucky you (not).
DeKalb Inside Out
February 6th, 2013
1:15 pm
Bye Bye is reporting that Jim and Marshall appear to be supporting Michael Thurmond for super.
http://dekalbschoolwatch.wordpress.com/2013/02/05/a-word-to-the-wise/#comment-15204
WTH?? There is no way Jim and Marshall could be that stupid!! Bringing Michael Thurmond in as super is Nepotism by its very definition.
Concerned Biologist
February 6th, 2013
1:23 pm
“WTH?? There is no way Jim and Marshall could be that stupid!! Bringing Michael Thurmond in as super is Nepotism by its very definition.”
To which DeKalb County board member or administrator is Thurmond related?
DeKalb Inside Out
February 6th, 2013
2:00 pm
Hello Concerned Biologist, my friend.
Nepotism – The practice among those with power or influence of favoring relatives or friends, esp. by giving them jobs.
As you probably know, Gene Walker, Cynthia McKinney and Michael Thurmond go way back. This would be a HUGE black eye for Mr Orson.
MO
February 6th, 2013
2:06 pm
Jim and Marshall appear to be supporting Michael Thurmond for super
DIO
Mary Margaret Oliver, Howard Mosby, Marshall Orson, Cynthia McKinney, Gene Walker and Michael Thurmond are all aligned politically.
In these dire times, we can only trust friends and family. We need somebody we can trust as Superintendent.
Never go against the family.
@Concerned biologist
February 6th, 2013
5:22 pm
http://trumpetfoundation.org/events/race-relations-symposium/
Private Citizen
February 7th, 2013
5:55 am
I like the idea of Boehner being out of Congress and instead at the helm of a school system. This would solve two problems and he might be effective in the new career with less responsibility and more control than his crocodile-tear love he shows for the whole. Basically, it would force him to deal with something real other than caring for the rich, the very rich, and the extremely rich, and doing things like removing markets to service the same to make certain of guaranteed revenue streams to the few. He’s probably see a school district as steak dinner to be eaten by his very few power interests, and arrange revenue streams for them and his job would be done.
Private Citizen
February 7th, 2013
5:57 am
@Concerned biologist, I can not figure out if you are making a joke, posting a link to a political networking conference with the stated theme, “Are we there yet?”
DeKalb Inside Out
February 7th, 2013
9:29 am
Concerned Biologist
What says you about Nepotism? Is MO right … in times like this is it better to trust friends and family? What is your take on bringing in Thurmond, Walker’s long time friend?
@private citizen
February 7th, 2013
9:55 am
” I can not figure out if you are making a joke, posting a link to a political networking conference with the stated theme, “Are we there yet?”
The link has nothing to do with the content of the political networking conference, merely the fact that of the 6 panel members, one is Melvin Johnson, newly elected BOE member, and one is Michael Thurmond who is meeting with the BOE as a possible interim superintendent. The ties may be with Walker, but obviously there are also ties with the newest member Johnson.
http://trumpetfoundation.org/events/race-relations-symposium/
Concernedmom30329
February 7th, 2013
9:57 am
Thurmond isn’t related to anyone that we know of. But he has a 20+ year relationship with Gene Walker. That is a problem.
Concerned Biologist
February 7th, 2013
10:30 am
“What is your take on bringing in Thurmond, Walker’s long time friend?” My take on this is show me the proof that they are long-time friends. What you have shown is that they were referenced in a book about elections as having been on the same side of a redistricting issue against Cynthia McKinney 20 years ago.
Thurmond held a state-wide office for 12 years – surely you can find better evidence of his “close” relationship with Walker if it is true. I do not know if Thurmond is the best candidate for interim (if he is even truly being vetted for that) but he is probably the best we can get at this point. Certainly preferable to promoting from within. He seems to have served well under both Democrat and Republican administrations and that indicates an ability to find common ground.
DeKalb Inside Out
February 7th, 2013
10:32 am
Thurmond – Nepotism
Don’t forget the relationship between Thurmond and Melvin Johnson. They were speakers together at a race relations symposium.
http://trumpetfoundation.org/events/race-relations-symposium/
Concerned Biologist
February 7th, 2013
11:12 am
“Don’t forget the relationship between Thurmond and Melvin Johnson. They were speakers together at a race relations symposium.”
Apparently you have never been on a speakers’ panel. I’m sorry but I must disagree that this constitutes a “relationship”.
Married with (School) Children
February 7th, 2013
11:53 am
The link to the the trumpetfoundation website (posted February 6th, 2013 @5:22) shows that the candidate (Thurmond) and a board member (Dr. Melvin Johnson) served as panelists together on January 24, 2013.
The Dekalb School Watch bloggers believe that the two are friends, hence the posts above mentioning nepotism.
DeKalb will vote on school chief’s departure and interim tomorrow | Get Schooled
February 7th, 2013
4:53 pm
[...] I assume it is former state Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond, who met with the board Monday [...]