Former DeKalb board member on school chief search: Hidden political agendas and dubious choices
Former DeKalb school board member Don McChesney has a new essay on his blog criticizing what he deems the flawed and politically driven process that led to the 2011 hiring of Cheryl Atkinson to lead DeKalb schools.
McChesney raises his concerns now because he presumes that the DeKalb board will be embarking on yet another search because Atkinson appears ready to bolt. Neither Atkinson nor the school board will confirm her resignation, but it certainly appears that the board is interviewing interim candidates, including former labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond.
(McCheseney lost his seat to Marshall Orson in November.)
Some of the machinations that McChesney describes are a normal part of any major candidate search. I also think it’s been shown that Lillie Cox, the front runner who withdrew from consideration, was not driven away by school board antics, but was more interested in a job closer to home. In less than two weeks of withdrawing her name in DeKalb, she took the top job in a North Carolina district where she used to work.
As for the overt political agendas that McChesney alleges, I covered three school boards, three city councils and assorted planning and zoning boards in my first years out of grad school. Hands down, the school boards were the most politically attuned and most politically motivated.
McChesney’s essay is long, but here is an excerpt. Read the full piece here.
As speculation mounts that we’ll soon be in need of a new superintendent, it’s a good time to tell you the saga of the last superintendent search. It’s a cautionary tale.
The superintendent search was the most arduous and difficult task I dealt with while on the Board. I almost resigned a couple of times due to the ensuing train wreck I was powerless to stop. I always thought reasoned argument amongst board members would win out in the end. I thought facts mattered. Alas, how naive I was.
Let’s start with our search firm Ray and Associates. Some of our board will tell you Ray and Associates did a poor job. I thought they were quite professional and delivered quality candidates that met our requirements. As the BOE reviewed candidates, some of my fellow Board members ruled out candidates that had top-notch credentials and solid records that clearly met the requirements we designed. With each ridiculous objection, the selection criteria morphed into something else. Ray and Associates grew very frustrated because the BOE had them chasing their tail. In our original criteria we wanted a superintendent with communication and media skills, success in a challenged school system, ability to raise student achievement, and capable of removing the bloat from the central office . I was looking for a clean break and preferred that we not choose anyone with ties to DeKalb County.
We met to study resumes. We spent hours reviewing stacks of applications and resumes. I learned a great deal about my colleagues’ study capabilities. We all isolated ourselves around the room and began to read. We did not have discussions with each other during the entire period. Representatives from Ray and Associates were in the room to answer any questions. I took notes on each candidate. Some Board members seemed to have difficulty staying on task. Attention spans were all over the place. Those who did not take notes had a very difficult time at the end of the process remembering who was who. That is when one of our members asked if we could have pictures of the candidates. I knew then we had a real problem.
After the ranking we came up with six candidates for the top of the list. This would be the group we interviewed. I did not like the list but my top two made the cut. Pam Speaks, Nancy Jester, and I talked after the meeting. We had each ranked the same candidate #1. We found out later that one other member also had this person first on their list. I was feeling optimistic.
Note that the person four Board members ranked number one was not in the final three.
In a fascinating set of events, the Board offered Dr. Cox a contract. One member sat in stunned silence with head in hands – speechless. The board had six or seven members in favor of offering the contract. I was surprised because, while Dr. Cox wasn’t my first pick, she was a solid professional. Ultimately I was happy the process had worked. In hindsight, I should have known better.
As the Board was in negotiations with Dr. Cox, leaks hit the media. The two or three “no” votes had their victory. They obstructed the majority of the Board from carrying out its will.
The remaining candidates were not viable to me. Four of us pressured to bring back the candidate that we had ranked number one. It was a hard fight. Two of our board members were vehemently against my number one. At a previous interview, one of these board members sat near the candidate and fell asleep during the questions. This candidate had the best interview I have ever seen. Members that opposed this candidate either purposefully tried to twist the candidate’s record or they weren’t capable of understanding the facts. Either way, the interests of children were not served well.
At this time, you probably recall, Pam, Nancy, and I wrote a letter to express our frustration with the process. Our voices were being diminished by all means available to those on the board that wanted to further their hidden agenda. Nancy and I were summoned to SACS headquarters. We were told it wasn’t good form to announce one’s vote in advance of a meeting. We maintained that it was corrosive and hostile to leak information to thwart the will of the board until some hidden agenda is realized. At that meeting, I felt we were being nudged to “go along to get along”. Nancy and I held our ground because we felt that it was the ethical thing to do. It didn’t occur to me at the time but, the person, three of us viewed as the most qualified, came from a state that accredits its own schools rather than hand over that responsibility to SACS.
This is when Cheryl Atkinson entered the discussion. The entire board had previously reviewed her resume and took a pass. Come to find out Dr. Atkinson served on SACS committees before. I also sensed that SACS turned a fourth board member who had always agreed with me on the ranking of candidates. Soon, this board member began to speak out in favor of hiring Dr. Atkinson.
It is here that I had to acknowledge the hidden agenda in this whole process. The superintendent had to be African-American. Anything that interfered with this agenda was irrelevant. The majority had completely lost focus on the students.
The BOE did not pick the most qualified candidate. I did not say that Dr. Atkinson was unqualified. She simply was not the best candidate we had before us. I talked with some people from Loraine including a board member. The things I was alerted to became a reality: micromanaging, lack of information, and traveling with an entourage and driver.
So I say go ask the six who hired this lady to defend their position. I bet you will be met with silence.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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133 comments Add your comment
A Dekalb Resident
February 5th, 2013
12:36 pm
@bu2
That’s an interesting perspective…of course it completely ignores the fact that one or more of the ‘other members of the board’ leaked details about the negotiation with Ms. Cox to the AJC in order to submarine the process…which is a clear cut case of violating the boards rules and violating the board member’s fiduciary duties.
The three members you listed above were working within the process…one or more of the other members with the help of the AJC sabotaged the process. There is a big difference between the two.
Starik
February 5th, 2013
12:40 pm
Everything is about race, isn’t it? It’s depressing. With desegregation I hoped to see black folks enter the white mainstream, and many have, but not in the DeKalb schools.
Leo
February 5th, 2013
12:56 pm
Please find me a non-AA candidate who is willing to sue the county. Please. Considering race in an employment decision is unlawful. And here, you have one of the decision-makers stating, in writing!, that race was considered, which again is an unlawful hiring criteria. DCSD would just have to open their pocket-books for this claim.
Of course, I don’t believe we need any more litigation in our system, but come on!
AlreadySheared
February 5th, 2013
1:00 pm
@Maureen,
” I am speaking to the larger problems, problems common to any large urban system in the throes of transition.”
Hmm…. “throes” sounds like something bad, something that hurts. “Transition” would seem to indicate that said large, urban system is changing FROM some state TO some other state.
Please speak plainly – whaddaya mean, Maureen?
Pardon My Blog
February 5th, 2013
1:00 pm
@starik – “black folks enter the white mainstream” are you kidding? They don’t want to be accused of acting “white” much less entering the “white mainstream”. It’s about race because there are some in the black community who profit off of being the victim.
Pardon My Blog
February 5th, 2013
1:03 pm
@Leo – what do you think the criteria was for Lewis? although he never put it in writing he stated it verbally to the search firm when he was putting together his administration. How do you think people like Pope ended up in those positions?
Returning DCSS Parent
February 5th, 2013
1:03 pm
I think it would be a good thing if DCSS hired an interim superintendent with a business background. Too often, people are hired to handle things they have no experience in doing and it happens a lot in the educational system. With the amount of money at stake, it makes sense to hire someone who knows how to run a multi-million dollar business profitably, has experience in hiring the best and most qualified for the job, regardless of their race. I could care less what color or gender the next superintendent will be as long as he/she has the credentials to turn this mess around. DM knew what was going on and did not alert anyone until he was voted out. Sounds a little like sour grapes to me. Time to move on and get DCSS on the right track for all of our students and teachers.
Wondering
February 5th, 2013
1:07 pm
If you want to fix school boards, get them out of the day-to-day operation of the school system. Monthly meetings are too frequent. Move them to quarterly and limit the duration. It doesn’t take long to focus on policy and budget.
No where in the private sector do Boards meet monthly unless there is a crisis. They hire a competent person to run the organization and focus on board level issues, primarily budget, audit, compensation for top officials and policy. Only in education do boards insist on meeting monthly and medling in administrative processes.
In my role I report to a Board and I have sat on some. Board members who dabble to low are reined in our replaced. When picking an executive officer, Boards need to look for someone they trust to carry out policy within budget. Daily or monthly oversight by the Board is micromanaging.
Wondering
February 5th, 2013
1:08 pm
to low should have been too low. Sorry.
bu2
February 5th, 2013
1:09 pm
Don’s essay is a really good example of what has been wrong with our school board. He is constantly imagining vast conspiracies because people don’t agree with his point of view. If someone doesn’t agree with his point of view, they must be crooked or involved in some conspiracy to damage the school system to further their hidden agenda. Its little different from what you hear from Copelin-Woods, just with a different point of view.
While I like that Don tended to put children before adult employment, we need people on the school board who can work together. People who fail to see other’s points of view are the least likely to win friends and influence people. The superintendent process was a mess, but most, if not all, the board members contributed to that mess.
Maureen Downey
February 5th, 2013
1:10 pm
@ALready, County is getting poorer. Poor kids, no matter where they are in the world, even Finland, face more challenges in school for a variety of reasons, including household instability.
Maureen
living in an outdated ed system
February 5th, 2013
1:13 pm
This “whistleblower” letter is salacious and I am simply shocked by its implications. Is this former board member asking for a lawsuit?
What this does show is PRECISELY why urban school districts should be led by mayors or similar ilk. We need accountability measures, and until that takes place, the governor may have no choice but to intervene as soon as possible. Lets see if he has the leadership to actually use the emergency powers he was given on intervention of failing school boards. Bottom line is that we can’t let the third largest school district in our state to continue to languish without a rudder.
living in an outdated ed system
February 5th, 2013
1:15 pm
@Maureen, correct me if I’m wrong, but the state board of ed did NOT subpoena former members of the school board for the hearing last month, correct? That’s where this guy should have done his whistle-blowing.
Mike
February 5th, 2013
1:23 pm
“poorer” means darker. Over the past twenty years or so, we have seen in most aspects of society, when it gets darker, it gets worse. Simple as that really.
Huntley Hills Tiger
February 5th, 2013
1:26 pm
Q. Makes me ask 3 things:
1 – Is it reasonable to assume that an entire month of the new school year has gone by with essentially no action being taken by the Board or the Superintendent that is actually part of their roles in administering the school system that educates our children (I will agree that like Congress, no action at times is better than the wrong action)?
2 – Under what scenario, could both the Board being removed & the Superintendent replaced by an interim, result in anything constructive taking place during the rest of the school year? Yet another “lost” year by the system, following all the disgraceful several recent years. I know we’ve got to bite the bullet sometime, but . . . it just hurts to watch it happen every year.
3 – When is anyone going to start acting like a GROWN UP, who will not only say they want the best education for our children, but actually start DOING something about it?
As a very involved & well-informed DCSS parent (to the best of my ability) over the past 8 years, I know I’m joined by more than can be counted who do what they can for their own children & schools, but are frustrated to the breaking point.
To quote a song by Megadeth (Peace Sells . . . But Who’s Buying?) “. . . if there’s a new way, I’ll be the first in line, but it better work this time.”
DeKalb Inside Out
February 5th, 2013
1:26 pm
living in an outdated ed system said This “whistleblower” letter is salacious and I am simply shocked by its implications – You’re shocked? Yup, you and Dr Walker are about the only two shocked by this revelation!
paulo977
February 5th, 2013
1:30 pm
Patrick Edmonson …..It will take years before the ‘Black Board ‘ will be really able to make decisions that help all kids , in the north and the south as the way Fanon sees it !!!!!!!
” The colonized is elevated above his jungle status in proportion to his adoption of the mother country’s cultural standards ”
Frantz Fanon …Black Skins White Masks
Prof
February 5th, 2013
1:30 pm
@ Home-schooling parent, 1:16 pm. My goodness! You say that you can remember those wonderful times before the 1955 Brown Vs. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling? That would make you in your 70s or older. Are you really a home-schooler??
Maureen Downey
February 5th, 2013
1:33 pm
@Mike. No so. Plenty of newly poor kids throughout America of all races. With poverty often comes household instability. It is hard for kids — or even adults — to concentrate when they are living with deepening adversity. Yes, a few kids have amazing resiliency and transcend the traumas.
But many can’t.
Maureen
Anonymous
February 5th, 2013
1:50 pm
Maureen, I love that you give us this outlet for discussion but I must disagree with your statement that so many of DeKalb’s problems are because we are getting poorer.
That certainly doesn’t help, but if the Board had been good stewards of the money and good stewards of their greatest asset, Good Teachers, we would be in a much stronger position to help all of our students, poor and not-poor.
bootney farnsworth
February 5th, 2013
1:51 pm
@ huntley
1-yup. right on the nose
2-if, and only if, somebody was given the latitude and power to come in and make sweeping changes.
Jesus will come back first.
3-12th of never at the earliest.
Home-tutoring parent
February 5th, 2013
1:51 pm
Prof, not for many years, actually, unless our kids allow me to teach our grandkids. But our kids aren’t following the “old rules” about having kids in their teens, early twenties, even late twenties.
DeKalb Inside Out
February 5th, 2013
1:53 pm
http://books.google.com/books?id=tieiul7uuEAC&lpg=PA147&ots=UmWd6WHTQR&dq=%22Michael%20Thurmond%22%20%22Gene%20Walker%22&pg=PA147#v=onepage&q=%22Michael%20Thurmond%22%20%22Gene%20Walker%22&f=false
Gene Walker, Michael Thurmond, Cynthia McKinney and civil rights activist Tyrone Brooks all have a history together. Bringing in Michael Thurmond is the very definition of nepotism.
Principal Skinner
February 5th, 2013
1:53 pm
Huntley Hills Tiger
February 5th, 2013
1:26 pm
“To quote a song by Megadeth (Peace Sells . . . But Who’s Buying?)”
________________________________________________________________________________
Awesome! I guess I’m getting old when the parents are quoting Megadeath. Even so, I LOVE it! Keep quoting, and rockin’, Huntley Hills
bootney farnsworth
February 5th, 2013
1:57 pm
@ anonymous
getting poorer is also a symptom of the larger problem just like the BOE disaster.
DeKalb and much of Georgia is failing because when the smoke clears, success is not a priority for the majority of the voters
bootney farnsworth
February 5th, 2013
1:59 pm
@ DeKalb
so in other words, business as usual.
DeKalb Inside Out
February 5th, 2013
2:07 pm
Being poor doesn’t cause educational adversity. The reasons for being poor are much more likely the cause for educational adversity. Being black doesn’t cause educational adversity, but black culture sure does.
TheGoldenRam
February 5th, 2013
2:07 pm
The writing is on the wall folks. Dekalb is not the first county/city to face these types of social/political/economic changes. What should concern the conscientious parents & taxpayers that currently live in Dekalb more than anything else is where this path leads. It almost invariably leads downward. It leads to more dysfunction, disappointment and decay. There are plenty of case studies for how this plays out. Go back 10 or 20 years and look at what was happening in school districts like Detroit, Memphis, Chicago, Philadelphia, D.C., etc.. Their problems then sound just like yours do now. The school board antics, the mission change, the racial politics, the rise of incompetence as the status quo; all setting up the school system for inevitable failure. This in turn only accelerates the cycle.
Motivated people move away and create an even more impossible task for the broken schools. New people with options and resources avoid moving to places in decline. Existing businesses will not relocate to these places. New start-ups that look for growing markets, qualified labor and community amenities will also pass. Less business, less business/sales tax money.
Failing schools drag down property values. Low property values open up what were once nice middle-class neighborhoods to things like Section 8 & subsidized housing. This then accelerates outward migration and value declines further and further. Wealthy neighborhoods start to lose the middle-class neighborhood buffers and they too begin to look elsewhere.
Public sector legacy costs like healthcare and pensions continue to rise, while tax receipts continue to decline. Less services, lower quality of life and even more pressure on those with options that still reside there.
It’s called Poverty Inc. Large areas that may have been really nice places to live in at one point devolving into communities that are sustained by a vast social services network. High crime, high poverty, dismal schools, low expectations & very little potential for the community’s reemergence.
People need to bring their fight or flight instincts in line with reality. You don’t want to be that Detroit retiree that lives on a street with no streetlights, roving gangs, no police patrol, abandoned homes, fire and EMS that often never respond and a shuttered neighborhood school that was long ago replaced by some charter for at-risk kids.
For those that say the answer is to just throw more money at the school system and that will turn it around. Two words: Kansas City.
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-298.html
Huntley Hills Tiger
February 5th, 2013
2:12 pm
Princ. Skinner – I’m sure you know age is a state of mind. I’m not so old, to me at least – 48, I have 3 kids – 11, 9 & 5 that have given me plenty of gray hair, but still know their Daddy can rock with them. My 5 year old can quote Led Zeppelin & dances to Talking Heads! Daddy is proud.
bootney farnsworth
February 5th, 2013
2:12 pm
like I said, wall it off and let them fend for themselves.
as Herman Cain says, save those who are savable
living in an outdated ed system
February 5th, 2013
2:15 pm
@Maureen – to your last comment, I must also disagree. Look at what KIPP is doing, for example. It’s hard to replicate, but they are refuting the notion that impoverished kids can succeed in school, and attend college! And I don’t mean to get into a debate on what KIPP does and doesn’t do. For the families it serves, the achievement results speak for themselves.
Fed Up
February 5th, 2013
2:18 pm
Downey…the DCSD apologist.
Thurmond is a straight up crony with Walker.
bootney farnsworth
February 5th, 2013
2:20 pm
@ golden
back when I lived/went to school in DeKalb, Memorial Drive was a destination. clubs, nice eateries,
movies, shopping. the hearthstone community was the place to live, and the area around South DeKalb mall was rural.
today, even K mart pulled out of Memorial Drive, most of the surrounding neighborhoods are twitchy at best, crime is up. South DeKalb….not without a bodyguard, hell no.
only makes sense education would fall off as well
bootney farnsworth
February 5th, 2013
2:27 pm
DeKalb county – the new Detriot
Principal Skinner
February 5th, 2013
2:28 pm
Huntley Hills Tiger
February 5th, 2013
2:12 pm
Princ. Skinner – I’m sure you know age is a state of mind.
________________________________________________________________________________
As a 45 yr old High School Teacher, you’re right, I do know this.
Every couple of months, during project time, I break out the iPod and play music. It’s fun to watch the kids sing-along to songs that we rocked to in our day, but it’s even better to bust out some new stuff (Puddle of Mudd, Saliva……) and watch their eyes bug out of their heads……….
“You listen to this”?
“Yes, Yes I do.”
Concernedmom30329
February 5th, 2013
2:34 pm
Bu2,
It isn’t Clayton? Why do you say that? I am just curious….
Concernedmom30329
February 5th, 2013
2:40 pm
A good friend received a phone call from a S. DeKalb board member asking him to get the word out that the Board was going to hire Lilly Cox and this was not good. My friend didn’t tell a sole and scolded the board member but let it go.
DCSS has no ethics board so what was he to do.
Race was clearly a factor. If you have attended meetings with this Board, you have heard them say and seen it displayed. Hell, we have two law firms, one “black” and one “white.” (This, of course, doesn’t count the myriad other law firms employed for other work.)
The members of this Board who hired Atkinson need to be held accountable. They hired her and then within a few months, abandoned her, and actively worked against her.
Ironically, the three that voted against her, at least until recently, have been big supporters. You cannot say the same of Gene, Sarah or Tom Bowen. Frankly, even Cunningham, at least as evidenced by his wife’s behavior, has turned on Atkinson.
Mike
February 5th, 2013
2:41 pm
Dekalb County is becoming Atlanta’s “Cabrini Green”.
A Dekalb Resident
February 5th, 2013
2:45 pm
Here is the issue. Are some of the kids in the DeKalb County school system poor? Sure they are. Is the system poor? With a $1 Billion annual budget, I’d say absolutely not. The county has all of the resources they need to put into place a system of education. Will each child succeed? Of course not…each child has his/her own set of circumstances. However, we can say with absolute certainty that you can achieve results with broken processes.
That’s the issue here. Not ‘woe is me…the school system has so many poor kids’…but instead ‘with the number of kids that are in DeKalb that need special attention, why are these idiots incapable of spending $1B effectively?’
Principal Skinner
February 5th, 2013
2:55 pm
Mike
February 5th, 2013
2:41 pm
Dekalb County is becoming Atlanta’s “Cabrini Green”.
________________________________________________________________________________
Except you can’t walk to a great Chicago Beef sandwhich shop, or get a good Chicago Dog (all-the-way, of course)
A Dekalb Resident
February 5th, 2013
3:07 pm
BTW- Not that Maureen or the rest of you want facts…but the population in DeKalb county b/w 2000 and 2010 increased by 1.2%…with the percentage of African-Americans staying flat while the White/Asian population increased its share by roughly 8-10% each.
Also, since 1999, median income and family income in DeKalb county has increased by about 6% and 13%, respectively. The percentage of persons in the county with a Bachelor’s degree or with a post-graduate level degree increased by 6% and 14% respectively.
The poverty rate numbers and median income numbers aren’t that much different than Gwinnett Co and are frankly trending better than our neighbor. There are more people in DeKalb with college degrees, both in total number and in percentage, than in Gwinnett.
This idea that DeKalb is ‘getting poorer’ or is somehow not attractive to non-African Americans etc. is just stupid and doesn’t match the data provided by the US Census. In fact, I’d say it is quite the opposite….as DeKalb continues to attract more educated workers (of any race), the politics and corruption of the last 20 years are being exposed and brought to light. There is a demand for better because there is a clear failure of leadership and management.
“The county is getting poorer”…what a stupid statement. The county government is finding out the definition of accountability and ‘budgets’ thanks to a drop in real estate values…but just because the county and school board can’t freely bloat their budget anymore doesn’t mean that the county (i.e. the people!) are getting ‘poorer.’
Maybe
February 5th, 2013
3:29 pm
I think if you look closer, the increases you reference are compartmentalized around the CDC, Emory, and City of Decatur (who has enjoyed perhaps disproportionate growth in population and property values as problems with Atlanta Public Schools and DCSS continue).
Tim Ryles
February 5th, 2013
3:35 pm
Assuming it is a true statement, I find it appalling that the new superintendent had to be a particular race. This overtly discriminatory imperative of the Board makes mockery of educational and social functions of education. Education should alleviate problems of racial bias, not reinforce them. Interestingly enough, the country beyond DeKalb County just rejected the implicit notion of some Neanderthals that our president ought to be white. Are DeKalb citizens mature enough to apply the same principle to school administrators?
Mountain Man
February 5th, 2013
3:44 pm
My Post from yesterday’s blog about Thurmond:
I don’t know anything about his qualifications, but at least he is the right color. If an all-white school district said “we need a white superintendent, because a black just can’t understand our students”, they would be skewered and roasted. So does the best candidate for DCSS Superintendent always end up being black?
That was BEFORE I read today’s part about Superintendents having to be black.
A Dekalb Resident
February 5th, 2013
4:18 pm
@Maybe
Decatur is a city of less than 20,000 and an area of 4 sq miles in the middle of a county of 700,000 and 275 sq miles. Decatur grew by roughly 1,200 people over the past decade. So saying Decatur’s growth explains the overall trend of the last decade in DeKalb is not accurate or factual.
Your point about the CDC is probably true and mirrors the point I’m making. Growth in DeKalb over the past decade focused on two trends…first, educated white collar workers looking for quality of life ITP due to proximity to jobs, attractions, etc. (what the Brookings Inst has called ‘the bright flight’) and (2) massive exoduses from less dense and more suburban/rural areas of south DeKalb due to foreclosures and dropping home values. CDP’s like Druid Hills, North Atlanta (now Brookhaven), North Decatur, and Dunwoody saw strong, double digit growth. North Druid Hills, Tucker, Chamblee, and Decatur saw moderate to light growth. Even the portion of the county that resides inside the city of Atlanta saw decent growth. At the same time, places like Redan, Belevedere, Candler-McAffee, Panthersville, and Greshem Park saw double digit % declines (in some cases upwards of 30%) in population.
Is there any doubt about the sands shifting in the county? Traditional political bases are being eroded. New accountability is being demanded. The status quo (blaming race or the county ‘getting poorer’ instead of admitting incompetence) is under attack. That is all a very good thing for both the continuing growth of the north end of the county and the reversal of some of the trends in south DeKalb.
Pardon My Blog
February 5th, 2013
4:55 pm
If the actions of Eugene Walker and the BoE doesn’t demonstrate to the State and SACS that they feel they are above any rule of law, then I don’t know what will. They, along with the current administration, are an arrogant bunch who really could care less about improving the state of DeKalb. They are acting like POTUS.
Maureen Downey
February 5th, 2013
5:19 pm
@resident: Stand by my statement the school system is dealing with poorer children:
Please note poverty rates and child poverty rates:
The DeKalb child poverty rate in 1990 was 14.3; in 2000, it was 16.9; in 2010 it was 25.4
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:BgVln6ZqGwkJ:srdc.msstate.edu/data/center/states/ga/dekalb_ga.pdf+&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjUlVSus6NtAA2fKSter0FiqhhDengCtGO9JSKftPm340yHDgqC1MAOHykvEeh1MiZBsWeS2Kf8OTYxeDTcosO1q0DA4PjpedZ35Niu4mwbGAVu3soMzhJEh6thWekPeOf66Q9J&sig=AHIEtbSGEFkI0fDk0bAgvujuwZUPJ5qTZA
Children in DeKalb schools on free and reduced lunches:
In 2012 69.6 percent
In 2008: 64.6 percent
In 2000: 52.6 percent
http://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/bystate/Rankings.aspx?state=GA&ind=696
http://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/bystate/Rankings.aspx?state=GA&ind=694
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:vGXoOV9T69YJ:fiscalresearch.gsu.edu/reports/census/report7/report7.pdf+&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESisvZKuHWZMw0xrXPeUOQCFTluIqC1VRzx65Khmjzu09WnLEh7zU3Xzqnmw5m64movykKr8KzHtm_q44Ehyh-ViEye_ffoudSspSeBoRNYUnGykPUOw9l5w-JYLdmD2gbNturVa&sig=AHIEtbS3VtX1-ONS9-X5CxhF_STdtuWPGg
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:JEjx3OjCHLAJ:www.dekalbhealth.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/soh2010pg8-11-profile.pdf+&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgWPCf3HyPPNAhAq_kQCWgfIlCRTvG351A4VeOHNVHW9As6YnbJ3kLTrVO9q0M2mCxuzvLo-npa_7a36_UHKqHHIsRjUQMXvU7l_nrSfpWrG2SJUBfiIkeSi8KhUfIVqx1DWN6I&sig=AHIEtbTtNQxWc4xddTfBfFDLOCp_YN_BlQ
AlreadySheared
February 5th, 2013
5:37 pm
@Maureen,
Now, if you really want to get to the heart of this transitional issue, split out the percent of children raised in single parent households in 1990, 2000, and 2010. THAT’s gonna be your “transition”.
Disgusted in Dekalb
February 5th, 2013
5:41 pm
Rather than trying to excuse the school board by pointing out the demographics of the county, I would instead posit that the incompetent, corrupt, and/or dysfunctional school board has contributed to the poverty in Dekalb. Pouring money into unnecessary positions for unqualified people in the central office while reducing drastically the resources directed to the classroom has contributed to DCSS churning out more and more students who are ill prepared for life after high school. Many of these students remain in Dekalb and continue the cycle of poverty. A better performing school system wouldn’t bring all of these students out of poverty, but I suspect that it would do a good deal better than DCSS does.
Atlanta Media Guy
February 5th, 2013
5:48 pm
Thank God for Ty Tygami. We are getting better reporting from him. Ty,s predecessor not so much. She was enamored by Clew and his crew. So much so, when a large group of parents spent weeks investigating, looking through files at the old school office, as well as the zoning office in Decatur. The information they uncovered was given to this former reporter. She went directly to Clew with the information as well as their names. The reporter actually wrote that these parents were vociferous and causing problems for Clew. Clew started investigating these parents, some were even followed and watched closely, while the parents were volunteering their time at the schools.
So Maureen the AJC and WSB are culpable. This group of parents were told repeatedly the story was too difficult to tell in 4 minutes. Former BOE members son, who worked for Tyson, hid in a school for 6 months after getting a huge raise and a new job that he NEVER showed for until parents started asking questions. The fraudulent 6 figure demographic report, which was a cut and paste of a a study from Fairfax, VA. How about the budget overages that were never addressed. There was so much more. This was 7 years ago! DCSS is still mired in the muck of mediocrity. WHY!
We need a leader who is NOT afraid of Eugene Walker. Someone who can come in and cut 25 million from the Central Office budget the correct way. Not using fuzzy math, smoke and mirrors. It is time to clean the Palace! The money must go to the schools!