Michael Thurmond to DeKalb: Avoid rumor and speculation. Focus on the welfare of the students.
In his comments to the state Board of Education Thursday, new school chief Michael Thurmond intimated that he was uncertain he would stay at the helm in DeKalb if the board that hired him was replaced, but it sounds like he is staying put.
Dear DeKalb County Community,
Our district is undergoing a tremendous amount of change. From my appointment as interim superintendent to the election of a new Board of Education chairman, Dr. Melvin Johnson, to the legal proceedings involving our Board, 2013 has been full of new challenges and new opportunities.
Yesterday, the State Board of Education voted to recommend to Gov, Nathan Deal that six members of our Board of Education be suspended with pay. Three members, Dr. Johnson, vice-chair Jim McMahan and Marshall Orson, were not included in the recommendation. The final outcome of the process is yet to be determined; however, by working with our Board and my staff, we will bring the spotlight back to the task entrusted to us – educating our young people.
I recognize that we have made tremendous demands upon our employees, and I pledge to work to make things better for our educators and our students. Please avoid speculation and rumors and take this as an opportunity to become even more focused on our greatest resource – our 99,000 students. My commitment to our students, our employees and our community is unchanged.
We are beginning our budget planning process, and we will strive to place more resources in our schools, but we will also involve you – our parents, community members, taxpayers, business representatives and faith leaders – in the decision-making process.
We owe a great deal of appreciation to you for your commitment and dedication to the DeKalb County School District. It’s difficult not to be distracted by the ongoing controversy, but please know we’re grateful that you continue to trust us with your most precious resource – your children. Thank you.
I am truly looking forward to both working with you and for you. Together, we’re going to make a difference in DeKalb.
Sincerely,
Michael L. Thurmond
-From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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77 comments Add your comment
just a mom
February 23rd, 2013
8:20 am
Here is what I am wondering. Why does the governor not just go ahead and act TODAY, before the court can meet on Monday morning and issue an order delaying this even further. I would really like to know what he was doing yesterday and what is on his calendar today that is so important that he can’t spend a few minutes attending to this issue.
George P. Burdell
February 23rd, 2013
8:25 am
It is probably too much to ask for in this years budget process because I doubt there is enough time, but going forward I hope Dekalb will transform the budget process to a bottom-up approach rather than the top-down approach they have used. We had staffing issues at my son’s school this year and it became a fight between how many 1st grade teachers versus kindergarten teachers when it was very clear the real need was for one additional teacher. The top-down approach leads towards a bloated Central Office when the real focus should be on the teachers. I’d rather address the needs of each school, then staff the Central Office starting with the most critical and cut whatever doesn’t have funding left.
dekalbteacher
February 23rd, 2013
8:38 am
Why so Negative,
Thurmond has been in his position for two school weeks, and other than working to protect the board and supply a “Rededicate Yourselves” Letter and this latest one, this teacher hasn’t seen one meaningful impact. This isn’t negative; it’s fact. And I’d be concerned about teachers and parents who don’t express concern about the state of affairs in Dekalb: declining student performance, crowded classes, fewer course offerings, and a financial crisis.
How long did it take the Beltline director to resign when it was determined that staffers spent money on wedding gifts? Days. In the meantime, four months have passed since the semi-release of a financial audit determining that $49 million in salaries and beneftis were not saved under Ramona Tyson’s leadership.
How long does it take to publish salaries?
How long does it take to put names on an organizational chart?
How long does it take to put an end to coaching and redirect resources to teaching?
Private Citizen
February 23rd, 2013
8:52 am
Tim, the structure may be set up where the governor “decides” and signs off on something, but when you have a unanimous recommendation from a regulatory board, you, Tim, are not really characterising things accurately. Generally a governor anywhere is going to sign/approve a unanimous recommendation from a regulatory board, on anything.
____________
PS I’m more worried about Obama and his new power to “sign off” on killing (aka assassinate) US citizens without charges and without trial. People ought to be paying attention to this sort of thing, these recent big-power federal laws that make due process for citizens optional. In other words, to stop dissent, the present can now:
-harass a person by putting them on a no-fly list
-declare them to be a terrorist threat, no charges and no trial, and have them killed.
Sounds crazy? I’m not making it up. Obama makes Bush look like transparent government.
Private Citizen
February 23rd, 2013
8:53 am
dekalbteacher, he probably can’t look a teacher in the face because he’s being paid 6x their salary, and both parties would know it’s a farce.
Private Citizen
February 23rd, 2013
9:00 am
And what is it, Bradley Manning in prison for 1000 days days no with no trial, and “Guantanamo Bay” the intimidation Gulag, is still open for business.
Road Scholar
February 23rd, 2013
9:03 am
” I sincerely hope the new budget isn’t put on the backs of the teachers and staff once again. There have been no raises in five or six years, yet insurance premiums and the cost of living continue to rise. ”
Not one word of what the teachers have achieved to the benefit of the students learning and graduating! No raises until we see POSITIVE results! I’ve done hundreds of evaluations and many state that they are due for a raise, but then cannot defend that request. Being there 2, 5, 10…years is NOT a reason to give a raise. How do YOU bring benefit to the system/job? How have you improved YOUR performance, become more efficient, implemented things that you were sent to school/training to learn, and in this case improved student learning and performance????
Oh, and did you notice that the system has a deficit? Not only in available monies but also leadership and ethics???
Private Citizen
February 23rd, 2013
9:05 am
Maybe Mr. Thurmond is looking after 200 people, not 99,000. Let’s see, at 200 people, that would make cost of nanny fee to be $1500. per person “looked after.”
Road Scholar
February 23rd, 2013
9:06 am
Private Citizen: Look out for that drone over your paranoid shoulder! Get real!
Private Citizen
February 23rd, 2013
9:08 am
Intimidation Artist Road Scholar, How do YOU bring benefit to the system/job? How have you improved YOUR performance, become more efficient, implemented things that you were sent to school/training to learn, and in this case improved student learning and performance?
Do you really believe all that crap? -Tell it to your dentist.
Private Citizen
February 23rd, 2013
9:12 am
Hey Road Scholar, How have YOU wasted so much of my time with your crapy trainings and fake performance initiatives that actually f. people up and make it hard to teach, ask the teacher to be fake just like the presenter, just like the author or the program who is doing it for money, just like the jerk who wrote the check for the program for God only knows what reason, just like the soulless AP who goes around to check on teachers and harass them about the fine points of the “new program” that “they were just trained on” like a chicken on a treadmill. I’m glad I’m not in front of you right now, I’d probably throw a brick at you – and I have a pretty good arm.
You need to be evaluating people mopping the floor in the back of Wendy’s, not evaluating professionals. I’ll buy you a thermometer so YOU can check the TEMPERATURE of the MOP WATER. And it better be HOT.
Roach
February 23rd, 2013
9:14 am
Hmmm. Deal would not act when Clayton elected a sheriff facing about 3 dozen felony counts. Will he act now? These. people were elected, too. Yes, he claims that he found a loophole in the other case. Surely there are loopholes aplenty in this one. Face it, if it doesn’t involve a sweetheart deal for one of his pals, Shady just way too busy.
Private Citizen
February 23rd, 2013
9:21 am
Road Scholar, I was not “sent” to school. I decided to go to school, I picked the school, and I paid for it. You really shouldn’t call yourself a scholar unless you published something in a peer-reviewed journal.
And yes, you HAVE harassed me with “training” most of which is a COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME. IF your half-wit “training” had a decent well written manual, intelligent literate professionals could get the information in about 2 minutes instead of sitting like LEMMINGS in chair for an hour for some projector death-by-power-point and if there is any documentation, it is usually poorly written SHI—, as if it is some afterthought from the half-wit “redelivery artist” trainer soaking everyone for their time so they can pay their DIRECT TV bill at home.
Private Citizen
February 23rd, 2013
9:24 am
AND GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO DO, as a follow-up harassment artist “evaluator.”
Hey, have you ever thought of opening up a car wash? I head there’s good money in car washes, although you’d have to know something about PUMPS and MOTORS. Let’s have a race, Mr. Evaluator. How fast can you find your multimeter. $100. prize for whoever returns first.
Private Citizen
February 23rd, 2013
9:31 am
Oh, and did you notice that the system has a deficit? Not only in available monies but also leadership and ethics???
Yes, I did notice after reading your post. Have you ever thought about doing any teaching? It’s a worthwhile profession. You should try it.
Pardon My Blog
February 23rd, 2013
9:49 am
@just a mom – based on all the issues surrounding this decision, I am personally glad that he is looking at all the facts and taking everything into consideration.
As for Mr. Thurmond – you are in way over your head and you know it. You are clueless what to do first. I would like to see how many hours you have spent so far reviewing the finances, talking to the teachers and principals, and basically finding out about the DeKalb schools (since you are sending your kids to private school) versus working to try to save your buddies!
Pardon My Blog
February 23rd, 2013
9:52 am
Enter your comments here
Road Scholar
February 23rd, 2013
10:19 am
Private citizen: Wow! I am impressed that you as a child, picked the schools (kindergarten, grade, high..etc) that you attended. No, not your parents (if you had any) but you! You must be a genius to not need remedial or new training for process, technology, management, or ethics.
I also picked my college. In my profession, I must take courses to keep my professional engineer license current. I have taught at work (engineering) one on one and in the classroom. I have been a guest lecturer at GT and elsewhere. I recently completed serving on a board at GT committed to bettering and marketing the CE School at GT. Not because of me, GT is the 3rd rated CE program in the country. I do not have to prove anything, especially to someone like you!
If your work ethic and presence is anything like your blog responses, then you would have been fired!
Dekalbite
February 23rd, 2013
10:29 am
“We are beginning our budget planning process, and we will strive to place more resources in our schools, but we will also involve you – our parents, community members, taxpayers, business representatives and faith leaders – in the decision-making process.”
So I suppose Mr. Thurmond is not going to involve teachers in the decision-making process. They are after all the ONLY school personnel who are responsible for ensuring students master science, math, social studies and language arts content, the very reason Mr. Thurmond has a job, the school system exists and we pay taxes.
Mr. Thurmond has put out several press releases on the past week talking about involvement in the learning process and NOT ONE that I have read mentions any involvement on the part of teachers. Who does he think inhabits the classroom – teachers and students. Where does he think students spend their day – with their teachers.
It’s statements like this that disturb me. It makes Mr. Thurmond seem out of touch with what is really important in a child’s life while he/she is at school. Competent, well compensated teachers with reasonable class sizes are what will make the difference for children (especially children with little parental involvement). Give every child in DeKalb a competent, well compensated teacher with a reasonable class size and parents will flock to DeKalb, not avoid it. Mr. Thurmond cannot do anything for students (wasn’t that what he was hired to do?) until he involves teachers in the decision making process. He needs to ask teachers what they need for their students to be successful.
oscar
February 23rd, 2013
11:30 am
Thurmond sent the same letter to school staff via First Class with slight changes to personalize it for system employees saying that he would involve them in the budget decision making process.
But the speculation and rumor part is sort of insulting to send to staff that should have been informed of all these recent actions from Atkinson on down, every step of the way, rather than having to resort to facebook postings and the AJC.
GrD
February 23rd, 2013
12:54 pm
I am a parent and Science teacher….We are going after the wrong people. The bloated central office staff should be the ones receiving all this negative attention. Even if the board is replaced, it would be business as usual. All these angry folks here are simply VENTING their misdirected anger. Not able to get to the central office staff members, so their racist anger is directed towards the public board members. When the school district central office is hiring, they should apply, or run for office. I certainly oppose to nathan deal removing anyone from office. we need to remove him from office. SUPPORT THE BOARD MEMBERS, FIGHT THE REMOVAL IN COURT!
Looking for Solutions
February 23rd, 2013
2:06 pm
How ironic.
Thurmond wants we taxpayers and parents to support the children but what is he doing? In his own words he said his goal is to ensure current board members keep their seats. HE is supposed to be looking after the children, not looking after the board.
And about that board.
I say fire ALL of them, even if they’ve been there ten minutes. We really need a fresh start and I mean super squeaky clean fresh start.
DeKalb Rising
February 23rd, 2013
2:34 pm
Maureen:
Has Thurman applied for certification as a superintendent? Does he meet th minimum requirements?
How do we get around this?
Tim
February 23rd, 2013
11:30 pm
@Private Citizen
I’m not characterizing anything, just stating the facts. Regardless of the conclusion of the State Board of Education, Governor Deal can decide whatever he wants. Period. And the 2011 law giving him this gross abuse of power should be repealed.
You’re right on about the injustice of President Obama’s “Kill List”, the evisceration of due process, and the Guantanamo Bay Gulag. I don’t play favorites. That’s why it’s difficult for me to grasp why you would support a governor having dictator-like power to remove other elected officials when the governor himself has repeatedly been under investigation. Your stance is inconsistent. You just don’t like the school board and it doesn’t seem to matter to you just how flawed and unjust this removal process is.
Private Citizen
February 25th, 2013
5:28 pm
Road Scholar, I look forward to our next Battle Royale, and thank you for the context. You’ve done some high level work. That’s a great thing. Whut, You’re a P.E. Wow! You should have said so. Seriously, that is just a great great thing. My hat off to you.
Tim, I support the governor having such power because I care about DeKalb County.
Private Citizen
February 25th, 2013
5:33 pm
You must be a genius to not need remedial or new training for process, technology, management, or ethics
You may not realise that often the quality of the training of this type for educators ‘ain’t that great. I’ve seen the P.E. organisation website, and trust me, you’re in a whole different world on the directness and sense of purpose, process, and people who’ve come before you that provide these resources, as well of the clarity of documentation to go with the trainings.
Private Citizen
February 25th, 2013
5:40 pm
Hey Scholar, I challenge you just for fun, compare your P.E. update training with the federal DOE “Race to the Top” documentation. You might need a third eyeball and I do not think you will find it to be wholesome. Personally, I cringe about the part of third graders filling of 20 question evaluations of their teachers. Show me one P.E. in the world who thinks that is a good idea, or one developmental child psychologist who does not see it as inappropriate and unethical. Need I mention, you want me to look to these same folk for training in ethics? When I’m buying the supplies they are supposed to provide? When I’m making specifics that they neglect? When I have no coordination because every teacher in the building is having to individually invent what they are doing as a means of survival because of the dereliction of direction on specific curriculum materials? Here’s the fed / state / local’s idea of leadership: Go build the Eiffel Tower. Here’s the blueprint. You’re on your own on where to get the steel.