Does the state law being used against DeKalb board cede too much power to SACS?
In his passionate closing statement before the state Board of Education on Thursday, attorney Bob Wilson hearkened to fallen soldiers, the flag and the Constitution in an effort to save the jobs of his clients, veteran DeKalb County school board members
“I look at that flag back there and I think about the young men and now the young women who lost their lives defending it. For what? Freedom of speech, the right to vote, they are right at the top, ” Wilson told the state board at the end of the 14-hour hearing. “The ballot box must be given huge, huge deference in this county. If it is not, we are lost.”
A former DeKalb district attorney and one of the two attorneys tapped by Gov. Sonny Perdue in 2010 to probe CRCT cheating, Wilson didn’t land a winning punch with this powerful imagery.
A unanimous state board voted to recommend that Gov. Nathan Deal suspend the DeKalb board. The state board wasn’t impressed with what one member called DeKalb’s “deathbed repentance,” telling the six members that their history of dysfunction outweighed their promises of change.
But Wilson may get to give the speech again and perhaps to a more receptive audience.
On behalf of the DeKalb board members, he filed suit in Fulton County Superior Court and in U.S. District Court arguing the law allowing the governor to oust school board members in troubled districts is unconstitutional. A hearing in Fulton Superior Court on Thursday could restrain the governor from proceeding on the suspensions. A hearing in federal court is scheduled for Tuesday, but Wilson requested it be rescheduled because the transcript from the state board hearing will not be ready.
In turning to the courts, DeKalb joins six Sumter County board members who challenged the law in November and forestalled their removal from office.
Deal will announce Monday at 11 a.m. whether he will follow the state board’s lead and suspend the DeKalb board. (On Friday, Wilson asked the federal court for an injunction to stop Deal from acting on the state board’s recommendation. Will post if the court issues that temporary restraining order.)
“Removing elected officials from office is a serious duty, not undertaken lightly,” the governor said in a statement Friday. “That responsibility, however, pales in comparison to the importance of assuring the credibility of students’ education.”
There are legitimate questions about empowering a governor to unseat school boards that the courts — and all Georgia voters — ought to consider:
Among them:
•The law provides for removing board members without any showing of any wrongdoing or even a lack of discretion.
•The law cedes unprecedented and almost absolute power over elected officials to a private accrediting agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The law specifies that boards can be removed by the governor after being put on probation by its accrediting agency. In this case, that agency is SACS, which has been far more troubled by 5-4 school board votes than by chronically low test scores and faltering academics. As Nancy Jester, one of the DeKalb board members recommended for suspension, noted about the SACS criteria for accreditation: “You can be a school board of distinction, but the student achievement can be abysmal.”
•Why should the governor have the power to remove school board members for ineffectiveness yet pay no heed to crazy city councils and loose-cannon county commissions? There are many dysfunctional elected bodies around the state whose antics, while also not criminal, are irrational and damaging. (Some might cite the General Assembly as an example.)
•The law could be challenged for not only being unconstitutional, but incomprehensible. Last month, the state board told DeKalb emphatically that the law required all school board members, regardless of tenure, must be removed. Thus, DeKalb’s three brand-new members would go, too, if suspension were recommended. It was “all or nothing,” according to the state board.
However, at the start of the state board hearing last week, the Department of Education attorney reversed positions, saying the three newcomers wouldn’t be ousted because they had no role in DeKalb’s fall from grace with SACS. But the DeKalb board members elected two years could make the same argument, especially since it was conceded by SACS that DeKalb’s management problems go back a decade. Yet those two-year board members were recommended for removal.
•The big beneficiary in this debacle may be the governor, who gets to make a political decision that will widely be seen as heroic: removing the controversial DeKalb school board. Even if the courts overturn the law, it won’t be a loss, as Deal really doesn’t want to run the DeKalb schools.
Several speakers at the board hearing declared it was a “new day” in DeKalb. But many of the old problems — racial and economic divides, a ravaged real estate market, a growing underclass — remain. And it’s not apparent that a hand-picked school board will be enough to solve them.
–From Maureen Downey, the AJC Get Schooled blog
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201 comments Add your comment
gsmith
February 24th, 2013
11:40 am
i think the easiest and best solution would be to separate the county two different counties , north dekalb and south dekalb counties. this way each could have its own schools and its own school boards. and have its own representation all together. i think this would make everyone happy
Beverly Fraud
February 24th, 2013
12:29 pm
Trying to make SACS the issue here is clear deflection.
To those who are making excuses for the board; yes. To those who see the big picture no!
Hard to accuse someone of saying they are trying to “deflect” when they regularly refer to the board as “Clown Central” isn’t it Dunwoody Mom?
Dunwoody Mom, I get your point but I would suggest checking out Invisible Serf’s Collar, and you might start to realize that DCSS is the “clear deflection” for what SACS is trying to do nationwide
Dr. John Trotter
February 24th, 2013
12:30 pm
Didn’t I just hear on local news that a Federal Judge just barred Governor Deal from removing the DeKalb Six until a hearing before the Federal Court? I just don’t see how this reactionary law does not violate the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Just my opinion.
OriginalProf
February 24th, 2013
12:38 pm
@ Truth in Moderation, Feb. 24, 10:24 am: “The only thing that counts, in a nation with the rule of law, is DID THE SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS BREAK ANY LAW?? Someone posted earlier that a state attorney said they did, regarding their handling of funds. THIS IS WHAT SHOULD BE PURSUED! WHY ARE THEY NOT BEING CHARGED?”
The law provides that the Governor can remove a local school board IF the state BOE recommends this. This in turn hinges on whether SACS is about to remove the county schools’ accreditation because of the actions of this local school board. Further, the grounds for reinstatement of the board members is whether or not they will improve the ability of the board to retain or reattain the schools’ accreditation.
So whether or not the board member has broken criminal laws is a whole other ballgame. I would think that it takes a lot longer to remove a board member on criminal grounds than on the limited one of hindering school accreditation.
This is not to rule out a later charge of criminal behavior………
Dr. John Trotter
February 24th, 2013
12:44 pm
I may be in the dark on this, but just who elected Mark Elgart to run our school systems? Who died and made him the Educational Zeus of the Public Schools? My friends tell me that they didn’t vote for Mark Elgart, and I am positive that I never voted for the man to run anything. Heck, why doesn’t the State just turn over all of the school boards to Mark Elgart, BackwardEd, and SACS? Oh, I forgot. I already has.
DunMoody
February 24th, 2013
12:50 pm
I noticed a comment by a legislator in one of the AJC’s news items today that finding another accrediting agency is under discussion. What about the Georgia Accrediting Commission, already in place, affiliated with UGA, and providing accreditation for schools throughout Georgia? Why isn’t that a viable alternative to SACs? I’m curious.
OriginalProf
February 24th, 2013
1:34 pm
I thought that I’d provide some factual perspective on SACS, which I know only in connection with its Commission on Colleges branch. This is separate from the branch in play here: the Council on Accreditation and School Improvement. SACS accredits over 13,000 public/private schools from pre-school to the university in the South, in the states of Virginia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee and Texas, as well as schools for US students in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. It is recognized by the US Dept. of Education and the Council for Higher Education. It’s not a minor league player.
Among colleges and universities, it’s widely respected. Grounds for probation of individual colleges/ universities include financial fraud, and problems in faculty and board governance. They also monitor the way the curriculum is taught. I know from personal experience that one ground for probation is hiring grad students to teach core classes without 18 hours of coursework in the field they’re teaching. (Think of this, ye parents of college students who want to be sure they’re taught by the qualified!) Incidentally, Bootney Farnsworth, GPC is now on warning of probation with SACS.
To be frank, trying to get a different accrediting agency for Georgia’s schools—especially one that is limited to those in Georgia—seems to me like tilting at windmills.
DeKalb Inside Out
February 24th, 2013
2:02 pm
SACS was recently kicked out of North Carolina. Texas accredits its own schools. I’ve talked to many legislative types that are chomping at the bit to get SACS out. That being said, it will be difficult given the quid pro quo between SACS and school executive administrators.
Dr. John Trotter
February 24th, 2013
3:11 pm
SACS has long since outlived any usefulness in Georgia. Georgia needs to look at what is being done in North Carolina and Texas. The Georgia Accrediting Commission (GAC) has been accrediting schools in Georgia since 1904 (109 years). It is under the executive leadership of the esteemed Dr. Carvin L. Brown. GAC is already recognized by Georgia Law, and high school seniors graduating from high schools accredited by GAC still get the Hope Scholarship.
Do you think that Duke University or UNC-Chapel Hill give a rat’s behind about SACS? No. Georgia Tech and UGA should take the same attitude about kids graduating from schools here in Georgia who are graduating from high schools accredited by GAC or the State itself. SACS should be shut down in Georgia. It’s done much more harm in Georgia schools than any help rendered. Mark Elgart has run SACS into the ground with his apparent ego-tripping.
I hope that the Federal Judge will clip SACS’s wings here in Georgia and restore some sense to accreditation.
dekalbite@Dr. Trotter
February 24th, 2013
3:32 pm
It appears your posts have more to do with attempting to discredit Mr. Elgart and SACS and less to do with the education of DeKalb students. This is the Board that made DeKalb teachers the lowest compensated in the metro area and gave them unmanageable class sizes to balance the budget (or in fact to run a deficit which is against the law).
I’m assuming you don’t have very many DeKalb teachers in MACE. If so, what has your organization done for the teachers and students of DeKalb?
Truth in Moderation
February 24th, 2013
3:43 pm
“The law provides that the Governor can remove a local school board IF the state BOE recommends this. This in turn hinges on whether SACS is about to remove the county schools’ accreditation because of the actions of this local school board.”
@Prof
You are referring to the new Unconstitutional law. Prior to the created DeKalb/ClayCo debacle, citizens had the right to elect (and not reelect) their school board members locally, BECAUSE THE LOCAL SCHOOL FUNDING WAS PROVIDED BY LOCAL PROPERTY TAXES. THIS IS WHAT MAKES THEM A “PUBLIC” SCHOOL. If the school board was criminally mismanaging funds, it would have been lawful under the old system to remove the criminals and put them in jail. The citizens would then elect their replacement. If no one is willing to press charges when criminal activity is observed, or no criminal wrongdoing can be proved, then the school board must stay until the end of their term and face voters at the poles for the next term.
Under the new law, an unelected 501c3 CHARITY has ALL POWER over the school boards. FROM NOW ON I WILL REFER TO FORMER PUBLIC SCHOOLS AS “501c3 AdvancEd schools.”
Citizens, there is a way out: overturn the Georgia Compulsory Education Law. All powers that be, regarding government sponsored education, will become NULL AND VOID. We have crossed the Rubicon….no hope of reform is left!
dekalbite
February 24th, 2013
3:43 pm
“DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Channel 2 Action News has learned that a federal judge has responded to a request to keep Gov. Nathan Deal from announcing the possible suspension of members of the DeKalb County School Board.
Sources said the judge signed the order over the weekend.
Deal is set to make some sort of announcement on Monday which comes after the state Board of Education recommended six board members be removed from office. The judge’s ruling allows Deal to make a decision, but that decision cannot be enforced until a hearing is held.
A Channel 2 Action News crew is trying to get responses from the DeKalb School Board, the governor’s office. Watch live reports on Channel 2 Action News at 6. ”
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/dekalb-school-boards-future-delayed-fed-judge/nWYSt/
dekalbite
February 24th, 2013
3:48 pm
Here is the law that was not followed by the DeKalb BOE:
http://www.audits.ga.gov/NALGAD/36812-6.html
“(a) The governing authority shall establish by ordinance, local law, or appropriate resolution a fiscal year for the operations of the local government.
(b) (1) Each unit of local government shall adopt and operate under an annual balanced budget for the general fund, each special revenue fund, and each debt service fund in use by the local government. The annual balanced budget shall be adopted by ordinance or resolution and administered in accordance with this article.
(2) Each unit of local government shall adopt and operate under a project-length balanced budget for each capital projects fund in use by the government. The project-length balanced budget shall be adopted by ordinance or resolution in the year that the project initially begins and shall be administered in accordance with this article. The project-length balanced budget shall appropriate total expenditures for the duration of the capital project.
(3) A budget ordinance or resolution is balanced when the sum of estimated revenues and appropriated fund balances is equal to appropriations.”
Dr. John Trotter
February 24th, 2013
4:04 pm
@ dekalbite: Why don’t you go to the MACE website and read the testimonials from the DeKalb teachers about the effectiveness of MACE? I am sure that you know how to get there. Ha! You let me worry about protecting and empowering the MACE teacher-members in DeKalb. I can assure that they appreciate MACE and MACE’s aggressive advocacy for them…one member at a time. MACE makes no pretense of changing the budget, policies, etc. ODE just goes through this charade, jumping through hoops as the school board ignores them. It is so easy to prance around at the Capitol and speak at the school board meetings, but it is so much work actually taking care of the individual teachers…one member at a time. The principals understand this. This is why principals are very leery of messing with MACE members.
MACE doesn’t represent students or parents. MACE only represents classroom educators…one member at time. Do you get the drift yet? By the way, MACE knows that you can’t have good learning conditions until you first have good teaching conditions. We have seen firsthand what happens to a school system which is taken over by SACS. The student discipline goes out the window. Since Clayton County was effectively taken over by SACS in 2008, the school system has precipitously gone straight to H@LL in a hand basket. The teachers are treated like dog poop and the prisoners are running the prison, if I may use this metaphor. A teacher files a grievance, and H. R. chief, Douglas (Doug) Hendrix apparently thinks that he can dismiss the grievance. Well, not if it is a MACE grievance. We have a practice at MACE that when a grievance if filed and Human Resources has the temerity to think that it can ignore the Georgia Law (O. C. G. A. 20-2-989.5 et seq.) relative to Certified Employee Complaints, then we just picket. We ask: “Fairly private grievance or a very public picket? You choose.” So, I presume that we will be in front of North Clayton High School and Lee Street Elementary School (second picket at Lee Street this year) this week and next week. Also, I am sure that we will pay a visit to Mr. Hendrix and new superintendent Luvenia Jackson on the sidewalks of Fifth Avenue. Hmm. So, you see, “dekalbite,” why the teachers like us so? We don’t despair and throw our hands in the air. We get results. Same thing for the teachers in DeKalb County.
I hope that this was responsive to your query?
CompetenceNotDiversity
February 24th, 2013
4:06 pm
@Truth in Moderation – you don’t think $13M in legal fees in one year is criminal mismangement of funds?!?!? You clearly don’t understand what the phrase means.
mountain man
February 24th, 2013
4:28 pm
I hope SACS strips Dekalb county’s accredtitation on Monday, since a judge has enjoined the Governor from ousting the board and appointing new members. Walker has vowed to fight to the death (of the DCSS). If you live in Dekalb county, start thinking state chartered schools.
Dr. Trotter – your idictment of SACS smacks of not wanting to be responsible to anyone. Are you claiming that SACs has made up everything about Dekalb and is nothing but a witch hunt?
Decatur Dad
February 24th, 2013
4:32 pm
I totally agree with Dr. Trotter. SACS should be SHUT DOWN and not allowed to place any schools on probation or strip their accreditation. SACS is irrelevant and an outlaw organization in my opinion. While I agree that some of the board members in Dekalb Schools should be replaced, Gov. Deal has no right to replace them. The Dekalb voters elected them and should be the only ones allowed to replace them. Don’t even think about taking away my voting rights. Deal needs to mind his own business, Fran Millar needs to go sit and SACS needs to be SHUT DOWN!
mountain man
February 24th, 2013
4:35 pm
“BECAUSE THE LOCAL SCHOOL FUNDING WAS PROVIDED BY LOCAL PROPERTY TAXES. THIS IS WHAT MAKES THEM A “PUBLIC” SCHOOL”
Not all school funding is from local property taxes, but I’ll bite. Let the State withhold all state funding from Dekalb county while this lawsuit is going on.
mountain man
February 24th, 2013
4:39 pm
You know, Dr. Trotter, I used to have some respect for you, but your ranting against SACS and Elgart has made you seem like a self-serving educrat.
Wrecker
February 24th, 2013
4:49 pm
I agree completely that SACS is out of hand; however (and this is a big “However”), to suggest that the DeKalb School Board should not be removed is ludicrous. The criminal mismanagement of this once-proud system is obvious to everyone. The SACS issue is a red herring. Dr. Trotter can continue to rant about the misuse of power by SACS. I will continue to wonder why it matters.
Dr. John Trotter
February 24th, 2013
4:50 pm
I must be really hitting the nail on the head about SACS…because the critics of the school board are reacting quite a bit to my posts. Good. If a person is not receiving criticisms, he or she is probably not doing anything, including Prince Mark Elgart. Sure some of the things that SACS says about the school board are true…the same thing could be said for Sam or Robert down at the corner café in Tucker or Dunwoody. Heck, a dead clock is right at least two times a day, right?
I am just saying what Maureen suggested in this topic, viz., the State has ceded power to an unaccountable and unelected private company. SACS’s investigations, by the way, are really not “investigations.” SACS (erh, Mark Elgart) apparently already has its mind made up. This was the case in Clayton County too. Much, much documentary evidence about wrong-doings of Chairperson Ericka Davis and her compatriot Rod Johnson was provided to SACS but this overwhelming evidence was totally ignored. It apparently didn’t fit into the narrative that ole Markie was trying to tell. The actual “report” that SACS published on February 15, 2008 on Clayton County was, in the immortal of Norreese Haynes, “a sham and a farce.” Mr. Haynes actually had his press release condemning this biased and skewed “report” published by the AJC the same February 15.
I think that Prince Mark Elgart has really never had many people (if any at all) at that point to challenge him. Mr. Haynes and I have been criticizing the actions or lack of actions of Prince Mark Elgart and SACS ever since this accreditation charade was foisted upon the working stiff county of Clayco, proceeding to destroy this defenseless county.
Dr. John Trotter
February 24th, 2013
5:01 pm
Mountain Man, I am sure that you will get over it. Heck, you have the rest of your life to get over it. I am dead set against SACS. I have said it over and over that it is a phony, private organization eating like a typical hog at the public trough. It adds nothing to the Gross National Product. It is a leach and sucks off of the public teat. Conflicts-of-interest galore.
Mountain Man, I believe in the democracy. How ’bout you? Democracy or Oligarchy?
I am all for empowering the classroom educators to teach. Support them in discipline and realize that you can never have good learning conditions until you first have good teaching conditions. How can you teach the DeKalb children about democracy when they see their democratically-elected school board members defrocked and re-placed by kiss-ups appointed by the Governor?
Heck, let the voters take care of the situation. We do this for city councils, county commissions, the legislature, the President of the United States, and so forth. It’s just too much money involved. It’s all about the cheddar. Do you have some cheddar at stake, Mountain Man? Ha!
Dr. John Trotter
February 24th, 2013
5:02 pm
I enjoy discussing this issue with you guys. But, I have to go get me something to eat. Take care. Power to the People! Ha!
Truth in Moderation
February 24th, 2013
5:04 pm
@mountain man
“Not all school funding is from local property taxes, but I’ll bite. Let the State withhold all state funding from Dekalb county while this lawsuit is going on.”
That’s correct. But it wasn’t that way in the beginning. We decided to apply communistic ideals and “redistribute” the wealth through additional state funding to “equalize’ the “public” schools. Hence, I usually have referred to them as “government” schools because the public’s direct influence over their local schools and taxes has been greatly diluted. As to your suggestion, this is a far more Constitutional approach for the ills of DeKalb than to FOOLISHLY FURTHER REMOVE ANY LOCAL CONTROL THAT WAS LEFT, by abdicating citizens’ responsibility to influence their schools to an UNELECTED 501c3 CHARITY MONOPOLY!
And you think you are smart???????
Truth in Moderation
February 24th, 2013
5:13 pm
@wrecker
“to suggest that the DeKalb School Board should not be removed is ludicrous. The criminal mismanagement of this once-proud system is obvious to everyone.”
If you are going to use the term “criminal,” then the Board should be properly charged with their offenses and have their day in court. WHY HAS THIS NOT HAPPENED?
This is the way of the Constitution. To bring in an UNELECTED 501c3 CHARITY MONOPOLY to get them out with mere charges of accreditation problems (as defined by the charity monopoly), is a crime as well. That is why the Board now has grounds to sue DeKalb!
Amanda
February 24th, 2013
5:14 pm
Shouldn’t we care if the law is unconstitutional? I’m as upset as the next person about what the Dekalb board does but I care about the rule of law. If we remove people we don’t like with a law that isn’t within the constitutional authority of Georgia or violates something under the US Constitution, we are in deep trouble. Any law can be passed but it doesn’t mean it is constitutional. We should care about that. The place for this to be addressed is the ballot box. Be careful before you trash the constitution. You might need it in the future.
dekalbite@Dr. Trotter
February 24th, 2013
5:24 pm
“@ dekalbite: Why don’t you go to the MACE website and read the testimonials from the DeKalb teachers about the effectiveness of MACE? I am sure that you know how to get there. Ha! You let me worry about protecting and empowering the MACE teacher-members in DeKalb.”
Why, thank you, Dr. Trotter. I did just that. I saw three testimonials from DeKalb teachers. Only one of those teachers still works for DeKalb. One of those “DeKalb” teachers left in the beginning of 2010-11 school year and one of those teachers left in the beginning of the 2011-12 school year. You might want to get more up to date testimonials of teachers who actually teach in DeKalb.
The DeKalb teachers you represent are now paid the lowest paid teachers in the metro area. It appears neither you nor the ODE has been able to help with DeKalb teacher compensation. I know – you can’t control the Board of Education that cut DeKalb teachers’ pay. You just want to keep that same Board in office. As long as they are in office, DeKalb teachers will NEVER see their pay come back to the levels of the other metro systems because teachers (and students) are not these BOE members’ priority.
Truth in Moderation
February 24th, 2013
5:48 pm
@dekalbite
Thanks for your research. LOL! Regarding the fact that AdvancEd has major office space in Decatur, wouldn’t that give the impression of a CONFLICT OF INTEREST regarding their audit of the DeKalb school system? Also, since Decatur has all of its public schools under a charter, has it been protected in any way from the actions of the current school board? Please give us your thoughts on this.
waltbellamy
February 24th, 2013
7:05 pm
Excuse my ignorance of the virtues of any of the alphabet soup of acronyms in this sphere. In my defense I do know a bit about Abdullah the Butcher and El Mongol. I will assume for the sake of argument that SACS = SATAN. A simple question, what authority would endorse the education provided to the students by DeKalb County School System?
mountain man
February 24th, 2013
7:05 pm
“Heck, let the voters take care of the situation.”
Sure, I will agree to that. Let Dekalb county goes down the tubes because the voters are not smart enough to elect a decent board. But SACS is the agreed accrediting agency, so if they do not comply, then they need to have their accreditation stripped. To give parents options, the State government should put out an amendment that cities can form their own school systems (like they used to do). Luckily, the State has amended the constitution to allow charter schools at the State level.
Democracy at it best. Let them fail.
Dekalbite@Mountain man
February 24th, 2013
7:32 pm
“Let Dekalb county goes down the tubes because the voters are not smart enough to elect a decent board”
DeKalb voters include most of the Emory faculty, Emory medical doctors, and the Centers of Disease scientific personnel. I guess those are the “not smart” voters you are referring to.
Truth in Moderation
February 24th, 2013
7:45 pm
But how can the broke U.S. compete with THAT, you ask? Well the Prez is a WIZ at finding money we don’t have. He just follows the GOLD BRICK ROAD! Not to be boring, the U.S. has responded to the challenge with a BAM! (Brain Activity Map). We plan to map EVERY SINGLE NEURON in the HUMAN BRAIN! That means we have to figure out how to light up the LIVE brain like a Christmas tree to record just what your brain looks like while you are looking at pictures of por…err comic books! Or what your brain looks like when you are telling off a Federal Judge in court. Or when you are LYING. You get the “picture”. These ACIVE BRAIN MAPS will be stored on super computers and will be the data sent to the EU for their “PROJECT SCARECROW”. I am sure your brain is now bursting from info overload!
Well, I promised documentation, so here it is:
Your Brain on Drugs: Gleaned from THE DECADE OF THE BRAIN v1.0
ht tp://arc hives.drug abuse.gov/pdf/mon ographs/105.pdf
This is your brain on neuroscience
on rappoport.word press.co m/2013/02/20/this-is-your-brain-on-neuro science/
An overview: Brain Activity Map Project
ht tp://en.wiki pedia.org/wiki/Brain_Activity_Map_Project
Truth in Moderation
February 24th, 2013
7:47 pm
THE WIZARD OF O-bama
It occurred to me that the only LONG TERM solution to ALL of our educational ills is NEW BRAINS FOR ALL! Remember Scarecrow and his catchy song?
h t tp://w ww.you tube.com/ watch?v=tMPkqI3nc GM (remove spaces)
This is no longer just a PIPE DREAM! We can all be smarter than a 5th grader because the government and the President have declared THE DECADE OF THE BRAIN v2.0 (Bush declared v1.0)! In TEN YEARS and with $3 BILLION +++++, we will have a genuine artificial working digital HUMAN BRAIN! You will be able to carry your new brain around ON YOUR IPAD! (well….maybe). I know you think I am crazy (this new brain will fix that) so I will DOCUMENT everything I tell you…
First, the bad news. the U.S. will play second fiddle to the EU in this JOINT ENDEAVOR. Well someone has to be the GUINEA PIG. We can’t ALL have the fun jobs. But that is OK, because we will ALL get new brains. Here is the EU version of “PROJECT SCARECROW” (This is my title, theirs is boring, “The Human Brain Project.” Please watch their AWESOME VIDEO!
ht tp://w ww.hu man brain project.eu (remove spaces)
bu2
February 24th, 2013
8:00 pm
The board did not approve a budget with a deficit. Ramona Tyson simply ignored the budget. If there’s anyone who broke the law, its the administration of the school district, Ramona and her now fired CFO.
Now the board didn’t pay attention and didn’t monitor properly, just like McChesney, Speaks, Bowen, Womack, Walker, Cunningham, Copelin-Woods, Redovian and Roberts didn’t monitor Lewis stealing. But incompetence is not a crime.
Dr. John Trotter
February 24th, 2013
8:12 pm
@ “dekalbite”: Let’s see now…we have, I think, 180 school systems in the State of Georgia. Would ten testimonials from each system satisfy you? 1,800 testimonials? By the way, I saw at least seven or eight testimonials from DeKalb teachers, but who really expected you to be accurate, right?
Make sure that you click the link at the bottom of the testimonial page which takes you to a PDP with other testimonials.
Truth in Moderation
February 24th, 2013
9:08 pm
OOPS! LOL
Should read “BRAIN ACTIVITY MAP”
BTW, to post I had to divide story into 3 sections. In case you didn’t notice, part 2 posted first, part 1 posted next, and then part 3. PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO READ THE LINKS. Our children are at stake!
mountain man
February 24th, 2013
9:08 pm
“DeKalb voters include most of the Emory faculty, Emory medical doctors, and the Centers of Disease scientific personnel. I guess those are the “not smart” voters you are referring to.”
Do you really believe that they voted for the likes of Walker and crew? I am sure they were in the minority.
mountain man
February 24th, 2013
9:13 pm
“Be careful before you trash the constitution. You might need it in the future.”
What is unconstitutional about this law? Someone needs to point out the exact language in the constitution that says elected officials may not be removed.
Truth in Moderation
February 24th, 2013
9:13 pm
“The goal is to produce the first map of brain function to explore every signal sent by every cell and track how the resulting data flows through neural networks and is ultimately translated into thoughts, feelings and actions. While work is already underway to understand the wiring diagram of the whole brain— known as the connectome— this project would go beyond that to try to understand what this circuitry actually does.”
Read more: ht tp://health land.time.com/2013/02/19/b rain-map-president-ob ama-proposes-first-detailed-guide-of-human-b rain-function/#ixzz2LrcKoQ6p (remove spaces)
THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT WHITE PAPER! It gives the scientific details of how they will use NANOPARTICLES inside the LIVING human brain for producing ACTIVITY IMAGES for MAPPING:
“The Whole Brain Activity Map: Merging Nanoscience and Neuroscience for Technology and Health”
http://aca demic com mons.co lum bia.edu/it em/ac:147966 (remove spaces)
QUESTION: WHO WILL BE THE HUMAN LAB RATS TO PROVIDE THE BRAINS TO BE MAPPED?
Well, here’s a theory:
Currently, at the President’s urging, Proposed Bill No. 374 (LCO No 2001). is in the Committee on Public Health in the STATE OF CONNECTICUT. It’s Statement of purpose: To provide BEHAVIORAL HEALTH ASSESSMENTS to children.
I spoke with the bill’s sponsors and the chair of the committee and NO ONE COULD GIVE ME A DEFINITION OF “Behavioral Health Assessment”. NOT EVEN A GENERAL ONE! This is ALL the bill is about! It will REQUIRE that public school and home school children in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12 “to have a confidential BEHAVIORAL HEALTH ASSESSMENT…and “each health care provider performing a child’s BEHAVIORAL HEALTH ASSESSMENT to complete the appropriate form SUPPLIED BY THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION VERIFYING THAT THE CHILD HAS RECEIVED THE ASSESSMENT.
Our CHILDREN will be the guinea pigs! PLEASE FIGHT THIS! It is planned to be railroaded INTO EVERY STATE!
Dekalbite@Mountain man
February 24th, 2013
9:56 pm
“Do you really believe that they voted for the likes of Walker and crew? I am sure they were in the minority.”
Oh yes they did. The highly affluent Fernbank community where most of those Emory and CDC people live put Walker into office. They got a $19,000,000 new school and as much protection for the Fernbank Science Center (with it’s selective STT program) as they could. They also escaped redistricting when every other school that was overcrowded or under crowded was redistricted. They were not in the minority in their vote. They came out in force for Walker in a sparsely attended election. Fernbank is the most powerful community in DeKalb. They are smart, affluent, organized and plugged in politically. They always know which way the wind is blowing. Newly elected Marshall Orson comes from Fernbank. He is friendly with Walker, and Thurmond says Orson suggested he be the superintendent (didn’t you read Maureen’s interview with Thurmond?). You do not understand DeKalb politics.
http://dekalbschoolwatch.blogspot.com/2011/01/attention-losers-this-is-how-you-win.html
http://dekalbschoolwatch.blogspot.com/2010/03/letter-from-fernbank-elementary-school.html
Truth in Moderation
February 24th, 2013
10:57 pm
It’s Sunday. With all the strife and stress in the world, I thought it would be a good time to kick back and sing “Kumbaya.” Won’t you join me?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz9BNwbKM0M
Dekalbite@Dr. trotter
February 24th, 2013
11:34 pm
“@ “dekalbite”: Let’s see now…we have, I think, 180 school systems in the State of Georgia. Would ten testimonials from each system satisfy you? 1,800 testimonials? By the way, I saw at least seven or eight testimonials from DeKalb teachers, but who really expected you to be accurate, right?”
I found other “DeKalb” teachers who no longer work for DeKalb giving testimonials on the MACE webiste if YOU want to be accurate.
The point is – what have you done to keep the compensation for those DeKalb teachers who belong to MACE from being reduced by the Board to the lowest in the metro area? Why don’t you ask these DeKalb teachers who belong to MACE if they are glad you are advocating for those BOE members to keep their jobs? I would be most interested to hear the DeKalb Teachers who belong to MACE say they want the very people who gutted their pay and their classrooms to stay in office.
DeKalb Inside Out
February 25th, 2013
9:16 am
Mountain Man – “What is unconstitutional about this law? “
I think the lawyers and some other people are upset with a few different things.
Elected Board
ARTICLE VIII. – EDUCATION – Section V – Paragraph II
“Each school system shall be under the management and control of a board of education, the members of which shall be elected as provided by law.” – The Constitution specifically says the board members shall be elected.
Due Process
I’ve heard a number of people smarter than me talk about how this denies people due process. A group of elected officials can’t be removed because of the actions of a few. They must be individually tried … or something like that. It sounded reasonable when they were talking about it.
All Or Nothing
This violation of the State Board irks me
OCGA § 20-2-73 [Suspension and removal of local school board members] shall apply to all local board of education members, regardless of when they were elected or appointed. House Bill 115 [adding protection for recently elected Board of Education members] has not passed yet and once passed won’t be effective for a while.
Mountain Man, what says you. Do the ends justify the means?
DeKalb Inside Out
February 25th, 2013
9:35 am
Walker and Emory/Fernbank
I thought this article gave an interesting analysis of the relationship between Walker and the Emory area.
“Walker one four precincts in the Emory area. Not only did he win them, he won them by double digits.”
Here are the precinct numbers:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AtoPT5XcHyhcdHhubi01NDRUR2hIWmxaYkh0eGN5amc&authkey=CLq968IF&hl=en&authkey=CLq968IF#gid=0
ChristyS
February 25th, 2013
10:24 am
Bottom line: it’s all rigged. I live in Cobb County. When we complained to SACS, the school board and administration hand picked the parents that SACS would interview. Strangely, some of us vocal critics were not selected. Hmmm??? I’m with Trotter. Ditch Elgart and SACS. They wield way too much power and involve themselves in pissing matches, not substantive issues. Elgart’s main concern with Cobb was the fact that the board members weren’t in agreement. HELLO?????? That’s called democracy. Maybe he should have been more concerned about the clandestine meetings in violation of the law.
DeKalb Inside Out
February 25th, 2013
10:55 am
To continue with Christy’s point. I want to know what happened with those textbooks. Howe and Perone are the two people with the most knowledge regarding that issue. Neither SACS nor the State Board ever talked to them about the textbooks. I would like to have internal affairs or somebody sit next to Howe and Perone for however long it takes to get to the bottom of the textbook issue.
OriginalProf
February 25th, 2013
10:56 am
@ Truth in Moderation, Feb. 24, 10:57 pm. I have to admit it, this post is the first one of yours that has made me lol.
Chamblee Dad
February 25th, 2013
12:22 pm
My only other involvement with SACS was with a single school review of a nearby kindergarten. It went exactly how you would imagine, on the ground review of the school, staff, management, etc. They were accredited, by the way.
This systemwide accreditation with focus essentially only on the board? Just not sure. Our board is dysfunctional, perhaps beyond repair, and a new election might not fix it. But SACS’s focus is essentially only on the board. They caused much of this mess, but to me, the many supers & central office caused even more. Until completely addressed, we w/n get this thing fully on-track.
So short answer – yes, SACS has too much power, at least how the wield it. But some form of accredidation is needed – other agency, school-by-school, certainly worth exploring.
Private Citizen
February 25th, 2013
5:58 pm
Mr. Georgia, Very interesting comments re: SACS and macro-effect on Clayton County.
The thing I wonder is how much are they paid for services? And can this be done more efficiently via “in-house” through the state government. I am guess there are some “executive compensation” salaries going on over at SACS? How much are they paid and where does the money go?
DeloresT.
February 27th, 2013
11:03 pm
Someone or some group needs to investigate SACS! It’s true that the voters in DeKalb and other districts may need to recall some board members, but SACS has become the elephant in the room. SACS makes a complaint, parents get up in arms, the offending school system “pays off SACS” by doing its bidding…..SACS makes money and the school system that they have complained about goes back to its normal activities. SACS is a bully and someone needs to recognize this!