Breaking news: With new federal ruling, DeKalb school leadership is now in legal limbo for time being

This mess just keeps getting worse.

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Markie Mark Elgart can’t be liking this. Somewhere along the line, someone was going to going to act completely in their own self interest, and call SACS’ bluff was going to take a principled stand on constitutional grounds.

Looks like that day has come.

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I am guessing the tab for the taxpayers of Dekalb will push a half million (so far).

“I work for God.” God needs to give him his walking papers.

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So, Beverly what about the constitution rights of the DeKalb students to an adequate education?

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I wonder who approached the Judge who is also a Democrat, btw.

Perhaps it would be good to look up his history and see what his rulings have been. How did this Judge get this issue?

At any rate, the Dekalb School Board is still facing an Accreditation problem, not to mention the loss of credibility from the citizens of Dekalb County. Maybe Cheryl will sue for an exhorbitant amount of money to get her job back?

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…. IF it goes to court.

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@Kris – Amen!

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“Similarly, if Governor Deal decides to remove any current member of the board, that member will remain in office, but shall not be permitted to act on behalf of the board or take any other official action in his or her capacity as board member.”

Then none of those six may even utter a syllable to Bob Wilson or any person affiliated with his firm. The Board (well, at least a majority of them) hired Wilson’s firm to challenge the constitutionality of the removal statute on behalf of the Board. Therefore, preparing, discussing, or in any way working with Wilson’s firm on the suit is prohibited by that federal court order. I sincerely hope that the State DOE, the State AG,and others — including, as an officer of the Court, Wilson — keep a close eye and ear on all actions and communications of the six. Federal courts tend not to look favorably upon violations of their orders. If there’s evidence of a violation, the State needs to ask for sanctions against the offender, including striking the DeKalb Board’s complaint.

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anyone with any self respect on this board would resign,,,,,, but that is not going to happen and i think that says it all

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As I understand it, this is the worst possible outcome for the county. If Deal acts, his appointees can’t do anything. The suspended 6 can’t do anything.

I don’t believe 3 would constitute a quorom and they probably can’t do anything. Can they even legally hold a meeting?

So he has shut down everything until he makes a decision. Or at least Deal shuts down everything if he accepts the suspension recommendation.

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The Only winners presently are the Lawyers on both sides, The Losers going forward will be the Children.

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@ Bernie

Hasn’t that been the case all along in DeKalb?

Winners = Lawyers.
Losers = Children.

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Is Decatur Dad one of the board members? This is a disaster. Think of the children does not mean, the children of God. The term is referring to the students in Dekalb County. I feel like Paul Revere riding after the fact…Si*gh.

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@ Nikole
Here’s a link to the process: http://dekalbschoolwatch.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/recall-procedure-for-dekalb-county.pdf
It seems that there must be a separate petition for each Board member, and only eligible voters in the Board member’s district can sign the petition.

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I do not believe that Deal should be allowed to remove the board or appoint anyone. If the people of Dekalb want a new school board, then it should be done by a recall process. I think the governor would be over stepping the election process, because no crime punishable by law has been broken. It does not appear that anyone will be indicted for a crime and unless that is the case, the governor should stay on the sideline and let the people of Dekalb clean up the mess the created by electing the school board.

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Nikole: A recall first requires getting a certain percentage of the registered voters to sign the petition. You have only a short period of time, after the paperwork is given you, to gather the signatures. Think days. Each one may be challenged for whether the person signing it is a registered voter, and if they live in Dekalb. After the challenges, you have very little time to gather more. Not sure but I think you would have to gather each person’s individually–cannot get just one signature to cover all.

IF you mange to get the percentage of signatures, THEN they schedule a recall election. This takes months.

THEN, if the voters agree, the person is removed.

Our constitution makes it almost impossible to remove via recall. The deck is stacked in favor of the incumbents.

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And with more thought, the judge ruled on an injunction, the legal test for granting it is a likelihood of prevailing on the merits. How can Deal fire and appoint and nothing else be allowed to happen on that standard?

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Perhaps the good people of Dekalb County could take a different tact. Having lived through the APS drama, I haven’t followed this one closely, but have there been charges of ethical violations? If so, maybe someone could make those charges to the appropriate forum. If found guilty, I believe the Governor could remove the individuals on that basis..

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Citizens of my county tried to get a recall of board members, but the odds were so heavily stacked, and the time so short, that instead they worked toward eliminating the board members up for reelection the next year. Turned all three out with about 75 percent voting for new members! The other two will be gone next, in all liklihood, unless they start listening to the people!

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“I work for God.”

Let God pay him, then.

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“Time for north dekalb to break away from south dekalb – school & govt services.”

AMEN, Enough. And let the cities break away from the county.

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“Sounds like a stalemate. I think the citizens of Dekalb should talk to their state representatives to get legislation to add additional school districts right away! Starve the beast!”

You do realize that requires an amendment to the Georgia Constitution? How easy do you think that is?

Eugene Walker has a son that is a security officer who makes around $83,000 a year including benefits and the son’s wife is BOE’s secretary (one of TWO BOE secretaries) makes around $70,000 a year in benefits. That’s $118,000 a year for his son’s family for working jobs that require no college degree. Walker has a number of other relatives working in the school system in non teaching jobs as well. The SACS report says he emailed the superintendent to ask that a brother of the Board secretary get preferential treatment in hiring – was that his daughter in law’s brother or her colleague’s brother – nepotism or cronyism – take your pick.

Can you see the amount of money his family makes a year off DeKalb? Probably millions if you run the numbers out. This seems more a matter of family employment than Constitutional integrity when taxpayers are on the hook for so much money to his family.

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“As an employee of DCSS I am a bit freaked out right now. This is when the Superintendent should be working on the budget for next year”

Mr. Thurmond does appear to be working on the budget. Look at the job postings on PATS:

Look at some of the PATS openings. Look for yourself:
https://pats.dekalb.k12.ga.us/

Director of Diverse Learning Services
$85,008 to $111,541 (NOT including benefits)
No classroom experience is required

Coordinator of Diverse Learner Services
$79,963 to $105,714 (NOT including benefits)
No classroom experience is required

Instructional Technology Manager
$79,963.21 to $105,713.90 (NOT including benefits)
No classroom experience is required

Executive Legal Officer
Yet another lawyer reporting to Ron Ramsey according PATS
$85,007 to $111,540 (NOT including benefits)

Associate Legal Officer, Risk Management Unit
Yet another lawyer reporting to Ron Ramsey according to PATS
$79,963 to $105,714 (NOT including benefits)

Fernbank Science Center Landscaper
Two year Associate degree preferred
$29,912 to $42,058 (NOT including benefits)

Academic Data Coach
$34,863 to $79,929 (NOT including benefits)

School Resource Officer
$40,312 to $54,854 (NOT including benefits)
To add to the close to 200 employees this department already has (elementary schools do not have SROs and we have less than 50 middle and high schools and centers)

Add up these non teaching salaries with benefits and then ask if DeKalb teachers need to be the lowest compensated in the metro area, our students need to be in the highest class sizes in the metro area, and our millage rates the highest in the metro area. It appears DeKalb has money to burn everywhere but in the classroom.

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If they win, I think its fair that the district pays for it (although the state should reimburse us-but that’s not the way the system works). The idea is that they are protecting the rights of the voters to select their own representatives. But they should have to pay for it themselves up front. That would hold the cost down and not make us pay for a weak claim.

I’m curious on the reversal on the new board members (Last month they had to remove all 9. This month they can’t remove the new board members). Its just incredibly sloppy for them to start a hearing without knowing what they are doing. SBOE should be fired by the governor for incompetence. Or was it all political? Maybe they interpreted it the way they wanted to remove all 9, but then figured out that makes it much more likely its unconstitutional when the probation occurred before those people took office. So they interpreted it to exclude the new members. I haven’t heard any explanation of that.

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@GDFO – this one isn’t a Democrat vs Republican issue. If you take a look at the situation, there are some Democrats who support removal – for example, Scott Holcomb. Others are waffling and staying neutral – e.g., Jason Carter.

@Wilbur – you do bring up an interesting point about Deal just staying out of this. Problem is, there will be many folks who will chastise him for not acting, and therefore, not supporting the children’s rights to attending an accredited school. We can leave the controversy around an “adequate” education out of this, because the constitution is pathetic in how the word “adequate,” not “quality” shows up.

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@Maureen, I am quite surprised you are supporting the board members on this one. I believe that national policy experts should be looking at DCSS and using it as an example of what ails traditional public schools. You have to allow intervention here, because the state has a vested interest in what goes on at DCSS by virtue of the amount of funding it provides the school system.

I would like to see evidence that their constituents want the board members to stay. I am seeing fairly sizable bi-partisan support for their removal.

This is going to be messy, and it will cost the children plenty, because more legal costs means less $ for education.

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Hope this helps.

Georgia: Act of malfeasance or misconduct while in office; violation of oath of office; failure to perform duties prescribed by law; willfully misused, converted, or misappropriated, without authority, public property or public funds entrusted to or associated with the elective office to which the official has been elected or appointed. Discretionary performance of a lawful act or a prescribed duty shall not constitute a ground for recall of an elected public official. (Ga. Code §21-4-3(7) and 21-4-4(c))

Shady dealer needs to go as well….Deal done 2014

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What a big MESS!!!

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Living in an outdated
System………………….”I would like to see evidence that their constituents want the board members to stay. I am seeing fairly sizable bi-partisan support for their removal”
_____________________________________________________________

Yuo are???? Do give evidence!!!

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@Maureen, I think we can agree that we saw complete incompetence from a number of the board members at the hearing on Thursday. I’m not saying they won’t garner “some” support, but the only way this gets resolved is for those calling for their removal to wage some vehement protests, including in front of the legislative building.

This is a test of our democracy, here, as well as a state vs local battle. But at the end of the day, as I have said several times, this is a no-win situation. And the longer this drags on, the worse this gets for the children.

Those of you who scream for local control, be careful what you wish for. You made this bed, and unfortunately, you’re going to have to sleep in it for years to come.

As I have also said on several occasions, I support a structure where the elected executive of the urban area (e.g., Mayor) appoints the superintendent and controls the school system. Then you know who’s accountable, and if he/she is not doing a good job, you get to vote them out of office. Our outdated education system is being exemplified by DCSS…..

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By the recent actions of the board, SACS should take away accreditation NOW! For the sake of the children!

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@bu2, that might be how the state can avoid suspending the 3 new board members. Perhaps they don’t come under the “eligible” wording. Laws are left ambiguous for interpretation, and there’s definitely some wiggle room here.

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It would be nice to see a report on the compromise proposed by Jason Carter. I think it makes sense.

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For the first time in my life, I’m ashamed of the county where I grew up.

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@Paulo, you just need to see the bi-partisan support of legislators who have heard from their constituents! In addition, I bet if you had Maureen do a poll on here, there would be a majority supporting removal, because at the end of the day, more litigation is the worst outcome for the children.

May you or anyone on this blog NOT forget that this litigation is about the grownups, NOT the children! When do we put children first?? Instead, we’re putting Gene Walker and the other board member cronies first, along with the countless lawyers saying “ka-ching” in their sleep…..

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“May you or anyone on this blog NOT forget that this litigation..”
With the threat of removal dropped, there is no litigation.

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bu2, There is a bill that has not gone through but it has went through the educational committee in which they are trying to allow the new board members to stay. I understand that Oliver is behind it but she does not have her name on it. This is the word on the street. I do not know if it is true or not.

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why cant Gov Deal and the republican legislature pass a voucher program so anyone who puts their kids in private school can get a voucher. the publc schools would empty out quickly if this happened

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@ living in an outdated ed system
From what I’ve read elsewhere, Jason Carter is stating there will be repercussions if a removed Board member is not replaced with a new Board member of the same race and political identification.
That’s hardly staying neutral.

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“I think its clear Walker, at least, will fight this to the end, so removal leaves the district in limbo, harming our ability to move forward.”

But with this group gutting the classroom, there will be no moving forward.

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Sadly, DCSS would be a perfect test case in Georgia for the parent trigger.

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I Googled my name and Mark Elgart’s name together without quotation marks, and up popped about thirty pages (I quit looking after 30 Google pages) of nothing but me talking about the phoniness of SACS and its leader, Mark Elgart. You could say that I certainly have a metaphorical bead on SACS. One of the entries that popped up was a post on Maureen’s blog here that was copied on the good DeKalb School Watch blog. For your edification or angst or anger, I re-submit this entry of September 18, 2012. I got a little juicy and metaphorical in my prose about AdvancEd – or MoneyEd, as I called it. You can see right off that I was wrong in my prediction that SACS would do nothing. SACS is more out of control than I initially thought.

Here it is:

Dr. John Trotter
September 18th, 2012
9:29 am

This private, “non-profit” profiteering money-grabbing company called SACS (Still Advocating for Cronies and Superintendents) won’t really do a darn thing to DeKalb County. It already dropped the atomic bomb on Clayton County and destroyed this community — and all over a Chairperson (Ericka Davis) not getting her way. SACS is a joke. It is really the union for superintendents. I believe that SACS works hand-in-hand with not-so-much-a-good-ole-boy-system but a select few effete and elite in this country who have determined that too much money (close to a trillion or more, I think, in total direct and ancillary costs) is going into public education. SACS is the enforcer for these peoples and groups like ALEC. Their tentacles are all over public education today, and their ostensible concern for public education is just that…ostensible.

The real concern for these people and these groups is money. I think that this is the real concern for SACS. As long as it does the enforcement for these people (viz., scares the heck out of communities and school boards to keep them in line), then SACS is rewarded with loads and loads of money from the public troughs, and SACS’s CEO, Mark Elgart, continues to receive his close to one-half million in salary and benefits. AdvanED? Huh! MoneyED is more like it! It’s all a ruse, good people. All a ruse.

SACS’s so-called standards mean nothing. They are always arbitrarily and capriciously applied, depending apparently on who receives the blessings of Zeus Elgart sitting atop Mount Alpharetta. I wish that the General Assembly would finally stand up to this educational phony, this educational Elmer Gantry and quit buying his snake oil. He’s like the man behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz…or like Wisconsin’s Joe McCarthy before someone in the U. S. Senate finally stood up to this bully. Norreese Haynes and I have been speaking out against this educational hypocrite for about five years now. Our discordant sound has begun to pick up a few notes the flute and tuba sections too. Mr. Haynes immediately called SACS’s flawed, biased, skewed, and laughable report on Clayton County “a sham and a farce.” He was right then, and we have been right on Mark Elgart and SACS ever since.

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Again, DCSS is the ONLY system out of 1,000 placed on probation. Why do all of you want to point the finger at SACS? You are all in denial. And like @concernedmom said, those of you who can send your kids to other schools should feel blessed.

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“Who is going to pay for “their legal challenge”?”

If you live in Dekalb, you.

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“It is apparent that Tyson is running the system for now. This is not a good thing, as she helped get us in the fiscal and managerial mess we are in today.”

That is true. She is the one who got the BOE to approve class sizes approaching 40 per classroom. She cut teacher pay and the TSA contribution while leaving it for so many other non teaching employees. She told the BOE we were in good financial shape when we weren’t. It would not be prudent to go back under her management.

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“I honesttly do not believe that Walker cares anything for the other children across the district.”

He cares about the employment of his family members at extravagant costs. But he was elected by his constituents, so he deseves it. And Dekalb county deserves him. May they all rot together.

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Dr. Trotter, I’ve spent a bit of time here recently with all the hoopla going on. You don’t like SACS and what’s his name Elgart. Do you really think though that the current (kinda) board is doing a good job? Maybe legally they get to stay; but, should they? If so, why? Forget SACS and Elgart and your antipathy, why, substantively, should they stay?

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**Formerly Prof for more than a year on this blog, I find that someone else has registered under that name with AJC–not me. So now Prof is OriginalProf.**

@ bu2, Feb. 24, 7:49 pm, and Ella Smith, Feb. 24, 8:40 pm. House Bill 115, now passing through the legislature rapidly, provides that the newly elected school board members would be exempt from the Governor’s removal. I can’t cut-and-paste from the pdf document, but lines 74-77 near the end have this effect. HB 115 was first read in the House on Jan. 28, passed by the House on Feb. 11, and read and referred by the Senate on Feb. 12. I don’t know its present fate in the Senate.

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From what I see here, the only people in the DeKalb County School System that are looking at the best interest of the students are the teachers. I have been in school system for 7 years now. As I look at my past tax returns, my pay has gone down consistently. My benefits cost me more and more. They took away their contributions toward my retirement. The teachers in DeKalb still drive on trying to give the students the best education possible with more and more students per classroom, and less and less support. We still care enough about them that we continue on for their benefit, not ours. The administrative mess above us is not our doing but definitely has a negative effect on us and our students. They obviously don’t care about that. I have gotten to the point that when I am asked where I teach, I am ashamed to admit that I teach in DeKalb. People associate anyone who works in DCSS as being a loser. Sad, really sad for the ones who count the most, the students.

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“Maybe we should start a recall petition on Jason Carter.”

I like Jason Carter. He’s the one that ensured the Romney video saying 47% of the country were freeloaders went viral. As far as I know, Carter did not cut teacher pay, increase class sizes, or move to protect special schools and programs that don’t serve the regular education student nor did he advocate this. Again – IMO there is nothing wrong with replacing an African American ousted BOE member with another African American. There are plenty of competent African American citizens in DeKalb that will put students first and are fiscally prudent.

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Jason Carter is not James Carter, the 47% video guy.

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P.S. The sponsors of HB 115 are all Republicans. I kind of doubt that Democratic Mary Margaret Oliver is behind it, Ella Smith.

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There are systems that are working very, very well. I am so afraid that the legislators who are trying to dismantle the public schools will use Dekalb County as an excuse to farther harm the systems that are successful and producing great results.

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a thought for Gene the machine. not sure God is a voter in DeKalb county, unless you’re referring to that idiot at the Cathedral at Chapel Hill.

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As I stated last week on this blog, the 2011 law that was passed by the general assembly would not pass the mustard test. Hell, I think the entire general assembly should be removed and take that thief of governor with them. Also, there are civil rights issues that also can be pressed against the state board of education and the governor’s office. This law was created to specially target certain school districts and Dekalb fell in that category. The governor and state board of education should appoint a team of experts to work with the BOE and others to remove the probation status from the district, but that’s too much like doing the right thing.

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OriginalProf, just wow.

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Okay, I can’t resist:

etc., etc., etc.

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if deal suspend any of these board members the naacp need to sue for big money for racism. i’m tired of this.

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I wonder if Gene’s business card reads

Gene Walker
Untouchable black politician

“I work for GOD”

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“@ dekalbite

thank you for perpetuating the problem.
race and politics must trump all else”

No. I just remember when DeKalb moved to being a majority Black school system and the administration was almost all white. That was pretty glaringly apparent and many older school system employees remember that as well. There is a history that goes back many years in DeKalb, and I’m respectful of it (I started with DeKalbin 1972).

If it’s really important to the African American community that their replaced BOE reps are African American, I wouldn’t quibble. There are many African Americans in DeKalb that would be very competent in the job and put students first.

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@ Mountain Man…please do not disparage the education that our students are receiving and the diploma they will receive. Teachers are still going into work each day and doing their job. It’s the politicians who are wreaking havoc on the system.

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“Jason Carter and James Carter are both grandsons of the ex-President. I’m sure that Jason would’ve leaked Romney’s “47%” video if he could’ve.”

There is no could’ve. President Obama thanked him it:
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/02/21/carter-obama-thanked-my-grandson-for-47-tape/

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@ dekalbite

you are welcome to your option, and I stand by mine. your attitude perpepuates the problem.

if its more important to the black community (I know african americans, most black are not) that only a black person can represent their interests ,,,,,

people holding that attitude need to grow the hell up and quit voting until then

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Earl Paulk, that’s who I was thinking of.
dude who took the act of “laying on” the congregation to a whole new level

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Well this will certainly be a boon for Cobb, Gwinnett and northern Fulton over the next decade. As we try to entice businesses to the area, no self-respecting citizen, especially one with children, will move to Dekalb. As I look at retirement in the next 3 years, unless north Dekalb is given a chance to provide decent public education as a separate district (like Decatur), we will not stay here and may go ahead and sell sooner rather than later because the value of our home will continue to fall while my taxes go up. Continuing in this direction will certainly cause many of us property owners to flee this county. It’s too far gone.

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Trotter referring to someone else as a money grubber….LOL. Pot meet kettle……

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@ RCB

I wouldn’t hold out too much hope for Gwinnett. its shifting fast.

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Does anyone think that Trotter cares one iota about kids getting an education in Dekalb? He is just trying to stir the pot and enrich himself….guess which other system he “cared” about and helped stir up trouble. I bet catlady knows which one.

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@ Dave: I don’t try to defend any school boards throughout Georgia. But, I do indeed think that the whoring superintendents are far more the problem than the elected school boards. My problems are less with elected school board than with the appointed superintendents who seem to be so disingenuous. SACS collaborates with these disingenuous superintendents (note: Beverly Hall and the shameless way that Elgart tried to protect her), essentially protecting them. I don’t know what exactly happened in DeKalb, but I suspect that even Dr. Atkinson communicated with SACS before Elgart threw down the heavy hand. If she did, it backfired on her.

I think that Elgart severely underestimated the backbone of the school boards of Clayton and DeKalb. The different media jumped on the circus-type atmosphere of trying to make these school board members to look like caricatures because, quite frankly, this sells newspapers and ad space. I understand this. But, I venture to say that the average education level of the DeKalb Board of Education is significantly higher than most school boards in Georgia. The overwhelmingly African American school board in Clayton County was by far more educated than the majority white Clayton school boards of the past, and those school boards fought like dogs and cats without a whimper from SACS.

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@ Rush: It would actually probably be much more “political” and perhaps more “popular” for me to jump on the bandwagon and trash the school board members instead of arguing the notion that SACS should not be allowed to take over a school board. I don’t see how you think that this is a money-maker. Have you ever thought of having principled convictions, Rush? I suspect that you are still smarting over several black school board members firing a white superintendent, right? Ha! Now if you are intelligent enough or have the courtesy enough of taking on what I have actually written instead of engaging in ad hominem attacks, then I will give you the time of day.

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“I venture to say that the average education level of the DeKalb Board of Education is significantly higher than most school boards in Georgia. ”

DR. Walker’s education level made it possible for him to guarantee employment for his family. His resume also went straight to the Almighty, who hired him.

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Which former board member from Clayton County works for Trotter? And just what is that individual’s title? Take a look at Trotters website for yourself….just Google MACE Trotter…..how appropriate a name.

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I don’t think education LEVEL is as important as being able to speak a complete sentence using elementary grammar correctly. I’m sure I would flinch at the written word. I am very sad about the Dekalb BOE situation. This didn’t have to happen.

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“Are you asserting that the white school board members and white superintendents in DeKalb’s past didn’t have a “Family & Friends Plan” as well?”

So my guess is that you are saying that since white Board members did it in the past, then black board members have every right to employ their family members. Maybe we should also allow blacks to own whites as slaves, right? Who cares about the students. right? We just want to get what we have coming to us.

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Mountain Man: I am just saying that this consternation over the so-called “Friends & Family Plan” may just be a ruse. I am not justifying it. But, I didn’t see the same wringing of hands when the white school board members and white superintendents were doing it. It is certainly not a reason for giving away the school board’s (and voters’) sovereignty and self-determination to an unaccountable and unelected and private organization.

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Walker “works for God”??? I did not know God paid the County’s tax bills.

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“I am just saying that this consternation over the so-called “Friends & Family Plan” may just be a ruse. I am not justifying it. But, I didn’t see the same wringing of hands when the white school board members and white superintendents were doing it.”

When Cherokee County was put on probatiion by SACS in 1999 because of meddling by ONE on the Cherokee BOE, we immediately put together a recall effort that forced his resignation. And that was MUCH less egregious than all the crap going on in Dekalb county. Georgia needs to get tough with Dekalb over the running of a budget deficit (which is ILLEGAL). They need to be forced to make up all their past deficit and set a new balanced budget. Since you don’t care about Walker’s family being in positions, I guess you would just like the teachers fired, right?

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By the way, let’s throw a curve ball and talk about one of the white school board members. Can anyone on here give me one specific, credible, and concrete reason why Nancy Jester should be removed from this school board? Does she not fit into the Mark Elgart pliable-school-board-member template? Does she do too much homework? Does she ask too many questions? It seems odd that Prince Mark Elgart wants to hold school board members accountable for the budget but frowns upon school board members like Nancy Jester who asks pointed, right-on-point questions about the budget.

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@ mountain

the difference is, cherokee did something about the problem.
dekalb IS the problem

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“the difference is, cherokee did something about the problem.
dekalb IS the problem”

Exactly my point. The state would not need to act if the county constituents had acted.

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the most concrete reason for dumping Nancy is she’s part of the problem entity.
if you’re gonna go for a clean slate, you gotta clean the slate.

right or wrong, good or bad, she is part of the group which allowed DCSS to go to hell

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@Dekalbite
So its ok to overthrow the elected will of the people as long as the replacements are of your beliefs and political persuasion? Its bad for Walker to put adults first and focus on race before students, but ok for Jason Carter to put adults first and focus on race before students and throw in political parties where they didn’t exist before? Its bad for people to focus on their special interests, but ok for Jason Carter to focus on race and his political party (i.e. his special interests)?

We have a very divided county and I find Carter’s remarks offensive and detrimental to the situation.

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“@ Mountain Man: I never said that I didn’t care. I said I am not justifying anything that the DeKalb School Board or any school boards in Georgia do.”

Well, how do you stop things like those going on in Dekab? SACS is the only “regulators” we have. Since the constituents are happy, right? Who cares about the students? The constituents have the proper color BOE member and that seems to be all that matters. The BOE members certainly have not done anything to help student acheivement or to support teachers.

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“possibly a way out of hell for Deal would be to freeze all state contributions to DCSS until changes are made”

AMEN, bootney – THAT is a great idea. If they find this law unconstitutional, the legislature should rewrite it to say that any system that is put on SACS probation loses all state education funds until probation is lifted.

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If I understand correctly, the District Court permits Governor Deal to suspend the members, he just cannot replace them. That’s the “limbo.” Once they are suspended, they cannot make any decisions, like appropriating their legal support funds. If they have been hiring lawyers in executive session, isn’t that a violation of the Open Meetings Act? Deciding to hire an attorney is not a matter of attorney-client privilege. It’s Board secrecy in this case. Oh well, I digress..

I welcome U.S. District Court scrutiny. Maybe the U.S. Attorney will take a look at the BOE members petitioning for their jobs and see what criminal charges could stick. My favorites are mail fraud, wire fraud and tax evasion. I’m sure that the U.S. Attorney is capable of doing what DeKalb’s District Attorney (or his predecessor) doesn’t have the guts to do. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Federal and State money is being misused – who’s responsible? Discuss among yourselves..

BTW, the citizens of DeKalb can recall the elected official named Robert James.

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“Its bad for Walker to put adults first and focus on race before students, but ok for Jason Carter to put adults first and focus on race before students and throw in political parties where they didn’t exist before?”

Maybe I’m missing something here but Democrat Jason Carter is not appointing new BOE members, Republican Nathan Deal has that job. The BOE is non partisan. I have given money to two BOE candidates that claim to vote Republican and one who claims to vote Democrat because the BOE candidates are non partisan (hence they are in the non partisan elections in DeKalb).

After being involved in DeKalb as a teacher off and on since 1972 and a parent of a child in the 80s who went through DeKalb, I have a different perspective on the history of the DeKalb School System than most newer citizens.

Most newer citizens really don’t know how bad it was in South DeKalb with the terrible overcrowding in the 80s and 90s and the lack of representation prior to 2000. For example, during redistricting many people in North DeKalb wondered why South DeKalb was so freaked out over the closing of their schools. If you lived through the Roger Mills era when no new schools were built in South DeKalb and then the subsequently awful time for students when they were packed into trailers like sardines, you would understand. At one time Fairington had 34 trailers and 33 classrooms. It smelled like urine in the hallways as 100% more students than the school was built for were forced to use the restrooms in the building. Students had to begin lunch early in the morning as the cafeteria tried to feed over so many students. Pine Ridge had even more trailers and the parents of this affluent community struggled to keep things right for their kids in a terrible situation. There was an almost zero access to technology for students in both schools. There was terrible overcrowding in South DeKalb, and they were as much pawns in the political game as North DeKalb. It left a very bitter taste for many South Dekalbites, and that played out in the redistricting/school closing controversy.

Picking African American representatives is a moot point for me (I’ve given money to white and black BOE candidates depending if I thought they would do right by kids). My point is that there are many African American citizens of DeKalb that would be great picks for the BOE. Personally, I have no problem with it, but I respect that you do.

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Did they get this judge from WalMart? Maybe the judge also went to a graduate school of education and got a degree in “Confusion and Feelings.”

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Obviously, they need to amend the state Constitution to do away with local school boards and the school board system.

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Most people don’t like her, but I bet Cynthia McKinney would keep it square and clear.

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Bring in the FBI? That’s what is done when a police department goes rogue.

When to Contact the FBI: http://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/when

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“Discretionary performance of a lawful act or a prescribed duty”

Georgia has some really sorry and indirect regulatory code.

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Ugh oh, Mr. Walker has competition on the God-front. “state board member Mike Royal to say at Thursday’s hearing that “I hope it doesn’t drag out in litigation, I pray.”

Who will God choose?!

Do Georgia politicians routinely ignore keeping their religion out of public statements about their state service work?

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People relax- Robert James has the SACS report he will subpoena the UGENE Walkers nepotism and wrongfull influence.

Emails and charge him with.

.C.G.A. § 20-2-63 (2012)

§ 20-2-63. Prohibit certain conflicts of interest of board members

(a) (1) No local board of education member shall use or attempt to use his or her official position to secure unwarranted privileges, advantages, or employment for himself or herself, his or her immediate family member, or others.

(2) No local board of education member shall act in his or her official capacity in any matter where he or she, his or her immediate family member, or a business organization in which he or she has an interest has a material financial interest that would reasonably be expected to impair his or her objectivity or independence of judgment. Compliance with Code Section 20-2-505 shall not constitute a violation of this paragraph.

Relax – Let the dekalb DA do the heavy lifting. UGENE will be the 1st one to face charges.

These guys are so stupid that they incriminate themselves in front of the board…Who’s that pizza guy who agreed with the board that his pizza business/ JV was a conflict? He’s next to as the say in DeKalb to “Catch A Case”

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So Eugene Walker says he works for God? Is he referring to Womack? (Remember when Womack said he was God!)

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I suspect if it really was God’s will was that Walker be on the school board, God would have given him the talent necessary to do the job.

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“Do they really think losing accreditation (and that is where we are headed) would be best?”

They don’t care about anything but their jobs (and maybe family members’ jobs). I hope SACS strips Dekalb’s accreditation.

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Charles Edwards,

Have you studied the academic achievement levels of students in DeKalb as compared to Fulton and Gwinnett? Your leaders have failed you. They have selected weak, incompetent superintendents who in turn have appointed the same kind of people as leaders of schools. These principals then make dreadful hiring decisions at these schools.

So, you go worry about fairness. I will worry about a whole generation of DeKalb students, mostly African American and poor, being lost. Shame on you.

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if the state with holds funding until the board resigns, win win for everyone. the voters of DeKalb have the option to keep the gang of six and do what they wish – within the realm of what the taxpayers of DeKalb can afford.

the argument about working against the will of the voters runs into trouble when the DeKalb voters are electing people who are incorrectly using the states money.

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something about what that moron Carter said bother me. and it should bother all of you as well.

King called for people to judged not by the color of skin, but by the content of their character.

only black democrats can make decisions about mostly black kids flies right in the face of that concept. it would appear the bigotry issue in the Carter family is a genetic trait after all. passed from one loser to another.

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“King called for people to judged not by the color of skin, but by the content of their character.”

Too bad the majority of the people of Dekalb county don’t believe in this.

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raze..opps. its early.

following the constitution -any constitution – isn’t in vogue these days.

perhaps if the state won’t freeze monies headed to DCSS until they get their act together, citizens and other counties should sue the state to compel it.

or on the grounds of the badly incorrectly used church and state separation bit. Gene works for God, after all.

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Says a lot about these liberals supporting the board. Their ideology is put before the children’s right to a decent education. SHAMEFUL!

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Trotter no one has time to read what u write, nor do we care

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@dekalbite
You’re blind to your own biases. You like Jason Carter so its ok for him to bring up race and party. If Fran Millar had said the same thing about Dunwoody, everyone would be jumping all over him. I’m against racial bias and looking at people only based on the color of their skin. I’m also really against injecting political parties into this (you can’t get rid of Atlantans obsession over race, but inflaming it is detrimental). Jason Carter isn’t interested in the students. He’s interested in the adults and getting reelected and is doing a disservice.

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Let me add, I haven’t seen Carter make this particular comment in print, but based on his other comments about the school board, I don’t doubt what has been posted here.

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It is a shame that Dr. Eugene Walker said, “I was elected by the people, but I work for God.”

DeKalb County need Board members who are willing to work for the students.

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Does anyone know what the salary is for a Board Member? What expenses are they allowed as well? Haven’t seen this topic discussed.

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@John Trotter, you are in the vast minority here. I will NOT acknowledge your rants about SACS. I am also disgusted with the racial undertones on this blog post. So all you people out there who don’t want this board removed……did you read what @Johnny wrote? Do you really think the state should just sit idly by and let the school system lose its accreditation and let the 3rd largest school system in Georgia go into continued freefall?

@Bootney does raise a good point, although I don’t think it’ll come to that…which is for the state to withhold funding until changes are made. This is a legal and political “minefield” for the governor. He is damned if he acts, and damned if he doesn’t. I just want him to save this school system from its own incompetence. Then let the national ed reformers and policy experts continue to publicly lambast DCSS as example of a school system that is far outdated and in need of reinvention.

If the parent trigger was in place, I continue to believe DCSS would be the ideal test-bed for the legislation.

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Here’s the Complaint For Injunctive Relief on WSB website filed by the DCSD Board lawyers. This is the meat of the request:

O.C.G.A. § 20-2-73 is silent regarding any criteria to be applied by the SBOE in
conducting [the hearing described in 20-2-73] and making its recommendation regarding suspension.

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Dr. Trotter: Hope you enjoyed your coffee. Question: is it so bad to be “emotionally” caught up in a situation that involves our children. THAT is what this is all about. It’s also all about a group of people who apparently think DeKalb County taxpayers are issuing blank checks to them. You do make good points about the sanctity of the voting process and our Constitution. Further: doesn’t it state somewhere that financial malfeasance in office is grounds for dismissal, whether it be an individual or a group? It has been proven that this group has committed malfeasance; the budget in a horrible state; not to mention running up legal fees (do we really want to know the TOTAL amount that has been expended thus far?)
Now, adding insult to injury, paying a big billing law firm a huge amount to instruct these people how to do their jobs? Consider: a judge or a congressman, or other office holder elected by the people, committing malfeasance in office and a higher authority removing that person, have we eroded the voting process or trod over our Constitution? So, what is the difference in the judge, etc. and the DeKalb Board? In short, Doctor, to remove this Board for reasons outlined above, is not slapping our Constitution in the face, nor eroding our voting process. It is simply doing our duty.

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“So if Eugene Walker views himself as being “lynched,” does he view Nancy Jester as being “lynched” also?”

Silly Disgusted, everyone knows you cannot lynch a white person!

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“don’t turn over the sovereignty of the DeKalb Board of Education and School System to some “outside influence” private company that is not answerable to the People of Georgia.”

The law does not state “SACS” or name an “outside influence private company”. It just says accrediting agency. If you don’t like SACS, why not push the Legislature to create an in-house accrediting agency? (of course, to be effective, it would have to meet the scrutiny of local and regional colleges and universities).

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Why are they not being investigated and prosecuted for running a financial deficit for 8 months (July, 2012 until today when they say they will balance it)? Why is this not financial malfeasance? They broke this law from July, 2012 until now – this morning they are trying to rush through a plan to balance it. Will it really be balanced? Can we trust the figures? They said the budget was balanced before but the following did not happen:
Per Georgia law:
“the sum of estimated revenues and appropriated fund balances is equal to appropriations.”

This is the essence of balancing the budget. Holding a Reserve Fund is critical so if your “estimated revenues” projection is off, you do not run a deficit. DCSS BOE members completely depleted the Reserve Fund so they had to be completely precise on the appropriations. This was a conscious choice on their part. running a deficit in a school system is very serious and safeguards have been put in place to ensure school system BOEs do not allow their systems to fall into deficit status.

Nancy Jester told them in numerous BOE meetings that they were consistently UNDERestimating the appropriations in the millions every year for legal fees and energy expenses and showed them historically how they ALWAYS for YEARS had UNDERestimated those expenses. Therefore they had the evidence in front of them that the budget would run a deficit. Yet they continued to rely on numbers they had been shown were inaccurate. That’s just math and one of the facts that Nancy pointed out that SACS used as financial mismanagement. In fact they were not in compliance with Georgia law.

If you are by law supposed to balance the budget yet you continue to underestimate expenses that you have been shown will bring the budget into a deficit, IMO – that is not following the law.

Read the law below and see if you think they followed it:
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.”

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Dr. John has changed footing, moved an inch!!!

“petition Mr. Robert James, the DeKalb D. A., to investigate”

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“Your quote references elected officials convicted of a felony.”

Yes, the quote (from the Constitution) was for elected officials who are removed for felonies, but I am putting it in there to counter the argument that appointing replacements is not allowed, that only elections can put people in office. The procedure for removing the Board is a LAW, not in the Constitution, but there is nothing (I could find) limiting the legislature to not creating such a law. If there is, please opoint it out.

The criteria is right there in 20-2-73: “if a local school system or school is placed on the level of accreditation immediately preceding loss of accreditation for school board governance related reasons by one or more accrediting agencies”

Board as a whole? Sure they should be removed as a whole. Do you honestly think that they should examine the voting records of each individual member and say Walker voted for Atkinson’s hire so he needs to go, but Jester continually voted against the impractical (and illegal) budgets, so she gets to stay? The only ones who could make a claim that they had absolutely no culpability are those who are new.

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“Why are they not being investigated and prosecuted for running a financial deficit for 8 months (July, 2012 until today when they say they will balance it)? Why is this not financial malfeasance? ”

I agree, Dekalbite, why are they not being prosecuted? I would think voting for a budget you knew was illegal would be an illegal act in itself.

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It’d be nice if someone would get off their back-side and enforce the law.

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@living in an outdated ed system
“If the parent trigger was in place, I continue to believe DCSS would be the ideal test-bed for the legislation.”

Thanks for tipping your hand as to your (supported?) agenda.

DeKalb and Clayco are examples of the tried and true methods of the CHANGE AGENTS: Create or use an existing problem (in DeKalb’s case, a little of both), ADVERTISE IT HEAVILY, have your SOLUTION readily at hand. This is where the unconstitutional amendment (using an unelected 501c3 charity monopoly, the State Board and the Governor) came from. THE BRILLIANT DEKALBITES FELL FOR IT HOOK LINE AND SINKER! Now the whole state suffers for your ignorance.

GO AHEAD, PULL THAT “TRIGGER”. HA HA! YOU WILL SHOOT YOURSELVES IN THE FOOT!

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Time for compromise with the DCSS BOE is over – the School District has been “on advisement” for 2+ years and this BOE has failed to change its behavior. Why would anyone believe they could change now? Mr. Carter’s “compromise” ignores any reality about the present BOE.

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Will be good when the hearing video is formatted and put online and common folk can view the school board members in action and how they answer simple autonomous questions with loads of personal intrigue.

State DOE website seriously needs to lose the Real Player format. That junky obsolete software does not play nice with the computer. I told my super-nerd researcher friend about state DOE requiring Real Player, and friend said, “Oh that’s just because some incompetent I.T. person messed up.”

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If we made a telephone campaign about state DOE requiring Real Player software for a member of the public to view hearing videos – a matter of public record, if interested parties called then once a day every business say to ask them to change the format, they might do it.

There is absolutely no reason they can not post their public meetings in YouTube with “no comments.” Or some other autonomous web method that does make people install crappy software on their personal computers just to access the content.

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@Who stands for the children?

WELL SAID!
DeKalb has a CRIME problem. Where are the PROSECUTORS?

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pardon the typos. “the governing agencies will now stand up to… stop getting bullied by these turkeys.”

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Obviously God takes sides on school board elections & lawsuits, just like he does in sporting events & music awards. Sorry DCSS school children kids, Walker’s God picks him instead of you. Scoreboard!

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Truth, Thank for the excellent lesson in the source of the phrase, “Seeing the writing on the wall.”

Maybe the judge is a party-weirdo. According to Moloko, I’m gonna ask the judge for a party crack down / A weirdo wack down. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XukR567isiw#t=2m3s

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jason carter is a race pimp, just like his grandfather.

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Mountain Man
I’m not saying that removing the school board as a whole is against the law (it is not). The lawyer types are arguing that removing the board as a whole is unconstitutional. Something about Due Process.

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[...] still be reversed as there are two court hearings this week on lawsuits filed by the school board. A federal judge has already said that Deal can suspend the six, as he just did, but he can’t name replacements, pending the outcome of a Friday court [...]

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