House Minority Leader: Gov. Deal was right to suspend DeKalb board members for sake of children.
House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams on why she supported Gov. Deal in his removal of DeKalb school board members.
In a pro/con today, House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, D-Atlanta, explains why she stood behind Gov. Nathan Deal Monday as he suspended six members of the DeKalb Board of Education. Taking the opposite position is suspended DeKalb Board of Education member Eugene Walker Please read his piece as well.
Here is Rep. Abrams’ view.
By Stacey Abrams
On Monday, Gov. Nathan Deal suspended six members of the DeKalb County School Board, in accordance with the unanimous recommendation of the State School Board. I stood with Governor Deal and a number of colleagues in the General Assembly, supporting his action.
In 2010, I also supported SB 84, which provided the mechanism for suspension and removal that Gov. Deal used. Ceding the authority to suspend elected officials is a grave and dramatic step, one that should not be taken lightly. However, when the consequences of inaction result in harm to our children, we must do all that is necessary to protect their present and their future.
The actions by the DeKalb County School Board have been widely documented and soundly blamed for the current probation imposed by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. I hold the unique position of being the only legislator to have served as SACS liaison for a school system in jeopardy.
When the Atlanta Public School System faced probation in 2011, I spoke with distraught students, met with anxious parents, attended community meetings, conferred with school board members, worked with educators and fought hard to preserve the academic integrity of the diplomas those students would receive. Likewise, I am working equally hard to support and protect the nearly 13,000 seniors and juniors in DeKalb who face the specter of having their diplomas devalued by the actions of men and women sworn to serve their interests.
SACS has denounced the governance of the school board, and only dramatic reversals of poor performance are likely to change their opinions. And in the universe of accreditation, theirs is the only opinion that matters.
Several have decried the decision to suspend the board members, urging instead recall of those board members as the appropriate remedy. In another state, that would be the proper course. Georgia, though, has among the strictest standards for recall of public officers in the nation. An official must commit an act of malfeasance, violate the oath of office, commit an act of misconduct, fail to abide by the law or misappropriate public property or funds. Failure to do the job – or to do it so poorly that the system is in jeopardy – does not constitute grounds for recall.
As a legislator, I am called upon to do a balancing test: one that weighs the needs of our children against the integrity of our electoral system. Certainly, we citizens of DeKalb can solve the problem of our defective school board in July, 2014, by voting out those who have failed our students.
But neither SACS nor national colleges care for our timetable. We must act now, on behalf of those who have no voice in our system beyond our own. We should and must investigate the role of our accrediting agencies to ensure that their role is properly managed and has due oversight. The Legislature should also consider a revision of our recall statutes to offer citizens a chance to react to exigent circumstances through petition and electoral redress in between elections.
These are solutions for another day, and I stand ready to act to solve these legitimate concerns. Yet, today demands swift action. Gov. Deal made the tough choice to speak up for our children, and I am not willing to do less.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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94 comments Add your comment
Bernie
February 27th, 2013
12:11 am
Private Citizen @ 7:16 pm – Born and raised right here in Atlanta. Many of you are not aware of the intricate southern political thinking here. Everything is about RACE! everywhere you go! where you shop,live, place of worship,neighborhood,communities,eateries, housing, entertainment, social events,theaters,concerts, school systems, friends, physicians, hospitals,neighbors, local politics, policing, and places of employment. To deny and avoid that reality is sticking your head in the sand. If you are not thinking it, the person beside you most likely certainly is.
Why do you think Brookhaven,Dunwoody, and other areas of North Dekalb are headed to the door to
exit Dekalb county? Its certainly not out of any Brotherly Love. Its nice to think those things are not so, but in reality people of color are despised and make many feel threatened in every situation by very large segments of that population. This has always been the history of Georgia, Atlanta and its surrounding communities. Unfortunately, for people of color it has been mostly bad experiences over time.
Up until the last 15-20years the educational and income levels kept the division of the WALL erect. that is not so much today. Despite the many changes and improvement between the Races, there still remains a lot of differences and issues unresolved. The difference is that many of us have made our peace with it and try to fool ourselves and say its not an issue. However from time to time it always rears its ugly head. Like NOW!
The issue of Charter schools and school choice is one of those issues where Race is a shrouded concern. A larger and more driving concern for some more than others! However being politically correct and fear of being called racists, it is now being termed through a more acceptable choice of words and presentation. However, the end result is the same! US and those PEOPLE! If anyone tells you otherwise, they are not being Truthful and you are being deceived!
This is the South and its History. it is a history filled with a lot of sordid events and decisions and accepted by the society at large. All one can do is try to to do the best they can for their own community and individual families best interest in the best way they know how.
It's time to work together
February 27th, 2013
4:13 am
I respect Rep.Stacy Abrams right to voice her opinon, I don’t agree, but acknowledge Governor Deal’s authority to request removal of the school board members; however, I equally respect the Board’s right to challenge what they consider a unconstitutional law to have them removed. Why do we always approach things as a right or wrong, aren’t we all entitled to our our opinon and our right to disagree should be a strength and not a weakness…this is what makes our country so great . Additionally, I could respect the Governor’s decision if he were consistent in his actions – how can the Governor be so concerned for youth in Dekalb and GA and not accept federal dollars to ensure access to health care. Can a child learn if he or she is sick and unable to get the medical care needed to get well so he/she can attend school and learn? I agree the interest of the children in Dekalb must first be considered, so let’s work out some kind of adult compromise to allow educators to get back to the business of educating our youth. The right to vote and elect our own elected officials, be they school board members, state representatives or Governors is a precious right which should NEVER be taken away or used to “fix” a local problem.
jeffrey brown
February 27th, 2013
6:12 am
This isn’t about voting the party line, it’s about making the right decision for education. Congrats Stacey for doing the right thing.
RnW1015
February 27th, 2013
7:22 am
Everybody’s was for it, until they found themselves on the wrong end of the law. Typical politicians.
RnW1015
February 27th, 2013
7:27 am
Correction: Everybody was for it, until they found themselves on the wrong end of the law.
TAB
February 27th, 2013
8:04 am
Go Abrams! It’s unfortunate that the AJC writer wrote a lead into Walker’s but not Abrams’ as it appears that she is biased.
Abrams makes valid points and appears to really have the children’s best interest at heart. The board members need to step aside and let the work begin. They are proving all of the concerns to be true by their selfish actions. It’s all posturing.
high school teacher
February 27th, 2013
8:14 am
If the President of the United States can be removed from office by other elected officials (Congress through the Articles of Impeachment), then school board members should be subject to the same.
Sonny P.
February 27th, 2013
8:30 am
Ms. Abrams, I am once again impressed with your ability to honestly and with pertinent prioritization address what at initial glance seems like a complex issue. Simply put, the priority here are Dekalb’s children, including my son, who deserve better than what this Board has provided.
Concerned Resident - Out With Them!
February 27th, 2013
8:38 am
The entire county is mostly run by a bunch of idiots. They should go now and do what’s best for the county.
mike
February 27th, 2013
8:39 am
Well said Bernie. It has always been about race and will continue to be. It does not matter if certain folks don’t want to admit those facts. What is pathetic is the fact that Georgia’s school system in some where like 48 on the list when compared to other state’s educational systems. Based on that fact alone maybe the governor should replace sacs and the state boe. And this rating is not exactly new. Maybe he should even replace himself since he left Conress under an ethics investigation. It is sad to continually see Georgia has some sort of misfit when comes to education of its children. Good precedent however. What happens the next time when a special interest group in a community does not like who was elected by majority of the people. Just call the governor and he will intervene?
Light
February 27th, 2013
9:00 am
Its unfortunate that we are making our children’s education about race in the school board matter. that COULD be an underlying tone but the reality is that there is a problem that the current school board members were not going to fix because their egos are in the way. What should have happened is that the local elected officials in DeKalb should have asked their colleagues to step aside so it wouldn’t get to this, and concerned parents should have asked the school board members to step down. If you would have flooded their email boxes and mail and phone calls with so many calls asking them to leave, they would have got the message. But no one is doing that so that suggests there is apathy on DeKalb voters and they really don’t care about their children. It’s about the children now; work with your legislators to make sure school board members can’t be removed AGAIN in the future. Lastly, start paying attention to your elected officials!
sad for kids bad biz
February 27th, 2013
9:17 am
Amazing our Superintendent Thurman is trying to save the board and not doing the job he was hired to do help the children. Now we see why Walker got you the job. Fight for Eugene ,the hell with the kids!
alm
February 27th, 2013
9:22 am
Thank you Ms. Abrams.
HELP IS ON THE WAY
February 27th, 2013
9:50 am
Wherever Gene Walker has worked in government, he has created havoc. Good bye, General Walker!
Bernie
February 27th, 2013
10:23 am
The sad part about MS.Abrams and the other African American politicians who stood and supported Governor Deal in his outrageous decision. The Governor’s photo OP is a ploy that has been used as far back as the days of the PLANTATION. The good master always find willing and usable smiling lackey’s nodding in agreement to use as a prop and a TOOL!
These TOOLS are typically rewarded or promised some type of reward in exchange for their support.
This is a very old political ploy when it comes to dealing with contentious issues in dealing with people of color. Governor Deal has about as much of a concern and care as did then Gov. Lester Maddox did in the 60’s when it came to concerns of the African American community.
marm
February 27th, 2013
10:43 am
@Bernie, so, we leave the children to blow in the wind, while we let the board take what’s left of the money we taxpayers put into the school system to fight in the courts. Nice! Just like when redistricting occurred, people we shocked that schools were closing. Nobody affiliated with those schools seemed to notice there were issues with their schools. This board has been criticized for years, many people I know said DCSS would follow Clayton County’s lead, and guess what happened? Now these fools want more time to make the right decisions, not they face losing their jobs….how convenient! They need to just go away. There’s more to this than the $18K per year, but more likely about the “perks” for them and theirs that come with the position. Once again, it’s all about the adults, because the children can’t vote yet.
G
February 27th, 2013
11:20 am
I am a parent with two children in DCSS….and I’m desperately trying to leave. I totally agree that the school board needs to go. However, i think Gov Deal’s decision (although it is law) will set a dangerous precedent because it seems unconstitutional for an elected official to fire other elected officials. Giving one person the ability to fire other elected officials is effectively taking away the ‘will of the people’.
Why can’t there just be a recall election? That’s seems more in line with democracy
I do find it interesting that constitution-loving concervatives seem to be ok with something that seems to be anti-democracy. These are the same folks that don’t want their gun rights taken away, but they are ok with someone taking away their vote.
Bill & Ed's Excellent Adventure
February 27th, 2013
11:24 am
I respect Representative Abrams’ opinion and tend to agree with her. At the same time,when we talk about “the consequences of inaction resulting in harm to our children”, let’s be fair…let’s try to share some of the accountability for what has become of our school system. Abrams, Carter, Mosby, Jones, et al can tout their records to unhappy Dekalb parents and look like heroes in the press, but where were you guys during redistricting? Where were you during the Atkinson hiring debacle? What about the effort to redistrict to 7 board seats? What a mess that was…
I know the Board is locally elected and you have no “authority”, but by citing SB 84, aren’t you saying you CAN do something. I saw Millar, Jacobs & Holcomb at Board meetings. But Stacie, Jason & Howard, I haven’t really seen you in this picture until just now.
PSDad
February 27th, 2013
11:35 am
@BERNIE Your hyperbole and race baiting are counterproductive. Try to stay on topic buddy.
a parent
February 27th, 2013
1:27 pm
Isn’t the main objective of being a parent to ensure your children have better opportunities and better lives than you do? That they go farther, succeed more? For those that are saying how this is just trying to keep the poor folks down, do you not want the above for your children? It’s the Dekalb school board that’s been keeping our kids down by keeping money OUT of the classrooms. What could keep our children down more than a lack of proper education?
a parent
February 27th, 2013
1:30 pm
I should also have said I support Rep. Abrams for her concern and desire to better our children’s lives.
Private Citizen
February 27th, 2013
3:22 pm
If this lady has degrees from Yale and then pubic administration from UT/Austin LBJ school, her credentials and training for competenty working in government exceed 99.9999% of governing people in Georgia, top to bottom, appointed, hired, elected, or otherwise.
Private Citizen
February 27th, 2013
3:24 pm
That is old school grass roots pre-Bush Texas, to step to the plate and put the house in order, from the land of Bill Moyers and Jim Hightower.
Tim
February 27th, 2013
3:38 pm
So a governor who wants to deny extending Medicaid to 650,000 (mostly children) and you think he cares about the children? Well I’ve got some oceanfront property I’d like to sell you in Kansas.
And I agree with Bernie. It is most definitely about race. There are 159 counties in Georgia, and yet SACS continues to bully Dekalb, Clayton, Sumter, and the city of Atlanta– all with majority black school boards. So I guess the 150+ other school boards all get long. I guess they don’t have any disagreement, never any close votes, never any ethical lapses? Please. And the worst part about it, is that the entire SACS report on Dekalb is based on anonymous sources. An entire county can lose accreditation based on statements from ghosts. Unbelievable.
And I’m so sick of these DemoPublicans like Stacey Abrams. She supported the charter school amendment, supports the governor having the power to remove other elected officials, and she also stood behind Governor Deal when HE GUTTED THE HOPE SCHOLARSHIP! Now she’s giving him cover yet again. It’s such a shame that we have such weak, spineless, worthless Democrats with no real principles in the state of Georgia.
Private Citizen
February 27th, 2013
6:57 pm
Tim, Nice job of going harpy. Do you have an explanation for the $50 million in private legal counsel this bunch has paid out? Maybe please include that in your comparison with all the other school boards in Georgia that are not being taken to task? I bet you a peso that the DeKalb legal counsel monies, by themselves, exceed the monies paid to outside private legal counsel of all of the other school districts in Georgia combined, and there’s about 300 of them. Most, or all of them, have an attorney(s) on staff paid at a working-Joe salary rate to do legal chores. It’s like DeKalb starting ordering catering from the hotel telephone and decided that was how to ear and they stopped buying groceries. I’m certain there are many in this state who decided, “This has to be stopped, no matter what.” And they should suffer some censure for it. And how are you so firm to support a school board person who never mentions the students and instead insults politicians and then uses God for marketing?
Seriously, I am missing the part about “merit.” If I told you rent a car for a week, and you came back with a $10k invoice, this is much less of what these folk have done on the fiscal side.
The one thing I can say in there defense is that there should be more specific state law prohibiting some of the things they have done. Georgia governance is a very loose non-specific business, however the other 299 school boards have not and do not run up these profound legal fees paid to outside firms outside of government. And what they’re buying for this fifty million dollars is telephone calls and typing. Think about it… $50 million dollars is $500. for every student in DeKalb County schools paid to private law firms. That’s the student’s money / funds.
Private Citizen
February 27th, 2013
7:04 pm
HOPE SCHOLARSHIP should not only be gutted, it should go away. Everyone should get the same price for attending state university. Although, most of them in rural Georgia… I wouldn’t recommend to a dog, unless you wanted a degree in corruption and obedience training. I’m not being flippant. I had a top dean tell me their syllabus “was a contract” and they were not good in their content, but they had a lot of chore work to do. You obey, you get your “A.” Scholarship in the field? Not from this top dean who was also teaching. But by golly, they knew the gears / cogs / method of “power.” Equals corruption (they’re not a published scholar) and obedience training (fallback is “syllabus is a contract.). Well, excuse me while I put the car in reverse and go find someone / a school, knowledgeable and published in the field they are teaching. – You know, like at a real university?
Private Citizen
February 27th, 2013
7:07 pm
And let’s not forget the dept. head requiring great number of undergraduate students to pay $85. for a photocopied binder and calling it a textbook. What is $85. x 100 students each semester? = $8500.
Nice little business on the side, “Department Head.”
Tim
February 27th, 2013
8:23 pm
@Private Citizen
The HOPE scholarship should be strengthened and returned to its original form- as a needs-based scholarship. But I’m not surprised you don’t like it. But I bet you love the crooked private school scholarships given to rich kids with taxpayer money don’t ya? Since you claim to be so concerned about wasteful spending, where is your outrage on that? And that program has NO OVERSIGHT at all. No SACS, No governor, no nothing.
Unlike you, I don’t pick and choose when the constitution should be followed. Most of the people speaking out against the awful 2011 law which gives the governor (whose been under investigation more than the school board) the power to remove other elected officials recognize that law as unconstitutional. I don’t care whose on the school board or what they did, the governor should not have that type of power.
They are just stripping power away from local citizens. Property owners in Dekalb fund the school board, not the governor or the legislature. Just like we fund MARTA, but the stinking legislature wants to tell us how to operate it, when they don’t contribute one dime. This school board issue is just more encroachment. The legislature wouldn’t like to be meddled with like this. How would they like it if members of the U.S. Congress could replace them? Would they like that? Or would they whine about federal interference? Filthy hypocrites.
Private Citizen
February 27th, 2013
9:10 pm
I bet you love the crooked private school scholarships given to rich kids with taxpayer money don’t ya?
Tim, i don’t love any scholarships. I don’t do “scholarships.” I’ve never applied for a scholarship. I do not want a scholarship. I am simple in the head. I look at the tuition and cost webpage. If I am accepted at a college / university, I fill out all of their finance office paperwork and give it to them and they figure it our. I am very unsophisticated about scholarships. I know nothing about them, no – thing, nothing. I also do not like store marketing discount cards and multiple pricing schemes in retail stores, like in some grocery stores. I think “scholarships” are cover for the cost-mess going on with U. S. cost of college, and the debt slavery to go with it. I’d rather meet it head on that be an “every person for themselves.” Yes, there is a tuition price. It should be lower. Everyone should be required to pay it.
My problem with the “HOPE” fiasco is it is based on getting funding in a predatory way, from gambling. I know a couple of gambling addicts. They means instead of buying groceries, they buy scratch-off tickets. That’s what I think of your “HOPE” fiasco. I think it is unhealthy, predatory, and based on taking money from families, where people pee away what they have on lottery tickets instead of taking care of their family.
crooked private school scholarships given to rich kids with taxpayer money
Can you be more specific? what are you talking about?
I don’t care whose on the school board or what they did, the governor should not have that type of power.
I am seeing a pattern of those who stand with Walker believe that local political office is more powerful that state political office. The governor is the top political officer in the state. Whether you like it or not, Tonto, there is a hierarchy. The local police can not investigate the FBI, but the FBI can come in and take over a police department if there is a need to do so due to repeated unethical activity. Do you realise that “county” is pretty low on the political food chain, Tonto Tim, even if they have rigged the paychecks to hell so that a damn school superintendent is paid more that the vice president of the United States? These big paycheck county people should burn in Hell, every single one of them. They’re maraudering the local public (LOOK IT UP).
This school board issue is just more encroachment.
For being so ignorant about structure of government, you write well and clearly, but you have a long way to go in understanding political structure and hierarchy. Here, read this. Please read it, because you really need some perspective on who is who in the system of hierarchy. Note that numbers for “state” and “school district.” It’s spelled out. http://affordablehousinginstitute.org/blogs/us/2006/11/three_levels_of.html
Tim
February 28th, 2013
1:35 am
“Can you be more specific? what are you talking about?”
Oh okay. So while you sit here all day with your foolish obsession with Dr. Walker, you’re unaware that about $170 million of taxpayer money has been directed at providing funding for children to enroll in private schools since the law was passed in 2008?
“Every person for themselves”.
Why am I not surprised at this stance? A child with two wealthy parents has a huge advantage over a poor child that grew up in foster care. But I don’t expect you to recognize the distinction. In your silly world, everyone starts the race at the same point. Since you walk through life with blinders on, you can’t recognize the people that had a huge head start.
So you’re against the HOPE scholarship because it is funded by the lottery? Please, spare me with your phony morality. So are you also against collecting taxes on alcohol, cigarettes, coffee, sodas, energy drinks, junk food, etc? Some people become alcoholics, cigarette fiends, and obese. Should the government not collect on those items either? Where do you draw the line? And don’t waste my time saying you’re “against all taxes”. Don’t go for the easy cop-out.
You’ve got the audacity to try and lecture me about the structure of government? You!!?? The one who thinks the governor should be granted dictatorial powers to remove other elected officials? Obviously you selectively choose what to focus on from my posts. Since you want to talk about “hierarchy”, who regulates an out-of-control legislature? My whole point was that it is easy for them to pass these laws encroaching on county/city governments, because there is no higher agency that does the same to them. Congress doesn’t decide, “Hey, let’s replace the governor”. If they could, wouldn’t the legislature hate that? But the hypocrites have no problem doing that to county governments with this illegal new law they passed.
And since you keep dodging the question, please tell me why a governor that resigned from the House of Representatives while under an ethics investigation should get to remove other elected officials? And if you support this unjust law, where the governor can replace school board members, where do you draw the line? Should our omnipotent governor be able to replace city councils, county commissions, police chiefs, tax commissioners, etc? Why just the school board? Let’s just forget about democracy and let the ethics-challenged governor appoint everybody!
Private Citizen
February 28th, 2013
9:27 am
Tim,
1. $170 million of taxpayer money has been directed at providing funding for children to enroll in private schools since the law was passed in 2008?
Excellent point, separate issue.
2. A child with two wealthy parents has a huge advantage over a poor child that grew up in foster care.
You and me are in agreement with this concern. My experience as a teacher is Georgia is that school board run school districts malign and redirect teachers working to serve these students and run a caste system inside their district that is not a fair playing field for autonomous non-upper caste kids. It is a complex issue. Even the folk with “the look” to fit the civil rights crowd, my experience in Georgia schools is that these are an incredibly self serving lot who exploit to pay themselves and cynically treat the greater students as potatoes in a bin, in other words, they could care less, but they invent activities for themselves and harass the teachers who are serving the student demographic you mention, intentionally make life hard on the teacher and do NOT recognise teacher achievement with these students. The Georgia plantation system is alive and well and there are many people of color who have signed onto the big house to continue the progress. Hey, why not? You’d sell your sell for a $100k+ salary for perpetuity, not working in the classroom, and drive a new gold Jaguar, with expensive hair-do, clothes, and jewelry and go around and harass teachers, right? I could give you five examples. And go around and screw with principals, too. Which is what the people you support do and there is a whole culture of this in some parts of Georgia.
3. the people that had a huge head start.
Welcome to the cruel facts of life. Kids with professional parents and books and project sets, and puzzles, and limited tv, live in a different world than kid with single semi-literate working mom, or driving around in the car with the THUMP TUMP THUMP in the car with them. There are lot of over-sense sensory deprived students. And the ones who live in housing projects and have a fear of the front door getting kicked in.
4. So you’re against the HOPE scholarship because it is funded by the lottery?
Absolutely. The state should not be in business – any business. Gaming is a business. If the people want gaming, give them casinos, which are a better deal, with buffets and entertainment. Repeating: the state has no business being in business.
5. collecting taxes on alcohol, cigarettes, coffee, sodas, energy drinks, junk food, etc? Some people become alcoholics, cigarette fiends, and obese. Should the government not collect on those items either?
And marijuana, too. Taxing commerce is not the same thing as being in business. Drugs should be decriminalised and regulated and taxed. This is the sole way to fix the gang problem and kids with guns. It is part of the drug trade. The war on drugs does not work, and in the present system with its market demand for recreational drugs, in the current system there will be kids with money rolls in their pocket and playing cowboys and Indians with real pistols. The sole remedy is to remove the exploit they have, their ability to sell drugs.
6. waste my time saying you’re “against all taxes.”
Time, you project things, but that is your expressive style. I can deal with it.
7. selectively choose what to focus on from my posts.
Anything but, you may note.
8. who regulates an out-of-control legislature?
Excellent question.
9. And since you keep dodging the question
?
10. please tell me why a governor that resigned from the House of Representatives while under an ethics investigation should get to remove other elected officials?
Okay. This is the heart of it. You, my friend, are practicing a double standard. Walker has twice had $190k of public money paid to settle a romance scandal, and resigned from a property board (wtF? is doing on a property board) after receiving payola. Cunningham, who seems like an interesting character, has prior conviction. But the main thing is Cunningham meddles and moves principals around. I have live this friend, working in this environment, and these type can burn in hell. They keep schools in a chcorrupt urn and toy with adults. Point is Governor Deal has similar corrupt past? Well, it looks like this is the tradition in Georgia, but you can not call out Deal and then be quiet and give a free pass to those you are defending, which is what you are doing and it is two-faced. You are the one who is being selective in how you represent things, not me.
11. the governor can replace school board members, where do you draw the line?
This is significant. It is not the governor playing Fief. There’s probably a hundred people in power who wants this done, and yes, Governor Deal is the guy with the signing pen. Where do I draw the line? It is the governor’s duty, or the FBI, or the AG Office, to look into conspicuous dereliction of duty and abuse of public money. Paying out $50 million in public money to private law firms qualifies as posting a billboard that says, “FBI, Here it is. Come and Investigate Us.” Truth be told, I wish there was more specific laws and people going to jail. This school board is being treated very gently and very lightly. Which again, seems to be a tradition in Georgia, allowing your politicians to be crooks.
12. Should our omnipotent governor be able to replace city councils, county commissions, police chiefs, tax commissioners, etc?
Tim, You are playing make-believe that there is no reason for this regulatory attention to DeKalb County schools. The answer is “yes” if any of these exibit profound mis-use of public monies.
13. Why just the school board? Let’s just forget about democracy.
You might want to look into the concept of regulatory authority. There is not much of it in practice in the USA. When Eliot Spitzer tried to call out and clean up banking abuse in New York, they pinned him with a girly charge and quickly eliminated his career as a regulator. When both Lincoln and JFK started printing money outside of the government system of the bankers, both of them were dead within six months. What Deal and company are doing is appropriate and courageous. You ought to consider the benefit to orphans and non-entitled students of have a professional school board that does not move principals around like checkers, create instability, waste money that belongs to kids, and basically make life hell for everyone.
Tim
February 28th, 2013
5:15 pm
With you giving a “yes” answer that the governor should be able to replace any county/city officials that misuse public money, there is really no point of me wasting time with you. Since you speak of “hierarchy”, and you think it is acceptable for a governor to replace county/city officials, then let’s continue this line of thinking. Let’s make it so that President Obama can remove any governor that is ever under investigation. How about that? That’s how the hierarchy goes right?
You still don’t understand that most of us speaking out against the law don’t care which party is in power. This is a bad precedent. If a Democratic governor removed an all-Republican rural school board, I still wouldn’t support it. It has nothing to do with who the school board members are, the issue is bigger than that. The Governor is not The King, and this type of power should not be bestowed on him.
Gaming is a business and a vice, just like alcohol. And the government still gets a piece of the alcohol cut. There is no difference. I agree with you on the War on Drugs, but even with legal marijuana the government would still collect a cut. Whether the government is in the production business or simply collecting taxes on a product, the result is the same. They are making money off the vice.
I’m not practicing a double standard, or being selective. You are ascribing your traits onto me. You cited some of the past indiscretions of the school board members, and using that as a reason to let Governor Deal off the hook. But it is a flawed analogy. Those members might have prior issues, but when have they ever removed other elected officials? Never. But yet Deal has the gall to do it, when he’s been under ethics investigation himself! It doesn’t get more hypocritical than that. Walker and Cunningham have never replaced other elected officials.
So again, I ask, why should a governor that has been under multiple investigations be allowed to replace other elected officials under investigation. Surely you can find one good reason can’t you?
Private Citizen
February 28th, 2013
7:00 pm
“Let’s make it so that President Obama can remove any governor that is ever under investigation. How about that?”
That would just fine with me if said governor was a crook. Sounds great.
“Walker and Cunningham have never replaced other elected officials”
What kind of crack are you smoking – I’d like some! Walker and Cunningham are on the very bottom of the elected food chain, there is no one “elected” beneath them, but these type move and displace principals and teachers, at least Cunningham is reputed to replaced principals. I do not know how Dr. Walker treats staff.
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“Whether the government is in the production business or simply collecting taxes on a product, the result is the same.”
No difference? Just the difference between communism and free-market capitalism. You’re awfully pointy for using such a broad brush on concepts.
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“I’m not practicing a double standard”
Then why are you calling out Deal on past ethics and not saying a word about the school board members? LIAR LIAR PANTS on FIRE. and you keep doing it too !!!! Look at your last paragraph, you hypocrite!
Private Citizen
February 28th, 2013
7:04 pm
“Whether the government is in the production business or simply collecting taxes on a product, the result is the same.”
and you got your economics training from a tamborine in a church.
Private Citizen
February 28th, 2013
7:08 pm
You’ve never taken an economics course in your life, have you? Macro-economics, micro-economics? Because if had, you wouldn’t be talking all this trash where to you, potatoes equal Saturn and a volcano is a bicycle. You’re so far off on economics, you should go to Beijing and ask them for direction in Spanish.
Private Citizen
February 28th, 2013
7:19 pm
“other elected officials”
You mean the guys you are cheerleading for that already have a rap sheet? You forgot to mention that HYPOCRITE! Double Standard, Liar Liar Pants on Fire!!!!
According to your summary,
Party A: “has been under multiple investigations”
but Party B: are” other elected officials under investigation” and you left out past deeds: $190,000 tax paid two times to settle Walker and romancing a subordinate, resigning from a property regulatory board after recieving $20k payola from someone he is contracting with. That alone should have put him Under the Jail and the same for Governor Deal or anybody else, too, if that was what he was doing, and then that other guy stole $12,500. for a McDonald’s franchise he was working for and has a bunch of collections against him for not paying employees of his pizza restaurant.
And you are completely dishonest or confabulating (LOOK IT UP) and in cognitive dissonance, in other words, confused as a dog that got out at the wrong airport.
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confabulate – verb – to replace the gaps left by a disorder of the memory with imaginary remembered experiences consistently believed to be true
Private Citizen
February 28th, 2013
7:23 pm
hey Tim, Are you one of those guys who “has what he needs, but takes what he wants?”
Tim
February 28th, 2013
7:51 pm
I’m not going to keep repeating the same statements, since you obviously are unable/unwilling to comprehend. You said you wouldn’t care if the President could replace the governor if he was a crook. Well, the Dekalb school board members haven’t been charged with a crime. The governor is just removing them because of a report based on anonymous sources from SACS. What have they been charged with?
And the notion that you support Governors/Presidents removing other elected officials, you simply care nothing about the peoples’ voice. You should consider moving to Saudi Arabia, that government would be more suitable to you.
And again, your analogy is flawed because no one is minimizing past indiscretions. The difference is Governor Deal is removing other people from office, when he’s been under investigation himself. If Walker and Cunningham had the power to remove other ELECTED officials, I would go after them just like Deal. Last time I checked, principles and teachers aren’t elected. Comprende? Oh never mind. Talking with you is an exercise in futility.
Private Citizen
February 28th, 2013
7:56 pm
What have they been charged with?
Read the report. The New York Times was able to make sense of it.
Private Citizen
February 28th, 2013
8:02 pm
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/education/gov-nathan-deal-of-georgia-ousts-6-on-dekalb-county-school-board.html
Article has link to report.
Private Citizen
February 28th, 2013
8:19 pm
Tim, A refresher on the way it is supposed to be done: http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/morning_call/2013/02/lawyer-charged-after-not-returning.html
Tim
February 28th, 2013
8:32 pm
They have not been criminally charged. Just gracefully bow out Private Citizen.
Musical Chairs: DeKalb County School Board Style
March 4th, 2013
5:39 pm
[...] facing controversy for supporting this measure, has stated she will do what is best for students—a measure she believes Governor Deal is taking. The Democratic Leader voted to give Governor Deal this power back in 2011 [...]
Cleo
March 5th, 2013
6:39 pm
I am black and I say well done Ms. Abrams.