Remember those pledges DeKalb board members made to resign? Why haven’t any of them done so yet?
The Concerned Citizens for a Unified DeKalb, a coalition of parent leaders from schools across the county, is calling for the six suspended DeKalb board members to throw in the towel and resign.
(For a good place to find an aggregation of all the news about the DeKalb school drama, go to the Parents for DeKalb Schools Facebook page.
The statement calls for the six to resign and drop the legal challenges. They lost a key legal battle yesterday in front of U.S. District Court Judge Richard Story, which ought to give them more impetus to get this drama over with and step down.
But they may be waiting for the state Supreme Court to take up their plight.
As the AJC reported: The judge’s decision does not end the litigation. Story indicated he was dubious about the likelihood that DeKalb would win under their U.S. Constitution argument, but he signaled that the Georgia Supreme Court could soon consider questions in the case. He asked the two sides to agree on which questions, and gave them 10 days to submit them. “The case as a whole is not going to dry up and blow away at this point, but it will be able to be studied under a less urgent situation, ” said Ronald Carlson, an emeritus law professor at the University of Georgia.
While board member Eugene Walker has made his desire known to continue the legal battle, most of his colleagues promised to step down at the 14-hour state Board of Education hearing if rulings went against them.
Why haven’t they done so? What is stopping them from turning in their resignations?
If they continue to procrastinate, they will lose whatever good will toward them remains in their communities. Many posters on this blog are fans of Nancy Jester and Pam Speaks, believing that the two are the most selfless DeKalb board members.
So, why haven’t they resigned?
Here is the statement from the Concerned Citizens for a Unified DeKalb:
We’re grateful that U.S. District Court Judge Richard Story gave swift and careful consideration to the case and chose not to leave conditions in a long state of uncertainty. Our group takes no position on the legal merits of the law of removal in question, nor of the federal court decision itself. However, we welcomed a fast decision.
The moral question remains. How can the suspended members of the DeKalb County Board of Education think they are serving the needs of the children of DeKalb while destroying the finances and reputation of the school system with continued legal warfare over their jobs?
The suspended board members should not continue to fight for board positions in the light of their failures with the school system, not with the continued threat of loss of accreditation should they prevail in their legal quest. As long as they’re waiting in the wings, they stain the credibility of the board moving forward. Our interest is in a functional board serving the interests of the children of DeKalb.
If the suspended board members have the true interests of the children of DeKalb County at heart, they’ll simply resign. It’s the right thing to do.
Similarly, we’re asking Gov. Nathan Deal and the Georgia legislature to call for special elections to replace interim appointed board members in a reasonable time frame, regardless of how the governor uses his appointment power to replace suspended board members. We believe this would show respect for the voting rights of DeKalb County citizens and acknowledge the extraordinary nature of the moment. It’s the right thing to do.
Concerned Citizens for a Unified DeKalb is a diverse group of concerned community members, representative of all school regions within DeKalb County, working to encourage people to communicate their opinions to the DeKalb Board of Education.
We believe these three things to be true:
The majority of DeKalb County parents perceive that the Board of Education has been dysfunctional and ineffective. It is in the best interests of all stakeholders that the six board members recommended for removal be replaced by the electorate.
The citizens of DeKalb are the ones who should decide who is on the board of education.
Money is being spent on litigation initiated by board members to save their jobs that could be spent on educating our children
Our mission is to unite DeKalb and move forward to ensure that every child in DeKalb is afforded the opportunity and access to a quality education. We are attempting to resolve the issue with the DeKalb BOE with as little collateral damage as possible.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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129 comments Add your comment
curious
March 5th, 2013
2:00 pm
Dunwoody Mom, I think that’s the only contract. It covers “The State Board of Education Hearing(s) and/or Related Proceedings.” I think the quagmire in which we find ourselves is a “related proceeding,” at least in the mind of Dr. Walker and Mr. Wilson.
catlady
March 5th, 2013
2:00 pm
They cannot continue to pay the legal fees of persons who are not board members! No “quorum” needed!
Dave
March 5th, 2013
2:04 pm
I doubt Coplin-Woods could compose the resignation letter….I mean how hard is it to get a degree from MBC…and people wonder why Dekalb Schools are on the brink…..YIKES!!!!!!!!
Dunwoody Mom
March 5th, 2013
2:04 pm
@curious…yes, “related proceeding” most likely means until Eugene Walker decides he is through fighting his suspension or the money is cutoff.
Private Citizen
March 5th, 2013
2:06 pm
How is it that salaries for DeKalb schools management, for example their on-salary legal counsel, exceed the salaries of the same folk at the state level? And for example, “In 2010, the governor received a salary of 139,339″ yet the recent DeKalb interim superintendent is paid $275,000 + expense money + car money? That’s double the rate of pay of the governor, the highest public official in the state.
U. S. Vice President Joe Biden’s salary is $230,700. Maybe it is time for the “Salary Reform Act” for Georgia government school districts.
Private Citizen
March 5th, 2013
2:19 pm
If you look at the salaries, it is not a surprise that there are those in the county school management who view themselves as superior to the governor or any other public office or officials because they’re paid more than the state and federal officials.
The current pay level for a Federal GS 15 Grade 10 in Atlanta (this would be pay rate for the Director of the FBI) is $154,501. http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/2012/general-schedule/atl.pdf
Private Citizen
March 5th, 2013
2:28 pm
“The current salary (2013) for rank-and-file members of the House and Senate is $174,000 per year.”
How did this thing occur where school superintendents in Georgia are being paid more than U.S. senators and agency heads? It’s not just in DeKalb county, this is going on across the state.
2011 “APS board agrees to pay Davis $240,000 salary” + $27k in benefits.
Erroll Davis is being paid more than the governor, the U. S. Vice President, a U. S. senator, or the Director of the FBI receive.
Milton1960
March 5th, 2013
2:30 pm
Re Walker and cohorts, bad press is much better than no press at all.
Chamblee Dad
March 5th, 2013
2:46 pm
@catlady That’s the problem: we’ve only got 3 sitting board members, we need the other 6 placed on the board to vote on anything, like stopping the legal fees. or at least 2 of those 6. That’s an unavoidable consequence of not removing all 9, now you have 3 that can’t do anything until they are joined by the old board or their appointed replacements. Of course if all 9 were removed, you couldn’t do anything until the new replacement board is seated. This transition, regardless of how it happens, will take some time – creating a dead zone where 100% nothing gets done by the board. Other than making headlines, and stupid public statements. Now, I think, but could be wrong, that if at least 2 of the old 6 resigned replacements could be named & a quorum seated. All this is uncharted territory, so anyone out there please correct me on any part of this. I’m sure I’m wrong on at least some.
catlady
March 5th, 2013
2:50 pm
Chamblee Dad: It seems to me there would be NO vote needed. The six that have been suspended no longer act in capacity of the board, so they are not ELIGIBLE to have their fees paid, any more than I am eligible. I am not acting in any capacity of the board, and now, neither are they!
Chamblee Dad
March 5th, 2013
2:50 pm
actually catlady I just re-read you post & I like your idea. If I read it right, you are saying the vote was to pay legal fes of the board, but as the headline reads they are now “former” board members. If I’m in accounts payable, I holding that invoice until someone makes me pay it. And by someone, unless it’s Thurmond I’m not doing it. If he did that I think we’d have our answer on his allegiance.
I like your idea – alot.
Chamblee Dad
March 5th, 2013
2:51 pm
Crossed in cyberspace!
catlady
March 5th, 2013
2:52 pm
Great minds, etc, etc.
Chamblee Dad
March 5th, 2013
2:52 pm
And seriously, I think it might work, at least for now.
Sickening
March 5th, 2013
2:55 pm
Can the citizens vote on a referendum removing the ability of elected officials and their administration cronies to use public funding to protect their jobs?
How did they gain this ability in the first place?
Chamblee Dad
March 5th, 2013
2:55 pm
Now as far as these 3 doing anything else, I think it’s clear they can’t. But exactly how they could be made a part of a body that can vote on something, I welcome input/correction on my 2:46 post, please fire away.
catlady
March 5th, 2013
2:58 pm
(I also don’t think there is any way the legal bills of C Lewis should be paid, as you are covered in your capacity to perform LEGAL duties, not illegal ones. I was told in the law class that if you were acting within your legal, assigned duties, you would be supported legally, BUT NOT IF YOU WERE ACTING ILLEGALLY!)
DeKalb Inside Out
March 5th, 2013
3:07 pm
Why don’t Nancy and Pam resign … what an asinine question.
Nancy and Pam said they would resign if the others resigned, otherwise it serves no purpose.
This poll by the Hicks Evaluation Group
http://www.hegllc.org/HEG/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/DeKalb-School-Board_021913-Results2.pdf
shows that Jester and Johnson are tied for the person the citizens least want to go.
Jester received a standing ovation at a public forum for Dunwoody residents over the weekend. 450+ parents and taxpayers thanked her.
http://dunwoodytalk.blogspot.com/2013/03/parent-meeting-in-dekalb.html
Resign by themselves … what an ignorant question!
Real life
March 5th, 2013
3:09 pm
Many local politicians jealously guard their fiefdom and lose sight of the fact they are working for the common good and not to further their personal agenda. The declining test scores, the brain drain of good teachers leaving for other schools sytems, the accreditation probation and other major problems show that school officials–both elected and hired—are not student focused. And they should be gone. Race is not the issue here as much as some people think it is. Competance is the issue and there is a great lack of it on this school board. But the suspended members do not seem to have the guts to do the right thing and resign.
Mary Elizabeth
March 5th, 2013
3:10 pm
In my opinion, the educational problems in DeKalb County are beyond simply the particular membership composition of the DeKalb County Board of Education. The source of the educational problems within DeKalb County is beyond the schools, themselves, and resides within the greater community of DeKalb County. That analysis is not meant to suggest that the DeKalb County populace should solve their own problems, exclusively, by themselves. They must help to solve their own problems, of course, but, in addition, those outside of DeKalb County’s direct jurisdiction, i.e. SACS, the State Board of Education, Governor Deal and his adminstration, Georgia’s legislators, the state and federal judges, and even Georgia’s population as a whole, can help to solve educational problems in DeKalb County – and in other school districts throughout the state that have similar educational problems as those in DeKalb County – by raising their consciousness to recognize that the essential source of the educational problems in DeKalb County are historical and societal in nature, even more than educational. Georgia’s political representatives, including Georgia’s legislators, need to address these societal needs in DeKalb County as much as they attempt to address DeKalb County’s educational needs, if they wish to insure long-ranged educational success there, and also if they wish to insure the long-ranged education success in other parts of the state which have educational problems similar to those in DeKalb County.
I had originally posted the following remarks under the thread on this blog entitled, “DeKalb school board mess: Are we focusing on symptoms rather than the real problem?”; however, I did not provide a sufficient enough introduction, as I have now provided, for some readers to understand the correlation I was trying to make between educational excellence and societal intervention. Below is a part of my original post, regarding the societal needs in DeKalb County which I believe will help to improve the educational level in DeKalb County, over and beyond the particular membership composition of the DeKalb County Board of Education – present and future. As citizens, we must not fail to see “the forest because we are focused too much on the trees.”
——————————————————————————————
“There is a direct causal relationship between poverty and lack of educational excellence. (See link, below.) Our nation and state must become, again – as was true a half century ago – more fervently dedicated to helping those in poverty pull themselves out of its web of destruction. Slavery’s and Jim Crow’s existence still have their impact today in having created pockets of poverty throughout our nation. Instead of blaming the victims of poverty and not facing the truth of historical realities, we must, instead, work to help the impoverished see a way out of their generational plight.
Furthermore, we must not delude ourselves into thinking that if some students can leave poor neighborhood school situations for public charter schools, or for private schools, that their less fortunate peers will not remain in their impoverished communities and community schools. These left-behind students will continue to attend the traditional public schools in their poorer communities. We must lift those poor communities and those poorly functioning traditional public schools from the failing situations in which they presently find themselves, for the benefit of ALL of the students. We must stop undercutting the funding of traditional public schools throughout Georgia, and we must develop more state-originated programs that will directly address the societal needs, including poverty, itself, within all of Georgia’s failing school districts, including the societal needs within DeKalb County.
Thomas Jefferson was a strong advocate for the public education of all Americans because he believed that public education (paid for by public taxes) would help to create a more equitable society in which the masses, as a whole, would all be elevated educationally and, as a result, democracy, itself, would more likely be sustained because an overall educated populace would reject any tyranny attempted over itself.”
Link to a study which provides the causal effects of poverty on the lack of educational excellence: http://www.nber.org/papers/w14599.pdf
TM
March 5th, 2013
3:14 pm
According to the language, the “letter of understanding and agreement” is between “Wilson, Morton and Downs and the DeKalb County School District” (not individual members of the board), with Walker excecuting on behalf of the Board as its Chairman. Additionally, the Letter is in regards (Re:) to “State Board of Education Hearing(s) and/or related proceedings or action. Unless the actual contract language is significantly different or has a fairly liberal termination claus, there could be a penalty for termination. On the basis of pure $s and cents, the projected cost to continue to the Supreme Court should weighrd against the cost to terminate.
bigbill
March 5th, 2013
3:23 pm
I urge Board Member Eugene Walker to continue his legal battle against his removal under this extremely questionable process for removal which, despite the Judge Story’s initial ruling, still raises very serious constitutional issues for me as to whether Board Member Walker was provided sufficient due process rights under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the US Constitution. The Judge’s ruling was not dispositive of this case. He only ruled on the likelihood of Plaintiff Walker’s success on his claims in the litigation in connection with ruling on the narrow issue of whether an injunction petition should be granted. For one thing, on that issue the Judge ruled that the AdvancED Report of the Special Review Team for the DeKalb County School District issued in October, 2012 provided Eugene Walker with sufficient notice of the charges against him which would allow him to mount an effective defense at any subsequent hearing on the matter. I have read that report and believe it fails utterly as a due process notice. Just read it. It completely fails to provide Mr. Walker with sufficient notice of what the standards are (the standards are the very definition of “vague”), how he, Mr. Walker, violated each standard, information about whom specifically made the charges against him or had the information and details about the charges,the specific facts and circumstances in each instance which support a conclusion that Mr. Walker violated a particular standard, etc. etc. It’s just not there in that report.The report sets out one conclusion after another without buttressing each conclusion with supporting facts and details to justify the conclusion. It give examples only and these examples are also conclusory and may not even apply to anything Mr. Walker himself did as an individual since a great part of the report speaks about the board as a whole. When it come to providing sources for Mr. Walker’s alleged wrongdoing the report merely refers to “individuals” who provided “information,” without naming them.This is hearsay evidence. Read it yourself. I think the report too vague and over-broad. It is constitutionally insufficient to be deemed as providing any sort of fair due process. The State of Georgia seeks to remove Mr. Walker from a public office to which he was duly elected by the voters of DeKalb County. To satisfy due process requirements the charges must be absolutely clear, should include what Mr. Walker did or did not do in great and specific detail, should state the time, place, and date of the alleged wrongdoing, should provide the names of persons who made allegations about Mr. Walker so that he would have the opportunity to investigate and properly respond to the specific individual’s charges, and so on. That hasn’t happened here.
Sorry folks, I do not believe Mr. Walker individually was provided with proper notice of the grounds for his removal and, if an appellate court reviews this matter, I certainly believe that there are grounds for a reversal on this issue if it is finally decided by the Judge in this case against Mr. Walker.
And there are many other issues here which raise serious questions regarding the constitutionality and legality of Mr. Walker’s removal from office. Think about the precedent being established here which goes way beyond the question of whether Mr. Walker has done anything provable which would justify his removal from office: a private, non-prfit corporation makes broad accusations relying on hearsay from unidentified sources against a duly elected public official – school board member – which triggers a state law authorizing the governor to remove him from office? This is wrong. This is bad public policy. Not only that, this recent flurry of school board members removals , in my opinion, is being undertaken to further the interests of the extreme right-wing conservative “school choice” and “school activist” proponents who are working to privatize the traditional public school systems in America for profit and free market ideological reasons. It is also an anti-democratic process. If citizens are dissatisfied with a school board member’s performance in office, the correct way to remove him/her is to vote them out of office in the next election or under a voter recall statute or for being criminally convicted of a serious felony. This method being use here is questionable indeed. If you disagree, then I would suggest taking a hard look at which individuals the governor appoints to replace any DCSS board members who are replaced. I predict that they will be “school choice” advocates who seek to privatize public school education. They will push for more and more charter schools which deprive the public schools of desperately needed taxpayer funds and divert those funds into private for-profit hands.
Mrluthor
March 5th, 2013
3:31 pm
Wait, wait, wait, hold on! There obviously isn’t ANY problems with the Dekalb School System!! President Obama pretty much told me so when he recently visited the College Heights Early Childhood Learning Center…. in DEKALB COUNTY!! Now, he wouldn’t visit a school in a school system that is run by a school board that is threatened by a possiblity of losing its accrediation, would he??!!
BT
March 5th, 2013
3:33 pm
It has been said before, if nobody wants them to stay, why do they think they have the right to stay? If I am not wanted, I am moving on!!! Obviously their “reputations” are more important than the students of the DCSS!!!
Maureen Downey
March 5th, 2013
3:33 pm
@Mrluthor, President Obama did not visit a DeKalb school. He visited a school that is part of the much smaller city of Decatur system, unconnected in any way to DeKalb or the school board there.
Maureen
bootney farnsworth
March 5th, 2013
3:33 pm
nobody ever keeps that threat/promise. I’m still waiting for Barbra Streisand to move to europe like she promised if Bush 43 got elected.
Dianna
March 5th, 2013
3:34 pm
The board members are so self-centered…they have no idea how to put the needs of the children of DeKalb County first.
bootney farnsworth
March 5th, 2013
3:36 pm
Thomas Jefferson also kept slaves and altered the declaration to exclude slaves and freed blacks.
enough with the Maoist TJ lovefest already,
bootney farnsworth
March 5th, 2013
3:37 pm
@ dianna
they don’t WANT to put the kids first. big difference
bootney farnsworth
March 5th, 2013
3:45 pm
if the gang of six won’t go away, and find a way to keep getting the taxpayers to pay for this – can the citizens of Dekalb sue them for reperations and damages?
TM
March 5th, 2013
3:50 pm
@ bootney farnsworth
(my opinion)
Not as individuals, because they executed the agreement as the governing body of DCSD, you’d have to sue the district. Of course, requiring the new board to hire a legal team to defend itself.
Concerned DeKalb Mom
March 5th, 2013
4:18 pm
@Dekalb Inside Out…not everyone gave NJ a standing ovation.
Tom
March 5th, 2013
4:41 pm
They’re waiting for everybody who promised to “Go Galt” to do so.
Chamblee Dad
March 5th, 2013
4:43 pm
@Dekalb Inside Out Near the beginning of this thread I commented that there is no real reason to expect them to resign unless they all did – classic prisoner’s dilemma. But I think it’s a valid question in this sense:
#1 Some people actually do the right thing for the greater good, Jester in particular, could hold a press conference & outline why she is doing it, under her own terms, a chance to perhaps not leave in disgrace – much like her comments to the GA BOE. And if 1 or 2 did, call for the others to join them, perhaps some would (not talking Walker). Probably 99.9% unlikely, I wouldn’t expect it (I’m not that asinine), but if not, it leads to #2
#2 It would be an opportunity to lead by example, show dignity & signify concern for the children. Such a gesture, esp. by Jester, who maintains so much goodwill, could serve her well in the future. Perhaps she ends up running the new Dunwoody school system, if it ever comes into being. I did see she supported it the other evening as well.
#3 And finally if you want to consider straight up strategy for selfish purposes, unlike some that apparently really need the paycheck (SCW & Cunningham), what purpose would be served if Jester stays on because all 6 do – they win & are reinstated. If she would want to serve on THAT board, then she’s not as smart as I think she is. On what planet would she ever get anything accomplished under that scenario? If she wants to serve the students of DeKalb, try another path, doing that would accomplish nothing.
So asinine & ignorant question – I don’t think so.
VIETNAMVIET
March 5th, 2013
4:45 pm
They should not resign. Let tehm. if they wish, appeal all the way to the Supreme Court. If the law is just, it will stand the test.
paulo977
March 5th, 2013
4:54 pm
big bill…”The State of Georgia seeks to remove Mr. Walker from a public office to which he was duly elected by the voters of DeKalb County”
_______________________________________________________
This of course isTHE CENTRAL poiit …..Or are we going to revert back to the days when only some people were empowered to vote?
Mary Elizabeth
March 5th, 2013
5:04 pm
@ bootney farnsworth, 3:36 p.m.
If all you gathered from my 3:10 p.m. post were my few closing remarks regarding the vision of Thomas Jefferson, then you have missed the essential point of my post.
Moreover, you are incorrect to imply that Jefferson, himself, chose to “alter(ed) the declaration to exclude slaves and freed blacks.” Please see, below, the paragraph that Jefferson had actually written to be included in the “Declaration of Independence” which he was “Declaration of Independence” if Jefferson did not delete his paragraph condemning slavery. Jefferson only deleted that paragraph, at their insistence, so that the “Declaration of Independence” would have unanimous support from all of the colonies. See facts below:
==============================================
From Mr. Jefferson’s Original Draft of the Declaration of Independence.
“He (King George III) has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating it most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him; captivating and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. This piratical warfare, the opprobrium of Infidel Powers, is the warfare of the Christian King of Great Britain. Determined to keep open a market where men should be bought and sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or restrain this execrable commerce.”
From Mr. Jefferson’s “Minutes of Debates in 1776, on the Declaration of Independence,” published with the Madison Papers:
“The clause, too, (above) reprobating the enslaving of the inhabitants of Africa was struck out, in compliance to South Carolina and Georgia, who had never attempted to restrain the importation of slaves, and who, on the contrary, still wished to continue it. Our northern brethren, also, I believe, felt a little tender under those censures; for, though their people have very few slaves themselves, yet they had been pretty considerable carriers of them to others.“
===================================================
For those readers who wish to expand their understanding of Jefferson’s mind and vision for our nation, I urge you to see the Exhibit on Jefferson and His Slaves at the Atlanta History Center, now through early July. I have seen it and it is very well done. The Exhibit presents Jefferson with nuch depth of understanding, giving facts without prejudice.
.
★
This entry was posted in Historical Evolution, The U.S. Constitution, Thomas Jefferson. Bookmark the permalink. Edit
Chamblee Dad
March 5th, 2013
5:09 pm
@ Mary Elizabeth All I took from Bootney’s comment was that he was the only one here to read the whole thing, you should be flattered.
Chamblee Dad
March 5th, 2013
5:12 pm
@paulo977 same goes to you & Bigbill. You get a gold star for reading thru that.
Private Citizen
March 5th, 2013
5:13 pm
I don’t the get the part about “school boards” being the icon of democracy. I wish they would do away with all of them. I’m serious. They cause more trouble than they do good. If you have a mind for the cogs of society, of government services, “school board” is no different than the trash collection or hospital authority (which is missing from the U. S. system) of the dog catcher. I think it an abberation to lionise this local “school board” as icon of democracy. What is the world does a “school board” possibly do that “affects democracy?” Really, one of you school board zealots, please explain to me the political levers that a school board pulls and how these affect greater society.
Private Citizen
March 5th, 2013
5:19 pm
The one verifiable thing that I can see that a “school board” has done in Georgia is create an absurd pay-rate structure for it’s adherents, management workers, that is well outside of the norms of what top level state and federal public servants are paid. It’s obscene and preposterous.
I am genuinely puzzled how the local people accept this and do not see it as inappropriate and using their money excessively and creating a culture to attract people to these salaries like they’ve won the lottery, in place of doing public service. Is that it, is like you neighbor winning the lottery, so that makes you feel like somebody, and feel fulfilled? Is it fulfilment by association by a public who does not even know the state and federal government exists with state and federal rates of pay?
Mary Elizabeth
March 5th, 2013
5:19 pm
CORRECTION:
WRONG, as I posted at 5:04 pm: “Moreover, you are incorrect to imply that Jefferson, himself, chose to ‘alter(ed) the declaration to exclude slaves and freed blacks.’ Please see, below, the paragraph that Jefferson had actually written to be included in the “Declaration of Independence” which he was “Declaration of Independence” if Jefferson did not delete his paragraph condemning slavery.”
CORRECTED: “Moreover, you are incorrect to imply that Jefferson, himself, chose to ‘alter(ed) the declaration to exclude slaves and freed blacks.’ Please see, below, the paragraph, condemning slavery, that Jefferson actually had written, which was to be included in the Declaration of Independence, but which Representatives from Georgia and South Carolina insisted Jefferson delete before they would sign the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson only deleted that paragraph, at their insistence, so that the Declaration of Independence would have unanimous support from all of the American colonies and so that this nation could continue to be built. See facts below:” :
Private Citizen
March 5th, 2013
5:23 pm
According to Eugene, the political impact of “school board” is that is utilised to give a political office to one race. This makes for a good case study on “What in the world is a school board in Georgia and why do people thing they are valuable?” In this case, the school function is being prostituted or appropriated for an altogether different political agenda that has nothing to do with education.
School boards are nothing more than money nests that allow rooted locals to manipulate contracting.
Trisha Doherty
March 5th, 2013
5:25 pm
I am very grateful I matriculated to private school after 3rd grade.
You really DO get what you pay for in life.
PSDad
March 5th, 2013
5:28 pm
@ Mareen to your question “Why is DeKalb still paying {attorney} Wilson?” Orson responded: “We cannot do anything until we have a quorum.” Your understand that “he meant they were still paying, but could not do anything about that until they have a quorum.”
To me Orson’s response is evasive. I wonder how he would answer a more direct inquiry, such as: “Will you vote to stop paying for this attorney when you have a Quorum. I’ll direct $50 to any charity you chose if Orson gives a direct (yes or no) response to that question.
indigo
March 5th, 2013
5:29 pm
Those who have any sort of political power apparently find it so intoxicating that it’s next to impossible to voluntarily give it up.
Private Citizen
March 5th, 2013
5:44 pm
Regarding school boards and “democracy,” please explain to me the political levers that a school board pulls and how these affect greater society.
Private Citizen
March 5th, 2013
5:45 pm
I’m calling you out, Paulo and Big Bill.
bootney farnsworth
March 5th, 2013
6:01 pm
@ PC
didn’t bother to read Paulo, but scanned big bill.
Jesus himself couldn’t break down those walls.
pb
March 5th, 2013
6:35 pm
Trisha Doherty,
This issue and this column have nothing to do with Hugo Chavez’ passing away, and your crude comments about it.Nice warm-hearted feelings you have,,,