Nancy Jester resigns from DeKalb school board
Nancy Jester has resigned her seat on the DeKalb Board of Education. She was suspended, along with her five colleagues. so she was on her way out anyway.
But she is no longer a party — unwilling as she says she was — to the court challenge being led by her former board colleague Eugene Walker. So, while Jester’s actions here may be symbolic, they do undermine the legal fight to stop the suspensions and the appointment of replacements by the governor.
Her decision also helps in the public relations department as DeKalb voters are weary of this drama and want to move on. Jester seems to have a lot of good will in DeKalb and this act will only enhance her standing, setting her up for a successful return to the board if she chooses to run in the future. (There is already speculation that she may seek higher office. )
Jester told AJC political reporter Greg Bluestein that she intends to continue her education advocacy and push for broader school change including greater choice.
“We invest in failure all the time. All we do is give more money. All that does, with that extra dollar, is you just bought more failure. I support the portability of state funding to other public options, whether it’s an independent charter or another district,” Jester said.
Echoing her guard rail theme from the state board hearing, Jester said, “How do we put up more guard rails to prevent a county like DeKalb from slipping into the abyss for years? And I think it’s insane that school districts aren’t required to have more reserves and that they’re allowed to build giant deficits.”
Bluestein asked her: Will others follow her lead today and resign? (Speculation is that Pam Speaks may resign today as well.)
“I don’t know what the others will do. I know that some of them feel strongly about the legal issues. … I hope that we don’t have a long protracted fight over the issue, but there might be. And I don’t think that’s very healing for the community. That’s one reason I wanted to resign – it distracts from the focus on kids and taxpayers,” said Jester.
I am getting copied on emails that folks are sending Jester. Here is an excerpt from one:
You are so bright and you wanted to do so much for DeKalb County’s schools. We needed a strong financial leader. I am sorry the majority of the board put their own personal interests ahead of the children. With all the discord, I hope that an ethical code of conduct will be developed for the board. I hope standards are set. We need people on the school board who demonstrate their support of education by their actions and not by rhetoric.
Let us hope that something positive comes from such lessons learned from years of dysfunctional management of our school. You were only there a short time and you tried hard to enact some changes. Thank you for taking the high road and resigning. You are to be commended for your leadership and courage in a difficult situation. The money spent on lawyers would do so much if it was directed towards the classroom. Best of luck to you in your future endeavors. I hope you will run again for office.
Here is Jester’s letter to constituents explaining her decision and her timing:
I am writing today to express my gratitude and sincere thanks for the opportunity to serve you during the last two years. Please know how much I appreciate your supportive words, calls and prayers. I am proud of the work I did to expose the deceptive budgeting practices and bring a parent’s perspective to the board.
In the upcoming weeks, I’ll be blogging about various educational issues, legislation and events of importance to DeKalb and our state. We have so much work to do together. As always, I remain steadfastly committed to being an advocate for children and taxpayers.
I look forward to seeing new faces on the DeKalb Board. I hope the new board and administrative team will reflect on what I said at our February board meeting about reforming our district. My remarks are available on my blog.
For clarity, I wanted to resign from the board in advance of the hearing in February, but refrained from doing so because of the pending court case. If the ruling had gone the other way, the remaining board members would have remained on the board and they would select my successor. I wanted to prevent that. I am more comfortable with the Governor and his team selecting my replacement.
Additionally, it is a matter of public record that I voted “no” on February 1st, to the hiring of the attorney to pursue the board’s legal challenges in the first place. I did not support in any way, the filing of legal action and I expressed my opposition in board meetings. Because the court has vacated their previous stay, the board members subject to the Governor’s executive order are now, no longer on the board. Once the Governor appoints new members, the board will have a quorum and be able to meet. At that point, the board will be able to make decisions regarding the use of district resources.
I hope that the next chapter for DeKalb schools brings about a reformation that begins to fulfill our obligation to our children. I hope this next chapter offers the taxpayers a product worthy of their investment. Thank you again for allowing me to serve you. I look forward to working with you to promote ideas and strategies that will empower parents and teachers and improve the educational lives of children.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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233 comments Add your comment
kaitsmom
March 6th, 2013
12:04 pm
@home-tutoring…I can guarantee if at least 3 are not black, NAACP and every other race-based group will be marching in the streets proclaiming the whites planned a take over from the beginning. I don’t think the Governor will want to go there. I am not holding my breath that this will be based purely on qualification. Perhaps they will add a Hispanic since they are significant population in Dekalb schools.
Maureen Downey
March 6th, 2013
12:05 pm
@Mr. Dekalb; The state law says that all board members have to be removed once a system is at risk for losing accreditation. The governor cannot pick and choose which members to oust and which to keep.
Jester’s situation is not a result of the SACS report, but the law that the Legislature passed. The other three members being kept on the board only assumed office in January.
At first, the state lawyers said they had to go, too. But they reconsidered and decided that the law’s provision that every “eligible” member be ousted only applied to members who were already in office and not brand new ones.
Funny
March 6th, 2013
12:10 pm
Pat and Mike No,she did not have concern for the children! If she had she would have not taken money from the school system for this legal mess!
bu2
March 6th, 2013
12:10 pm
@Mr Dekalb County
The SACS just looks at the board as a whole. Either it works as a whole or it doesn’t. There’s no individual evaluation.
Ms. Jester did get some criticism from SACS for announcing some of her votes before meetings when she expected to lose and thereby, undermining the board’s authority and ability to work together. Some board members (no indication who) got criticism for asking for reports that took substantial staff time to complete without getting board approval.
Ms. Jester and Ms. Edler were only on the board two years and didn’t have a lot to do with the problems which have been building for years, but that’s not considered relevant.
Dunwoody Mom
March 6th, 2013
12:23 pm
I certainly do not want to falsely accuse anyone, but Ms. Tyson was Marcus Turk’s (former CFO) direct boss. Marcus Turk was TERMINATED. Were there not any questions to Ms. Tyson as to why she and Mr. Turk were being “fuzzy” with the budget numbers, re: electricity and legal fees? Just ignorance or malfeasance???
Chamblee Dad
March 6th, 2013
12:24 pm
@kaitsmom re: Hispanics on Board I’ve been touting that for awhile & have been getting some push back = race shouldn’t be a criteria, we just need those who can do the best for all DeKalb. I get that in general – the Black/White & North/South divide has killed us forever. I suspect you could seat 9 black or 9 white & get an excellent board (or a crappy one too), but how would that fly? So diversity will be factor – don’t kid yourself. BUT if there is a truly disenfranchised group in DeKalb, it is the Hispanics. I think some schools are doing a nice job of bridging that gap, I think we do pretty good at our school, but always could do better.
However systemwide they really have never had a “seat at the table.” This wouldn’t be guilt-based “mercy date” – it would serve all DeKalb. And yes, there are large populations of Asians & Indians in our school, and the system as a whole We don’t necessarily need a contrived rainbow board, but one that brings a voice to all, you get more “buy in.” Out of 150+ there should certainly be many more than qualified. Sad thing is, they might not survive an election when that comes around.
indigo
March 6th, 2013
12:24 pm
She is the only whte person to resign?
All the rest are black?
Oh well. The professional victims always hang on to the bitter end.
Centrist
March 6th, 2013
12:26 pm
But Ms. Downey Mr. Dekalb brings up a good point – If the Governor thinks individual board members (like Ms. Jester) were doing a good job, he could reinstate them individually on appeal. Yet you earlier pooh-poohed that idea. I suggested this may have been a motivation for Ms. Jester to have (finally) have resigned. Does she have to send in an appeal, or is it automatic?
Maureen Downey
March 6th, 2013
12:33 pm
@Centrist, In resigning, Jester has lost her ability to appeal for reinstatement. And she probably had cause to believe she would not be reinstated.
I don’t think the governor would want to set a precedent of removing locally elected boards only to then reinstate one or two people. It seems politically wiser to replace all of them. Keep in mind that none of thee board members has been accused of a crime. How would Deal explain to voters putting one board member back on and not another? As Jay Cunningham noted, he was re-elected by a wide margin in his district. So, for example, if the governor were to use voter sentiment as expressed in election tallies, he would have to consider others besides Jester for reinstatement.
Maureen
Bernie
March 6th, 2013
12:34 pm
A possibile conversation in Nancy’s mind – “Oh God! what about the neighbors,friends, church members, The kids and their friends, No more sleepovers!, No more weekend outings of invatation for them, and anger from family being associated with this spectacle. No one would ever speak to ME again.” I can No longer handle this!
I will RESIGN, Immeadiately, thats it!
Problem solved!!
Centrist
March 6th, 2013
12:35 pm
Good answer, Ms. Downey. I now agree as you have outlined.
kaitsmom
March 6th, 2013
12:37 pm
@Chamblee Dad…I think they will have to get peoople that reflect the community. Otherwise they will not survive an election. You could put all whites, but they will quickly be replaced by someone from the community. Not that that would happen anyway.
dekalbite
March 6th, 2013
12:42 pm
““Ramona Tyson is heading up the school district’s response to SACS, or so she stated at the SBOE hearing.”
Surely not.
This was her report to SACS in 2010. Thousands of pages scanned in (not even typed), totally unorganized. I am not making this up – scanned documents – many are crooked pages – they didn’t even take the time to scan them properly (see link to report below).
PLEASE click on this report to see what was handed to SACS. Has anyone ever seen a report like this? No typing, just pages submitted by different departments, scanned in and saved:
http://dekalbschoolwatch.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/response-to-sacs-inquiry-july28-2010.pdf
gsmith
March 6th, 2013
12:45 pm
the person who was not the problem on the school board has the dignity to resign.
bigbill
March 6th, 2013
12:49 pm
It is important to note that even a DBOE member like Nancy Jeter (who comes to the table with a conservative perspective) has, like John Trotter, serious concerns and criticisms about the role of AdvancED/SACS in its accreditation process evaluating the performance of DBOE members. In a December 28, 2012 posting on her “What’s Up With That” blog entitled “Process Versus Results – Accreditation By SACS,” Ms. Jeter reports attending a school board member training session conducted by AdvancED officials and asking the AdvancED officials “about how student achievement should factor into accreditation,” noting as she did that Georgia did not compare well in the recently released graduation statistics. This is her question followed by the AdvancED official’s answer:
“If processes are used effectively, but achievement results are not improved, what does that say about accreditation? What is it we’re accrediting? If it doesn’t correlate strongly with, or have a causal relationship actually, to results for children in achievement, then it is a…the whole process seems to dichotomize there and I’m concerned about that. Are we focused on process or are we focused on results?”
The AdvancED official responded: “As far as results…it is a process. Going through this process, the school or district will go through and lock on what’s happening. Accreditation is not based solely on student results.”
Ms. Jeter goes on to state: “So there you have it. And you pay for this process with your tax dollars and cede power over your property values to a concept administered by an unaccountable group, made up of educational bureaucrats. In the end, the process does not guarantee, judge or rank the quality of the results of the education provided to students in your school or district.”
“Our graduates – our frighteningly few graduates – cannot take process to the bank”
http://www.nancyjester.com/sacs/dec282012accreditation.aspx
Ms. Jeter gets it: the public school accreditation role which AdvancED/SACS has carved out for itself is flawed at its core. It does not properly evaluate how the school board’s behavior (which it has undertaken to evaluate) directly results in poor academic performance by the students in the system. Therefore, as the attorneys for Gene Walker and the school board have argued (and as I believe a conservative like Ms. Jeter would appreciate), suspending, and then removing public school board members who were duly elected by the voters in each of their districts pursuant to an accrediting process and report which is so fundamentally flawed constitutes a violation of the members’ constitutional rights, including Ms. Jeter’s rights. I would respectfully suggest to Ms. Jeter that she would have performed a better public service, better than just resigning, by rejoining the legal fight to retain the public office to which her constituents elected her by raising the issues about anti-democratic flawed role of AdvancED/SACS as she has done so eloquently in her blog. Ms. Jeter and the other board members should join together in the legal fight to stop the anti-democratic and unconstitutional process employed here to remove them from office. They should stay and fight to make the school system better for the students. And if they fail, they can answer to the voters in the next election. No one should surrender to this highly politicized, completely undemocratic process. A lot of folks died to preserve our system of democratically electing public officials in this country. We should not allow the will of the voters to be thwarted in this way, especially by an unelected and unaccountable group of bureaucrats like those in charge at AdvancED/SACS.
dekalbite@ big picture
March 6th, 2013
12:51 pm
“Was Tyson the one who had the idea for “Triage,” which relied, in part, on using gifted kids to teach kids who weren’t understanding material?”
http://dekalbschoolwatch.blogspot.com/2011/07/triage-thats-what-theyre-calling-plan.html
A pretty good explanation and a link to the official powerpoint of Triage (Triaging for Improved Academic Achievement: A Cross Divisional Collaboration). There is also a link to the video of the BOE meeting where it is presented.
No quantifiably measurable learning objectives and the benchmarks and dates for the benchmarks? This program was abandoned rather quickly.
Fred ™
March 6th, 2013
12:56 pm
Did we change the conversation to Michelle O?
Makes you feel like a REAL man to insult the President’s wife doesn’t it? My you Republicans are so cool. What’s next? Insult his little girls for the Big Man feeling again?
RexDogma
March 6th, 2013
12:58 pm
Jester as in court Jester. This woman is a joke!!!
Private Citizen
March 6th, 2013
1:10 pm
It was recently observed that Bernie and Mountain Man were seen in a car together driving around Little Five Points and Mountain Man had a small megaphone pointed out the window saying, Shawty, Wanna ride? in a effort to reform himself and get the down low on the urban peoples. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF4ny7KivzA
Chamblee Dad
March 6th, 2013
1:10 pm
@Kaitsmom That was sort of my point at the end. Reading the quotes from those considering the applicants, they’ve made it clear that geography & demographics are a factor: Mason “We’re looking at the geographic and demographic breakdown of DeKalb. We want to get this right, because we care about the district’s future.”
But let’s say you end up with 3 white, 5 black, a Hispanic (maybe 3/4/1 & Aisian/Indian for #9).
If that happend, I think next election, any non-white/black would not get reelected, regardless of perceived performance by most county-wide. We are talking DeKalb.
DeKalb Inside Out
March 6th, 2013
1:10 pm
RexDogma, Decatur Dad, et al
Jester is a joke? Please explain …. otherwise … you’re funny
Chamblee Dad
March 6th, 2013
1:13 pm
@Maureen That makes me think, maybe answered elsewhere, but the 6 replacements, will be designated as replacing a specific ousted board member? & if so that means a specific district = residency requirements & reelection in that district?
Maureen Downey
March 6th, 2013
1:22 pm
@Chamblee, I asked that a while back and was told by the governor’s office that the chosen candidates would have to be from the same districts.
Atlanta Media Guy
March 6th, 2013
1:29 pm
@RexDogma..Okay Dr. Walker, we know you have many friends on here making fun of Ms. Jester. We know Nancy came in and changed the game. The Clew Crew had done irreparable harm inside the Palace, Tyson maintained it and Atkinson added to it, by recommendation from Elgart, SACS and of course you the good Doctor.
What is interesting, Nancy hates SACS just as much as everyone else. When Clew got SACS changed to accrediting the entire district, the system has been on a slow burn to H&%L ever since. When Elgart said he had been involved with DCSS accreditation for 10 years, it clicked! SACS is part of the issue and needs to be reviewed by the new BOE. They need to study other options. Say all you want about Nancy, but sunshine is the greatest thing in a Palace that has been dark and secretive for too long!
Principal Skinner
March 6th, 2013
1:39 pm
Fred
Not a Republican
BIG swing and a miss!!!!!!!!
Chamblee Dad
March 6th, 2013
1:45 pm
Thanks Maureen, I figured it would have to, but this is pretty uncharted territory. But the mention by Mason made me wonder “you have to consider geography anyway for each district, why mention it?”
@Kaitsmom Based on Maureen’s answer that’s what what has me concerned. Even if they placed a Hispanic in a district where they qualified for residency, would they win re-election, would their district give them a chance? Hard to say, but my gut says no. In fact, if any replacement doesn’t “look like” the typical board member for that district, that diversity is being “imposed” where not really welcome, how would that fly come election time, or even before, as in right after announced?
I sincerely hope that any 6 that on their face are considered by most to be qualified are given a chance to show what they can, and really the new board be given a chance to do something to improve things, I’m not assuming so given history.
Think about it, once seated & from the very first meeting, this will be the most scrutinized school board in the history of Georgia, and rightfully so. And that goes by district. Every vote will be evaluated by many as how it helps/hurts their district, regardless of how it might help/hurt the whole system. And that would be damaging. Opposition – “hey look at his/her voting record, he/she aren’t “taking care” of us, but I would do what’s best for “us” not “all.”
dekalbite
March 6th, 2013
1:49 pm
I hope Ernest Brown applied and is considered. He is bright, articulate, has kids in the system, understands finance, and is schoolhouse oriented.
RR Superstar
March 6th, 2013
1:51 pm
The word is integrity – doing what you say you are going to do. Congratulations Ms. Jester on showing true integrity. Unfortunately, many of the other board members and certainly not Eugene will not follow your lead.
Principal Skinner
March 6th, 2013
1:55 pm
MD
Any chance that you can get a list, partial or nearly complete, of those 150 who submitted their applications for the DBOE? I’ve heard a few names, and have been mostly impressed
Chamblee Dad
March 6th, 2013
1:55 pm
@ AMG Totally agree that SACS does seem to be part of the problem, maybe a large part, at least as to how the system works as a whole. BUT I know that while you & I have both been very vocal that the entire central office needs to be cleaned up, I also know that we’ve been saying for a long time that the board has been very dysfunctional & has created many of these problems too.
So if for now SACS is a main reason the DBOE is replaced (well 6 of 9), I can live with it . . . for now. Step one. But I agree there are alot of steps after that & SACS is one. At least for me. SACS has not passed the smell test for a long time, the last hearing seemed to bring it home – something’s not right, certainly not when it comes to student performance. Jester is right on this one.
Educator for Life
March 6th, 2013
1:57 pm
Yay! I applied today!
Dunwoody Mom
March 6th, 2013
1:58 pm
Important to remember is that the appointed board members are just placeholders until the elections in November 2014. I would assume those appointed members, if they so choose, could run for the same position, but at this point, they are not beholden to an electorate. Hopefully this will allow for decisions based on what is best for the entire school system and not for each individual board members district. Time will tell.
masterB
March 6th, 2013
2:07 pm
resign after begin fired??? hello?? it should work the other way around.
Chamblee Dad
March 6th, 2013
2:14 pm
@Dunwoody Mom Looks like we are on the same page, but while I’ve been called naive, dillusional & overly optimistic for wanting to even work to save the whole system, I’m not naive enough to think this could not go so good. Not beholden to an electorate, yes, until they vote opposite what his/her designated district “wants.” “Time will tell.” Yes, so I’ll say now, let’s give these people a chance.
I’m losing Jester. I voted for her, but I’ve got to give her replacement a chance. More than that, support, to do right for the whole system, not just my district.
SWGA Parent
March 6th, 2013
2:15 pm
Maureen…Who pays now for continued legal battles to the GA Supreme Court. IMHO now that these members have been removed their legal representation should have to be paid by the individual suspended members instead of the Dekalb County taxpayers.
Hoping the inside of the house will be cleaned out next
March 6th, 2013
2:16 pm
Now, to clean house from inside the legal dept to the state capitol back to the legal dept. And if the others had sense, they would leave it alone and bow out quietly, before folks get indicted.
Mountain Man
March 6th, 2013
2:16 pm
“resign after begin fired??? hello?? it should work the other way around.”
God, I hate having to say the same things over and over to people who apparently don’t have any ability to read or understand.
Nancy Jester was not fired. The ENTIRE BOARD (as a whole, excepting new members) was SUSPENDED WITH PAY. She still had the right to petition for reinstatement by the Governor. She has voluntarily relinquished that right and resigned her position. As should ALL of the suspended Board members. The remaining Board members will get their regular pay in spite of being suspended, and are carrying on a legal battle to be reinstated that is costing Dekalb county taxpayers LOTS OIF MONEY.
Do you understand now? Or are you a graduate of Dekalb County School System?
DeKalb Inside Out
March 6th, 2013
2:17 pm
DeKalb Board of Education elections are non partisan and are therefore done in the primary in July. I believe elected officials take the place of appointed officials immediately and do not wait until January.
Dunwoody
March 6th, 2013
2:17 pm
Dunwoody Mom, the school board elections are in July, so the wait is not too far away. What do you think of Jester running for senate against fran? Or do you think we could encourage her to run for school board again?
Dunwoody Mom
March 6th, 2013
2:21 pm
I had a conversation with someone several weeks ago and they were pretty sure they would not take office until Jan, 2015, it isn’t a big deal.
I had not heard the “rumor” of Nancy running against Millar – it’s interesting. I’m not sure she could win – there are a lot of Dunwoody residents that don’t like change, any change, even if it’s for the best.
Rockerbabe
March 6th, 2013
2:25 pm
I think that the journalist at the AJC have done a terrible job in informing the citizens of Dekalb county regarding the “discord” at the school board. I have yet to understand what all of the fuss is about. People with different pov have a right to their own personel pov and to pursue the agenda they ran on during the election cycle. . .or is it that once elected, one has to “fall in line” and do what the state school board and the accrediting agencies want? If I really know what was going on besides “discord” maybe I and a lot other Dekalb citizens would understand more fully. So until then, I think all of this stinks!
Educator for Life
March 6th, 2013
2:28 pm
@Rockerbabe, I am confused as to why you think it’s the AJC’s responsibility to inform citizens about “discord”. I would bet all of my money (not much) that you have never been to a board meeting. Why are you looking to be spoon-fed, when you can go out and get the information yourself?
What stinks is that you are simply looking to find something to complain about.
Educator for Life
March 6th, 2013
2:31 pm
@Mountain Man, you are right, but you seem to be trying to educate people who won’t read all the facts before commenting.
BTW, I am a graduate of DeKalb, Druid Hills to be exact. So, your comment doesn’t hold water!!! LOL
Maureen Downey
March 6th, 2013
2:34 pm
@SWGA, I would assume that the first order of business of the new DeKalb board — which may be announced by the end of next week — will be to stop payment of the legal fees.
The AJC is looking at how this legal fight was approved in executive session. Stay tuned for that story.
Maureen
Mountain Man
March 6th, 2013
2:39 pm
“Totally agree that SACS does seem to be part of the problem, maybe a large part”
I don’t understand why people keep blaming SACS. Did SACS make them employ their relatives? Did SACS cause them to pass and implement ILLEGAL deficit budgets?
If the only complaint against Dekalb BOE was its meddling in individual school affairs and you though Board members should have that right, you could blame SACS. In 1999, SACS put Cherokee County on probation for basically that alone. The citizens could have just blamed SACS but instead, they started a recall and forced the resignation of the offending Board member. If SACS puts a county on probation that has great student acheivement, and good budgeting, thenyou might have some reason for blame. But when SACS seems to be the ONLY one who cares about the corruption in Dekalb (the voters obviously don’t care), then I think your argument doesn’t carry much water.
ideasbm
March 6th, 2013
2:41 pm
It seems some of the board holders, not just Dekalb, use this for their full time job and income instead of a volunteer job that only reimbuses expenses. If not a full time they use it to supplement another part time job. The pay for all board members for all counties should be expense report only with valid receipt if over 25 dollars. This would cull the nepotism hiring and other things that the Dekalb board is accused of.
Mountain Man
March 6th, 2013
2:43 pm
“BTW, I am a graduate of DeKalb, Druid Hills to be exact. So, your comment doesn’t hold water!!! LOL”
My wife is also a graduate of Dekalb County – Clarkston High School to be specific, and obviously she is not one of those I malign. Perhaps I should have said RECENT graduate of Dekalb County.
Concerned DeKalb Mom
March 6th, 2013
2:43 pm
@dekalblite…I agree; Ernest would be a great choice.
Principal Skinner
March 6th, 2013
2:45 pm
“The AJC is looking at how this legal fight was approved in executive session. Stay tuned for that story.”
Ooooo, a teaser. I love cliff-hangers. Flush out the details ajc. Keep digging!
Educator for Life
March 6th, 2013
2:47 pm
@Mountain Man, agreed! Recent DeKalb hasn’t produced as many successful and meaningful citizens. Clarkston Angoras! My cousins alll went there in the 80’s.