DeKalb set for its own version of papal white smoke to rise today. Deal to announce six new school board members.
Millions of Catholics are waiting for the white smoke to rise from Sistine Chapel, signifying their church has a new leader. Thousands of DeKalb residents are waiting for their own version of white smoke to rise today from the Capitol.
Gov. Nathan Deal is scheduled to announce new leaders for the DeKalb school board at 11 a.m. Those new board members will be sworn in today, according to the AJC political reporter Greg Bluestein, who already talked to the governor this morning at a breakfast event.
When the smoke clears today, DeKalb will have a functioning school board. The district may also have residual bitterness from those who feel that Deal overstepped his legal bounds in ousting six legally elected board members. Those board members were elected by as much as 72 percent of the voters in their districts.
The newly appointed board members can best overcome that ill will with competent and quick action. The six Deal appointees, culled from an applicant pool of more than 400, and the three newly elected board members spared suspension have to manage a badly battered district into solvency and stability.
And they have to do it with a lot of people watching for the first misstep. Even slight frictions will be parsed as possible signs of the discord that doomed their predecessors.
So, to the new board, welcome. I hope you are prepared for all the attention and the inevitable criticisms.
But I hope you’re also prepared to ignore the critics when you believe you’re acting in the best interest of the children of DeKalb.
Those children have continued to grapple with linear equations and conjugate French verbs. They’ve won robotic contests, earned college scholarships and sold wrapping paper.
They’ve done their jobs. Now, it’s time for school board members to do theirs.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
75 comments Add your comment
Private Citizen
March 13th, 2013
11:13 am
put through a text editor to remove formatting…
“Two acts stimulated the production of the Murdy-Carter report in 1985, which called for the protection of the remaining land. These were the dredging of Candler Lake and the sale of five acres of land to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. In 1999 Emory built a shuttle road along the southern edge of the property. In response to the outcry from the Emory community, President William M. Chace pledged that he would protect the land from further encroachment, and he created the Lullwater Task Force to fulfill that purpose.”
_____________
So, Emory University sold 5 acres to environmentally sensitive land to SACS. And this means what? (you know the school has received a fair amount of “land donations.”)
Truth in Moderation
March 13th, 2013
11:14 am
“Two acts stimulated the production of the Murdy-Carter report in 1985, which called for the protection of the remaining land. These were the dredging of Candler Lake and the sale of 5 acres of land to the Southern Association of Colleges and schools.”
p. 42
“Lullwater Comprehensive Management Plan”
Try googling above title.
Advance-ed
1866 Southern Lane
Decatur, GA 30033
Check this on google maps
Private Citizen
March 13th, 2013
11:19 am
Truth, Promoting unaffordable boutique products is not computing is build, dear one. Let’s just say Google and Amazon.com are not built on Apple computing.
I’m sure you like Rolls Royce. I like them, too. Nice quiet, hand built cars. Never mind that just the (tax) fee for putting a license plate on one would be thousands. See, truth, this is the problem in Georgia. It seems there are few people who see basic concepts, can not separate their person wealth Apple fan-boi fetish from the fact that there is not a kid in a million in rural Georgia that is going to buy an expensive consumer item like that. hey, I gotta go, cause this conversation just ain’t happening, and I’m not going to waste my time getting trolled by your designer brand wrenches. Truth, have you ever visited Rodeo Drive? You ought to. It’s pretty tacky.
Dr. John Trotter
March 13th, 2013
11:20 am
What will change? Nothing…when it comes to what really goes on in the schools. The new members of the school board will go out of their way to be nice in public. The county will essentially be left as a wasteland. No one is thinking this: “Wow, SACS and the Governor of Georgia have really cleaned up the DeKalb School System and improved education there. Let’s now move our company to DeKalb County.” This is laughable. What has changed is this: The State of Georgia has abdicated more of its responsibility to an outside influence, to a private, non-accountable, money-grubbing company which is full of conflicts of interest.
The State of Georgia has allowed SACS to destroy not just another school system but another county. The Governor can name Werner Rogers, Kathleen Mathers, Melanie Stockwell, and all of the other politically-connected to the “new” DeKalb School Board…but nothing in the individual school buildings will change for the good. In fact, everything will get worse because, like in Clayton County, everyone will be afraid to even utter the word “pie” because it starts with a “p.” The problems fester and get much worse.
Let’s see now…since Savior Mark Elgart descended from the Alpharetta Heavens upon the lowly Nazarethic Clayton County, its anchor mall, Southlake Mall, just went into foreclosure. Yes, Markie Mark has really “helped” Clayton County. The Piccadilly Restaurant on Highway 85 in Riverdale closed. So did Lowe’s and Publix in Riverdale. D^mn! That Messiah from Alpharetta sure brought industry and big business back to Clayton County. I think that I hear that the Pharaoh Locust Company of Egypt will be moving into the Performing Art Center on Mt. Zion Boulevard next to Interstate 75 this April.
The Plague of Darkness was ushered into Clayton County by SACS in 2008, and I hear that reason that Eldrin Bell was fired by the voters was that he couldn’t pump enough sunshine into Clayton County. Mark Elgart and SACS has ushered in a perennial Tornado Watch. Clayton County was improved like the bombs had improved Dresden during World War II.
Maybe Eldrin and the other Clayton County leaders couldn’t find enough of the “good black people” like the Governor is apparently looking for in DeKalb County. Did the Governor actually say this? This is what I am hearing. It’s all about control and the money, folks. It’s not really about helping the teachers within the individual schools so that they can teach the students. The discipline is out of hand in the individual schools, but we haven’t heard Mark Elgart, SACS, or any Governor mention this one time about Clayton or DeKalb. Not one time. The teachers need to be empowered to do their jobs.
Private Citizen
March 13th, 2013
11:23 am
Hey Truth If you weren’t an Apple fan-gurl, you might know how to format a .pdf file. Whah ha ha hoo hoo hoo!
Truth in Moderation
March 13th, 2013
11:36 am
“[PDF]
FIFTH YEAR INTERIM REPORT Southern Association of Colleges …
http://www.oirpe.emory.edu/…/2010%205th%20year%20interim%20repor…File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat – Quick View
Mar 15, 2010 – Southern Association of Colleges and Schools …. That Emory University has conducted an honest assessment of compliance … nine buildings on the National Register of Historic Places and incorporates land that was the site …”
From google search
Private Citizen
March 13th, 2013
11:38 am
Clayton County, its anchor mall, Southlake Mall, just went into foreclosure… The Piccadilly Restaurant on Highway 85 in Riverdale closed. So did Lowe’s and Publix in Riverdale.
Jeeze, man, that’s horrible. I’m sorry. Where I live I’ve seen my favorite grocery store close 1… 2… 3… times. This morning I just drove 30 miles each direction to get to small independent grocery store without the corporate music playing and all of that. That’s quite a report about Clayton County and the prosperity of current business-as-usual.
I recently told a police lieutenant where they have build a new expensive headquarters, “You’ve got a boarded up brand new shopping center next to you, and a housing subdivision across the street that wants nothing to do with you. Take a hint, man.”
Make that 4 grocery stores closed. I forget about the one next to the new police center looks like it was built for filming a “COPS” show. Yes, these arrangements suck every bit of life out of a place and leave it a shell.
Truth in Moderation
March 13th, 2013
11:40 am
“Private Citizen”
CORRUPTION ON DISPLAY, for the discerning reader.
Private Citizen
March 13th, 2013
11:41 am
Truth, I’m going to start charging you per html link. http://www.oirpe.emory.edu/Accreditation/2010%205th%20year%20interim%20report.pdf
Private Citizen
March 13th, 2013
11:44 am
Dr. Trotter, Subtext: “Colonisation.”
Truth in Moderation
March 13th, 2013
12:06 pm
An interesting factoid in Atlanta/Coca-Cola history:
Robert Winship Woodruff was a longtime president of the company. Emory was a HUGE benefactor of their stock.
“Woodruff’s personal chauffeur was Luther Cain, Jr., father of businessman and 2012 Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_W._Woodruff
Truth in Moderation
March 13th, 2013
12:29 pm
“since Savior Mark Elgart descended from the Alpharetta Heavens”
WHY DO YOU KEEP REFERRING TO ALPHARETTA?
THEIR HEADQUARTERS IS NEXT TO EMORY/ LULLWATER IN DECATUR!
Truth in Moderation
March 13th, 2013
12:37 pm
“Advance-ed
1866 Southern Lane
Decatur, GA 30033
Check this on google maps”
DIDN’T YOU NOTICE THIS ADDRESS, DR. TROTTER?
Hmmmm. Are you really against Mr. Elgart and his organization?
Private Citizen
March 13th, 2013
1:48 pm
Truth, I don’t know the business structure, but I think “SACS” (regulation of colleges) is the Southern Lane address, and “AdvancED” (regulation of K12) is in Alpharetta. One of them basically owns the other.
Private Citizen
March 13th, 2013
1:49 pm
Vatican satire cartoon: http://i.imgur.com/P72mVGv.jpg
Truth in Moderation
March 13th, 2013
2:07 pm
Advanc-ed gobbled up all the regional 501c3 independent accrediting agencies.
Advanc-ed is the “parent organization for NCA CASI, SACS CASI, and NSSE”
According to Mark Elgart’s testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor , and Pensions.
At the end of his testimony, he gave the Decatur address for Advanc-ed.
I believe Mr. Elgart lives in Alpharetta.
Private Citizen
March 13th, 2013
4:05 pm
compensation comparison: Roman Catholic Pope vs Georgia school district superintendent
“The Pope does not receive any pay, nor does he have a bank account.” “the Pope’s compensation consists of, “a place to stay and something to eat.”
Private Citizen
March 13th, 2013
4:12 pm
So Alpharetta is the location of the regulation Battlestar Gallactica. Guessing that Mr. Elgart’s compensation exceeds $400k per year. Nice exploit, multi-millionaire soon enough, selling the “do’s and don’ts” via private regulation. I think the term “non profit” is misleading when executive compensation is clearly profitable for the executive caste of a “non-profit” agency.
I think rich countries outside the USA watch their budgets a little closer. The USA is the only country subcontracting government management and then the manager is paid 4x a government management wage.
Private Citizen
March 13th, 2013
4:13 pm
Pope: 1
Georgia superintendent: 0
AdvancED: 0
Truth in Moderation
March 13th, 2013
6:01 pm
Legally, what is a “parent organization” that now has a momopoly on former INDEPENDENT 501c3 charity accrediting agencies?
NOWHERE can I find exactly what “Advanc-ed is IN THE EYES OF THE IRS.
Does anyone out there know?
WHY IS THIS INFORMATION NOT READILY AVAILABLE? MR. ELGART DOESN’T EVEN TELL THE SENATE COMMITTEE.
Truth in Moderation
March 13th, 2013
8:25 pm
Here are quotes from the Advanc-ed website. You will notice that it has a .org designation. This usually denotes that it is not COMMERCIAL.
ht tp://www.advanc-ed.org/executive-leadership
“His visionary leadership and collaborative skills were pivotal to the successful unification of the 11 SACS CASI states, the 19 North Central states, and the National Study of School Evaluation (a research organization) under the umbrella of AdvancED.”
NOTICE THEY USE THE UNDEFINED TERMS “UNIFICATION” and “UMBRELLA” Legally, how was this done? How are they characterized by the IRS?
It gets even more confusing further down:
“Elgart currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Knowledge Alliance and Measured Progress. He is a National Advisor for the National Staff Development Council. In July 2011 he was recognized by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as one of the 100 most influential people in Metropolitan Atlanta. Elgart also represents AdvancED as a lead business partner with the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO).”
SO, HOW ARE ADVANC-ED AND CCSSO CONNECTED, LEGALLY? ARE THEY?
What is the “KNOWLEDGE ALLIANCE AND MEASURED PROGRESS”
Mr. Elgart sounds like a busy man.
MORE INFO HERE:
“[PDF]
2011 Annual Report – AdvancED
http://www.advanc-ed.org/webfm_send/314File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat – Quick View
and CEO. Mark A. Elgart,. Ed.D. As I look back on the 2010-2011 school year, we … opened the AdvancED Global Headquarters in Alpharetta, GA, which now …”
google result
Truth in Moderation
March 13th, 2013
8:55 pm
9115 Westside Parkway Alpharetta, GA 30009
google this. NICE DIGS!
Private Citizen
March 13th, 2013
9:07 pm
Truth. http://postimage.org/image/tbmqx5kb9/
OriginalProf
March 14th, 2013
2:42 pm
@ Truth in Moderation.
I can’t say for sure how IRS views AdvancEd, but since it is a division of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) I assume it’s viewed as non-profit as SACS is.
SACS, founded in 1895 (and probably not easily ousted), is one of several regional accrediting agencies. The other in our area is the North Central Association. Both cover many states.
You need to understand the structure of SACS. It has 2 divisions. One is the Commission on Colleges, with which I’m most familiar, which accredits Southern colleges and universities; and the other is AdvancEd, which accredits Southern K-12 schools. This latter agency was formed in 2006 by consolidating two regional accrediting agencies for K-12 schools: the ones for SACS and for the North Central Association.
I can’t answer your specific questions above, but the place where I think you should carry on your detective work is SACS, since that is the parent organization of AdvancEd. It sounds to me as if the accreditation of K-12 schools is much more of a “market,” with more associated political controversy, than is the accreditation of colleges and universities. That is staid by comparison, believe me.
OriginalProf
March 14th, 2013
2:59 pm
@ Truth. P. S. I should think that SACS is the “umbrella organization,” ultimately.