DeKalb Schools Could Lose Accreditation
Decatur Metro | December 19, 2012OK, I’m a little behind the 8-ball on bringing up this news, but there’s probably still a bit of interest in discussing it. On Monday, the AJC reported…
Georgia’s third largest school district, DeKalb County, was placed on probation Monday after a six-month-investigation into scores of complaints of mismanagement.
n a scathing report, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accuses DeKalb officials of engaging in bickering and nepotism while letting district finances wither. Mark Elgart, president and chief executive officer of SACS parent company AdvancED, also said the district had allowed academic achievement to slip.
The decision by the accrediting agency could have wide-ranging effects on the local economy, observers say, from discouraging businesses from relocating to DeKalb to depressing housing values, which already have dropped precipitously.
Yesterday, the AJC reported the reactions of residents and political-types to the threat of losing accreditation. Some DeKalb cities just want out.
“Some DeKalb cities just want out”. All DeKalb residents want out.
I’ve started the petition “Governor Nathan Deal and Georgia State Board of Education: Review SACS findings, if accurate REPLACE the Dekalb County School Board. ” and need your help to get it off the ground.
Will you take 30 seconds to sign it right now?
Please share with your friends!
http://www.change.org/petitions/governor-nathan-deal-and-georgia-state-board-of-education-review-sacs-findings-if-accurate-replace-the-dekalb-county-school-board
I’m not one who frequently rails about government being too big or incompetent, because I think a lot of that is overblown and ideologically motivated. But the DeKalb School Board does seem to be incompetent, and studies have already shown DeKalb Schools spend too much on administration.
Were they ever able to provide the list of positions that they claimed were cut? If they can’t provide such basic answers, then I say the state should take over.
Though DeKalb’s problems may benefit Decatur in the short term when it comes to property values, in the long run a failed DeKalb will negatively affect Decatur too, because of increased crime, higher taxes, and the decision of major employers to move out or choose not relocate to the area.
I remember years ago a college science teacher I had made the claim that the average school board member or county commissioner in Georgia had no more than an 8th grade education. Not sure if he meant that literally, and it seemed a dubious statement at the time, but when I hear some of these elected officials try to answer questions I wonder if that professor’s claim wasn’t essentially correct.
You can graduate from high school in Georgia, maybe even some colleges, and have just an 8th grade education.
Ain’t that the TROOTH! We here in the South don’t NEED no fancy education, because we got you Northerners to come down and remind us just how dumb and backwards we are. As long as we got fishin’, huntin’ and big trucks, we good.
Hey, some of my best friends are Georgians…….actually, so are my children! I’ve got great respect for Georgians, just not their public education. Georgians deserve better.
“You can graduate from high school in Georgia, maybe even some colleges, and have just an 8th grade education. ”
That’s probably true everwhere. Going through the motions to get a degree is certainly no guarantee of being an educated person. And supposedly something like 40% of college graduates never read a book again after graduating….and I’d guess a good portion of that cohort managed to avoid reading any books while in college too!
Completely agree that this is probaby a problem all over the country. But your college science teacher was referring to Georgia. Just trying to support the spirit of what he said about elected school board and county officials. Even if his comment is no longer strictly accurate and most have high school or college degrees, he might be essentially correct as you postulated. Their true educational level might not be much more than an 8th grade education. No matter where they were originally educated.
We like to think our City of Decatur is an island harbored from the storms of Dekalb County but we are not. We are fully integrated. This could have a big impact on Decatur. We definitely don’t want to be surrounded by a collapsing county.
FYI- Someone started a Change.org petition below.
http://www.change.org/petitions/governor-nathan-deal-and-georgia-state-board-of-education-review-sacs-findings-if-accurate-replace-the-dekalb-county-school-board
I agree. I’m also wondering if this will make even MORE people with school-aged kids move into Decatur and cause even more overcrowding.
Yup, and crowded schools are not what people pay high taxes for so some of those folks may switch over to private schools. Then they may become less supportive of high taxes for schools they don’t attend. That’s my fear. It’s been played out in many an affluent community with mediocre public schools.
Your argument is straight from Yogi Berra’s songbook: “Nobody goes there, it’s too crowded.” Annexing commercial land is not setting the school district down a path to mediocrity. Period.
Wait, I may have mixed up my threads. Thread-mixing is dangerous.
Yeah, this is about growth due to refugees from DeKalb County, not annexees.
In order for Dekalb to have a chance to keep accreditation, Deal needs to replace the board with intelligent, educated people whose only desire is to improve the education for all children in Dekalb. But, even at that, it is so far gone that I dont think that a year is enough time for a new board to accomplish that. I taught in Dekalb the last 3 years of my career. The school in which I taught was run by people who had no business being leaders of a school. THe school was disorganized and did not provide what the students needed. I have taught in 5 districts in my career. Dekalb was the worst. A smaller school system in Texas was the best. I think the district needs to break off into three separate school systems. One would be for north Dekalb, central and south Dekalb. I also attended several board meetings. There was a lot of sarcasm between board members. Some didn’t appear to have command of the English language. It was clear that there was a racial divide. It was painful to watch. Please Gov. Deal, do something about this. If nothing changes, I hope all of the cities in Dekalb decide to have their own systems like Decatur. But, that requires a change in Georgia law.
It seems, based on the SACS report and anecdotal reports from people who work in the system, that the Board and other officials are more concerned with the system being a jobs program than a school system for teaching children.
We didn’t need a report to tell us that. It’s been obvious for many years.
Re the behavior, communication skills, and agendas of DCSS Board members: I only know what I read here and in the AJC but if 10% of it’s true, wow. Just wow. This is how I picture the world as we know it ending–some politicos and bureaucrats so concerned with their own immediate needs that they bicker amongst one another right up until the meteor hits instead of spending the 3 years of warning in funding, supporting, and implementing a practical solution. Not that I myself know how to deflect a meteor but I am sure that overfunding the administrators and underfunding the thinkers and worker bees isn’t going to get the job done.
“Not that I myself know how to deflect a meteor but I am sure that overfunding the administrators and underfunding the thinkers and worker bees isn’t going to get the job done.”
I’m by no means an expert on the workings of school boards, but it seems they’d be better off run by technocrat types than by people who treat meetings like opportunities to preach to their constituents as if they were in church.
And they need to be in touch with the reality on the ground level, what is really happening in classrooms to teachers and students, vs. the official spiel. But how to get that knowledge up to school boards is a conundrum to me. School boards are supposed to give school administrators autonomy to get the job done and not micromanage school system operation. I recognize the grave danger if school board members were to micromanage daily operations. But it’s also not cool if they are clueless as to what is really happening below the Superintendent and Public Relations level. So how can word filter up? Not through teachers and principals who need to keep their jobs and focus on their daily work. Not through public input in which some parents are reluctant to speak up because their own childrens well-being is at stake and other parents speak up so much that no one is listening anymore. There’s legal action but that’s an awfully expensive way for all to communicate. It’s a conundrum.
If you have ever attended a Dekalb school board meeting, you know that the current board needs to go. Beyond wasting millions of dollars that should have gone to educating the kids, the past and present administrations have hired lots of high-salaried central office staff while protecting incompetent principals and teachers. No one expected miracles from the new superintendent, but she has done little to correct the problems at the school level.
The remaining dedicated and competent teachers are demoralized and looking at other districts for employment.
If you have not already signed, please it only takes about 30 seconds!
If you have share this lik with your friends….
http://www.change.org/petitions/governor-nathan-deal-and-georgia-state-board-of-education-review-sacs-findings-if-accurate-replace-the-dekalb-county-school-board
+1
Guys, the pressure on teachers and the unscrupulous behavior of some administrators is rampant in Dekalb. It is also a problem at Renfroe Middle School. We need to be thankful that we are small, we have great teachers, our superintendent and Board are extremely competent. Teachers in Dekalb have been speaking out for years. As usual the teaching force is the last to be heard. Good to great teachers flood out of the DeKalb system. You have some great teachers who stay, but many I speak with are over-burdened and ready to leave. In Decatur, we have been blessed, but the balance can tip quickly. The trend right now is that we in The Dec, send a large number of our children to the elementary schools, then we take them out for middle school. Many return to attend Decatur High. We, the citizens, need to ask why? The problems in DeKalb can hurt the Oasis, we call Decatur. If we are not careful. Stay involved! Ask questions. Why have so many teachers flooded out of RMS in the past few years? Were they all horrible? If so, who is making that call? Is it difficult to get substitutes to come to Renfroe? If so, why? I love this city, and I am a native. Now, that being said….. It is appropriate to keep and eye on DeKalb, but we better keep our eyes on our school system of 4 square miles. Especially RMS.
Wow, I think your kids are going to a different Renfroe than my kids. It is my favorite school in our little system. The teachers are absolutely amazing and my 8th grader has blossomed there after having a really hard time in elementary and at the 4/5. This thread is not about RMS, but I just wanted to give a shout-out to those awesome teachers at RMS (some of whom have been around a REALLY long time–not sure what you mean about teachers flooding from there!) and say that I have been really impressed during our three years there. Even more impressed than I was when my oldest was there the three years before that.
Seconded. While Renfroe suffers from the same fundamental challenge as every middle school — that they’re acne and hormone-addled pits of dysfunction, poor impulse control, and awkwardness — they handle it, in my experience, far more effectively than I’ve seen in many other places.
I always thought “Guidance Counselors” were some kind of mislabeled paper-pushers but those at RMS, who’ve proven themselves caring advocates, advisors and mentors, have totally changed my mind on that.
We’re Renfroe fans and think some of the “scaffolding” done there should be adopted at the high school as well. But I agree that it doesn’t take much in small school system for the balance to tip. And just because a school is working for a lot of folks doesn’t mean that there aren’t substantial problems with a particular teacher/administrator at a particular point in time. Consider going to your SLT about issues that seem to be affecting more than just your child. CSD is renewing its charter and has said it is committed to parent engagement and SLTs.
Too Cool – Your assessment of RMS seems like it could be dated circa 2002. Those issues appear to have largely vanished, particularly over the past 3-5 years. We’ve had one kid or another there for many years straight now and it seems to get better every year. You are making a lot (a whole lot) of claims about RMS and CSD on this thread (even though it’s supposed to be about DeKalb Schools – but anyway) and have not offered one shred of evidence to back your claims. You seem to assert that “we” aren’t involved or paying attention. What in the wide-wide world would make you think that? I’d say “we” keep a closer eye on what is going on with our schools in this community that just about anywhere else in the state, if not the nation. It’s not all roses and buttercups, but with this, I’ve got nothing to lead me to believe your assertions over my own experiences.
The teachers in DeKalb have screamed for years. The state is bleeding public education dry. Yes, the DeKalb Board wastes money and spends it on big time administration. Folks, we need to be concerned, and I agree with the earlier comments. This will hurt us as well. In addition, we have our own problems here. Be involved, go to Board meetings, ask questions about things. Our parents here have always been great. But, don’t assume that our money is being well spent. We have some administrative, top heavy issues as well. Money that could hire another teacher, or provide more technology. We have nepotism as well.
This may or may not affect Decatur, but I don’t care. My children attend Decatur public schools, and their experience is at least as good as the private school they used to attend. The issue is larger than any individual children, however.
This is a basic social justice issue. Children – all children – deserve an opportunity to get a decent education. It should not matter whether their parents can afford a private school or to live in an expensive neighborhood.
If we’re going to avoid forming a permanent underclass, an underclass that will breed social disfunction, we have to fix this now. The governor needs to throw out the board and start with a clean slate.
So true, Beth!
Yup, this needs to be fixed and in a substantive way, not by just hateful tirades against “government schools” or by throwing up a few charter schools. If DCSS cannot function for its students, do what needs to be done, don’t just make political hay out of it. I don’t understand the anti-public education movement of the last few decades. My Republican but not Tea Party elder relatives used to be totally into the mantra of good public education, good citizenship, civic responsibility, melting pot, God and country. Private schools, other than parochial schools, were for wealthy liberals!
This is the main reason I moved to Decatur last summer. My taxes are double but worth every penny. DeKalb is broken and I think the only way to get it back on track is for the governor to replace the BOE. The Palace needs to be cleared out too.