On its first day, Decatur eLife’s new online education channel “Decatur EDtv has an excellent 9 1/2 minute summation of Decatur’s charter school journey up to the recent approval by the state. The telecast features extensive interviews with CSD Superintendent Dr. Phyllis Edwards, GA Dept of Education Charter Schools Office Director Andrew Broy, and GA Rep. Stephanie Benfield.

Even for someone like me that’s followed this process so closely, this was a very informative video. I especially appreciated the insight from the Charter Schools Director.

The next episode promises to detail the new roles within Decatur’s “Shining Star” Charter System.

How many school systems have a video channel dedicated to keeping parents and citizens informed about goings on at the public schools? I, for one, think its pretty cool.

P.S. There’s also a few other school related video’s already on Decatur EDtv’s main page if you’re interested.

The State Board of Education should vote tomorrow on whether to grant charter status to the Decatur, Marietta and Gainesville school systems.

The AJC has a full recap, but basically it boils down to a debate over leadership. The State Board wants parents and staff to have near-absolute control, while the cities applications look to retain some power with the school board.

After the issue was surprisingly tabled last month, each of the cities sent in “clarification letters” to the state board, but did not alter their applications.

Decatur’s 7 page letter can be read here. [h/t: inDecatur]

Like a star pupil, City of Decatur Schools stands alone.

According to the AJC, Decatur’s charter school application was the only one that recently met the approval of a state review committee.  According to the paper, the State Broad of Ed is also expected to give a final nod to Decatur’s application.

Like less motivated students, the other four districts were told their applications needed revision.  Marietta City; Gainesville City; Warren County, near Augusta; and Chattahoochee County, near Columbus were recently informed that their plans to achieve goals and improve student performance were too darn vague and needed beefing up.

You gotta give CDS and all involved (including residents) a lot of credit for this achievement.  It’s just further evidence that we really think about and consider policy in this city.  We don’t just jump blindly into things seeking approval and funding like…ahem…some folks.

Now it really sounds like Decatur will be the state’s poster child for its new, unique charter school system.

As a result, will we begin seeing strong conservative support from the capitol for the state’s most liberal city?