The Governor made the unilateral decision to replace six duly elected officers of the DeKalb County School Board. As our constitutional challenge makes its way through the courts, these appointees, along with the three elected officers allowed to stay, are in charge and everyone should be supportive of these stewards until the matter is resolved. I agree with the Governor that there is a lot at stake and I urge the public and the media to stay involved as we move forward.
Going forward, we should all be aware that the SACS/AdvancED analysis and subsequent probation created the perception of many of the problems the system is facing today.
SACS and its agents distorted the actions of the school board and intentionally diminished the level of trust and confidence held by the constituents of the board members. This was done through accusations, allegations and innuendos without providing proof or supporting documents. The SACS report was rife with unsubstantiated allegations and general statements with the intent of creating a false negative perception of the School Board and facilitating a reason for probation.
For example, SACS accuses the Board of fiscal mismanagement, even though board members do not manage finances. Neither the state audit nor the recent forensic audit by KPMG reported any such findings. SACS also alleges rampant nepotism and cronyism without any evidence. School board policy requires monthly personnel reporting of any employee who is related to member of the Board. For the record, no member of my family has been hired during my tenure on the board, and to the best of my knowledge, this is also true for the rest of the board members. On the claim of accusation of infighting among board members, all can rest assured that the DeKalb Board always took care of school business and with no more discourse than is considered prudent in the Georgia General Assembly.
Most disturbing and misleading are the false allegations regarding the important work of the system – teaching and learning. SACS reported there has been a decline in student performance. This is factually incorrect. Data shows that student performance has been improving. There is an overall increase in student test scores on the CRCT from 2008-2012. In fact, in four categories; reading, English, math, and science; CRCT scores are the same or better than they were five years earlier in every grade tested. ACT Composite scores have also improved every year over the past five years. SAT scores also rose to the highest levels they have in three years.
Speaking of SAT scores, the District posted broad gains across the school district, north and south, with a strong performance among African American and Hispanic students in mathematics and writing. DeKalb’s improvements almost doubled the statewide average, which came with nearly the same number of students – 4,099 versus 4,144 – taking the test. Five DCSD schools exceeded the national and state combined average for critical reading, math and writing: Chamblee High, DeKalb Early College Academy, DeKalb School of the Arts, Dunwoody High and Lakeside High. And six schools doubled the state’s gains: McNair, Redan, Cedar Grove, Tucker, Miller Grove and Stone Mountain.
All of this performance information is in the DeKalb School District annual report which no one apparently read, including SACS, the Governor, the State Board of Education, the Georgia General Assembly and the media.
An additional piece of good news is that of the 60 athletes drafted by the NBA draft last year, four came from DeKalb County Schools. No other location in the world had four athletes selected by the NBA last year, or to the best of my knowledge, ever.
The SACS report stated that “the current status of the school system is the result of at least a decade of decline.” If this is true, one must ask what was the level of responsibility and accountability of SACS during this decade of decline, especially since SACS was collecting over $200,000 annually for monitoring? Why now, when all indications show that the quality of education is on the upswing?
In the immediate future, this quagmire will be the bailiwick of the Governor’s appointees. Until there is resolution in the court system, it’s the way it is and the community, myself included, should do everything to support our students, our schools, and this School Board. A little scrutiny will reveal, however, that the problem is in the process, not the product.
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Eugene Walker is former Chairman of the DeKalb County School Board
Mismanagement of funds - guilty. Dr. Walker continually points to the KPMG audit and cites that no money was missing or stolen. Webster-Merriam defines mismanagement as the following: To manage incompetently or dishonestly. The board approves any/all expenditures in excess of $100K. Time after time they have approved expenditures that are a complete waste of taxpayer money, including their most recent action to fight their own suspension. In 2012 they spent $4M on legal fees. That same year, they had no money for textbooks. This year already they have exceeded their budget for legal fees. The former CFO gerrymandered the budget in such a way that DCSD spent ALL of its reserve funds, in a down economy and with a plummeting tax base, leaving us in a deficit, all while under the oversight of Dr. Walker and the former BOE. Their actions are borderline criminal - negligent at best. I wonder where Mr. Turk is now. It would have been very interesting to hear from him and the State BOE hearing on the suspension. I'd have loved to hear him explain how/why we ended up in said deficit. I have my suspicions and they involve the friends of the BOE,maybe not family, that are in the employ of DCSD and their massive admin. salaries.
Of the many candidates, the Board hired Atkinson to replace Lewis, even though she came from a tiny district of 8000 students and had no "mega" system management experience. She performed badly and received a sizable severance. The county faced huge legal bills as a result of the various fiascos involving the top school management teams; the Board with Walker at the helm couldn't right the ship and were headed on a collision course with SACS. Loss of accreditation seemed inevitable. Seeing the destruction of Clayton County from accreditation loss, legislators enacted a remedy to replace dysfunctional school boards. The Governor acknowledged the dilemma of undoing the voter's choices and made the right decision, approved by the State School Board. He acted in the best interests of the MAJORITY. Walker may have a legal case, but if he “wins” the entire county will lose. The “right” thing for him to do would be to sit down and let the healing continue.
Walker was clearly an integral part of the BOE including all of its problems. I won't support his legal fees but would be glad to contribute to his retirement fund. I'll start with a penny. Anyone else care to join me?