Right now we have only 2 choices - home school or private school. Dekalb county schools are not an option. We care way too much about the education of our children to ever send them there.

Why isn't 'Arrogant, Self-Centered Stupid Idea' a choice?

Why is it an "arrogant", "self-centered" and "stupid" idea to want more local control of our education system? How many successful school systems in this country have 100,000+ students? The leadership in DeKalb County schools, whether it be the Board of Education or administration, have proven that our system is broken and needs to be fixed. If you want to talk about "self-centered", look at current and past leadership in those entities referenced above. Not all of us can afford private schools or home schooling. Why can't all options be put on the table? Charters, Constitutional amendments that allow establishment of new school systems, Portfolio concepts as Nancy Jester has proposed...

How about some ideas on how to promote and implement change instead of the weak attempts to try and criticize those of us who are trying to give our children better educational opportunities?

@Eddie - ?????

Amen Shawn. It's a shame that we pay the taxes that we do as a family and would not send our kids on a bet to our current public school choice, so we opted for private school. It's becoming more and more of a sacrifice and the futire doesn't look to bright. I'm open to any and all ideas at this point or we may be forced to move.

GM plant redevelopment would add a lot of property taxes, Eddie, and that helps DCCS...

As to HamBurger, I agree with this:

"Their not being involved in public education has partially led to its downfall. Maybe they should not have had children?"

Sen Millar has forgotten more about DCCS than you'll ever know.

The legislatures should of shaped laws to keep the various BOEs focused on establishing the bigger policies, goals and objectives, appointing and reviewing the performance of the superintendant, ensuring the availabilty of the financial resources (tax rate), reviewing and approving the budget and setting salaries and compensation, and most importantly the fast and clean process for removal of disfunctional members. Meddling in the day to day affairs of the system has proved to be a disaster. There are rumors of similar activity with the area's other BOEs. My preference is to remove BOE members who have stepped outside of their duty instead of more gov't. Where is the legislature on this? Creating another shool district seems like we are turning our back on the children south of 85. And one more question why was Doraville or the unincorporated areas north of 85 left out of this question?

State Rep. Tom Taylor was requested to look at a Dunwoody School system, not including Brookhaven or Chamblee. And State Sen. Fran Millar is no longer the Education Chair. He was removed today.

This is really an important discussion that has so many, many layers of complexity. I don't know what the ultimate strategic response is to our nation's educational funk, but I firmly believe our country must somehow have a viable and effective public school system. Here are broader issues that I believe must be acknowledged before we can even begin discussing solutions.
- Socioeconomic levels drive educational success. Higher $ = higher achievement regardless of public or private education.
- Socioeconomic conditions for African Americans and Hispanics are directly impacted by institutional racism that still exits in our country today.
- The number of poor whites has dramically increased over the past generation due to a shrinking economy and American workforce.
- The country's public school system has resegregated...even close to or higher levels than pre-civil rights times.
- The demise of DeKalb County Schools started in the 1960s and 1970s with white flight.
- The problems we face in our public schools nationally (DeKalb County specifically) is a manifestation of everything identified. Unless these broader issues are somehow addressed, our public school systems will remain at risk.
- A national "person on the moon" approach must be taken. As things stands, our country has already lost out globally when comparing our total educational outcomes to other industrialized countries. We can't compete globally for long given current situation.

-

Shawn, you seem to be an advocate for Nancy Jester. As a result of earlier comments you made, I checked out the backgrounds for the current DeKalb County School Board. Unless I've missed something, it appears she doesn't have the depth of educational experience and credentials as the other board members. Now granted, deep experience and degrees don't equate to performance, but it seems NJ's strength is in her volunteerism. I have no doubt she is committed in making a difference, but what has caught you attention regarding NJ? I am just curious...no other motive in asking. Thank you.

EPU, you are correct, I am a fan of Nancy's and find that she has done the most to call attention to the system's faults. Nancy is an actuary by trade and understands the numbers and finances better than the "education" crowd on the BOE. In addition, unless someone shows me differently, she is the only BOE member who has actually presented any ideas for solutions to our problems. Lastly, besides looking out for the best interests and opportunities for our students, Nancy, IMHO, has been the most vocal advocate on the BOE for us -- taxpayers.

Eddie, I was wondering what your thoughts are on Sen. Jason Carter's bill he introduced to General Assembly today which would lower GPA requirements to 2.0 for HOPE grants. Does such a bill promote educational excellence amongst our students? You do not hesitate to openly criticize Fran Millar, and I am wondering if you'd do the same with Jimmy's grandson for such a foolish idea.

Shawn, thank you for the insight.

Eddie E., your comments @8:31pm make sense.

Eddie, the fact you applaud Carter's attempt to lower the standards of Georgia's students speaks volumes. This is the exact attitude that has led Dekalb and other systems into the mess we find ourselves in. Thankfully, we have functioning minds like Jester's who are actively presenting ideas for ways to improve the education of our children unlike Jason Carter who is looking to reward and promote mediocrity.

News to Eddie - there is no room for partisanship when it comes to educating our children. I will ask Nancy the question you raise; please ask the same of Gene Walker, Jay Cunningham and others who have spent numerous terms on the BOE driving our school system into the ground.

Eddie E., I definitely will check it out.

Eddie E. and Shawn, I am not necessarily equating Carter's HS efforts as lowering standards. Rather, I read it as an attempt to somewhat mitigate and close the gap of students academically marginalized due to the socioeconomic and racial divide in our society. As I pointed out earlier, testing scores are directly correlated to income levels. If students are coming from families and communities decimated due to the economy and institutional racism, how do you expect them to compete academically? The support systems are just not in place for these students as others. Two other points. You know test scores do not measure intelligence. Talent, ability and intelligence is randomly distributed across all racial, ethnic and socioeconomic divides. We just can't allow this talent to die on the vine so to speak. It will devastate our economy and country. Finally, the middle and upper income families will continue to send their children to private schools to "rise above" what is happening in our public schools. Folks can not outrun the root causes of what is creating this mess in the first place. Eddie, I believe this is the point you were making earlier.

Eddie E,
Why would you refer to home schooling as a "totally absurd concept?" Have you ever researched the topic? Home schooled kids consistently outscore public schooled kids. Home schooling is like having a private tutor for your child. Rather than moving along with "the herd", the curriculum can be customized so that the student can move ahead faster in subjects where he/she excels, or go more slowly in subjects where the opposite is true.

I found the next to the last paragraph rather interesting. Sounds like Dunwoody government is not much different from the county it is located in, just more “in your face” and local.

DCSS – Dunwoody City School System
http://tinyurl.com/auo93v8

Please pass the yellow mustard!

Here what you can do:

EMail, Attend, Share this with DeKalb parents:

1. EMAIL the State Board of Education members YOUR thoughts using your own words. The State Board members' email addresses are listed below.
Simply copy and paste all of these into the "To:" field of your email. It's OK just to send one email to all of them at the same time.

lzechmann@gmail.com
eragsdale@doe.k12.ga.us
hrice@doe.k12.ga.us
disrael@doe.k12.ga.us
kmason@doe.k12.ga.us
bahampton@doe.k12.ga.us
mroyal@doe.k12.ga.us
wbarrs@doe.k12.ga.us
lwinter@doe.k12.ga.us
bburdette@doe.k12.ga.us
glewis@doe.k12.ga.us
arice@doe.k12.ga.us
mmurray@doe.k12.ga.us
state.superintendent@doe.k12.ga.us
2. ATTEND the hearing on January 17 at 1:00 p.m.

There will be no opportunity for public comment. However, your presence is important.

The hearing will be held in the State BOE Boardroom at:

Georgia Department of Education
2070 Twin Towers East, 205 Jesse Hill Jr Drive
Atlanta GA 30334

3. FORWARD this email to every property owner, school parent, blog writer, neighborhood list, and media person you know in DeKalb County.

Interplanet Janet, the concept of home schooling catching on occurred after our children were finishing up their MBAs. As a result, it was something that I did not really pay much attention to. A couple of years ago I happened upon some type of national home school convention. I was taken back by the magnitude of educational organizations selling their products (books, study aides etc.) to throngs of parents who had the responsibility of home schooling their children. Seriously, the convention center that held the event was a major facility and it was packed. Walking around and speaking with folks I discovered something very interesting. The vast majority of the parents were very devout Christians. They indicated they were teaching their children Christian values as a part of their educational process and separate from the secular world. They said they were on a mission to use home schooling as a way to prepare and position their children to use their eventual careers to influence and redeem our nation and "Christianize" it. How you ever heard of this? Are there parents who are using home schooling as a way to develop modern day " Christian soldiers?"

Marie Todd, thank you. This evening I did a cursory check of "home schools," "Evangelical influence regarding home schools," and "parental motivation to home school." What an eye-opening tease into a much deeper, apparently off the radar screen Christian nationalist strategy to claim all segments and institutions of American society as Christian. A seemingly effective "Trojan Horse" ploy. Plant children into mainstream society who have been brainwashed into something called dominionism and eventually try to run our society along extreme ideological, misplaced, and punitive Christian values? Talk about being asleep at the wheel while an army of Christian zombies try and take over the show. I only wonder how much of this mindset is influencing the Tea Party, various hate groups and the far right fringe of the RP political PACS? By the way, did you realize the trend to home school was originally an Evangelical initiative? They wanted to create something called Josuha Warriors to redeem our country from secularis, non-Christins and second rate brands of Christian denomonations.

PS You can't make this shiittee up.

Eddie E., it really is disturbing isn't it. The more I peek around the topic the more I learn and have to ask myself how did I miss seeing it?

I find it ironic that the school system problems are finally on people's radars. I was told to "shut up and go home" by several men (I'd be embarrassed beyond words if my adult children ever acted so rudely) Brookhaven informational meetings last summer when I tried to discuss the fact that our time and efforts were better spent addressing DCSS' BOE and Central Office problems. As both a past participant and current observer, I can tell you that Nancy Jester is the best-prepared, insightful and fearless member I have seen on the the BOE, at least in the last sixteen years.

joey54...I hope I am making the right assumption about your gender based on your comments. Regardless of anyone's opinion, you should never put up with men telling you to "shut up and go home." It's true for anyone but especially when men try and bully women. If I have mistaken your gender, I am sorry but my comments hold the same. Thank you.

I believe that this comment thread is a microcosm of the "great" national debate about public education in the U.S.. Very little discussion about actual schools, children, classrooms, and teachers and a great deal about "the system" and the politics that run it. We we turn the discussion into a classroom level discussion we will be on the path to a more high quality future in education. The public education policy at the federal, state, and local level has become a war front for the Left and the Right. The "civilians" in this war zone are the students and teachers in our classrooms. I say go ahead and hate the system but don't do so without loving the classroom. I know Shawn and his family invest an enormous amount in their community school and their children. I hope every one else who joins this "war" spend as much time directly supporting the schools in their districts. No policy change will ever replace the impact of warm bodies and sharp minds with willing hands showing up at our public schools.

How many in our community without children know the name of the principal of our local public school? Any teacher by name? These people have perhaps the most important jobs in our community. We need to know them by name. That is my homework assignment to everyone on this thread - go look them up. Call them. Offer them a breakfast or lunch. Ask them how you can help a classroom. Go and register at DonorsChoose.org and monitor your local school for classroom material requests. Pitch in $5 to make these humble wishes come true. That is how you "reform" public education in our community and in our country. We tried the private option for hundreds of years. It does not work for the masses and I am skeptical that we can devise a mechanism that can co-exist with a healthy public option. Let's face it - parents like you or I are going to have educated kids no matter what obstacles we have to over come. That isn't the reason public education became a necessity. It is in our community's and nation's interest to promote the education of every child we possibly can in every way we possibly can.

In my years of volunteering in our community on education-related issues and, increasingly during my tenure on the Brookhaven Commission, I had to list the public schools inside of Brookhaven even for the most political and civically engaged individuals. Many still do not know where the school are located if they've heard the names from me. This is a major problem. Our public schools are single, largest civic, social, and financial investment and yet know one seems to know where to find them on a map or in our community.

Take a look at the most recent Brookhaven Reporter "Education Issue" and find a single reference to a single public school in Brookhaven. We have Montgomery, Nancy Creek (Kittridge), Path Charter, Ashford Park, Woodward, Montclair, and Cross Keys High School. Our city also includes (oddly) attendance areas for Chamblee Middle School, Sequoyah Middle School, and Chamblee High School. That is a lot of schools! As a neighbor concerned about public education, have you visited one of them where you are not a parent? Do you know the principal? Do you know the faculty member who has been their for 20 years and is already a legend in the making for hundreds of children? Have you volunteered on Career Day to speak to the children? I apologize for my rant but this has been my bailiwick for thousands of hours over years. We have lost our focus on the value of the classrooms and must return there to ever get out of this morass.

Thanks, Kim.

You are one of the most knowledgeable citizens whose diligence is instrumental in bringing about the current BOE inquiries.

What of non-parents, how do we get involved in a meaningful manner? I will investigate "DonorsChoose.org," any other ideas?

Kim. I completely understand the thrust of your comments. I see the elephant we are trying to nibble on as and/both. Focusing on only local educational challenges without acknowledging and developing longer termed, strategic and broader initiatives to mitigate the devastating cause and effect and widening gap of "haves and have not" due to institutional racism and poverty, become bandaides on a gushing wound. Thoughts?

DeKalb County will always be more worried about water parks and soap box derby tracks.

E Pluribus Unum: I hear you completely. I have a bias and it is one I developed in my work in very large, very bureaucratic companies. Addressing public education to me at a national level is fraught with problems and perhaps ultimately not achieving the objectives. In my line of business we call it trying to "boil the ocean" when we see initiatives that are trying to take on too much scope of effort. It's not that great things can't be accomplished, it is just that great problems don't always require grandiose solutions. So, as I have decided for myself and my limited resources to focus on specific solutions to specific local problems (schools/classrooms), I recommend to others to do the same. Yes, we should stay informed about national debates and policy efforts. But I am completely convinced the solutions are already in our hands to most of the ills of public education.

Oh! For the record and on the topics du jour:

1) Nothing wrong with smaller vs larger system debate. My concern would be whether we would perpetuate the mistakes of the past twenty-five years and cling to "neighborhood" high school models. It is poor governance of public capital that has me most upset. The system says it needs 1-2 billion dollars additional capital for overdue capital maintenance, upgrades, and repairs. I believe they are right. The problem is they have been cowards for twenty years and left schools open that should close and now we have at least 50% more schools than we need. In our own backyard between Chamblee HS and Cross Keys HS we barely have enough attendance are students (about 1,600) to fill up one school and we pay for two under DeKalb's ridiculous governance.

2) Board of Education should be suspended, replaced with appointees, and each current member (who feels they were wrongly suspended) should appeal to get their job back. Now is the time the system takes a turn for a better future or it is decades more of the same from decades past.

Kim Goke, I appreciate your perspective and commitment.

Mr./Ms. Unum: I appreciate the kind words. I've been on quite a rant today. Guess what? I have more! :)

To keep the debate on the posted article topic alive ... can anyone explain to me why Doraville isn't mentioned when this suggested, future and smaller school district is floated?

Eddie E. Do you have any children currently attending Dekalb County schools?

Thanks in advance.

Eddie E., outstanding. Well done dad!