Archive for the ‘School boards’ Category

In a 4-3 vote Friday met with a standing ovation, the Cherokee school board rejected Cherokee Charter Academy, one of eight new charters statewide whose futures were thrown into limbo by the state Supreme Court decision on May 16.

Like most of the other charter schools scheduled to open and the eight already in operation, Cherokee Charter turned to its local school board for approval, which was the best lifeline since it assured the best funding. But many things were at work against the fledgling school, one being the short time frame for local approval due to the late ruling by the Supreme Court.

By issuing its decision in mid May after hearing the case in October, the high court left a window of only a few weeks for schools approved by the now illegal state commission to find legitimacy through local boards of education. I think that the schools already in operation had a slight edge over schools like Cherokee Academy, which had not yet opened and had no record on which to …

Continue reading Is it tougher to open a charter school in a high achieving district? »

Anyone know what is happening with Peachtree Hope Charter School?

The Memorial Drive school was approved last year by the now defunct state Charter Schools Commission and was part of the Sabis network of schools. The school had lost its charter because of the recent Supreme Court decision impacting 16 new and existing schools, but had won a year’s lease on life via a vote by the DeKalb Board of Education.

However,  if you go to the school web site today, you will find only this stark note: This is no longer the website for Peachtree Hope Charter School. Please contact (404) 622-2727 for more information.

I called the number and after many rings, a message came on still identifying the school as part of the Minnesota-based SABIS Educational Systems and directing me to the Web site.  I will check Monday to see if  Sabis pulled out because of the state Supreme Court ruling and whether the school plans to try to soldier on as an independent school.

However, Peachtree …

Continue reading What happened to Peachtree Hope Charter School in DeKalb? »

APS spokesman Keith Bromery confirmed that Barbara M. Jenkins of Florida has dropped out of the selection process for Atlanta school chief, leaving two candidates in the running. Jenkins is deputy schools superintendent of Orange County.

“Yes, the candidate has withdrawn her name for consideration for APS superintendent,” he said in an e-mail today.

Interesting that Jenkins was the only one of the three candidates who declined to talk to the AJC last week for its story on the finalists. Bonita Coleman-Potter, deputy superintendent of Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland, and Superintendent Cheryl L.H. Atkinson of Lorain City Public Schools in Ohio were interviewed for the news story.

In the meantime, University System Chancellor Erroll B. Davis is about to step into the APS school chief job July 1 as interim. He steps down from the chancellor’s post at the end of this month. In an interview, Davis told the the AJC that he could lead the 49,800-student system for …

Continue reading APS school chief search down to two candidates as one drops out »

Outgoing Chancellor Erroll B. Davis Jr. will move a few blocks to the APS offices.

I have to admit that I’m surprised to see former business-executive-turned-chancellor Erroll B. Davis now coming aboard as interim superintendent at APS.

It would seem that an interim could have been found in the APS leadership ranks rather than bringing in someone without any k-12 experience.

According to the AJC: Davis will start July 1 and will serve until the board hires a permanent replacement for retiring Beverly Hall, presumably one of the three finalists announced last week. (But we saw how that worked in DeKalb.) Davis is leaving the university system June 30.

To get a glimpse of Davis’ views on education in general, take a look back at this blog on his farewell-to-the-system speech.

Davis came to Georgia after serving as chairman of the board of Alliant Energy Corporation.  He earned a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, in 1965, and a MBA. …

Continue reading Former university leader to temporarily run APS. Never a dull moment. »

Speaking to a standing room only audience in Savannah this morning, Gov. Nathan Deal told the state’s school boards, “We have to restore the joy of teaching to our teachers. And that means diverting away from the concept that everything hinges on a CRCT score.”

Deal described a visit to a tornado-damaged school in middle Georgia where the first thing that the superintendent assured him was that she had rushed to the school after the storm to check on the condition of the just-completed CRCT tests.

The tests had been under lock and key and were dry. Under guidance of the system attorney, the school chief  told the governor that she removed them from the water-logged school and locked them in the courthouse.

Deal was a keynote speaker at the Georgia School Boards Association conference, which has drawn 600 school board members and school officials to Savannah this week. His short speech was warmly received, even his comment that school board officials must work cohesively with …

Continue reading Gov. Deal: Value of a teacher should not hinge on CRCT score »

SAVANNAH: At the summer conference of the Georgia School Boards Association this morning in this port city, noted education researcher Diane Ravitch lambasted most of the reforms du jour in education today, merit pay, value-added teacher evaluations, charter schools, vouchers and testing.

She cautioned the 600 attendees to look critically at reforms being led by the high tech sector and hedge fund managers “who don’t much about public schools. They don’t much about education and, sometimes, I think they don’t know much about children.”

The competitive model that they are pushing will not work because the goal of education is not to produce winners and losers, Ravitch said, but to give “every child our best effort.”

She urged the school board members to “Stand up for public education. Don’t let private entrepreneurs divide your community and turn your schools into profit centers. Don’t stand by and let politicians tear down a public institution that has been the foundation of …

Continue reading Diane Ravitch in Savannah: Don’t let reformers and politicians destroy public schools »

To get a full grasp of both sides of the charter school lawsuit,  read this piece by James C. Pope, president of the Georgia School Boards Association, and Jeannie M. (Sis) Henry, executive director of the Georgia School Boards Association.

You can then go back a few days on the blog and read the piece by attorney Douglas Rosenbloom. Then, I think you will have a great sense of the two arguments.

Here is the piece from the school boards officials:

The Georgia Supreme Court’s decision in the Georgia Charter Schools Commission case was right on target. In spite of the motions before the court urging reconsideration and a new ruling, we encourage the Court to stand firm.

An elected local board of education in Georgia –although constitutionally authorized to establish and maintain schools –is not authorized by the General Assembly to establish a charter school in its own  district without the Georgia Board of Education’s approval.  However, the Charter Schools Commission Act …

Continue reading Georgia school board officials: Locals should approve charter schools, not state »

Cobb House member David Wilkerson (State Legislature)

State Rep. David Wilkerson, D-Austell, shared an e-mail that he sent to the Cobb County Board of Education.

With his permission, I am posting it here:

Dear Board Members,

Good evening. I have had the opportunity to interact with each of you in one way or another over the last several years.  Several months ago, I made a decision to stay out of the recent calendar issue.  However, at this point I am concerned as a parent, a taxpayer, and a legislator.

I am concerned because my children attend our Cobb schools and this continued bickering does nothing for academic achievement from what I can see.  I am concerned because the Legislature has already shown a willingness to try and solve local issues when local boards have the appearance of not being able to solve their own challenges. I do not want my colleagues in Atlanta telling us how to educate our children and run our board.

We have a great opportunity with the hiring of a …

Continue reading State rep cautions Cobb board: “I do not want my colleagues in Atlanta telling us how to educate our children and run our board.” »

I am not sure how parents in Cobb County are supposed to plan their lives with this continued uncertainty about the school calendar.

I’ve been fascinated to watch the Cobb calendar battles as my system adopted the same “balanced” calendar and my twins go back this year Aug. 2. But Decatur is not changing back, and there doesn’t seem to be any momentum to do so among parents.

Full disclosure: I don’t like the Aug. 2 starting date. No profound reason except it cuts short the summer, and I am not a fan of the September and February breaks. But I have adapted. In Decatur, the more contentious issue now is the starting time of classes at the high school, where some parents are petitioning for a later first bell, reflective of the research that teens do better when schools begins later in the morning.

Cobb kids would have gone back with Decatur but the school board, under the influence of newly elected members, junked Cobb’s three year commitment to a balanced calendar halfway …

Continue reading Cobb calendar wars flare up: It is time to just a pick a starting date and stick to it? »

The AJC reports that members of up to five school boards — including Atlanta’s — could face hearings next month on whether they should be suspended from office under the provisions of a new state law.

The news was announced at the state Board of Education meeting today. The new law requires the state  board to hold a hearing to weigh suspension with pay for members of any local school board that is on accreditation probation on July 1 from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

I am still uneasy about this law as it seems to single out one group of elected officials for sanctions when many others cross the line. (Case in point: Congressman Anthony Weiner and his virtual peep show.)  But in reporting on government, I’ve noticed that while state legislatures are loath to discipline one of their own, they’re quick to pillory others.

I understand that unprincipled, uncooperative and unfocused school boards impact students and derail reform, but unprincipled and …

Continue reading Oversight or overkill? Five school boards could face suspension hearings. »