Georgia’s largest school system opts out of state rules

The Gwinnett County school board Wednesday unanimously approved a plan to gain greater local control over the education of students, including freeing itself from state mandates on class size and teacher pay.

Gwinnett Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks said the “flexibility contract” with the state would allow the district to improve student achievement while preserving its budget.

The proposed contract would give more power to Gwinnett principals to chart the course for improving student performance and free the district from unfunded mandates the superintendent says drain the tight budget.

Gwinnett’s five-year state contract proposal seeks flexibility in 12 areas, including freedom from laws governing teacher pay, class sizes, and limiting the duties of aides in classrooms, among other things.

Georgia Department of Education officials will review the contract and suggest any necessary changes before the contract goes to the state board for final approval, said Dana Tofig, spokesperson for the department.

“The next step in the process is negotiation,” Tofig said.

Tofig said if the contract is approved by the board, it could go into effect on July 1, 2009.

The Gwinnett district, with about 160,000 students, is the largest in the state and is the first to seek flexibility under the state’s Investing in Educational Excellence legislation.

The program is intended to give school systems that promise to enhance student achievement the freedom to get creative. In exchange for the freedom, the districts promise greater accountability to the state for student performance.

“We see this as a huge benefit that will let the local schools make the decisions that they need to improve,” said Carole Boyce, Gwinnett school board chairwoman.

Under the flexibility contract, Gwinnett Schools will go beyond meeting state benchmarks for adequate yearly student progress to prove that students are achieving.

Parents, however, still say they are clueless about what changes their school will make. “I haven’t heard how what they are proposing would benefit student learning,” said parent Sarah Holley, who has three kids in a Duluth elementary school. “All I heard from them is by adding one student to each class they would save $30 million.”

Holley was among a handful of parents who attended the special school board meeting Wednesday. The contract proposal was approved with little discussion and no public comment.

Teachers and parents have voiced concern that their ideas were not sought before the district drafted the plan.

“It seems like a step backwards for students with disabilities,” said parent Sharon Capers of larger class sizes. “Students at risk learn better in smaller class sizes.”

During a meeting between school board members and Gwinnett legislators that took place before the vote on the contract, State Rep. Brian Thomas, a Lilburn Democrat, scolded Wilbanks for not consulting parents on the proposal.

“Your apparent unwillingness to enter into any meaningful dialogue doesn’t speak well to the process,” Thomas said. “The exclusion of the public is not a good thing.”

Wilbanks told school board members and legislators there would be plenty of time for public comment during the contract implementation process. At that time, schools will decide in what areas they want flexibility.

“It was not a secret as to what our intentions were,” Wilbanks said. “We have been talking about this for three years.”