A proposal to give the state the power to take over troubled districts will move to the Legislature after the State Board of Education voted unanimously Thursday to accept the Commission for School Board Excellence plan. The state board took no formal action for or against the proposal.

“They asked for the report and got it, but it is going to take the Legislature and different parties to go forward,” said Dana Tofig, spokesman for the state Department of Education.

Clayton County schools headlines:

• Photos: Timeline of Clayton schools' woes

• AJC editorial: Less hope

• Student exodus costs Clayton schools $27M 
• Students: School dress policy 'not cute' 
• Uniform dress policy in all Clayton schools 
• Board member says colleagues broke the law 
• Clayton runoff will fill 2 school board seats 

Read the full report to SACS:
• Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 (Large PDFs)

• Read SACS' report (PDF)

• Photos: Non-meeting | Angry parents | 400 protest
• Clayton County news

The state board asked a group of business leaders and educational experts — the Commission for School Board Excellence — to study school board governance and student achievement in Georgia in an attempt to prevent problems like those that have beset Clayton County’s school system.

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools revoked Clayton’s accreditation effective Sept. 1, citing a dysfunctional school board. Gov. Sonny Perdue also removed four board members after a judge found they had violated the state ethics code and Open Meetings Act.

The Commission for School Board Excellence recommended a series of legislative changes, including no longer paying local board members, prohibiting educators from serving on school boards and reducing large school boards to five or seven members. The commission also recommended legislation to allow the state board to take over poorly performing districts and to remove board members.

With the state board’s initial acceptance, the commission will now look at how to move forward, including proposed legislation, said Gary Price, co-chair of the commission.

“We’re certainly pleased that the state board accepted our recommendations,” said Price, a managing partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers. “If we can get the House and Senate education committees behind what we’re doing and the governor has already signaled he’s supportive, we think we could come out of next session with something ready to move forward in 2010.”

Price said he has heard some concerns — including State Schools Superintendent Kathy Cox’s hesitancy to bar educators from serving on local school boards — but no changes have been made to the initial report. Cox was a high school social studies teacher before she became state superintendent.