The Georgia House voted today to give Gov. Nathan Deal the power to intervene in the Atlanta Public Schools accreditation controversy by removing all members of the city’s troubled school board if he chooses.
Senate Bill 79, which evoked a passionate floor debate, also would cut the size of the DeKalb County School Board from nine to seven members. It passed the House 109 to 62 and, to become law, still has to clear the state Senate with only two days left in the 40-day legislative session.
Supporters said the governor needs the authority to remove the nine-member Atlanta school board, which is up against a Sept. 30 deadline for showing the Southern Association for Colleges and Schools that it has made headway on infighting and other problems that in January landed the city school system on accreditation probation.
The bill sets up a two-step process for removing the school board members that starts with a hearing before the State Board of Education by July 31 to look at the Atlanta board’s progress.
House Majority Whip Edward Lindsey, R-Atlanta, one of the bill’s chief supporters, called the measure a “safety net” for the 49,000 students who attend Atlanta Public Schools.
“This gives us a mechanism, a Plan B, to take care of the Atlanta school board and make sure we have a fully accredited system,” Lindsey said.
Lawmakers gave the governor similar power last year, but limited it to board members elected after July 2010. All of Atlanta’s board members were elected in 2009.
“Our students deserve the same protection given to other students all across the state,” Lindsey said.
Opponents argued the Atlanta school board should be given time to resolve its problems.
Rep. Rashad Taylor, D-Atlanta, said the bill could potentially create a situation where an all-appointed school board would be in charge of picking a new school superintendent, arguably the most important job in the school system.
Atlanta lawmakers were split on the issue, as were DeKalb County legislators who argued that setting the size of their school board should be resolved locally as is tradition.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, who has stressed the importance of Atlanta schools retaining their accreditation, weighed in. House members had a letter from the mayor waiting on their desks. He called the bill “a fair compromise between those who desire to give the school system time to reform on its own and those who believe that decisive action is required right now.”
“It is vital that the members of the legislature create a tool that can be used in the event that the school board fails to make the necessary progress,” the mayor’s later states. “We cannot allow the current school board leaders to simply run out the clock and wait out the General Assembly so they can return to business as usual.”
Rep. Sandra Scott, D-Rex, told her House colleagues that school board members should only be removed by recall petition, except in cases where they commit a crime. Scott was one of the four Clayton County school board members removed from office in 2008 after four recall efforts against her failed.
“But the people of District 76 were not pleased with the results and put me back in office,” she said.
Supporters of the downsizing of the DeKalb board cited issues facing the system, including the indictment of its former superintendent and $16 million spent on ongoing lawsuits.
“We are stumbling in DeKalb County,” state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur. “This gets us back to serving students.”
Others said the county’s legislative delegation should decide what to do.
“We have some people in this chamber who accuse Congress of usurping the power of the states, and now we have an attempt to usurp the power of the local communities,” said Rep. Dee Hawkins-Daigler, D-Lithonia. “Please leave my county alone.”
Rep. Michelle Henson, D-Stone Mountain, said DeKalb voters elected their nine-member school board. “And we’re going to change that without any input from them whatsoever,” she said.
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