Who will determine the course of the troubled Atlanta Public Schools?
The possibilities are many — and growing — as a deadline for righting the schools’ fractured leadership looms. Least among them may be the city school board itself, whose dysfunction has added to problems including a cheating scandal and finding a qualified replacement for Superintendent Beverly Hall.
Among the many parties pushing to get APS back on track:
● Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, who is trying to replace the school board chairman, though he has no official authority to intervene;
● Parents, who pressured key lawmakers to expand the state’s reach into board matters;
● The business community, which is engaged in quiet but influential conversations with the mayor;
● The legislature, which recently gave the governor power to remove members of the APS board;
● The governor, who interceded personally in the matter last week;
● And, finally, the schools’ accrediting agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), which has threatened to yank the district’s accreditation unless the board overcomes members’ infighting.
Whoever takes the lead in trying to solve this dilemma has less than five months to get the board’s house in order, and get the district back to serving its 49,800 students.
If a Sept. 30 deadline set by SACS cannot be met, the district’s accreditation is in danger of being revoked. Add to that the superintendent search and ongoing probes into cheating on student achievement tests, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.
“Stability is important,” Reed said. “No world-class superintendent is going to come into an environment with a 5-4 majority governing; with a mayor that is opposed to their appointment; with a business community that is opposed to their appointment; with an NGO [nongovernmental organization] community that is opposed to their appointment; with a faith community that is largely opposed to their appointment.”
And the chorus of voices threatening to force change is only getting louder.
“Too much is at stake for these kids if they fail,” said House Majority Whip Edward Lindsey, R-Atlanta, who helped write the bill that gave Gov. Nathan Deal such extraordinary power over the board’s future.
“I’m more interested in the children who have a vested right to an education than school board officials who don’t have a vested right to their positions.”
Simple majority
Like many municipal boards, the Atlanta school board has always had its share of drama. And like many boards, this one has factions. But the drama increased late last summer, when the board began making policy changes that many observers, including Reed and SACS, found discomforting, if not illegal.
In a series of 5-4 votes, members gave themselves the power to use a simple majority to replace the board’s leaders, who normally serve fixed, two-year terms. Making such changes usually required the support of two-thirds of the board.
The move favored board Chairman Khaatim Sherrer El, who said it stemmed from concerns about the cheating investigation. First elected to the board in 2003, he assumed its lead role last year at age 29. From that moment on, most votes followed the same 5-4 line and pitted El’s faction against a vocal minority.
This angered Reed, who as a state legislator had helped author the latest charter that governs the board. Reed saw the board’s action as flouting protocol at a time when the city’s schools could least afford it.
“I know what the intent of the charter was,” Reed said. “It was to avoid this exact problem. There was no reason to risk the charter when you have a five-person majority.”
The board’s actions also drew the attention of SACS. The accrediting agency saw a board almost at impasse due to a complete breakdown in trust among board members.
Three years ago, SACS revoked the accreditation of Georgia’s Clayton County school district after its board proved too dysfunctional to work well on behalf of students and parents. Problems there were wide-ranging.
SACS could take similar action in Atlanta, which could put students’ scholarship eligibility and college acceptances at risk. It also could depress property values and frighten off companies and employees considering relocating to the area.
‘The image of Atlanta’
Wary of such consequences, the city’s powerful business community reached out to Reed and its membership to address the issue.
Atlanta is seen as the key to kick-starting the state’s economic engine as it tries to power through a prolonged stall, and a reputation for strong public schools is seen as essential in that turnaround effort.
“In private conversations with a lot of business leaders in Atlanta, the focus is on the same thing: the image of Atlanta and how it feels like the schoolchildren are not being put first,” said Phil Kent, chairman and CEO of Turner Broadcasting System. “This is very bad for Atlanta’s brand and its image across the country.”
Legally, Reed has no say in school board matters. But he has told business leaders and others privately that he is asking board members to vote El out of the chairmanship.
Over the last two months, school board members have managed to reach consensus on some issues. But they remain divided on matters crucial to the district’s operation, such as a long-planned technological reorganization.
Executives pressed Reed to be more hands-on in finding a solution to the board’s issues. He and El spoke at El’s home, a conversation the two men recall differently. Reed tried “shuttle diplomacy,” involving community leaders such as the Rev. Joseph Lowery. Reed and El also faced off in a meeting in the basement of Reed’s church.
Reed has only gotten more vocal since. It was no accident that Deal included him in a private meeting with the school board at the state Capitol Tuesday. It marked the first time the governor met with the full board; participants walked out grim-faced following what Deal characterized as a “very frank and open” discussion.
Measuring progress
El and others have said they believe debate among board members over what is right for APS is healthy, even necessary. Members have met almost every Monday evening since Jan. 18, when SACS issued its sanction. They hired a superintendent search firm. They hired mediators to work on internal conflicts. They hired governance experts to help them with policy disagreements.
Their technical progress can be charted. Functional progress remains. Supporters say if left alone, the board can work its way back to a general consensus.
Several Atlanta lawmakers, including state Sens. Vincent Fort, Horacena Tate and Donzella James, all Democrats representing parts of the city, have threatened to file a federal lawsuit to block efforts giving the governor power to remove board members.
Deal signed the bill two weeks ago, but it faces a review by the U.S. Justice Department because it affects voting and elections.
“It scares me [that] all these entities feel like they can control Atlanta Public Schools,” said parent Shawnna Hayes Tavares, an El supporter who leads a small group of parents representing schools in the southwest and northwest parts of the city. “They are not realizing these things they are doing are a total distraction. Now we’re talking about taking away the democratic process, something that particularly scares me as an African-American woman.”
Parental pull
In the wake of SACS’ announcement in January, some Atlanta families said they would immediately begin searching for alternatives.
Others have become board watchdogs, with yard signs and bright yellow lapel buttons.
“We still believe this nine-member school board can pull us out,” said Atlanta parent Julie Salisbury, speaking on behalf a new parents advocacy group, Step Up or Step Down. The group, which has met with Reed, also endorsed his effort to oust El as chairman. “We believe our board could work faster if they could elect a consensus leader,” Salisbury said.
State Rep. Lindsey also credited parents and “my PTA leaders” for prompting his bill, which sets a July 1 deadline for the board to regain full accreditation. And although he does not back the mayor’s efforts, Lindsey’s bill now provides leverage to help Reed get his way.
“Members should get together and put forward a new leadership that is not scarred by the last year,” Reed said. “There’s no question that’s the right thing to do.”s
Has he lined up enough votes to make that happen?
“No,” the mayor said, “I have five votes to change the chair.”
He needs six — if he wants to follow rules requiring a two-thirds majority.
“Exactly,” Reed said. “I’m living by the standards I propose.”
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Board chairman’s response
APS school board Chairman Khaatim Sherrer El, speaking as an individual board member, issued the following response when asked for comment for this article:
“The reason for the leadership change was simple: I believe a majority of my colleagues recognized it was more important to stand up for what is right even when that means standing up to the powers that be and pressing past those who furiously seek to hold great influence over this board and would dare cover up a cheating scandal.
“A court of law found that we did not violate the charter; all nine board members agreed with the judge’s order. [A Fulton County Superior Court judge signed off on a consent order.] In spite of the political distractions, the board is making progress and we should not go back to the days of rubber-stamping and being the puppet of outside forces simply because it curries favor.
“It’s my hope that Mayor Reed will change his mind and decide to work with me, instead of against me, as the board works to select a new superintendent, maintain our high school’s accreditation, and remove the cloud of the state’s ongoing investigation from over the heads of honest, hardworking students, teachers and administrators in the Atlanta Public Schools.”
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