DeKalb Schools and legal fees (Sandy Springs, Dunwoody: neighborhood, tax, best)

[lastminutemom]

Originally Posted by JPD

Why not? Most of the school board was recently fired and replaced. I'd say that's a pretty drastic action designed to turn things around, and suggests that things are going to get better, and in short order.

Plus, they just found a bunch of millions of dollars hiding under a rock, so that'll help:

Found money turns DeKalb school budget from shortfall to surplus | www.myajc.com

Originally Posted by jeoff

Drastic actions suggests desperation--not a turn-around, and not exactly the sort of thing that generates the sort of buzz that makes people who value good schools want to move to Dekalb. I can just imagine a real estate agent making his pitch, "Dekalb schools are so great that the governor just kicked out our school board!" Housing values have tanked in 2/3 of the county, what is that going to do to revenues and property tax rates? Oh, and the board has been replaced, but not the people that hired them, which is why you may find a few more new cities in the next couple of years as residents do their best to disassociate from Dekalb.



Still, Dekalb has a lot going for it: it contains important institutions, has so much wealth remaining, and in so close a proximity to areas that are doing so well. So, at some point the bleeding has to stop. (right?)

It is possible that DCSS was never that great, rather it was a reflection of the population that it was educating.

Last week, a former superintendent, Dr. Freeman stepped forward to take responsbility for the nepotism that runs so rampant in DeKalb. His reasons for hiring husband/wives, son/daughters, best friends, may have been valid at the time. However, I suspect he required candidates to be qualified. (This was 20 plus years ago, mind you.) Since his term, nepotism has run rampant and qualifications became irrelevant. This became part of the downfall of this system. Children haven't been first in decades.

It is important to remember that a removed board member has challenged the law that allowed the Governor to remove him and the others. It is not a sure win for the Governor and the old board may be back.

The found money raises lots of questions and some of it may be a one time boost.

I would like to think that this has been a wake up call for many of the county's leaders. I think it has been. The question is will these leaders stand up for the students and the county and support better quality candidates and representation. That means going against some of the power block in S. DeKalb. Time will tell.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by jeoff

Drastic actions suggests desperation--not a turn-around, and not exactly the sort of thing that generates the sort of buzz that makes people who value good schools want to move to Dekalb. I can just imagine a real estate agent making his pitch, "Dekalb schools are so great that the governor just kicked out our school board!" Housing values have tanked in 2/3 of the county, what is that going to do to revenues and property tax rates? Oh, and the board has been replaced, but not the people that hired them, which is why you may find a few more new cities in the next couple of years as residents do their best to disassociate from Dekalb.


Still, Dekalb has a lot going for it: it contains important institutions, has so much wealth remaining, and in so close a proximity to areas that are doing so well. So, at some point the bleeding has to stop. (right?)

None of that backs up your statement that "in the long term, it does not look like it's going to get better." There's plenty of reason to think the opposite is true.

For the record, new cities can not create their own schools, so forming a new city will in no way disassociate the citizens from the county schools.

[lastminutemom]

Originally Posted by JPD

None of that backs up your statement that "in the long term, it does not look like it's going to get better." There's plenty of reason to think the opposite is true.

For the record, new cities can not create their own schools, so forming a new city will in no way disassociate the citizens from the county schools.

A bill was introduced this year that would allow a constitutional amendment. Doesn't mean it will pass, but is has some support.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

A bill was introduced this year that would allow a constitutional amendment. Doesn't mean it will pass, but is has some support.

Even if it did pass, none of the proposed new cities have enough tax base to support their own school system.

[flyonpa]

Take the schools in North Fulton (cities), and the ones in Northern DeKalb you have more then enough tax base to make a school district.

In NJ just about every town(Large & Small alike) has its own school district, Some are K-8 and send to a multi-town HS. Other are K-12. Most are 1 school ES 1 MS 1 HS districts with not more then maybe 1500 student total. (NJ has 590 School districts in 565 Towns).

[JPD]

Originally Posted by flyonpa

Take the schools in North Fulton (cities), and the ones in Northern DeKalb you have more then enough tax base to make a school district.

Do what? I have no idea what you are saying or how North Fulton cities are related.

[lastminutemom]

Who do you think has a larger tax base? Decatur or Dunwoody? And Decatur has its own schools. You're right that some of the new cities in North Fulton maybe too small. But legislation allows them to combine if it passes. I agree that some of the proposed cities in Dekalb probably would struggle to support a school system.
An economist did an analysis for the AJC and clearly showed that Dunwoody could support a own school system. I suspect that Brookhaven could as well.
I think that some residents would vote to tax themselves more if it meant local control of the school system.
I'm not saying that I think new school systems are necessarily an ideal solution. dekalb Has shown over and over again its inability to fix itself and the children across the county are suffering because of it.

[jeoff]

I hope I am wrong (and it would not be the first time). But, I do not see how, finding money because of bad accounting, having a school board being replaced by the governor, and having wealthier 1/3 of the county doing everything they can to disassociate from the county is reason to be optimistic, when the county schools have been declining for over 30 years.

I understand that new cities can not create their own schools (though they are trying to change that), but do you not think that part of the motivation for cityhood is to be as far removed from everything Dekalb as possible? I do not think that those folks are bullish on Dekalb, or (especially) its schools.

I want Dekalb to succeed. We are moving back to Atlanta, I want to have a reason to move to Dekalb again, and I am staying open minded enough that I am including DCS in the schools that I will be touring for our upcoming move. I may sound incredibly negative, but I really want to be convinced. At most, I only see dribbles of positive news for a county that has been going in the wrong direction for decades.

Originally Posted by JPD

None of that backs up your statement that "in the long term, it does not look like it's going to get better." There's plenty of reason to think the opposite is true.

Originally Posted by JPD

For the record, new cities can not create their own schools, so forming a new city will in no way disassociate the citizens from the county schools.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

Who do you think has a larger tax base? Decatur or Dunwoody? And Decatur has its own schools. You're right that some of the new cities in North Fulton maybe too small. But legislation allows them to combine if it passes. I agree that some of the proposed cities in Dekalb probably would struggle to support a school system.
An economist did an analysis for the AJC and clearly showed that Dunwoody could support a own school system. I suspect that Brookhaven could as well.
I think that some residents would vote to tax themselves more if it meant local control of the school system.
I'm not saying that I think new school systems are necessarily an ideal solution. dekalb Has shown over and over again its inability to fix itself and the children across the county are suffering because of it.

Yeah, that's excatly what I said ("proposed new cities." Dunwoody and Brookhaven are not proposed new cities), and then you started your post by arguing with me.

Words mean things.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by jeoff

[color=black][font=Verdana]I hope I am wrong (and it would not be the first time). But, I do not see how, finding money because of bad accounting, having a school board being replaced by the governor, and having wealthier 1/3 of the county doing everything they can to disassociate from the county is reason to be optimistic, when the county schools have been declining for over 30 years.

What you're seeing happen right now is problems being addressed. Getting rid of corrupt officials, finding accounting problems, etc. Correcting problems, by nature, tends to be followed by improvements.

I followed very, very closely the run up to Dunwoody forming a city. They didn't do it because of the schools. They formed a city because they didn't like that their tax money was being spent in South Dekalb.