DeKalb Schools and legal fees

[jeoff]

Originally Posted by JPD

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 hope you are right.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

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

That's an interesting angle I had not considered. However, wasn't DeKalb in its heyday pretty similar to what it is today? I know there have been some racial shifts in the population but my guess would be that from a socioeconomic standpoint the situation isn't that much different.

[jeoff]

Dekalb County was run under court order for decades to insure integration. I think that the way the court order was followed, combined with the way that whites responded, probably affected school quality.

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

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.

Originally Posted by arjay57

That's an interesting angle I had not considered. However, wasn't DeKalb in its heyday pretty similar to what it is today? I know there have been some racial shifts in the population but my guess would be that from a socioeconomic standpoint the situation isn't that much different.

[10 feet tall]

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

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.

If Dunwoody formed its own school system it would be almost instantly elite and property values would go through the roof. With that location and the community feel it has already it would be an overnight sensation.

Similar things could be said about Sandy Springs, although it doesn't really have the same neighborhood feel that Dunwoody does. It has plenty of potential tax base though, and a similarly good location.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by 10 feet tall

If Dunwoody formed its own school system it would be almost instantly elite and property values would go through the roof. With that location and the community feel it has already it would be an overnight sensation.

But where would that leave the rest of DeKalb County?

[JPD]

Originally Posted by arjay57

But where would that leave the rest of DeKalb County?

They obviously don't care.

[arjay57]

If one city goes off and does its own exclusive school system, how is it helping the rest of the county.

Look at the city of Decatur. Shouldn't they be forced to get in there with the rest of DeKalb?

[JPD]

Originally Posted by arjay57

If one city goes off and does its own exclusive school system, how is it helping the rest of the county.

Look at the city of Decatur. Shouldn't they be forced to get in there with the rest of DeKalb?

City of Decatur schools predate current law, so that's a different case than forming new schools systems.

I agree breaking apart is destructive to the county as a whole. How could it not be? Decatur was recently pursuing annexation of some of Dekalb's commercial areas near Emory for no reason other than to grab the tax revenue. Thankfully, they failed, as that would have taken a pretty large bite out of the county's revenue.