The Atlanta (Georgia) School District high schools have been placed on probation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement. The reason? Apparently they heard of board votes taken without proper approval, staged media events to promote the board chairman's personal agenda, a board member using a district-issued charge card for personal expenses, and continuing fallout from an investigation into allegations of cheating on state tests.
Source: Education Week Jan 18, 2011
It's even worse than the Educ Week blog stated.
The full SAC report here The school board is completely dysfunctional. The Team found the effectiveness of the Atlanta Public School Board of Education is in a state of paralysis. p 11 "What becomes evident is the lack of Board determination to “do the right thing, even though the right thing is not the easiest thing to do.” p 7
How rare is probation? Of the roughly 5,000 districts nationwide that SACS has accredited, only eight are currently on probation. (Source: AP story)
Photo of the Board.
The school board chairman is Khaatim Sherrer El whose appointment was the result of, as one publication put it, "a contentious board coup."
Georgia legislators want to give the Governor the ability to remove the entire school board. March 31 -
The bill to do that - Senate Bill 79 - has been sent to the House floor.
Party Control in Legislature here
SCHOOL DISTRICT
Greatschools.org rates the district 4 out of 10. FACTS: The district serves 48,300 students in 108 schools. The student population is 83 percent black. Three-fourths of the students are "economically disadvantaged." The school pays $13,150 per student (state average is $9,089.) Student 11 grade test scores are very high but are currently being investigated by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Feds.
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