Monthly Archives: December 2013

Should Georgia Have New School Districts?

GLASSBy Erika Harris
Co-Chair of GLASS (Georgians for Local Area School Systems)
As young as the United States of America is, our public education history is even more juvenile. And as such, we are learning the ropes and constantly working to improve and meet our responsibility of educating, in an equal and effective way, each of our youngest citizens. Through our brief history of public education, we see that it is full of twists and turns, old and current – all to respond to the changing needs of our student populations and learning expectations.
Some of these decisions have been forward thinking, and some reactive measures to extreme educational crises. Continue reading

DeKalb Schools in the AJC


This weekend an entire page in the AJC, Opinion – A23, was dedicated to various editorials regarding DeKalb Schools.
Maureen Downey pointed out DeKalb’s reputation is still a problem with parents, and despite the convictions of a recent school administration, leadership is still a “protectorate of the status quo”.
While I agree with Ms. Downey’s observation, I also observe that a majority of DeKalb’s citizens often vote to support that status quo. State Representative Tom Taylor noted out of 23 members of the DeKalb Delegation, only 6 stood with the Governor in the removal of the DeKalb School Board. The Druid Hills Cluster vote, cityhood movements, and HR 486 (referendum to form new school districts) are evidence that a number of local communities are left with no other alternatives given the effects of the tyranny of the majority. Continue reading