This could have easily been avoided had the school board "politicians" put the interest of the students and the education of those students on the front burner.
As we all know it is about control of assets and control of policy that has brought this about.
Now the county will undergo the appeal which will cost the taxpayer and do nothing to restore the confidence that is so needed show SACS officials that the governing body of the school board has the students interest and not their political career in the forefront of their minds.
Once again politics wins and the citizens lose.
Don

Well, it has finally happened. The state of Georgia makes the news again, showcasing to the nation and world that our education levels are COMPLETELY in the toilet. As of today, Clayton county has officially lost its accreditation, and it is the first school to do so since 1969. Doesn't that just make you proud? What the hell happened here, and where is the leadership in this state. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that this casts a bad shadow, not just on Clayton county, but the whole state and all counties. We will become a pariah to the business world, for no company will move to a state with such a lackluster education standing. People do not move into areas where they have doubts that their children and grandchildren will get a good education. Its just not that hard to comprehend.

And what has the good Governor and Legislature done to prevent this tragedy? Nothing, not a damn thing. These winds have been blowing for several months now, and no one has taken the steps needed to prevent it. Legalities aside, our state agencies should have moved in, fired who needed to be fired, implemented what was required to keep our accrediation, and dealt with the niceties of constitutionality after the fact. But no one did anything, the schools lost accreditation, thousands of students are at risk of not being able to go to universities and colleges outside of the state system, and counties surrounding Clayton will have to prepare for the mass of applications to place more students in their already burdened schools.

Now i'm really worried about the appearance of Kathy Cox on "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?". If she doesnt make the grade on that show, in front of millions of viewers, then we will have a Trifecta for sure: Poor graduation and performance rates, Schools without accreditation, and a Education Secretary who will announce on national tv that she IS NOT smarter than a fifth grader. 49 states will be laughing, but Georgia won't be one of them. Maybe it's time to move to one of those other states, where they at least realize it is the 21st century, and education DOES matter unless we choose to lose our place in the world to the Chinese, Indians, or even the Mexicans. Just disgusting......

Let's start a list on Kathy Cox. Georgia is one of only eight states to embrace a curriculum that none of the teachers believe will prepare students for (a) the CRCT or (b) the required end of course tests.

Back to Clayton's students. The legislature passed a bill that helps kids affected by the kind of stupidity that is rampant in Clayton County. That is, they may move into another "functioning" school system.

The same legislation, thanks to members of Henry's Delegation, includes an out-clause so that incoming students may be declined on the basis of system capacity (over-crowding) and other reasons.

I talked to the Henry Schools office today. The official policy is that Henry will continue to enforce its residency requirement for attendance in Henry schools. The capacity issue is summed up with "We are now opening schools that are at or over capacity on day one."

This is the problem, worst case scenario for the kids, when elected officials reflect the intelligence of the voters.

While I favor abolishing all state and federal departments of education, the Clayton case shows a need to examine idiot-proof systems. Local control in this case simply failed.

The Clayton County Board of Education and government system failed the base of their future and that is their children.
The Doctor

What we have here is a failure to communicate.
I know you are all aware of the fact that we are talking about not the failure of a system but of politicians.
School boards are an elected body of politicians not appointed. As such they can not be terminated for stupidity or failing to do their duty. Other politicians who would have the superior position in the food chain will not interfere with them because they for the most part know these same individuals could be a problem for them.
I have been told by many elected politicians that it is impossible to dismiss an official or employee for that matter from the "public" employment payroll and that my friends is what this whole situation is about as the Doctor has more than once stated FOLLOW THE MONEY and it will shine a light on the problem.
And it not the taxpayer of Henry County responsibility to educate the children of the residents of Clayton County .
It is the residents of Clayton County that are responsible to handle this situation as they were aware of this train wreck in the makings and chose not to repair the tracks.....what was there voter turn out?
I know it was double that of Henry County but still indicated 75% of the voters in Clayton County were not concerned for their county.
I do not want to pay for non-residents education and I don't know how to say it any more clearly.
At some point in a persons life that person has to take personal responsibility for their own welfare and this is that point in Clayton County residents life.
To the Henry county officials I participated in the electoral process and expect you to represent MY interest not the interest of those who do not pay your salary.
Don Henderson

Don, you are correct my friend. All they have to do is follow the money. In this case it leads to a group of elected people who seem not to care about educating their children but enjoying the perks of having that cash flow into their offices. I have watched the Clayton County BoE meetings and how they like sitting up high above the members of the audience
like they have so much authority and you the citizen are beneath me. This attitude has got to change before the people will ever see any better.
And the taxpayers of Henry County do not need to pay for the children of Clayton County where taxes are paid for them by the citizens of Clayton County. Again with things looking bad in the economic world and money getting tighter; I wonder how long they think the taxpayers can continue to pay for their continued lack of responsibility to those who put them in office: the taxpayers. In our case the 10% of the 100,000 registered voters.
The Doctor

According to the Henry Herald article of 8/30 one reason Clayton County Schools lost accreditation is because of the contract the BoE has with the Superintendant Thompson. The SACS said that his contract shows that the school is not ready to be recertified. When the newspaper tried to interview him he said he couldn't hear what they were saying and that he couldn't understand why they keep asking about his contract.

Here again the incompetence of the Clayton BoE has caused this situation to happen. The one's who are losing in all this are the student's who have put in years of study to have all this to happen.

Also, the taxpayers are losing because their tax money has been taken and the people entrusted with it are not handling their jobs correctly. They should hold the Clayton BoE accountable for the loss of the accreditation. Hopefully their situation will be resolved so the students who graduate this coming year will have an accredited diploma.

The Doctor

You can hear the complete audio of the SACS press conference at http://www.impeachedmagazine.com/

It is listed under the podcasts.

Thank you.