Great "Get Schooled" Blog Discussion on DCSS

This is one of the better conversations on Mo Downey's Get Schooled Blog (Mo lives in the county):
While APS is on road to recovery, DeKalb is stalled in the slow lane

I love how the highly respected Shayna Steinfeld very publicly calls out the BOE Chair for his complete lack of leadership and results, as well as his tolerance of blatant nepotism and cronyism, plus she calls out the rest of the BOE too:

"DCSS Board of Education members are notorious for being “hands on” with daily operations. Many of them also have family members employed by the system, even as other more experienced staff was laid off due to budget cuts. The “friends and family” of present and past BOE members seem to have priority in maintaining their jobs and in promotions, even at the expense of teachers, as furlough days have been approved, salaries were frozen and as students have been packed into classrooms with class sizes increased in some cases to 35 per classroom.

DCSS has really failed on this one: the minority, which was not in favor of the vote for Dr. Cox went to the media to actively leak the specifics of the negotiations with her. This was a tremendous breach of confidentiality, which the Chairman of the BOE did not see fit to investigate. Further, the media did not see fit to investigate the underbelly of the story, which was “why” was the minority actively sabotaging the negotiations. The second hiring round, as the Board “tried again” was no more successful: it also had leaks, leaving the taxpayers wondering if they were “Alice in Wonderland” looking for the adults who would make decisions actually prioritizing the education of the children and wondering why it is, exactly, that DCSS pays SACS $75,000 a year as a fee and then SACS seems to turn a blind-eye as the BOE remains dysfunctional, with almost a billion dollar annual budget, and no one scrutinizes why it is that DCSS appears to have completely failed the children with its core mission: the actual act of educating the children, as the system has plunged to the bottom of the state and the long-term implications this has for the future.

It seems to those of us who are actually paying attention, that the fox is guarding the hen house..."

The latest report on math in DeKalb County Schools

Many of you know that I’ve been through a number of changes with regard to the Math curriculum in Georgia. For a bit of history: (1) my soon-to-be-college-sophomore was part of the program by Dr. Brown insisting upon mandatory algebra for all 8th graders. This was required without any regard to basic “readiness” components such as whether a child knew his or her multiplication or division ‘facts’ cold. The explanation for the change was that all children who had calculus in high school succeeded in college. My personal experience with calculus in high school, which I came close to failing and have never used as an attorney, is that Dr. Brown had his Venn diagram backwards: all those who succeed with calculus in high school will do well in college, but there are others who will do well in college who do not take calculus in high school. The end result: a 70% fail rate in algebra 1 in 8th grade. My son was the 2nd or 3rd year of mandatory algebra 1 (he did fine, he took AB calculus as a senior and is currently enrolled in an engineering curriculum in NY). (2) My middle son was the first year of the shift to Integrated GPS math and he was part of the first group of students to be enrolled in “Accelerated Math 1" as an 8th grader, entering the curriculum mid-year in 7th grade. I was very involved in the roll-out of this curriculum and in its implementation. I have been outspoken against it, particularly with regard to the lack of teacher training and the lack of a “model” system effectively using this curriculum elsewhere. When directly asked “who is using this math” and “with what result,” the response was hemming and hawing and reference to Europe and a need to compete abroad. No one domestically was utilizing the curriculum in toto such that my child and his friends were being used as guinea pigs. The experiment has failed (some of his friends, now sophomores, are looking at Calculus next year and are doing very well– they are very bright and able to absorb the math, and others of his friends are really struggling in Math 2 and are looking at Math 3 next year). The State is now moving away from this curriculum. (3) My youngest son has been enrolled in Accelerated Math 1 as an 8th grader this year. In it’s 3rd year, they are still not working from a text book. Fortunately for my household, my sons are good at math and they have each other for help.

The County has released its pending course offerings for the rising 9th graders and for the Accelerated rising 8th graders. I have been barraging various folks at the County, including Dr. Beasley, Ms. Tyson and others along with Dr. Reichrath at the State, with my thoughts and opinions gleaned from these past 7 years of changes in the math curriculum. A friend and I had the opportunity to attend a meeting this past week with some math curriculum folks from the County, including Ms. Stacy Stepney, the Director for High School Teaching and Learning and with Ms. Wanda Audrict, the K-12 Math Coordinator. I was pleased with how supportive of the children they were and how knowledgeable they were about the past and upcoming changes to the math curriculum and the interface they require from the State. They also seemed to support “leveling” math within the high school. It is not obvious from the materials that have been presented to the parents that the upcoming math options will be offered in gifted and accelerated modules (for comparison my eldest had Gifted Geometry, Gifted Algebra 2, Gifted Analysis and then AP AB Calculus). They indicated that they were encouraging the schools to make such courses available if the student bodies would support it. Ms. Stepney is willing to speak with folks with questions – so contact her.

It seems that the current upcoming changes to the math curriculum will only impact the current 7th graders (rising 8th) and older (this is why none of the other grade levels have been addressed at the meetings). This is because the horizon includes Governor Deal’s adoption of the Common Core Standards (National Standards) http://www.corestandards.org/ It seems that no one is quite sure what this will mean. How does this impact the CRCT? What about implementing it now rather than going to some in-between step for math? How will it be rolled out? Why are we not using a test like the NAEP (the “National Assessment of Educational Progress” test – my middle son took this test at Henderson two years ago but never received the scores. Also not all of Henderson nor all 8th graders took the NAEP that year, only a selected group of 8th grade impact kids at Henderson took the NAEP that year... it is very odd actually, but I digress). Can we take the Iowa instead of the CRCT? Is there a budget for teacher training? New books? There are no answers. Only questions and more changes on the horizon.

In evaluating what to do about the “new” math options if you have a child impacted (e.g. 7-10th grade). You need to look at a very confusing chart. The County’s website has the math powerpoint uploaded. The women explained that the “programs” (DCSS has so many) have different tracks so a student exiting Chamblee Middle in Accelerated Math 1 isn’t necessarily in the “same boat” as a student exiting Henderson Middle in Accelerated Math 1 (for some reason, Chamblee High still has a math track that can proceed even faster than the Accelerated track at Lakeside that will get a student to Calculus in 11th grade). Also, DCSS is experimenting with “on line” learning whereby joint enrollment may be available for the upper level, very advanced (beyond Calculus) students with the local colleges for classes not offered on-site. This is very exciting and I commend the county for this!

So here are my “take aways” from the meeting. If you have an Accelerated Math 1 child who should stay “on track” and is doing “well” “as is” then don’t return any forms (or get them back - quickly!) and proceed. Your child should automatically be enrolled (by teacher recommendation) in Accelerated GPS Geometry/Advanced Algebra (this is half a year to finish up what is left in Geometry and half a year of the old Algebra 2 – give or take). If you want to “slow it down” because you child hates math, isn’t doing too well, or just isn’t interested in 11th grade Calculus, you sign up for GPS Geometry – not GPS Algebra – if your child has already taken Accelerated Math 1 and has sat for the EOCT (given on Thursday, May 5th) and earned a Carnegie unit and passed the class, your child has completed Algebra 1. To shift from Accelerated Math 1 to GPS Geometry, the form should be completed and returned.

If you have a GPS Math 8 child who is doing well and wants to go to a college like UGA or Ga Tech and is good at math and is not currently struggling (e.g. has the teachers’ “go ahead”), then consider enrolling your child in Accelerated GPS Algebra/Geometry. This will be a half year finishing what is left of Algebra 1 and starting the first half of Geometry (give or take). Sophomore year, you will pick up in the previous paragraph.... There is a way to accelerate even further and get to Calculus as a Junior by “doubling up” – probably sophomore year – if your child is very strong at math and very interested in math. If this is the case, please chat with your counselors and Ms. Stepney about this alternative and plan your courses. If you want to “take it slowly” because your child hates math or is really bad at it, enroll in GPS Algebra or Math 1 depending on whether you want the “discrete” approach (if you are headed to Lakeside, my understanding is that you may not have the option and will need to be in the “discrete” column). I’m not sure which option will require the form to be returned.

My personal “spin” on things is that the high schools are not going to be able to offer every class on the chart and to be able to offer them at every “level” (e.g. gifted and accelerated-colloquially “high achiever”). There are “STARS” (under the new funding formulas) to figure out and actual classrooms to fill. If there are only 8 kids signed up for Math 1 and 20 kids signed up for GPS Algebra, the Math 1s will land in GPS Algebra. The gifteds may be merged with the accelerateds in order for the schools to fill in their “matrixes” of classes so that they can maximize the number of math teachers they have with the courses they are offering. To that end, it may make sense for parents to coordinate with one another so that the kids are presented to the high schools as larger “groups” rather than “singles” for the offerings, which from the chart could be all over the place and a scheduling nightmare for the Assistant Principal doing the scheduling (obviously I’ve never done scheduling myself so maybe it will be easy and I just don’t know it).

I hope this is helpful to you. If you have questions, I really do encourage you to contact Ms. Stepney – she was really delightful and very helpful. The counselors from the different high schools seem to have different information. Please also check with your student’s current math teacher if you have any lingering questions about ability. Understand that the math is changing, training and text book budgets are tight and grades are going onto final transcripts for high school so when you are choosing courses you need to do what’s best for your child. Also, think ahead. Colleges are interested in your child challenging him or herself at the highest end of his or her ability and also doing well in the class (it is sometimes a tight line to walk). Also, the classes your child takes freshman year set the stage for the classes he or she will take the following year and so forth. Certain colleges may be “out of reach” if your child doesn’t reach a “certain level” of classes by junior and senior year so you need to choose wisely and maybe even research colleges now. For example, it may be that UGA and Ga Tech want to see that your child has taken AP classes and Calculus by the time they graduate. In order to take those classes, there are other classes that need to be taken first, so the child needs to set forth on a certain path to get there. It may be that there are other things that come into play. Just enter into your child’s freshman schedule with open eyes regarding ability and where it will lead the following few years with college and after (work, etc) looming ahead so that you are not caught off guard at a time when you may be at a critical juncture and may not be able to do something about it. Also, for kids who are interested in “STEM” careers (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), there are some really interesting summer programs and scholarships – for college and for the summer – some are there for girls and others for minorities. Many are “need” based. Do some research on line and see what is out there and what the “prerequisites” are with enough “lead” time to plan ahead. Your teen may still need some guidance from you even if they appear to be completely removed from you.

Good luck.

Shayna

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Shayna Steinfeld has served as our resource for math information for quite some time. We very much appreciate her willingness to continue to meet with those 'in the know' and to advocate for excellent math in DeKalb.



Below are some charts showing the Georgia math pathways and why Algebra 1 won't fit.

Time to re-examine how business is conducted in DeKalb County Schools

It is clear it is time to re-examine how business is conducted in DeKalb County Schools. I acknowledge how difficult a school board member‘s job is, especially so these past few months. I fear this stems from a misunderstanding in the role and I think it is appropriate now to convey some truths that have been crying out to be shared.

First, the job of a school board member is that of a “public servant.” A board member is a steward of public funds for the benefit of children, who absolutely depend upon the school system for his or her future well being (that is, the ability to earn a living in the future). But some on the DeKalb Board see their election as life-long employment. They network with system employees to find work for family members and push for high pay. Educating children does not appear to be their top priority.

Secondly, the taxpayer is forced to pay the taxes to the county through property taxes, to the state through state income taxes and to the federal government through federal taxes. These taxes create the pool to fund DeKalb County School System’s billion-plus-dollar budget. Unlike the ill-fated investors of Bernie Madoff, who understood, at least at some level, there was risk when they chose to invest, the taxpayer has no choice. The taxpayer must pay or risk 1) criminal prosecution for tax evasion and/or 2) foreclosure of his/her property. The taxpayer, in turn, has a reasonable expectation that elected stewards will use these monies for the purposes for which they are legally tasked. In the case of DCSS, those funds are obligated for use to educate children.

It is obvious to those of us “on the outside” that there have not been appropriate “checks and balances” in place on the use of our taxpayer money within DCSS. To wit:

• Former principals oversee the Transportation Department – not leaders from UPS or Federal Express who understand efficient delivery of goods (students) from point A to point B;
• A former principal has headed a Health and Wellness program, selected over a candidate with a PhD in this very field. (An aside: the program wasn’t needed in the first place.)

Further evidence is the “Friends and Family” plan in DCSS. It is clear to us “on the outside” that in its recent downsizing, DCSS retained employees who are related to current and former Board of Education members and higher echelon members of the administration, rather than those employees critical to educating children in the schoolhouse. One wonders if this is the standard SACS requires the school system to follow.

It is past time the DeKalb Board of Education initiate work to begin to restore the trust and confidence of the community it serves. It clearly failed to monitor, supervise and question issues related to the massive construction program, which makes members essentially complicit in the activity that triggered the indictments against the former superintendent and his deputy. Several years ago, former board member Cassandra Anderson-Littlejohn attempted to question this very activity. Her fellow board members refused to support her demand for greater transparency. Now, the community must compel the board to implement changes immediately:

1. Post all financial transactions (P-card, checks, statements, etc.) online. It is the taxpayer’s money and the public is entitled to this information.
2. Implement Dr. Johnny Brown’s compensation audit to reduce salaries for all top- level officials. Any position that was not needed during his tenure five years ago should not be needed now.
3. Follow the example of the DeKalb Board of Commissioners and work with our local universities. Ask Emory’s Business School to take on DCSS as a case study to discern how to restore integrity in all areas of DeKalb Schools. Ask Georgia State to conduct another audit/compensation study.
4. Implement an Ethics Policy that is unequivocal and clear. Clarity would end ongoing conflicts of interests and bickering over minor issues like dollar limits for dinners.
5. Engage external auditors and publish their findings. There does not appear to be a functional internal auditing department that reports directly to the Board. For example: when the principal and bookkeeper departed from Lakeside High School in 2008, an audit was allegedly conducted. Parents and PTA members were aware that items were purchased for the school that never arrived at the building. The audit, which parents were told was “in the works,” was never released nor the discrepancies resolved. The same thing happened more recently at Chamblee High and apparently at Cross Keys High School as well. External auditors could determine if this is happening all over the district.
6. Signatures – how many signatures are needed for which purchases and checks? Do purchases and checks over a certain amount (say $1000 or $1500) require two signatures?

While Bernie Madoff’s investors have a trustee to unravel his financial misdeeds, the taxpayers must rely on the Board of Education to elucidate what has happened in DeKalb Schools. There is no trustee or receiver to untangle the money trail, although many taxpayers are appealing to SACS to investigate these issues. But at present, it is up to the elected Board of Education to rise to the challenge. Its Members have a fiduciary obligation to the students and taxpayers of DeKalb County. It is past time that this duty be followed and observed.

Last month’s news has made the national headlines and may well be used in Board training rooms throughout the country as examples of irresponsibility and what not to do. The DeKalb Board can choose to handle this crisis by exercising integrity and taking bold steps, selecting a strong new, outside, Interim Superintendant who is unaffiliated with the current mess to start the restructuring that needs to occur. In this way, the Interim Superintendant can prepare DCSS for a permanent hire that can restore our broken system.

The time is now, Board Members. Our children deserve it and the taxpayers – and voters – demand it.

Shayna Steinfeld
citizen/taxpayer/mother

*Note: Shayna Steinfeld, former president of the Atlanta Bar Association, ran for the DeKalb School Board in 2008.

It Takes a Village

by Shayna Steinfeld
(previously published in the The Atlanta Lawyer)

In this issue we celebrate lawyers whose practice concentrates on representing defendants in the criminal justice system. I’ve known many of these lawyers throughout my career and some of them have been my personal everyday heroes. Some of them have been recently honored by the Atlanta Bar and other organizations.

My primary interest this month, however, is in focusing on the correlation between the high school dropout rate and the crime rate. High school dropouts become tomorrow’s criminals, who then need our representation. Today’s at risk students need your current skills so that they won’t need your representation in Court down the road – either as a juvenile or as an adult. Atlanta Magazine, on page 44 of the September 2008 issue, reported that:

Dropouts from Georgia’s class of 2007 will cost the state more than $15.4 billion in lost wages, taxes, and productivity over their lifetimes, according to the Alliance for Excellent Education, a national policy and advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. The Alliance estimates that increasing the graduation rate and college registration rate of male students in Georgia by just 5 percent could lead to a savings and revenue of nearly $276 million each year by reducing crime-related costs (dropouts are eight times as likely to be incarcerated). And raising the graduation rates of Hispanic, African American, and Native American students to the level of whites by 2020 could increase their personal income and add more than $7.9 billion to the state economy. Keeping students in school lowers crime rates, provides skilled employees, improves the economy, raises the value of your property, and most importantly gives kids a chance at a better life.

The dropout rate in Georgia is appalling. According to information I received in a training session from the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education in an Education Policy Primer (2008-09 Edition), created by the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education in cooperation with the Georgia School Boards Association, In 2004, The United States graduated 74.3% of its public school children and Georgia graduated 61.2% of its children (only South Carolina was lower). Different statistics show DeKalb County’s 2008 high school graduation rate at either 75% or 70%. There is a lot of room for improvement.

Emmet Bondurant has researched and written a thorough paper on the correlation between quality, early pre-k for at-risk children and success throughout the school years and has argued for our legislature to reconsider its priorities in the use of lottery funds vis á vis a greater emphasis on expanding and improving Georgia’s pre-k program. For instance, there are many large counties whose school systems do not have pre-k (e.g. Cobb and Gwinnett) and counties like DeKalb are not fully serving their 4 year olds who could use pre-k. There are other studies that support the correlation between pre-k and higher high school graduation rates – one in Pennsylvania directly related high quality pre-k to reduced later crime rates and one from Dalton, Georgia linked the two. Emmet has been in contact with the Governor’s office, seeking a higher budget priority on pre-k funding, for it to serve all 4 year olds (it now serves only 57% of them) as well as expanding pre-k to 3 year olds.

Emmet has shared statistics with me. The State’s lottery reserves have steadily increased over the past four years. The State now has $946,516,199 estimated in the lottery reserves for fiscal year 2008 (compared to $559,365,024 for fiscal year 2004). Of these funds, $650 million are unrestricted reserves that must be spent, pursuant to the State’s constitution, on HOPE, pre-K, teacher training and educational capital improvements. In the meantime, the Governor has cut over $1.6 billion from the budget for other education programs (for instance after DeKalb County was required by law to pass its budget, it was then required by the Governor to eliminate another $10 million from it, it appears that teachers will not be given a cost of living increase and the state-wide teacher training budget is fixed, in hard dollars, at what it was approximately 20 years ago). An argument can be made that it is immoral and fiscally irresponsible for our government to sit on nearly a billion dollars in Lottery proceeds earmarked for education by our Constitution, when they could be invested in our at risk children. We need to reconsider how we are doing things as a State, ranked in the bottom few nationally in education, and revamp our priorities. Emmet is one of the most well respected lawyers in town and perhaps we should work together to accomplish something this legislative session, as independent lawyers, to reveal the link between high quality pre-k and the reduction of high school dropout rates. Ultimately, then, we also reduce crime rates, reduce the number of individuals on welfare and increase tax revenue. Not to mention plenty of other benefits to society along the way.

A few of the more interesting programs involving Atlanta’s lawyers that have sought to tackle the abysmal high school dropout rates and education have been Terry Walsh’s renowned Truancy Intervention Project (his big project as Atlanta Bar president); Kilpratick Stockton’s adoption of Washington High School following the “Freedom Writers” program, honored by the ADL last spring, the Georgia Appleseed project and “Everybody Wins”. In these efforts, lawyers work with at risk children to keep them in school and work to actively involve parents in their children’s education. We’d love to compile a list of what you, as a Firm, or what your lawyers within your Firm, are specifically doing to assist at risk children in our Atlanta community – please let us know.

I have a vision that follows the line of what Kilpatrick has done. I believe that the ADL will help me (a birdie told me so). Will you? There are 21 high schools in DeKalb County, 1 in the City of Decatur, 9 in Atlanta City Schools and 15 in Fulton County (46 total). There are a number of law firms, accounting firms, real estate firms, consulting firms, corporations, Universities, Associations, and other entities. If 45 entities were to follow Kilpatrick’s example and adopt one high school each, then students who are most at risk could have a mentor and a role model they would know is watching over their shoulder and who would check in on them on a regular basis. They would know that there was someone who cared about their academic progress and who would care if they dropped out. There would be someone to guide them towards college or a vocational program and a successful life after high school. Perhaps we could then also work alongside the other programs that are already in place to bring all of these resources together in a coordinated, city-wide effort to help all of these students succeed.

I say it takes a village because I see it in my own family. My children know that if they make a mistake, I have eyes behind my head. There are a number of adults who care and will let me know what happened. I will not be mad at the messenger for the message. Some parents blame the messenger and this is not productive. In times past, everyone knew everyone and helped each other raise their children. Justin had a much more in depth conversation with a friend of mine over his SAT than the grunts he shared with his dad and me once it was over – he was more comfortable this way. That’s part of the village too. When Judge Hatchett reported her story at the fabulous October 2nd Celebrating Service lunch, she shared her village at her church surrounding the Black Baptist Mothers watching over her and the other children in the projects behind Clark Atlanta and the one in particular who wished her success as she left for Mount Holyoke. She knew with absolute certainty that they cared about her success.

The village seems to be missing in many communities today. If we don’t address the dropout rate in some concrete way as a community, I shudder to think what we’re going to look like down the road. If each of 45 firms and Atlanta’s business and educational community adopts one high school we can do our part to be everyday heroes to our most vulnerable members of society. In doing so, we will make Atlanta and America better for our own children and grandchildren.

Everyday Heros

By Shayna Steinfeld

(originally written for her monthly column addressing the Atlanta Bar, as their president)

By now, those of you who were following the election have heard that I narrowly lost my race for DeKalb County School Board by 252 votes of nearly 20,000 cast in the runoff. It was an interesting adventure into Georgia politics. I appreciate your support and willingness to allow me, in a few of the columns this year, to indulge my passion for the education of the most vulnerable members of our society.

As Bill Ragland so kindly pointed out, this is my platform. I have sought to use it to encourage you, my reader and Atlanta Bar Member, to think about ways that lawyers can and should contribute to their own lives, to their families, and to society at large in a more positive way. We should strive to be our own everyday heroes.

We, as lawyers, are fortunate to be educated members of society. In fact, we have reached one of the upper levels on the pyramid of education. Therefore, we have the ability, and arguably, the obligation, to speak out for those who are unable to speak for themselves. Once again, please indulge me in the topic of where I believe we, in Georgia, have gone astray in education and what we, as individual lawyers, may be able to do to make a difference. This is different from the general solutions and interventions proposed; too often those on the left throw money at the problem, and those on the right argue for vouchers. A better solution is being sought by strong educators like Michelle Rhee, the new Chancellor who has taken Washington, DC schools by storm; she was featured in Time Magazine the week of November 26, 2008 in an article that notes that young Americans today are less likely than their parents were to finish high school and that America is behind most developed nations in math and science even though we spend more per pupil than any other country.

Maureen Downey, in her November 24, 2008 AJC Editorial, posited “Better schools will bring better jobs to Georgia.” She has called to our attention that “new reports cast doubt on Georgia’s strategy to use low costs rather than an educated work force as its calling card [for bringing new jobs to Georgia].” States that lead the 2008 State New Economy Index are Massachusetts, Washington, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut and Virginia – and these are all states that have high achieving schools. Georgia, however, ranked 18th in 2007 and 21 in 2008 on this index. She contends that this is the result of our reliance on low taxes, low wages, and a declining emphasis on schools.

Thomas Jefferson first proposed creating a public school system and his ideas form the basis of the public systems developed in the 1800s. One of Jefferson’s main concerns was to make schools available to all regardless of their status in society. By the end of the Nineteenth Century, free public education at the elementary level was available for American children in order to create good citizens, unite society and to prevent crime and poverty. By 1918 all states had mandatory attendance laws for elementary school. The first publicly supported high school was founded in Boston in 1635. By the middle of the eighteenth century the demand for skilled workers increased and Benjamin Franklin established a new kind of secondary school in Philadelphia in 1751. As we progressed in the Twentieth Century, most states passed laws requiring attendance in school through age sixteen.

From the beginning, individual states, rather than the federal government, have had primary authority over education. Each state currently has a department of education and has enacted laws regarding funding and financing, hiring of personnel, attendance and curriculum. Generally, local districts oversee the administration of the schools, with the exception of licensing and rules concerning health and safety. Public schools rely mostly on property taxes to meet expenses. Under President Bush, Congress enacted No Child Left Behind legislation, which asserts federal mandates on local school issues. This legislation leaves the curriculum decision to the states and requires regular criterion-based testing of the students to determine if they are meeting the standards of the state-based curriculum.

A few years ago, I personally asked Senator Isakson why we didn’t have a Federal curriculum standard for No Child Left Behind and I was referred back to “State’s Rights”. I submit to you, my friends, this month’s frustration: Georgia, which tends to be ranked towards the bottom of all 50 states in education, for decades, in a country ranked towards the bottom of industrialized countries in education, develops its own curriculum rather than selecting the best curriculum from states in the top 10. Further, we seem to lack options for our students who are not college-bound (that 25-30% we’re losing through the dropout rate addressed in last month’s column).

This month’s plea to you: as we get underway in the Gold Dome, there are laws that can be passed to improve our educational landscape that require minimal (or no) funding. We can begin to re-think how we educate our children and how we develop curriculum. I believe that the only curriculum we, as a state, should be creating from scratch is Georgia Studies. Every other subject that our students are learning – at every grade level – is taught in another state. There are at least 40 states doing it better than we are. Why not stop reinventing the wheel and instead start cherry-picking the best of the lot, by subject? (Not just curricula, but the associated proven texts, tests, lesson plans, and teacher training methods.) Instead of developing a math curriculum from scratch over the past few years at taxpayer expense, we could have chosen the number-one ranked Massachusetts’ curriculum, which has been proven teachable and effective.

House Speaker Glenn Richardson and Rep. Fran Millar are re-introducing their BRIDGE bill this term. This Bill seeks to allow students, who are not interested in attending college, to earn a certificate to allow them to pursue a technical career (e.g. in aerospace, health care, elderly care, agribusiness, life science, energy and environmental, logistics and transportation, information technology, teacher education training, engineering, science and mathematics, humanities and fine arts) with an introduction to these areas in 9th grade and concentrating in one area beginning in 10th grade. This bill, as proposed, exempts these students from some current graduation requirements and this has drawn criticism from educators. There is merit to giving the 25% to 30% of the students who are dropping out some alternatives. Perhaps, some support from constituents would make a difference?

Let’s start teaching our kids what they really need to know. Let’s give them tools to become successful in life. Let’s focus on English and math basics. Let’s teach everyone up-to-date computer skills. Let’s make sure no child leaves school without being financially literate. Most importantly, let’s allow them to fail if necessary, at early ages so they can understand how to work hard, win and succeed in high school and beyond. Albert Einstein experienced failure. Chipper Jones strikes out. Litigators lose a case every so often. Why are we so afraid to teach young kids the art of losing a game?

I will get off my soapbox now. I really wish we, as individual lawyers, could urge our legislature to require our State Department of Education to implement the best educational practices from around the country, to utilize the best curriculum from one of the states that are in the top five -- in toto – not modified where any child must be a guinea pig. Plus, we need to give our students critical life skills and alternatives – so we can make the American Dream possible for future generations of Georgians and keep our State and Country strong. In the process, we would re-invigorate Georgia to pull back in those jobs Maureen Downey says we are losing to other states because our system of education has been weak for too long.

Be an Everyday Hero and participate in the legislative process in the way you best see fit. While you are at it, thank your colleagues who have taken the plunge and have succeeded in being elected to public office.

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Many thanks to Shayna (who is herself, an Everyday Hero in my book) for allowing us to reprint her article here on the blog. I think she has done quality research and made excellent points. Although she is addressing her peers - lawyers - I hope this article inspires some creative, thoughtful conversation about how each of us in every occupation can work to improve our local schools. - Cere