Should cities be allowed to create their own school districts? (Dunwoody: tax rates, moving)

[10 feet tall]

Originally Posted by cqholt

So this selfish, entitled attitude is not just my generation(Millenials) it is something that is common in American values.

Innate in all parents is the instinct to protect their children and give them advantages. Laying down your life, your money, and your time in a competitive manner for the betterment of your children is not merely "selfish and entitled millennials" and it is in no way exclusive to America. It is evolutionary biology. It is survival. You may think it is only the dim narrow minded people moving to East Cobb that want what's best for their own children, but I would bet probably a few parents ITP feel that way too.

[Fubarbundy]

If the constitution is changed to allow cities to form their own school district, would there be a requirement that they can't take over any existing county school building within their municipal limits? Having to create everything from scratch might be enough of a barrier to maintain the status quo (not that it doesn't need help in some areas), at least for awhile. Are parents in North Fulton and Dunwoody that desperate to mutiny from the current convoy and cough up the cost for a whole new system, instead of working to improve certain operational aspects?

[flyonpa]

Why waste the taxpayers dollars by making new school districts build new schools.

When they "Split" off there is an asset & liability adjustments done.
Since the "Whole" old district payed for it. They (the new distrct) owns part of it. If the old district want to retain it, then it has to pay the "new" district its calculated value, so that asset is retained in the old district.

Since its done on real estate ratables, a North Fulton / South Fulton would have South Fulton pay $'s to North Fulton.

[GeorgiaLakeSearch]

Originally Posted by bu2

I suggest you look at the cities proposing it. They are all very diverse ethnically and economically, far more so than the districts they want to secede from. I don't believe a single one of these districts would be as wealthy or white as Decatur. Certainly Dunwoody and Brookhaven aren't. I don't think any of the North Fulton cities are either.

They are trying to give all the kids a chance, which they feel the big districts they are in won't.

Decatur votes for Democrats so you won't see any criticism of it by the people against smaller school systems.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by 10 feet tall

Innate in all parents is the instinct to protect their children and give them advantages. Laying down your life, your money, and your time in a competitive manner for the betterment of your children is not merely "selfish and entitled millennials" and it is in no way exclusive to America. It is evolutionary biology. It is survival. You may think it is only the dim narrow minded people moving to East Cobb that want what's best for their own children, but I would bet probably a few parents ITP feel that way too.

Who brought up East Snobb? There are good school options in APS as well as charter schools in the district.

[10 feet tall]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaLakeSearch

Decatur votes for Democrats so you won't see any criticism of it by the people against smaller school systems.

No doubt.

Decatur benefits from local control of a small school system = shining gem of Atlanta metro! Everyone move there fast! Property values appreciate, etc, etc.

Brookhaven and Dunwoody want the same thing = insidious racist plot to hurt unfortunate kids in south Dekalb.

Why doesn't Decatur just merge with Dekalb so they can share their school tax revenue with the entire county? why are the citizens of Decatur withholding their tax money from helping the less fortunate kids in south Dekalb?

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by 10 feet tall

No doubt.

Decatur benefits from local control of a small school system = shining gem of Atlanta metro! Everyone move there fast! Property values appreciate, etc, etc.

Brookhaven and Dunwoody want the same thing = insidious racist plot to hurt unfortunate kids in south Dekalb.

Why doesn't Decatur just merge with Dekalb so they can share their school tax revenue with the entire county? why are the citizens of Decatur withholding their tax money from helping the less fortunate kids in south Dekalb?

Decatur has always had their own school system, just like Marietta, Atlanta, Buford, etc. Those cities were grandfathered in because they operated them before the constitution was changed. Also, the rising property values are hurting may long time Decatur residents and forcing them out, which the city and new residents seem to have no issue with.

[red92s]

Originally Posted by 10 feet tall

No doubt.

Decatur benefits from local control of a small school system = shining gem of Atlanta metro! Everyone move there fast! Property values appreciate, etc, etc.

Brookhaven and Dunwoody want the same thing = insidious racist plot to hurt unfortunate kids in south Dekalb.

Why doesn't Decatur just merge with Dekalb so they can share their school tax revenue with the entire county? why are the citizens of Decatur withholding their tax money from helping the less fortunate kids in south Dekalb?

I think a lot of these cities are looking at Decatur and going "see, now THAT is what we should be doing! Look how well that's working for them!". Lost in that is the fact that City of Decatur pays the highest tax rates in the state and a large chunk of that goes into the school system. Something like 60 cents of every tax dollar collected in Decatur goes back into the schools. Maybe other cities would be able to take more of the tax load off residents by having a larger commercial base than Decatur does, but there is no free lunch. Decatur residents pay pretty dearly for those schools (and have for a long, long time). Are residents (NOT just the ones with kids) going to be in favor of having their own schools that they will implement substantial tax hikes on themselves? Decatur is also a comparatively small system. When you've only got one middle school and one high school, everyone is pretty much in the same boat and has to work to improve what they've got instead of just moving across town to get into the more desirable feeder.

Replicating what Decatur has going for it isn't easy. They have had some really great people working on downtown development, the schools, etc that developed master plans decades ago and then lived in the community long enough to work on implementing them. Decatur has been a pretty trendy pick for the last ~5-8 years, but a lot of those wheels were set in motion back in the 90's.

[jeoff]

Originally Posted by JPD

The administrators aren't in the classroom teaching the kids. It's a fact that there are loads of highly talented teachers and well educated students in Dekalb county schools. No amount of corruption can change that.

But, an administration can demand that students be promoted that have not mastered the required skills. An administration can demand that children with chronic behavior issues remain in class, where they disrupt the entire class. An administration can refuse to instill change to improve a school cluster, and then "imply" that anyone that disagrees is a racist--

Meeting notes suggest DeKalb Super won't budge on charter cluster idea - Decaturish

[lastminutemom]

The reality is, across the South as well as in other large metro areas, large school systems are failing children. And, disproportionately, the students most negatively impacted by these broken bureaucracies are poor and minority children.

In Ga, at least until 8th grade, minority students generally perform better in smaller, poorer school districts. When you compare like schools in the metro area to their peer schools in rural GA, you will often find higher levels of student achievement in the smaller districts. This, despite the fact, the the Metro districts spend far more per student. Certainly the results that are coming out of many of these smaller districts aren't brag worthy, but it is important to note that most of the lowest performing elementary schools in the state are in the metro area.

To the poster (JPD?) who said that every student can get a good education in DeKalb, the parents in the McNair cluster would argue with you. This past legislative session, many of them showed up and begged the Governor to take over their schools. There are many good teachers in DeKalb. I would argue that there are far fewer good principals and other school based administrators because good ones aren't hired/promoted. (Friends and family, you know.)

Despite the highest school taxes of any county in the state, DeKalb has twenty percent of the lowest performing schools in the state. (About 8 percent of GA public school students are in DeKalb.)

But this legislation, should it pass, isn't just about DeKalb. I have recently heard that the bill will be amended to allow any city to create a school system.

I have concerns about funding inequities, but I am hoping they are addressed in the enabling legislation. This is where the details for the implementation will be found.

However, I am convinced that children have a better shot at a great education when decisions are made locally and officials can be more easily held accountable.