By Dr. Harry Tennant
Saturday, December 18, 2010 In The News: Trouble For Atlanta's SchoolsAre some school districts just too big? The Atlanta Public Schools tend to 49,000 students. That is not huge, but it may be beyond optimum. Having said that, Lewisville ISD in North Texas has about 52,000 students and it is well-managed. We could note any number of other examples. Nonetheless, it sometimes seems that our districts (and campuses) can be too large for their own good. Is this so? For a bit on Atlanta's troubles, quoted from the article you can click below to read in full: "Did any school district in the country have a tougher week than the one in Atlanta? First, criminal investigators began digging anew into accusations of widespread cheating on state standardized tests that had been plaguing the district for two years. The allegations, which center on dozens of employees who are suspected of changing test answers to improve scores, have already been the focus of investigations by the state and the Atlanta school system that have cost more than $1 million." "....The Atlanta school board, meanwhile, is in such disarray that a team from the regional agency that provides accreditation for the 49,000-student district showed up on Wednesday for its own investigation into whether infighting was keeping the board from governing properly.""...At City Hall and in corporate offices around town, the talk is about how best to find a successor for the schools superintendent, Beverly L. Hall, who announced her resignation last month." "...The board’s conflict is at the center of whether the district can keep its accreditation, said Mark Elgart, president of the regional accrediting agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. A team from the agency arrived here on Wednesday for three days of interviews throughout the district."
"...The district will learn in January whether it will face sanctions or
lose its accreditation, which could hurt students’ chances for getting
into certain universities and securing scholarships." Click here for the entire story
Better days ahead for Atlanta Public Schools...we hope. Posted at 1:27 PM Keywords: In The News , Large Districts 2 Comments |