APS Superintendent Erroll B. Davis Jr. in an interview session with Patch editors Monday expressed irritation at Buckhead responses over the APS redistricting process.
Pointing out "I am not an elected official," he singled out the community for the volume of e-mails he's received, with the same message, "keep Brandon Brandon." He said that when receiving 100 such form responses, he considers just one of them and doesn't read the rest.
He also showed a mix of amusement and distaste at what he said was the demanding tone of comments from across the city, particularly Virginia-Highland and Buckhead. "They snatch defeat from the jaws of victory," he said.
In response to Buckhead concerns that moving Centennial Place Elementary students would disrupt the community's k-12 international baccalaureate framework, Davis said, "I am not persuaded by the IB argument." He said APS has several rigorous programs, including the AP curriculum. "IB is just one path; it is not a panacea," he said.
He said that , for years the only school in the Southeast with an IB program, "is not even the best performing high school in the system." He said that distinction belongs to Carver Arts School.
The new North Atlanta High is costing $70 million to build, he said, "quite a bit to spend" when the APS capital budget is $100 million.
Although not specificially referencing proposals to send Centennial Place students to Buckhead middle schools and high schools, he said, "I raise my eyebrows a bit when I hear comments about 'those children,' and not 'their children.' That causes some concern." Buckhead parents have uniformly opposed the option to move Centennial Place students from School Reform Team 3 to SRT 4, which includes Buckhead.
Also, he also suggested that the proposal to rebuild is not a certainty. He said he would consider redoing the school to a capacity of 750 students, but a place must be found to send students during the construction work, which could last one and a half to two years. "We're not going to place tents on the front lawn," he said.
"Build a school at E. Rivers: We will find it if it is in fact doable," he said.
He also said "middle schools are the real issue" in the redistricting debate, as reported on Virginia-Highland Patch. Davis praised the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood for the measured tone of its responses, as noted in this article on East Atlanta Patch.
Shame on Atlanta!
1) Compared to AP, IB will increase college costs for most students. 2) The IB diploma required TOK class is composed entirely of questions like, "When can it be right to disobey the law? Can suicide bombers be right?" 3) IB will not improve student performance. 4) IB's pedagogical method is one of constructivism and inquiry based learning to promote a specific ideology. 5) IB is extremely expensive. 6) Many schools drop IB, learn why at article below. 7) Some people have religious concerns with IB. 8) IB is an NGO of UNESCO (UN) and the goal is to promote the UN ideology. 9) At the elementary level IB is forced on all children in the school and the stated goal is to "develop attitudes," and to get students to "take action." 10) With IB, schools give up some local control to a Swiss organization. 11) AP is the best fit for gifted students. 12) When IB/AP classes are combined the IB material must take priority. 13) For the IB diploma students must complete 10 required classes in 11th and 12th grade. 14) IB is implemented in a deceitful way over and over throughout the United States. Once someone questions IB an open and honest discussion is never allowed, and the community becomes divided. To find proof supporting all the points above read the entire article. http://myinclinevillage.com/2011/07/31/what-all-parents--students-should-know-before-enrolling-in-ib.aspx
Calling him a racist just reflects ignorance on the part of the writer. PS--I live in Morris Brandon district and have seen the unnecessary hysteria first hand.
Why Superintendent Davis is driving a disruptive re-organization of the school boundaries? It's such a setback to a set of schools that are thriving through tremendous community support. I've heard modest support at best for the proposed changes and a deafening chorus against it. Who benefits from this? Can anyone answer that? Mr. Davis surely hasn't.
http://blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-blog/2012/01/18/outside-audit-of-dekalb-school-system-slash-the-central-office-by-more-than-300-jobs/ I would LOVE to see the ratio of administrators to students in Atlanta Public Schools. This year we will pay $25K in property tax (E Rivers district) and send our daughter to private school. We just cannot turn her over to a system led by those with such open hostility toward our (or any) neighborhood. Brandon parents belong in the "Spam Filter" and E Rivers parents don't deserve to know his plans as he has already decided we won't like any of them. We are currently shopping for a home in Cobb County. Watch tax revenues drop with home values as those paying into the system vote the only way they can--with their feet. Put that in your Spam Filter, Mr. Davis.
It's a wonderful program which fosters a type of thinking a couple of steps above AP. I think that you should reconsider your position based upon input from students.