Independent School Ethics Panel? Finally - a Great Idea

State Sen. Emanuel Jones (D - Decatur) has
a very good idea for upcoming legislation
to possibly help give our board members
the boot and keep tabs on any newcomers
in the future:  An Independent Ethics Board.

Buried in the middle of a recent article in the AJC by Ty Tagami is the first proactive and encouraging idea we have heard in a long time.  Coming from State Sen. Emanuel Jones of Decatur.  The article says, 

State Sen. Emanuel Jones, D-Decatur, said he’ll propose legislation to establish an independent school ethics panel with the power to remove wayward board members. He’s not confident the school board will take the steps demanded by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to restore accreditation, and said that failure would bring misery across DeKalb.

We are not sure why this idea raised by Sen. Jones didn't get more support in the media, but we are hoping the parents and taxpayers will take notice and lend their support.  An independent ethic panel sounds, on the surface, like a very good idea, especially if they would be able to actually remove school board members.  

It might be a bit of a touchy issue to navigate since the panel would be removing officials who were elected by the people in their district, but we will not let that stop us from supporting the idea.  We will hope the Senator has more details or ideas to back up his suggestion.  

Also, can you imagine how many payoffs the people on an ethics panel will be offered?  Let's hope there are people out there who really do want what is best for the children and can resist tempting offers of money and who knows what else (but we might soon find out if we get to read Atkinson's text messages!).  But, it is possible... we know... been there, done that and still at it!  

Kudos to Sen. Jones!  If we hear of a way that our followers can help Sen. Jones move ahead on this idea, we will post more details on our site soon!  Keep reading, DeKalb ... this story is finally starting to look a little better for the "good guys."

In other news...

Thanks to Ty, we have had some decent coverage of DeKalb County Schools recently.  Hopefully, the public at large is paying attention as the problem is now at the point where every person who lives, works and PAYS in DeKalb will be a victim of the same crew that have been afflicting our schools and children for a decade (give or take a few interchangeable names, but likely all part of the one big, fat happy "family").

Here are the latest headlines (with links) from the AJC:

DeKalb leaders react to school board probation

 DeKalb school district in “conflict and crisis,” put on probation by accreditation agency

 Get Schooled: Should cities be allowed to break from county systems?

 School watchdog’s clout praised, questioned

And here are some good news reports from our local television stations that are worth watching if you intend to try to keep up with this unfolding drama. Here's one such story we thought you  might be interested in watching from Channel 2 Action News: