Local

Deal Meets With Black Leaders Over DeKalb School Board Actions

March 11th, 2013

Governor Deal met Monday with black civil rights and political leaders. The coalition expressed concern about the governor’s recent decision to suspend six DeKalb County school board members, five of whom are African-American.

The coalition didn’t take a stand on whether the suspended members should’ve kept their seats on the board. Instead, Georgia NAACP president Edward DuBose said they were concerned about a 2011 law that allows the governor to remove school board members.

“If it’s that bad and it’s that dire, then there are enough people in DeKalb County to initiate a recall process,” DuBose said.

But Governor Deal’s spokesperson, Brian Robinson, says the governor had to act.

“The governor pointed out, given the timeline that we’re on, we don’t have the time for that,” Robinson said, “Time is of the essence. Every day that this system is on probation is a black eye for the state much less the county.”

The district was placed on probation by its accrediting agency for board governance problems. But it was another problem that ruffled feathers in Monday’s meeting. Marcus Coleman, of the National Action Network, said a comment Gov. Deal made about DeKalb school board elections didn’t sit well with some.

“His point was, and I quote, ‘Find some good black people to run for office,’” Coleman said, “Here’s a message to the governor: ‘You don’t dictate who is good and who is bad as far as who we choose for our leaders.’”

Robinson did say the governor urged the coalition to be involved in the next DeKalb school board elections to avoid repeating the current situation.

“He said, ‘Make sure you get involved and get the best candidates,’” Robinson said, “‘Get involved and make sure that we filter out people that are going to be problems. We’ve got to have good people on the board.’ That’s what he said.”

Although the NAACP publicly thanked the governor for the meeting, DuBose said they are considering legal action.

Meanwhile, the governor is moving ahead with plans to replace the six suspended members. A nominating committee is expected to recommend candidates to the governor by the middle of the week.