State education board accepts takeover plan

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools revoked Clayton’s accreditation effective Sept. 1, citing a dysfunctional school board. Gov. Sonny Perdue also removed four board members after a judge found they had violated the state ethics code and Open Meetings Act.

The Commission for School Board Excellence recommended a series of legislative changes, including no longer paying local board members, prohibiting educators from serving on school boards and reducing large school boards to five or seven members. The commission also recommended legislation to allow the state board to take over poorly performing districts and to remove board members.

With the state board’s initial acceptance, the commission will now look at how to move forward, including proposed legislation, said Gary Price, co-chair of the commission.

“We’re certainly pleased that the state board accepted our recommendations,” said Price, a managing partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers. “If we can get the House and Senate education committees behind what we’re doing and the governor has already signaled he’s supportive, we think we could come out of next session with something ready to move forward in 2010.”

Price said he has heard some concerns — including State Schools Superintendent Kathy Cox’s hesitancy to bar educators from serving on local school boards — but no changes have been made to the initial report. Cox was a high school social studies teacher before she
State superintendent Jack O'Connell has said California would need to spend an additional $3.1 billion to meet the new mandate because so many students are ill-prepared for tougher math classes. O'Connell says an infusion of cash is needed to reduce class sizes in sixth- and seventh-grade math, recruit additional math teachers and add extra time for pre-algebra math. About 52 percent of California eighth-graders take Algebra I courses, but not all of them pass.