DeKalb school cluster debate could coincide with accreditation… | www.myajc.com

An untested state law that allows small groups of parents and teachers to radically redefine the relationship between their schools and the elected guardians of taxpayer dollars will soon get its first hearing in DeKalb County.

Over the past year, the wounded district has endured unprecedented challenges. It has swung in and out of deficit and neared the brink of accreditation loss. Gov. Nathan Deal kicked two-thirds of the school board out and appointed replacements, prompting a constitutional challenge that simmers still in the Georgia Supreme Court.

Now, parents and teachers at schools in Druid Hills are filing the first petition of its kind in Georgia calling for the creation of a charter school “cluster,” basically a mini-school district within the countywide district. The petitioners want autonomy from the county bureaucracy — and from the school board normally chosen by voters —and control over the most important levers: money and the power to hire and fire.

Their petition, overwhelmingly approved in a plebiscite of more than a thousand voters last week, now goes to the school district for review. This test case, which state officials say could become a model for much of Georgia, will likely reach the school board at a delicate moment.

via DeKalb school cluster debate could coincide with accreditation… | www.myajc.com.