Trend Watch: As More "Favorable People" Assume Power Locally - The STATE Is Forced To Step In More Frequently

At the end of the day the tough question must be asked by the Black community - "What good was it for the collective to advocate for a select group of people to assume powerful political offices over the schools and the municipalities where we live when in the end so many of them have either been taken over by the state in the case of schools, or an increasing amount of state funds are needed to be shipped in because the municipality no longer has the economic wherewithal to pay for its own BASIC services?"

I brief sidetrack so that I can reiterate the concept behind cities. Cities are former "unincorporated areas" in a state in which a group of citizens petitioned the state legislature for a city charter because they believed that they had the proper mix of human resources, businesses, natural resources and the LEADERSHIP necessary to synergize a better life and standard of living for the people encapsulated within the city boundary than what was currently the case with the STATE or COUNTY providing these service and collecting taxes from them.

In the convoluted notions of today the city is no longer a self-sustaining entity that encapsulates a system that establishes boundaries so that the managers can work to express a promised set of benefits to those living within. Today it is the state and then the federal government that serves as the great resource provider IN THE MINDS OF MANY CITIZENS. Their local hardship is the result of policies out of Washington that didn't provide them with enough resources.

Their drive to get their party and ideology ingrained and empowered over more local communities is only done as the backdrop of their ultimate goal for "Nationalized Entitlements". Thus despite the fact that the school system that was "failing THEM" as they started on the trek for local control is STILL FAILING now that they are in control - this current failure is not placed upon THEIR BACKS - as was the case with the previous administration. In this case the failings are because of GREATER SYSTEMATIC RESTRUCTURING that is needed at the nation level.

Should the state takeover Clayton schools?

By Laura Diamond | Thursday, September 4, 2008, 08:20 AM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Gov. Sonny Perdue’s executive legal team is looking at what it would take for the state to step in and rescue troubled schools. These steps are because Clayton County schools lost its accreditation.

For the state to step in, a change must be made to the state constitution. Any amendment must be approved by the Legislature and voters. The earliest that could happen is November 2010.

About 50 school districts across the country have some sort of state involvement. Takeovers don’t solve all problems. Researchers say it takes about three to five years for a system to turnaround.

States typically fire the school district’s superintendent and other top officials. Then states must appoint new administrators. (Atlanta schools Superintendent Beverly Hall was selected by New Jersey to be the state appointed superintendent of Newark public schools after the state took over that district.)

In some communities, parents and teachers fought against state takeovers, arguing it wasn’t right for the state to usurp local control.

Should Georgia step in and take over troubled school systems, like Clayton? What criteria would determine when the state should come in and when it should leave?