Praise Heaped Upon Atlanta's Schools Chief

Atlanta’s schools chief may be nation’s best

For the record - while I attack certain institutions and individuals who are deserving of such words - I have no problem recognizing individuals who are accomplished in their mission of service to the community.

I also must make the distinction between the executive and the entity that she sits atop of. The Atlanta Public School system STILL has too many schools that are failing to properly educate the constituents who walk through their doors everyday. Surely the school is not to blame alone for all that ails these children.

I have to give credit to Dr. Hall because she implemented a major strategy shift for the district. Instead of focusing on "school busing" or modern facsimiles of this plan she chose to "work with what she has". In doing so she gets my full support. It is nothing short of RACIST to assume that poor Black kids must sit next to a White kid in order for them to receive a quality education. If we set this up as a TRANSACTION - while we understand that the Black kid receives the education...what does the White kid receive? This does nothing more than advance the notions of White Supremacy.

Dr. Hall has instead focused on the arrangement of the system as it is. I remember her saying something to the effect of "I will never be able to transfer all of the students that are in underperforming schools to better schools, so I have to work with what I have". Since that time she has focused on better management and administration within these schools.

Had this strategy been adopted several decades ago, it is my belief that many of these presently failing urban school systems would be much further ahead - with the issue of the funding disparities between a BASELINE and what the school actually receives having been addressed. (Please note - finding a rich White school district and noting what they spend per student is NOT a legitimate comparison. If anything this is the exception. Looking at the state average and noting where you stand in comparison is a far more legitimate "base line" to make use of)

Atlanta schools Superintendent Beverly Hall will learn Friday whether she is the National Superintendent of the Year.

She is one of four finalists vying for the title from the American Association of School Administrators. Hall, 60, was named Georgia’s Superintendent of the Year in December and has been recognized for steady improvements in Atlanta’s test scores and graduation rates since she became superintendent in July 1999.