"Most important school board election in the history of Atlanta"
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Robert F. Stockwell of Atlanta has a long background in finance and operations and writes about APS in his Financial Deconstruction blog.
This piece ran in the print Sunday AJC with an editorial on the upcoming APS school board races.
By Robert Stockwell
In its first few months in office, the newly elected Board of Education will make a number of major decisions including selecting a new superintendent, addressing significant budget issues and establishing the operational model for the system as a whole.
By far the most important decision is the selection of a new superintendent who will provide dynamic leadership for a school system moving beyond recent failures and scandals of the past. And there appears to be a consensus on this issue among the candidates --- the new superintendent must be a visionary to transform the status quo; be a great communicator; be confident in their ability to hire a strong executive staff; and be collaborative in dealing with the board and community.
This by itself is no small feat, but more will be required. The new superintendent will have to align with the strategic vision and operational philosophy of the newly elected board. Based on the majority view of the candidates, the new superintendent will have to share their desire to transition authority from the central office into the hands of the school principals.
The board's second challenge is the development of next year's budget. Based on the statements of many of the candidates, the new board will likely want a significant reallocation of resources
About Maureen Downey
Maureen Downey is a longtime reporter for the AJC where she has written editorials and opinion pieces about local, state and federal education policy for 12 years.
Send Maureen Downey an email.
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