State Supreme Court: Governor had legal authority to oust six... | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com

State Supreme Court: Governor had legal authority to oust six... | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com:

State Supreme Court: Governor had legal authority to oust six DeKalb school board members 

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KENT D. JOHNSON / AJC

Former Dekalb School Board chairman Eugene Walker looks towards spectators as Dr Mark Elgart, President and CEO of AdvanceEd, parent company of SACS, testifies on the stand during the continuation of the reinstatement hearing for DeKalb school board member Eugene Walker, Friday June 28, 2013. Walker, who was removed with 5 other board members, says he was unfairly removed from his post by the governor. KENT D. JOHNSON/KDJOHNSON@AJC.COM

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By Maureen Downey

The state Supreme Court this morning upheld the law that enabled the governor to oust six members of the DeKalb County school board and appoint replacements. That means the appointed board meets legal muster and stays in place.

Here is a link to the 47-page opinion.

I think this is a key passage in the ruling:  “When the conduct of a board threatens the school system with an imminent loss of its accreditation, it matters not to the public or the children of the school system whether it is the fault of a single board member, the fault of every board member, or the fault of no one in particular, just an unfortunate result of well-meaning individuals who cannot or do not work well together. The imminent loss of accreditation is a failure of the board as a whole all the same.”

Here is a summary of the decision from the state Supreme Court:

The Supreme Court of Georgia has unanimously upheld as constitutional the 2010 statute that authorized Gov. Nathan Deal to suspend Dr. Eugene Walker and five others from the DeKalb