Perdue Aims Legislation at Clayton School Board Members

By Odette Yousef

Atlanta, GA – Governor Sonny Perdue has announced legislation to let residents oust their school board members if their systems lose accreditation. It was prompted by Clayton County's experience. The system is in danger of losing accreditation, and many blame the school board.

Under the bill, if a system loses accreditation, there would be an automatic referendum on whether to boot the board members. If they're voted out, the state would appoint replacements to finish their terms, until the next round of elections.

Bert Brantley, spokesperson for the governor, says it will motivate board members to address accreditation problems before it's too late:

BRANTLEY: Once you've lost accreditation, you've pretty much failed in your duties as a board member, and we want to be able to give the voters in that district, if they are frustrated, and they do blame the board, to be able to express that through that referendum and through that vote

Last week, Perdue appointed two liaisons to help Clayton's school board remedy the system's shortcomings. State agencies are also auditing aspects of the board and system's performance.

The new bill is being carried by Senator Ronnie Chance of Tyrone.