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Atticus LeBlanc
Atticus LeBlanc was a candidate for the District 3 seat on the DeKalb County Board of Education in Georgia. He won the general election on May 20, 2014, but lost the runoff election against incumbent Michael A. Erwin on July 22, 2014.
Biography
Atticus LeBlanc resides in DeKalb County, Georgia. LeBlanc earned his B.A. degree in architecture and urban studies from Yale University in 2002. He founded a real estate investment and construction company in 2005, which he still owns and operates. LeBlanc helped to found the UrbanPlan education program in Atlanta.[1]
Elections
2014
Atticus LeBlanc and incumbent Michael A. Erwin defeated challengers Jerrie D. Bason, Jarrod Jordan and Willie R. Mosley, Jr. for the District 3 seat in the general election on May 20, 2014. Although the District 3 seat normally carries a four-year term, this election was for a two-year term. Erwin defeated Leblanc in the runoff election on July 22, 2014.[2]
Results
Runoff election
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan |  Michael A. Erwin Incumbent |
58.8% | 4,164 | |
| Nonpartisan | Atticus LeBlanc | 41.2% | 2,916 | |
| Total Votes | 7,080 | |||
| Source: Georgia Secretary of State, "General Primary/General Nonpartisan/Special Election - July 22, 2014," accessed February 23, 2015 | ||||
General election
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Michael A. Erwin Incumbent |
37.2% | 3,603 | |
| Nonpartisan | Atticus LeBlanc |
20.9% | 2,025 | |
| Nonpartisan | Willie R. Mosley, Jr. | 16.8% | 1,627 | |
| Nonpartisan | Jarrod Jordan | 16.7% | 1,612 | |
| Nonpartisan | Jerrie D. Bason | 8.4% | 810 | |
| Total Votes | 9,677 | |||
| Source: Georgia Secretary of State, "General Primary/General Nonpartisan/Special Election - May 20, 2014," accessed July 10, 2014 | ||||
Funding
LeBlanc reported $11,951.52 in contributions and $1,422.09 in expenditures to the DeKalb County Department of Voter Registration and Elections, which left his campaign with $10,529.43 on hand.[3]
Endorsements
LeBlanc received an endorsement from Avondale Estates Mayor Ed Rieker before the general election.[4] Following their defeat in the general election on May 20, 2014, Jerrie D. Bason, Jarrod Jordan and Willie R. Mosley, Jr. all endorsed LeBlanc instead of incumbent Michael A. Erwin for the District 3 seat.[5]
Campaign themes
2014
LeBlanc published a list of his priorities on his campaign website:
| “ | Platform: I am an investor by profession. I understand budgeting and would strive to make the board the best run business possible. Our county’s current graduation rate is a dismal 58% while the annual budget is $1.25 billion; we are still under “warning” for loss of accreditation; and the leadership is more focused on politics and control than student achievement. DeKalb deserves a better return on the investment of your tax dollars. I have outlined a platform below that I believe will dramatically improve the performance of DeKalb Schools and ensure that the school system will never again be in danger of losing accreditation.
1. Students first I would ensure that expenditures made by the board benefit children and classrooms first. Not the board, not the superintendent, and not the staff. In my opinion, every dollar spent by DeKalb Schools must pass a very simple litmus test: Does this expenditure improve student achievement? If the expense does not improve student achievement, your tax dollars should be saved, or redirected to a program or expense that does. 2. Support of Locally Governed, Non-Profit Charter Schools Charter Schools and Clusters have proven their success both locally, in the Museum School of Avondale Estates, KIPP schools, Drew Charter in East Lake, and nationally in examples like New Orleans’ Recovery School District. DeKalb needs more local control of schools and more accountability for performance. I am glad to see that Superintendent Thurmond has recently changed his position on charters, and now supports a “Charter System” for DeKalb, but the next board will determine the details of such a plan, and I will continue to be a firm advocate for local control of these schools and clusters. I believe the decision makers for our schools should not be those people at the highest levels of administration, but rather the parents, teachers, and principals who are closest to students in the classroom. 3. Empowering Stakeholders through Decentralization and School Choice The district serves 100,000 students and 14,000 teachers and staff from 1 central office bureaucracy. I would support a decentralized management structure with local professionals, educators and staff to help manage smaller clusters of schools. By empowering principals to manage their schools, empowering teachers to use whichever methods are effective for their students, and empowering parents to choose the county school where they’d like to send their child, we can motivate all stakeholders to pursue continuous improvement of student achievement. By empowering all stakeholders, we can build trust, raise expectations, and expect accountability. 4. Complete Fiscal Transparency The taxpayers are our investors and the children are our investment. I would make the board completely transparent and accountable to public review. The dishonesty, corruption, and nepotism that has pervaded the DeKalb School system for years can be permanently removed only with a transparent review policy. The last forensic audit of DCSS showed $200,000,000.00 in mis-spent funds. We need an annual forensic audit, and online check registry so that the taxpayers of DeKalb can see where and how their dollars are being spent. 5. Donation of School Board Salary I am running for the DeKalb County School Board as a volunteered public service. Paying me a salary does not change my motivation to improve schools, and would not improve student achievement. As such, if I am elected, I pledge to donate the entire salary that is paid to me by DeKalb County Schools back to the community through charities specifically dedicated to underprivileged students and their families. Paying me a salary would not improve student achievement, but by supporting these charities, I can help provide more students the tools and programs that will ultimately help them achieve.[6] |
” |
| —Atticus LeBlanc campaign website (2014)[7] | ||
In response to a questionnaire conducted by It's For Them - DeKalb, LeBlanc answered several questions outlining his campaign themes:
| “ | 1. What is your understanding of the role of a school board member? In your answer, explain (1) the level of engagement that a board member should have in the affairs and operations of the district and, (2) the relationship between the board and district staff.
A school board member represents the needs of all students in the county specifically by setting policy, setting the annual budget, and managing the superintendent. A board member sets policy and ensures that DCSS policies are enforced by the superintendent’s office. The affairs and operations of the district are managed by the superintendent, not the board. The relationship between the board and the staff is analogous to the relationship between a company’s staff and its board of directors. The board of directors has little interaction with the staff on a regular basis, but instead assesses the performance of the company CEO (superintendent) and holds the CEO accountable for the performance of his or her staff. 2. Explain your views on the current state of transparency of information at DCSD. Grossly Insufficient. The last forensic audit of DCSD showed $200,000,000.00 in funds that should never have been spent according to DCSD's own policies and procedures. I would support complete fiscal transparency of DCSD operations, as well as an annual forensic audit to improve public trust. Regarding other types of information, it's clear from my conversations with parents and teachers in the district that DCSD needs a more effective communications strategy to relay news and information from the superintendent's office to parents and teachers. Improved communication is another important aspect to re-building trust and improving morale among parents and teachers. 3. How would you inspire parents and other stakeholders to have confidence in DeKalb schools? I, personally, pledge to ensure that every dollar spent by the county helps improve student achievement. Paying me a salary does not change my motivation to improve schools, and would not improve student achievement. As such, if I am elected, I pledge to donate the entire salary that is paid to me by DeKalb County Schools back to the community through charities specifically dedicated to underprivileged students and their families. I hope that as a result of this pledge, parents and stakeholders will appreciate that my sole intention as a school board member is to improve student achievement for all students in the district. But ultimately, the only way to inspire confidence and build trust is to achieve results. We need to set goals, communicate them, and then accomplish them. The only way my company can stay in business is to give our stakeholders an excellent return on their investment. If we cannot deliver on our promises and get the results our stakeholders expect, they will simply leave us and invest with someone else. As parents in DeKalb, we are entrusting the school board with our children and our community's future. That investment is far more valuable than any amount of money. And if the incumbents cannot deliver the results our children deserve, we must replace those incumbents with capable elected officials that can. I decided to run for this position because I was not satisfied that our current board was getting the results that we, as parents and investors of tax dollars, deserve. We must have higher standards, full transparency and real accomplishments before we can restore confidence in the system. We must decentralize administrative control within DCSD. Currently we have an administrative bureaucracy that attempts to manage an incredibly diverse group of 14,000 teachers and staff and 100,000 students from one central office. Principals should have the freedom to manage their schools, teachers the flexibility to teach in their classrooms, and parents the option to choose the best school for their child. The board must put students first and demonstrate honest, competent, and effective leadership. 4. What skills, talents, and personality traits do you believe that you possess that would make you work effectively with the rest of the board to get things done? I am an investor by profession. I understand budgeting, financial analysis, and personnel management; and I would strive to make the school board the best run organization possible. 9 years ago, I founded a successful real estate investment and construction business in DeKalb County that I still manage today. I specialize in taking properties that are in distress, and transforming them into productive assets that a community can take pride in. DeKalb schools have an annual budget of $1.25 billion, yet only graduate 58% of students. That is an investment in deep distress. I want to use my experience to transform that asset into one that we can all be proud of. For 6 years, I have volunteered as a District 3 Community Council member, serving as a voice for community concerns regarding zoning and land-use decisions in District 3. As a council member, I have been able to work effectively alongside a diverse board to address complex and contentious issues with members of the community. My only ambition in running for school board is to improve student achievement, and I am committed to working with everyone on the board and the superintendent to achieving that end. 5. How will you enhance the mix of skills and backgrounds on the board and help represent the diversity of the community? In my business, I regularly communicate with people from all walks of life, from troubled youths, to day laborers, to investment bankers. I think my ability to engage in meaningful conversation across political, ethnic, and socioeconomic lines is a valuable skill in any group as diverse as the DeKalb school community. Additionally, my background in investment, construction, and land-use should provide a unique and valuable insight when reviewing budgets, capital expenditures, facilities maintenance expenses, or surplus properties. As a land-use professional, I also have an excellent understanding of the relationship between property values, tax revenues and their connection to our education system. I have always been in favor of community-supported, nonprofit charter schools like Museum School and KIPP, and I am the most vocal proponent of these education models in my race. Since DeKalb is likely to become a charter system as indicated by Superintendent Thurmond, I can offer the board a unique connection to the leaders of New Orleans' Recovery School District, a proven example of achievement by a similar charter system. I am also likely to be the only fan of the New Orleans Saints, but please don't hold it against me. 6. What do you see as the opportunities and threats facing the DeKalb school system? The formation of a charter system and selection of a new superintendent are by far the most significant opportunities for DeKalb Schools. If we can successfully create a charter system that truly empowers local communities, principals, and teachers to control the direction of their schools, we will see significant improvement throughout the county. The selection of a new superintendent will be equally important to the improvement of our school system. A new superintendent with an established track record of success, particularly in charter systems, will be instrumental in laying the foundation for the future success of our schools. The biggest threats are from all from within. The storied history of scandals, waste, bureaucracy, and misguided leadership in DeKalb Schools are well documented. Our school leaders have betrayed the trust of our communities, and as a result, alienated community stakeholders, parents, and teachers for the better part of a decade. After the last discouraging rejection by the current board of the Druid Hills Charter Cluster petition, we saw state representatives from the newly formed cities in the northern portions of the county propose a resolution to amend the state constitution to allow newly formed cities to create their own school districts. I empathize with these community leaders for their desire to improve their local schools, but the incorporation of these school districts would substantially reduce the budget for the schools remaining in unincorporated DeKalb, and push the tax burden onto areas of the county, like District 3, that are least able to afford it. As a county and a district, we need to send a message to these newly formed cities and their leaders that local control of their schools is possible without a constitutional amendment. DeKalb needs to demonstrate its dedication to education reform by electing a new class of leaders that are willing to commit to the goals of increased student achievement, complete fiscal transparency, and the transfer of power out of the central office and into our communities and schools. My candidacy is intended to send just such a message. 7. Describe the achievement gap in this district. What causes it? What can be done? The achievement gap is illustrated clearly by the difference in graduation rates across the county, from school in the 40% range to schools in the 90% range, and is outlined in the Superintendent's Bridge Initiative report. In a word, the difference is motivation... for students, for parents, for teachers, and for school leaders. An extremely motivated student can learn in almost any environment, but these students will naturally gravitate toward other high-performers. The challenge for DCSS, or any educational entity, is to figure out how to motivate every student regardless of income, zip code, or background. I think the response to this challenge starts at the top. Strong, capable, and trustworthy school leaders inspire confidence from the principals and staff within the system, and motivate them to achieve better results. Empowered and confident principals and staff can more ably manage their schools, engage local parents to participate in the education process, and provide their teachers the flexibility they need to address the needs of their students. Teachers that feel valued within their schools are more likely to remain in the system, and are motivated to create flexible curriculums to address the interests of their students. And finally, students are more likely to be motivated by curriculums or teaching methods tailored to their interests, where they can feel confidence that their life or career goals are possible by striving to achieve educational success. KIPP charter schools are a glowing example that achievement gaps can be quickly closed with an effective group of leaders that understands how to motivate. KIPP serves 50,000 students nationally, 93% of whom are minority, and 86% of whom receive free or reduced lunch. But KIPP manages to graduate 93% of their students each year, and they send 83% of students to college. If DeKalb could model similar results, our county would be hailed as one of the best public education systems in the country. But unfortunately, there are no KIPP charter schools in DeKalb, despite their interest to have schools here. The reason they don't have schools in DeKalb is because current DCSS board has consistently been opposed to transferring power away from the central office bureaucracy to locally managed schools and clusters where model examples like KIPP can thrive. 8. The next school board will likely be tasked with selecting a new superintendent. What will you look for in a candidate? Our next superintendent needs to have a proven record of success, with demonstrated measures of improvement in student achievement. Since it appears that DeKalb is moving to a charter system, I would specifically be interested in candidates that have experience, and proven success, in charter systems. I think the turnaround that we have seen in the Recovery School District in New Orleans is an example of a system with just such demonstrated success. After Hurricane Katrina, the state of Louisiana took over New Orleans' failing schools, and converted roughly 80% to charters. The schools in New Orleans had worse performance and higher poverty than in DeKalb, but since converting to a decentralized charter model, they have increased graduation rates 25% over 8 years, and 10% in the last 3 years. The students have shown measurable increases over their peers in nearly every category of achievement including: 5 months of additional learning per year in Math compared to their peers 4 months of additional learning per year in Reading compared to their peers. I would search for a superintendent who has a history of similar improvement results. 9. What is your experience with reviewing complicated budgets? How will you approach the district's budgetary process from a policy perspective? I started my career as a financial analyst, composing sophisticated financial models that evaluated complex transactions in the hundreds of millions, and occasionally billions, of dollars. I still utilize the lessons learned from that experience in the daily management of my own investment company. I am the only candidate in the District 3 race that owns and operates a business, and I evaluate complicated budgets and investments on a daily basis. Every time our company considers the purchase of a new apartment complex or commercial property, we review the historic financials of the asset and examine every line item and every contractual agreement to ensure they are reasonable costs. If certain costs seem unreasonable, we investigate the line item, or solicit new bids for the service. We then revise our budgets to ensure that each proposed expense is sufficient, and ultimately contributes to our goals for the property. As a policy perspective for DCSS, the ultimate goal of every dollar spent should be improving student achievement. If the dollar doesn't address improving student achievement as its ultimate goal, it's a dollar that should be saved. As a board member, I would propose a review of the historical recurring expenses for DCSS and investigate where there is wasted money, as well as an annual forensic audit. The last forensic audit of DCSS showed that $200 million had been spent without board approval, in direct violation of existing DCSS policy. Considering this egregious breach of policy, I can only surmise that additional financial resources are being wasted throughout the school system. 10. What needs to be done to ensure the district regains full accreditation, without probation, and what is the role of the board in ensuring DCSD remains in excellent standings with SACS? The answer to this question has already been directly addressed within the Monitoring Review Report from SACS dated January 21, 2014 and can be found online at http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/www/documents/advanced-sacs-accreditation-review/monitoring-review-report.pdf We won't know exactly what progress has been made in addressing concerns from SACS until their follow-up report after their May evaluation.[6] |
” |
| —It's For Them questionnaire (2014)[8] | ||
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Atticus + LeBlanc + DeKalb + County + School + District"
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Elect Atticus, "Meet Atticus," accessed July 15, 2014
- ↑ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Big slate of candidates for crucial school board election," March 7, 2014
- ↑ DeKalb County, "Individual Campaign Contribution Disclosure Reports," accessed May 28, 2014
- ↑ Elect Atticus, "Avondale Estates Mayor Endorses Atticus LeBlanc," May 10, 2014
- ↑ Elect Atticus, "All 3 former School Board Candidates Endorse Atticus LeBlanc for District 3," July 11, 2014
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Elect Atticus, "The Issues," accessed July 15, 2014
- ↑ It's For Them - DeKalb, "Candidate Name: Atticus LeBlanc," accessed July 15, 2014
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