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Marshall Orson
Marshall Orson was a member of the DeKalb County School District school board in Georgia, representing District 2. Orson assumed office in 2012. Orson left office on December 31, 2022.
Orson (Democratic Party) ran for election to the DeKalb County Commission to represent District 2 in Georgia. Orson lost in the Democratic primary on May 24, 2022.
Biography
Marshall Orson resides in DeKalb County, Georgia. Orson earned his B.A. and J.D. degrees from Duke University. His career experience includes working as an attorney with Melbourne Partners, LLC.[1] From 1989 to 2001, he worked at Turner Broadcasting in a variety of roles, including as vice president and general manager of the Turner Trade Group.[2]
Elections
2022
See also: Municipal elections in DeKalb County, Georgia (2022)
General election
General election for DeKalb County Commission District 2
Michelle Long Spears won election in the general election for DeKalb County Commission District 2 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Michelle Long Spears (D) | 100.0 | 58,916 | |
| Total votes: 58,916 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary runoff election
Democratic primary runoff for DeKalb County Commission District 2
Michelle Long Spears defeated Lauren Alexander in the Democratic primary runoff for DeKalb County Commission District 2 on June 21, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Michelle Long Spears | 61.1 | 5,375 | |
| Lauren Alexander | 38.9 | 3,425 | ||
| Total votes: 8,800 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for DeKalb County Commission District 2
Michelle Long Spears and Lauren Alexander advanced to a runoff. They defeated Marshall Orson and Donald Broussard (Unofficially withdrew) in the Democratic primary for DeKalb County Commission District 2 on May 24, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Michelle Long Spears | 43.0 | 6,823 | |
| ✔ | Lauren Alexander | 30.7 | 4,878 | |
 | Marshall Orson | 25.4 | 4,032 | |
| Donald Broussard (Unofficially withdrew) | 0.9 | 135 | ||
| Total votes: 15,868 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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2018
General election
General election for DeKalb County School District school board District 2
Incumbent Marshall Orson defeated Candice Mckinley in the general election for DeKalb County School District school board District 2 on May 22, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Marshall Orson (Nonpartisan) | 50.6 | 4,929 |
| Candice Mckinley (Nonpartisan) | 49.1 | 4,776 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 27 | ||
| Total votes: 9,732 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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2014
Marshall Orson defeated challenger Don McChesney for the District 2 seat in the general election on May 20, 2014. This was the third race between McChesney and Orson. Orson defeated McChesney, who was the District 2 incumbent at that time, in a previous election on July 31, 2012. In 2008, McChesney defeated both Orson and Ella Smith for the District 2 seat.[3]
Results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan |  Marshall Orson Incumbent |
61.1% | 4,259 | |
| Nonpartisan | Don McChesney | 38.9% | 2,712 | |
| Total Votes | 6,971 | |||
| Source: Georgia Secretary of State, "General Primary/General Nonpartisan/Special Election - May 20, 2014," accessed July 10, 2014 | ||||
Funding
Orson reported $16,202.64 in contributions and $623.85 in expenditures to the DeKalb County Department of Voter Registration and Elections, which left his campaign with $15,578.79 on hand.[4]
Endorsements
Orson received endorsements from the DeKalb, the Georgia and the National Association of Realtors.[5]
2012
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Marshall Orson |
61.7% | 7,996 | |
| Nonpartisan | Don McChesney Incumbent | 38.2% | 4,953 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.2% | 20 | |
| Total Votes | 12,969 | |||
| Source: Georgia Secretary of State, "General Primary/General Nonpartisan/Special Election - 7/31/2012," accessed May 8, 2014 | ||||
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Marshall Orson did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2014
Orson published his priorities on his campaign website:
| “ | Real Fiscal Responsibility
No discussion of our schools can avoid the topic of money—whether there is enough, whether it is well spent and what we really need to operate our school system. There is no question that the previous board was fiscally irresponsible—so much so that a DeKalb Grand Jury recommended the creation of a special grand jury to investigate the DeKalb Board of Education and its failure to properly and effectively oversee use of tax money for the benefit of public education in DeKalb. Those board members preferred to divide DeKalb and make it an argument between North versus South. But, that missed the point. As every investor knows, it is not just how much you buy but the quality of what you are buying and the potential return. As a county, we need quality schools everywhere or our children will lose out as well as the entire county. No business will want to invest in DeKalb if the schools are lousy. So, it is not about how much is spent at any one school but how much we need to spend to ensure a school is good. Treating every school exactly the same is a guarantee of mediocrity and a guarantee that we will fail. We are moving away from that model. So, while we cut in the central office—both replacing those not up to the job and reducing the size of the central office so the focus is on service—we need to be smart about where we reinvest those savings. If schools are successful with their current investments, we want to protect those successful schools while redirecting savings to those which need help. Those new investments must be coupled with placing strong leaders in those schools and a plan to turn around those schools. During the last year we had to undo the huge mess created by the former Board including my opponent.We settled the fruitless lawsuit, that cost us over $20 million. We cut legal expenses nearly in half. My opponent supported giving the former, now-convicted Superintendent a pay raise and contract extension when there were already widespread questions about his lack of leadership and ethics. In addition, he supported spending a staggering amount of money to pay that former Superintendent’s legal fees for his criminal acts. The current Board would not have made those poor choices. Public Involvement in Our Public Schools My long-standing commitment to a quality education is demonstrated by a wide array of activities and involvement. I was an active parent at my children's school but my efforts have always been on behalf of all children in every school. As Co-President of the Emory-Lavista Parent Council, I pushed for programs that benefited every school and child in DeKalb—school governance, instructional management, and technology were among the topics addressed by ELPC. ELPC was the first forum addressing the DeKalb county-wide redistricting plan in 2010, as well as one of the first venues where the current Superintendent met the public and answered questions. ELPC pushed for accountability and engagement by the public as the best means to ensure a quality school system. ELPC became the one school council which brought in experts from other school systems in order to identify best practices for the benefit of DeKalb. My commitment to public engagement is second to none. I chaired the Local Education Fund for the city of Atlanta in the 1990s, where we pursued a commitment to accountability by the Atlanta School Board. Ultimately, community leaders recognized that no improvements could take place without a better school board. Unfortunately, as the local education fund was weakened in recent years by political maneuvering, accountability was also weakened, resulting in the harmful and shameful events witnessed with the reporting of the APS cheating scandal. DeKalb cannot and must not shy away from vigorous and meaningful public involvement. I consistently champion that cause at every turn, and will continue to do so. While an active parent, when the DeKalb School Board sought to eliminate the role of school councils in the selection of principals, I was the first and most vocal opponent of this change in policy. My commitment to this principle was so deep that I was castigated publicly by school board members. However, as every parent knows, localized input into, and partnership with, school-level leadership is a necessary ingredient to having a truly superior school for student achievement. I remain committed to the active involvement of school councils and to the creation of area and school system wide-models of councils to promote meaningful and effective public involvement in the school system.[6] |
” |
| —Marshall Orson campaign website (2014)[7][8] | ||
In an interview with 90.1 WABE, Orson answered several questions outlining his campaign themes:
| “ | Briefly describe your background. What qualifies you for this position?
My experiences as a businessman, lawyer, active parent and education advocate (both in Georgia and nationally) provide me a unique perspective on the challenges facing DeKalb. I have worked as an executive in a Fortune 100 company, as an active lawyer and consultant for a range of businesses, been a parent leader at both the school and region level, and served on a national advocacy board for public education. These wide-ranging experiences coupled with managing a state-wide campaign for state school superintendent gave me particular insight into state issues which affect our school district. Why should voters choose you? What makes you stand out as a candidate? As a Board member for one year, I crafted solutions to improve the school district and school board. This year, I led the charge to reform School Board operations, increase accountability for programs including aftercare, and spearheaded our pursuit of dual accreditation for our high schools. I also worked to restore respect for our teachers. One example is my sponsorship of a policy change to cancel the previous board’s curtailment of the opportunity for our teachers to have their children attend school in their parents’ feeder pattern. By highlighting common ground, I promoted consensus among the entire Board toward mutually-agreed-upon outcomes. Although we may not agree on everything, we, the new board, now collectively seek a path to achieve great outcomes for all our students. What are some of the biggest educational challenges facing the district? How can you, as a board member, address those issues? The greatest challenges, if well-managed, become opportunities. A major challenge is to ensure that the distractions of our past created by the previous Board remain behind us. Now we are able to focus on creating the best possible public education for our students. With the current consensus-seeking Board, we can turn our attention to achieving success for all of our students and schools. Success begins with the Board. We are still undoing the enormous damage caused by the previous BOE which served through 2012. The previous Board’s actions led to probation for the system, a deficit, waste of millions of dollars on legal fees, multiple grand jury investigations, removal of six board members by the Governor, a breakdown in Board functioning and the near collapse of the school district. These circumstances impaired our primary mission which is to educate the children of DeKalb. The citizens of DeKalb rightfully lost faith. With considerable effort over the last year, the new Board successfully moved the school district off probation, eliminated the deficit, significantly reduced legal expenses, and restored civility to Board proceedings. For next year, the current board is eliminating all furlough days for teachers and other educators and providing a modest pay increase, and the Board is slowly rebuilding public trust. Now the Board can turn its attention to the fundamental mission of the school district—providing a high quality education to all students. This focus includes hiring a long-term superintendent, placing great principals and educators in each school, fully restoring educators’ compensation and benefits, raising expectations of success for all students, investing more resources directly in the schoolhouse, and providing a meaningful way for parents to be involved. Each of these items presents a challenge and an opportunity to improve the system. Until recently, DeKalb was on “accredited probation” due mainly to concerns about school board governance. The district recently improved its status to “accredited warned.” But DeKalb still has a long way to go. As a board member, what will you do to ensure the district keeps improving? The first step is to recognize and appreciate the role of the Board of Education and its individual members. An individual school board member is part of the Board of Education, the governing body of the school district. The Board establishes policies for the district—the broad guidelines and rules for how the school district operates. The one employee the school board hires directly handles the operations of the school district—the Superintendent. A board member’s role is not to be involved in the day-to-day operations of the school district. Rather, members must spend time developing broad knowledge about the operations and status of the system—its financial resources and health, the success of the district in educating its students, the systemic challenges facing the system and similar matters, and use this knowledge to formulate policy as part of the entire Board and not as an individual. By developing this common knowledge, we can focus on making better decisions which will enable the school district to keep improving. With shared knowledge, information and goals, we will not allow the system to regress to the terrible state it was in under the previous Board. According to the Georgia School Boards Association, individual board members don’t have the authority to make decisions about the district. That authority lies with the board as a whole. How will you work to ensure the board makes decisions together instead of pursuing individual agendas? First and foremost, it is about putting our children first. When we all abide by that point of view, collaboration becomes easier and fiefdoms break down. As a Board member the last year, I have demonstrated the ability to craft solutions and to support solutions developed by other Board members. I have worked hard to promote understanding by building respectful relationships with the other Board members. A sense of civility in proceedings has been restored as demonstrated by the past year’s slate of accomplishments. These improvements could not have happened without a more unified Board. Only by working together can we ensure that decisions are made for the benefit of our students across the system.[6] |
” |
| —90.1 WABE interview (2014)[9] | ||
In response to a questionnaire conducted by It's For Them - DeKalb, Orson 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.
(1) An individual school board member is part of the Board of Education, the governing body of the school district. The Board establishes policies for the district-the broad guidelines and rules for how the school district operates. The operations of the school district are handled by the one employee the school board hires directly-the Superintendent. A board member's role is not to be involved in the day-to-day operations of the school district. Rather, a member must spend time developing broad knowledge about the operations and status of the system-its financial resource and health, the success of the district in educating its students, the systemic challenges facing the system and similar matters, and use this knowledge to formulate policy as part of the entire Board and not as an individual. (2) The Superintendent is directly responsible to the Board of Education. All other employees report to the Board through the Superintendent. Typically, the Board secures information through the Superintendent but information may be gathered more directly though, in such circumstances, it is done with the knowledge and participation of the Superintendent. 2. Explain your views on the current state of transparency of information at DCSD. Though improving, information is still not as readily available to the Board or to the public as is desirable for a high functioning system. A cultural shift in the school district is necessary to change the operating presumption of the Administration to one of disclosure and sharing of information, rather than having information held closely by a few individuals. To this end, the Board's desire for information must be measured and in line with the Board's responsibilities so as to avoid unreasonable burdens, which distract educators from educating our children. 3. How would you inspire parents and other stakeholders to have confidence in DeKalb schools? Confidence in the school district and our schools will increase with demonstrable improvements in performance. The starting place is with the Board-undoing the enormous damage caused by the previous BOE which served through 2012. The previous Board's actions led to probation for the system, a deficit, waste of millions of dollars on legal fees, multiple grand jury investigations, removal of six board members by the Governor, a breakdown in Board functioning and the near collapse of the school district. Over the last year, the new Board successfully moved the school district off probation, eliminated the deficit, significantly reduced legal expenses, restored civility to Board proceedings, and is slowly rebuilding public trust. Now the Board can turn its attention to the fundamental mission of the school district-providing a high quality education to all students. This focus includes hiring a long-term superintendent, placing great principals and educators in each school, restoring educators' compensation and benefits, raising expectations of success for all students, investing resources directly in the schoolhouse, providing a meaningful way for parents to be involved. Collectively, these actions will increase confidence in our schools. And, we must share our successes. The constant negative news resulting from the actions of the previous Board could lead one to believe that nothing good is happening in our schools. That simply is not true. There are significant successes-but they are not widespread and not yet available to all our students. 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? As a Board member for one year, I have demonstrated the ability to craft solutions to improve the school district and school board. Examples include reforming School Board operations, increasing accountability for programs such as the aftercare program, spearheading the effort to seek dual accreditation for our high schools, and increasing trust with our teachers by proposing a policy change to restore the opportunity for children of teachers to attend schools in their parents' feeder pattern (an opportunity curtailed by the former Board). I have worked to seek common ground and consensus among the entire Board to achieve mutually agreed upon outcomes. My experiences as a businessman, lawyer, active parent, and education advocate enable me to work successfully with all of the Board. We may not agree on everything, but collectively we seek a path to achieve great outcomes for all our students. 5. How will you enhance the mix of skills and backgrounds on the board and help represent the diversity of the community? My experiences as a businessman, lawyer, active parent and education advocate (both in Georgia and nationally) contributes to our Board a background highly relevant to the work of the Board. I have worked in a fortune 100 company as an executive. I have been an active lawyer and consultant for a range of businesses. I was a parent leader at both the school and region level. I served on a national advocacy board for public education. And, I managed a state-wide campaign for state school superintendent which gave me unique insights into state issues which affect our school district. Other Board members have similarly diverse experiences including a senior financial executive at a Fortune 500 company, a former senior level school district administrator, a college level administrator, and a mortgage officer, among others. We have been able to share our collective experiences to better guide the Board and help us make even better decisions on behalf of all DeKalb County students. 6. What do you see as the opportunities and threats facing the DeKalb school system? The greatest opportunity is that the distractions of our past created by the previous Board are now behind us and we can focus on creating the best possible public education for our students. The new Board is turning attention to achieving success for all of our students and schools. With our focused, consensus-seeking Board, we can look for a long-term Superintendent with the skills and experiences needed to restore DeKalb to prominence as an education leader. In addition, our uniquely-diverse population, coupled with some already high-performing schools, provides a framework for moving forward. Finally, we have the chance to create new models for educating our students, approaches uniquely tailored to our various communities which move beyond the model of one size fits all that dominated DeKalb's approach for too long. Threats exist in a number of places. The old Board and its attitude of divisive and narrowly focused decision-making is a risk if that Board returns to power, including the risk of our accreditation again being downgraded. The inability to break the culture of control from the top down is a risk. An unwillingness to innovate in the system poses a risk. 7. Describe the achievement gap in this district. What causes it? What can be done? The achievement gap is one of the great challenges to the system. On its face, the gap appears to exist between racial and ethnic groups. However, on closer examination it appears more closely tied to economic disparities. This does not mean that poor children are unable to learn. Rather, it means that the poor often face greater obstacles to success. Understanding this gap and these challenges allows us to create programs and initiatives to bridge these divides. In some areas, these programs will need to go beyond the educational mission of the school district and will require partners from outside the school district. And, innovation and investments will be needed for us to ensure success for all students. 8. The next school board will likely be tasked with selecting a new superintendent. What will you look for in a candidate? We need an innovative leader who understands the opportunities and challenges of our diverse system. The next Superintendent must set high expectations for all students while also be willing to challenge the notion of doing the same everywhere, rather than customizing our solutions to meet the needs of our varied communities. The next Superintendent must be committed to serving thee district long-term and be willing to challenge our current assumptions including our methods and structure of instructional delivery, the models for our schoolhouses, and the approach we use for governance. 9. What is your experience with reviewing complicated budgets? How will you approach the district’s budgetary process from a policy perspective? As a corporate executive I was responsible for multi-million dollar budgets. As a corporate lawyer, I was involved in managing multi-million dollar acquisitions. The budget is an extension of the policy-making role of the Board and it must reflect the broad objectives of the Board. To succeed, the Board needs high quality information aligned with our responsibilities and, to the extent it might not be available or provided to the Board, the Board needs to reform its policies to ensure such information is readily and timely available. 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 Board must continue to work on the required actions established by SACS while continuing to follow a course that respects the role of the Administration in operating the school district. To this end, the Board needs to ensure that policies are aligned with its proper role while recognizing that the Board's responsibility is to serve the children of DeKalb and our citizens. The Board, as a servant of the community, must ensure that the Administration executes policies with fidelity, that outcomes for children drive decisions of the system, and that the system operates in a fiscally-sound manner. Long-term success will occur only when there is a collaborative relationship with the Administration and the Board's actions are unquestionably aligned with providing our children with the best education possible.[6] |
” |
| —It's For Them questionnaire (2014)[1] | ||
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 It's For Them - DeKalb, "District 2," accessed July 15, 2014
- ↑ Re-Elect Marshall Orson, "Marshall's Background," accessed July 15, 2014
- ↑ Virginia Highlands-Druid Hills Patch, "Orson Has Strong Lead Against McChesney in DeKalb School Board Race," August 1, 2012
- ↑ DeKalb County, "Individual Campaign Contribution Disclosure Reports," accessed May 28, 2014
- ↑ Re-Elect Marshall Orson, "Home," accessed July 15, 2014
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Re-Elect Marshall Orson, "Real Fiscal Responsibility," accessed July 15, 2014
- ↑ Re-Elect Marshall Orson, "Public Involvement in Our Public Schools," accessed July 15, 2014
- ↑ 90.1 WABE, "DeKalb School Board District 2 Winner- Marshall Orson," accessed July 15, 2014
| Political offices | ||
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DeKalb County School District school board District 2 2012-2022 |
Succeeded by Whitney McGinniss |
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