Backers of the zombified City of Cliffside are back, refusing to accept failure while at the same time suggesting they will do a better job this time are on the march to citihood. It is interesting to note they have excluded those areas that voted them down in the last vote essentially saying "love us or we'll leave you." This could be dismissed as mere political expediency but there may be something more significant in play.
The group being tossed back into county waters as chum are the same group that DeKalb fear may bolt for the safer confines of the City of Atlanta. Given recent precedent this move likely will expand the footprint of Atlanta's school system at the expense of DeKalb's. Given the disparity in millage rates this is a win for the bolting taxpayer. Add in APS' demonstrated superiority in addressing the needs of their socio-economically diverse population and it is a win for their children's education prospects.
The new city, and there will be no rest until there is a new city, will have its own problems but the intentional exclusion of this particular group chips away at the sovereign borders of DCSD and sets the stage for DeKalb cities to argue for their own schools within their own tax base.
The group being tossed back into county waters as chum are the same group that DeKalb fear may bolt for the safer confines of the City of Atlanta. Given recent precedent this move likely will expand the footprint of Atlanta's school system at the expense of DeKalb's. Given the disparity in millage rates this is a win for the bolting taxpayer. Add in APS' demonstrated superiority in addressing the needs of their socio-economically diverse population and it is a win for their children's education prospects.
The new city, and there will be no rest until there is a new city, will have its own problems but the intentional exclusion of this particular group chips away at the sovereign borders of DCSD and sets the stage for DeKalb cities to argue for their own schools within their own tax base.
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