ATKINSON HAS GREEN LIGHT TO LEAD – NOW GO DO IT

It’s not often that a politician gets a second chance to run a 
department that they were elected to govern. But that’s the situation 
Dr. June Atkinson finds herself in this week as she returns to the 
Department of Public Instruction with a Superior Court Judge’s Order 
stating that she’s the boss when it comes to managing our state’s 
school system.

The question over who’s going to run the day-to-day operations of our 
state’s public schools has been brewing for 13 years. Bobby Etheridge 
was the last real superintendent and he left while the getting was good.

Since 1996, the General Assembly and Governor have worked to erode the powers and functions of the elected Superintendent. The Legislature
empowered the Chairman of the Board of Education to take on more 
responsibilities and allowed the chairman to become de facto 
superintendent.

The straw that broke the camel’s back came earlier this year when 
Governor Beverly Perdue named a new chairman of the Board of Education and by executive order granted unto the chairman the powers of “chief executive officer”.  Dr. Atkinson had seen enough – she decided to stop rolling over and stood up to fight.

Former Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr took on the case and argued in 
Wake County Superior Court last week that the Governor and General 
Assembly did not have the constitutional authority to ignore or 
undermine the authority granted to the duly elected Superintendent of 
Public Instruction.

Judge Robert Hobgood agreed and restored the power and authority 
granted to the duly elected Superintendent. Judge Hobgood made it 
perfectly clear for the Governor and the General Assembly that Dr. 
Atkinson is responsible for running the Department of Public 
Instruction and that while she must report to the Board of Education 
that sets policy, the board cannot ignore or set aside the role and 
responsibilities of the duly elected Superintendent.

The Attorney General, who represented the Governor, requested that 
Judge Hobgood place a stay on his order while the State can proceed 
with an appeal to the Court of Appeals and likely to the State Supreme 
Court but the Judge denied that motion.

So now Dr. Aktinson has been given a second chance to govern, she has a new life and she needs to show the people of North Carolina that she 
is worthy of that chance.

She needs to demonstrate her leadership and take command of the 
schools. She must show the Governor and the General Assembly that she is up for the job. In politics, you have to show people what you can
do or you otherwise become irrelevant.

If Dr. Atkinson likes her job and believes she has something to offer 
and has the ability to govern our state’s public schools – she better 
get to work and get to work fast. The courts are in her favor but the 
clock is ticking because powerful State Senator Tony Rand is already 
telling reporters he wants to change the state’s constitution to take 
away the people’s right to elect a State Superintendent.

Let’s just see what Dr. Atkinson is willing to do.

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