Looking at his expression, and listening to his tone, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed wasn’t having a good day yesterday. But once again, it was Reed who was providing the daily message on Georgia’s crisis dejour, this time over the Atlanta Public Schools new probationary status from their accreditation agency. Listen to Reed’s remarks (starting about the 5:30 mark) in the following clip which will also provide any background you may need on the APS mess:
One could say that a Mayor threatening a school board over which he has no jurisdiction is itself, as he put it, Kabuki Theater. But they would be very wrong. Reed has spent his first year as mayor cultivating the relationships he has not only at City Hall, but with the Atlanta region, state, and Washington D.C.
When Georgia’s Republican Congressmen needed a voice which the Obama administration would look upon favorably as they pleaded their case for Port Of Savannah funding, they brought along Reed. When Speaker Ralston realized the State’s regional transportation solution was in trouble, he gave his office work table to Reed, and later, willed that room be made for Reed to be on the board that will decide the included projects list. And when Reed declared the State had let his city down on their responsibilities to clear state roads within the city during the snow storm, the Deal administration quickly changed their message from “We’re doing all we can” to “We’ll make sure we do better next time.”
Kasim Reed has clout with those in the opposite party that run most parts of Georgia Government, and the Atlanta School Board knows this.
Thus, when Kasim Reed tells reporters “Now if the school board wants to keep going, this is going to end up in a way that I do not believe is favorable for them,” the board members should not hear a threat. They need to hear a promise.
Kasim Reed has clout. In a state where no one wants to see the public schools of the capitol city fail, he will be allowed to spend it liberally. The Atlanta Public School Board didn’t just receive a warning from SACS, they received it from the Mayor. Given the power that he has behind him, they best not mistake his threat as more Kabuki theater.
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While the school board bears most of the responsibility for the current situation, why is nobody talking about the role the business community (MACOC) played in overstepping their original mission of improving APS?
Reed is savvy like a media fox. He sees nothing anywhere he turns, in Atlanta AND Georgia, but a massive leadership vacuum. So why not make hay while the sun shines? By applying leadership in all the right places.
I think this is what you call thinking of one’s *bright political future.* Now all Reed needs to do is find him a Michelle and a Rahm-like wingman. And then watch him fly outta this red clay political nowhere land.
i was kinda wondering about his future too–i know he is still new to his current office, but it’s always fun to speculate about the future–is he the future of the ga dem party, can he succeed statewide where folks like young and majette and baker et al have failed? does he end up in a dem prez cabinet down the road, succeed john lewis?…
He’s absoultely got a great future ahead of him. But let’s also spend all our time looking ahead that we ignore the fact that he’s having a great “present”.
the fact that he is “having a great present” is part of what makes speculating about his future so interesting and intriguing…
succeed john lewis?… B I N G O
That’s what I think makes some sense.
No doubt about it, that seat is Kasim’s the moment Congressman Lewis is willing to part with it.
Leave it to me to be the thrower of cold water.
We have a fairly distinct history of strong first term mayors. Second term? Things tend to get sideways.
Hope I’m wrong, but….
Mean Reed needs to do great in ONE term… and get the hell outta there. Move up!
As the most powerful Dem in the state, not a bad issue for him to put in his pocket for a future statewide run.
“He fought corruption and inefficiency in Atlanta’s schools” the trailer will read.
Governor in 2018 or Senate in 2016? He is a young man.
All of the above is indeed possible. But yeah, I’ve got a kid in the APS, so let’s keep eyes on fixing that prize right now. And keeping roads cleared when necessary. Little stuff now; big stuff later.
Snow/ice storm…. tuesday….
A little truth about Kasim Reed:
(1) He’s a genuinely nice guy. Very approachable, easy to talk to–and thoughtful.
(2) He’s an extremely intelligent guy. Not in an “intellectual elitist” sort of way, although he does have a great education. The man is street saavy, and can convey complex issues well to less-intelligent people. Like a Democratic John Stossel.
(3) He makes Senator Robert Brown look like a tired, bitter old fool. If the DPGA has a future, it’s not with relics like Brown–it’s with guys like Reed.
I think it’s safe to say that I would disagree with Kasim Reed on most political issues. But the guy is a true statesman, and I would gladly have a beer (or 12) with him any day of the week.
Correct view above about 2nd terms for Mayors always being more difficult.
Events always overtake you. Someone gets his hand caught in the cookie jar, cops or firefighters strike, budget issues, you name it.
If he gets through Term 2 unscathed, he is a guarenteed victor in the Dem primary for any office. If he goes for CD 5, he is a guaranteed Congressman.
Only two major office holders I know have had the guts to take on the pension issue which could tank our economy. One is Chris Christie republican for NJ and our own Kasim Reed. Any fiscal conservative who cares about the future financial stability of our country should give both men a major THANK YOU.
I would say the two above have demonstrated true adult like leadership in tough times. We need more like them on both sides! Once again Kasim Reed is being an adult and taking on tough problems.
Alright, put down the Kasim Kool-Aid folks. Sheesh.
Seriously, I am generally pleased with the Mayor’s overall performance so far. He is an intelligent man who has done more good for the city than bad. However, his response to the APS issues leaves a lot to be desired. Even in the news clip above, the Mayor makes a good show of seeming concerned about the situation, but his final thought is to “give the Board a chance to work out their issues.” We are WAY beyond the point of giving the Atlanta Board of Education a chance to do anything. They have had chance after chance to do good for Atlanta’s children. A real leader with the “bright future” you all glowingly describe would ask every member of the Board to resign. Now.
Further, the Mayor has never said a word about the CRCT cheating crisis. Ever. Fifty-eight schools were found to have pervasive, widespread cheating across grade levels, but this doesn’t warrant action from the Mayor. There are federal and state criminal investigations into the matter as we speak. A real leader with a “bright future” would have called for the Superintendent to resign and demanded City Hall takeover of the schools. Unless, of course, the Chamber of Commerce instructed that “leader” not to shine too much light on cheating out of the hopes it would go away.
Don’t even get me started on the blight throughout the City that remains unaddressed.
The Mayor shows a lot of promise in a lot of areas, but I am confident that his future will ultimately be determined by whether he has the balls to do what’s right for our children on this issue, not what’s right as determined by the Chamber of Commerce and others who benefit from the status quo.
As far as the Mayor finding himself a Michelle, I would love to know how much more forcefully he would have acted on the APS crisis if he had a Malia or Sasha facing education in our schools. Maybe he would have told Sam Williams to shove it as soon as the cheating report was released, not waited five months to show “leadership.”
We aren’t the only ones noticing Mayor Reed’s success:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/26/opinion/26friedman.html?scp=4&sq=Atlanta&st=cse
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