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Former DeKalb school board member Nancy Jester announced Nov. 11 that she will run for Georgia school superintendent.
Jester, who represented Dunwoody and Brookhaven in District 1 for the DeKalb County Board of Education, said she is running to reform education in Georgia. She made her campaign announcement at Brook Run Park in Dunwoody.
“More classroom, less bureaucracy. That’s what Georgians deserve and that’s what they’ll get from me,” Jester said.
Jester said she would like for Georgia to spend less money on administration. She said Georgia spends more per pupil than many neighboring states, such as Mississippi, Texas and Arkansas, yet has a lower high school graduation rate.
“That has to stop,” Jester said. “Bureaucrats do not teach children.”
Jester left the DeKalb school board in March after she and four other school board members were suspended by Gov. Nathan Deal. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools placed the DeKalb County School System on accreditation probation and claimed the school board was interfering with day-to- day school operations.
Jester says it was her own investigation of the system’s budgeting practices that led to the accreditation agency’s involvement.
“I’m really proud of my record,” Jester said. “I uncovered financial malfeasance in DeKalb.”
She said she was willing to sacrifice her seat on the school board because, “it wasn’t about me.”
“It demonstrates my commitment to telling the truth to taxpayers,” Jester said.
Since leaving the school board, Jester has maintained an education blog and hosts regular education-based meetings in the metro Atlanta area.
For more information, go to www.nancyjester.com
