Part I: A meeting that never was

Eric Thomas Georgia Chief Turnaround Office

Eric Thomas talks with Georgia lawmakers about the Chief Turnaround Office during a hearing at the State Capitol in 2019. (Credit: Georgia General Assembly archives)

Aug 13, 2021
Key Points
  • Program for thousands of struggling students caves in three years.
  • Tension built between program leader and state schools chief.
  • Audit targets consultant fees and spotty oversight.
For Eric Thomas, the beginning of the end for a short-lived state program he led to help struggling schools in Georgia came in the form of a meeting that never happened in September 2019. Tensions had simmered in the two years since the start of the program called the Chief Turnaround Office, set up to help ...