A day after the Georgia NAACP blasted Gov. Nathan Deal for comments about replacing DeKalb County school board members, the Governor returned fire.

He said the NAACP was focused solely on the issue of race following his suspension of six members of the majority black board over accusations of financial mismanagement.

“I was very disappointed that not once did the group who met with me yesterday discuss the issue of accreditation,” he told reporters.

He said by comparison a group of students he met with were worried about how accreditation could affect their educational futures.

The NAACP took issue with Deal’s suggestion that they should encourage qualified African-Americans to run for the seats in next year’s election.

Deal will announce the new board members tomorrow. He also said the state may need to broaden the purpose of school accreditation to include student achievement.

“Most people, I think, believe accreditation or lack thereof is based on student achievement, and that is not the case,” he said. “I think a broader scope of holding school boards accountable would include not just governance but would also have an element of student achievement.”

Those comments came in advance of a hearing Tuesday on school accreditation organized by the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus.

Tags: politics, accreditation, school boards, DeKalb County school board