DeKalb nixes tax increase. Will cut staff, schools.
From the AJC breaking news desk:
The DeKalb County school board will vote on a budget with at least 427 layoffs, seven teacher furlough days and at least four school closings.
On Friday morning, the board’s four-member budget committee adopted a tentative budget with $115.8 million in cuts and no tax hike.
Board members H. Paul Womack, Don McChesney and Jay Cunningham voted in support of the budget. Board member Eugene Walker voted against the proposal, saying he wants to raise taxes.
The budget includes laying off 200 paraprofessionals, 150 central office employees, 59 media clerks and 18 technical specialists.
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104 comments Add your comment
taxpayingcitizen
March 27th, 2010
11:27 am
Get rid of the waste in Central Office. Most, if not all are way overpaid. You can also get rid of that rotten money burner called the CRCT. Imagine how much money can be saved by getting rid of that alone.
taxpayingcitizen
March 27th, 2010
11:42 am
Also, get rid of those ridiculous “instructional coaches”. I know of two in a certain school system that are creating benchmark tests, for heaven’s sake! And, from what I have heard, those tests are not even being used by all of the schools! Way to waste money, Central Office!
no mas
March 27th, 2010
12:08 pm
Where can anybody get a listing of what each person in Central Office does? Isn’t that the sensible way to decide what positions can be cut? Has this been done by anybody responsible for the budget (including Ms. Tyson’s office)?
Northview (Ex)Teacher
March 27th, 2010
12:21 pm
Teachers, I hate to say it, but you have yourselves to blame. You let the pea-brain repukes who run our state like a plantation get away with dumping on you for years, and now you are surprised that they keep doing it?
Did you accept the furloughs? Why are you surprised that they are doing more furloughs since you did not fight back. I thought that the furloughs offered an excellent chance to fight back by developing a system (informal, of course) where half of teachers would call in sick one Friday and the other half the next Friday. You could have made it so expensive for them to give you a furlough that they wouldn’t even think about doing it again. I know that you don’t want to do this because you feel an obligation to your students, but I ask you to think about how much worse the impact on students is when you let repukes have their way. All they care about is money, so until you start costing them money, you will get nowhere. Passive-aggressive tactics here could pay well.
What do you all think of the idea that seniority does not matter? In return for years of dedicated service, they want to throw you away. They don’t care about everything you have done for your students over the course of the years, and you are willing to let them get away with it.
Those of you with proof of principal abuse, why are you not contacting Maureen directly? What do you think might happen if many documented cases come forward? Think that the school systems would like to answer tough questions?
I know that the repukes are victimizing you intensely now, but you keep taking it. Until you decide to try other tactics, all you can expect is more of the same. Remember, they don’t care about education, and they don’t care about you. All repukes care about is money. Until you’re ready to cost them money, you will get nowhere.
DeKalb mom
March 27th, 2010
12:27 pm
The CRCT issue was brought to the legislature this session. There was Republican and Democratic support for a bill (HB 1100 and HB 1132) to get rid of grades 1 & 2 (the 3-8 test is mandated federally…can’t fight that one with state leg.). HB 1100 was passed by the Education Committee (twice) but got stuck in the Rules Committee–a bureaucratic hang-up. The Senate anticipated the bill passing and wrote it into the budget, saving the state $7,000,000 (yes, that’s millions!). But our House never got it through…spent 3 hours discussing abortion. But never even voted on the education bills on cross over day!
I am hating Georgia and DeKalb right now. This just makes me sick.
ron
March 27th, 2010
2:20 pm
with layoffs some will suffer as a result of nepotism,dekalb county is full of personnel who looks after family/friends rather than insuring talented persons are maintained.dekalb is one county that needs cultural diversity rather than letting black administrators continue to run this school system in the ground.(guess what?i’m a black male)
ScienceTeacher671
March 27th, 2010
2:25 pm
Would be nice to have a summary of which bills did and didn’t make it through cross-over day….and are the horse barn, the little league park, the halls of fame and the fish pond still in the state budget?
ac
March 27th, 2010
2:28 pm
I wonder why these school districts never cut the fat off the top?? The department heads and area supervisors making six figures but you cut paraprofessionals (making under 30,000)???? It is always about keeping the rich~rich and breaking down the one that is really making the difference in education…
Eleanor
March 27th, 2010
2:39 pm
Mas – Walker has always answered my emails, even when I got on him about his behavior at one of the meeting; Coplin-Wood answered twice – once to inform me she was not at one of the meetings I spoke about as she had just gotten out of the hospital and was not able to attend and another wherein she said (?) she agreed with what I was saying; Womack once to berate me for questioning the Board’s authority; McChesney once to berate me for questioning the Board and telling me he didn’t like my attitude. Not one peep out of the rest of them, not even the Reps for the district I am in – Speaks and Redovian. So I said to them and say to them – most of them are up for re-election this year and hopefully people will vote them O U T. Hopefully Brian Westlake will win the primary and run Kathy Cox O U T. These people don’t get it – the students are the ones paying the price – bottom line; several great teachers I know personally say they will retire at the end of this school year but that’s probably what the Board wants because they figure they can get cheap labor in there. By the way, McChesney and Womac make it very clear they support Clueless Lewis. Also I am not sure everyone is aware but the Board is paying his attorney fees also – so he’s “on leave” – drawing all and I mean all of his benefits and still driving the car furnished by the Board (but hopefully not siphoning premium gas out because he don’t want to ruin his car). And Ron you are 150% correct and several employees who work there will agree with you. And Clueless Lewis covered for and backed Pope until the DA started getting into his shenanigans and he threw her under the bus, admitting that he knew what she was doing when she was doing it. At one time DeKalb Schools was one of the best school districts in the State but no more.
Eleanor
March 27th, 2010
2:46 pm
Maureen, can you possibly find out who exactly on the School Board is up for re-election this year and give us those names? If you don’t want to publish their names, would you please email me the names? Thanks.
catlady
March 27th, 2010
3:08 pm
First grade math question: What is the difference between 30 students and 28? Answer: a LOT more than two!
5th grade math question: If you can hire 2 teachers for $120,000 (including benefits) or one “administrator” to push papers for $120,000 (before benefits), which is the better deal if you are trying to educate children? What about if you are trying to reward friends?
catlady
March 27th, 2010
3:14 pm
Which is a better use of money: 4 49%ers (retired school personnel brought back to help “administrate”) or two full time teachers (even taking into account benefits)? Or how about this: why do we need a 49%er to “schedule the use of facilities” in a system with only 7 school buildings in a sleepy rural county? What if the 49%er is a former coach?
Or this: how many people in your school system make more than top teacher pay (currently about $70,000 for PhD and max experience) BUT NEVER WORK DIRECTLY INSTRUCTING STUDENTS?
catlady
March 27th, 2010
3:22 pm
Or this: how many educators does it take to teach reading and math to one fifth grade class? 3 academic coaches, a principal, asst. principal, curriculum director, testing director, sp ed director, supt, asst, supt., bookkeepers, grantwriters, building schedulers, 7-10 maintenance personnel, computer support, etc, etc, plus, oh yeah–a teacher!
Jabberwocky
March 27th, 2010
3:36 pm
YAY,catlady!!!!!m
So, guess lots of legislators and decision makers in GA. slept through simple math instruction.
ScienceTeacher671
March 27th, 2010
4:42 pm
Catlady, don’t forget the SST & RTI coordinators!
Current parent, former teacher
March 27th, 2010
7:42 pm
Science Teacher 671, the Georgia PTA has a saint named Sally FitzGerald who is at the state house every day of the session and writes a recap called Capitol Watch every day. Here’s a link to yesterday’s action: http://www.ciclt.net/sn/new/n_detail.aspx?ClientCode=gapta&N_Id=400577
catlady
March 27th, 2010
8:23 pm
Science: unfortunately we have no one qualified or interested in RTI, except to block it. We can’t get kids through the process–our county keeps changing the rules on us. Tells us to do one thing, we do it, then they change wha tthey want, and we have to start all over. We have kids who have been unsuccessful in RTI FOR 3 AND A HALF YEARS.
catlady
March 27th, 2010
8:30 pm
And we have been told that SST no longer exists–that RTI has taken its place?
ScienceTeacher671
March 27th, 2010
8:40 pm
catlady, are you sure we aren’t in the same county? We can’t get anyone through the process either…we “teachers are doing it wrong,” so they train us some more, we gather more data and do more documentation, but it’s not the “right” data or documentation, so they still can’t test anyone.
We have some kids on RTI, and some who were on SST before we started RTI and still are, and maybe a few who have been “moved up” to SST from RTI — but as far as I know, no one who has been tested. And like you, we have students who have been in RTI for years with no testing…and SST even longer.
Scuttlebutt has it that we have “too many” students, particularly black male students, in special education, so they are trying to keep from adding any more.
ScienceTeacher671
March 27th, 2010
8:44 pm
We were told that SST was being replaced by RTI also, but we have several board-level people whose only job is to hold SST meetings and keep that documentation (although frequently we teachers have to collect the documentation, even that from permanent records, for them) and so now we’ve been told that SST is the “3rd tier” of the RTI pyramid.
ScienceTeacher671
March 27th, 2010
8:48 pm
filter
dekalb teacher
March 27th, 2010
9:12 pm
I live in Gwinnett county and teach in Dekalb. My property taxes in Gwinnett went up. I am paying property tax in Gwinnett to educate my children. My salary to teach students in Dekalb went down about three thousand dollars. The budget committee does not want to raise the tax in Dekalb 1 mil. This is 68 dollars a year on a 200 thousand dollar home, just over 5 dollars a month. But to cut my salary to pay for the education of another counties students is basically having me pay property tax in a county I don’t own property in. It’s ok to cut my pay between 2 and 3 hundred dollars a month but not raise the tax of the beneficiaries of the education 5 dollars and a few cents a month????? What is wrong with this picture????????????????
Ann
March 27th, 2010
10:08 pm
Voters could give school systems a new source of revenue under legislation that cleared the House on Friday by a vote of 136 to 19. The legislation calls for a constitutional amendment that, if approved by voters, would broaden the uses for the education sales tax, also referred to as the Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax or ESPLOST). Currently, the money has to be earmarked for construction projects. But the constitutional amendment would allow school boards to put before local voters an ESPLOST that would earmark the proceeds to pay maintenance and operation expenses or reduce property rates, said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Butch Parrish (R-Swainsboro).
dekalb teacher
March 28th, 2010
8:16 am
M.G. I don’t know where Lewis got his figure of 65,000 per teacher. That is sure far above the teachers that I know including myself by several thousand per year
Too Tired
March 28th, 2010
8:57 am
First of all, cutting any program that fits the special needs of ANY student is ridiculous. Say what you want to say about how every student is not allowed into a magnet school, and I will tell you that EVERY student shouldn’t. These bright and intelligent students deserve specialized education just as any student with a learning disability, or “ability” does. What’s next, I see, let’s close the school for the blind, since EVERY student can’t go there either. For those of you worried about budget cuts, I will tell you first hand that Title I schools receive money first, then non-Title I schools, and last but not least, the magnet schools. Look at the communities where the magnet programs are located. Who’s supporting those schools? Their communities, that’s who.
That brings me to my last point. That is, until communities surrounding schools start supporting the schools (in a POSITIVE manner), nothing will ever change. No one wants to spend money, but everyone wants the best. How crazy is that? Everything “great” costs. Nothing is free. Parents/communities want the best schools, best teachers, best central office staff, but NO tax increase. Regardless of if the money is being mis-managed, no one has still offered an idea as to where the money is supposed to come from. So, teachers are supposed to keep accepting pay cuts? The reality is, that teachers have families that have to be fed, sheltered, and clothed just like everyone else. How are they supposed to get this done? I get it, after working so diligently all day with 100+ students (if you’re in high school), teachers are supposed to go to a second job? Most of us find it tiring to deal with our own children for the time that we do during the evenings, let along trying to take care of them while working two jobs, and none of us have 30 children (elementary school) sitting at home do we?
Bottom line, the “best” costs, no one works hard to produce the “best” results just to make the same amount as people who produce no results (not to be confused with merit pay). WAKE UP DEKALB AND FACE REALITY!
Allen
March 28th, 2010
9:08 am
dekalb teacher–
If you work in dekalb but have kids going to school in Gwinnett, the “equalization” process, whereby dekalb tax dollars collected for education in part go to “rural” counties, including Gwinnett, in fact ensures that one of the reasons your pay was cut was to better educate your own kids.
On another topic: I know many of you on these boards question why parents band together to form charter schools. This sort of immoral and incompetent behavior on the part of the BOE and DCSS is actually the basic reason: parents feel they can do a better job running a school than these self-serving buffoons because parents care about children and education whereas the BOE and DCSS administration could not any more clearly care only about themselves, their friends and family to whom they have given overpaid and pointless jobs, and their power.
Less federal control
March 28th, 2010
9:47 am
Sure it can be every bit as dysfunctional and broken on the local level as it is the federal level. But on the local level the LOCALS can change it. If they wish to stop watching America’s Top Model for a moment.
Choice, choice, choice.
M G
March 28th, 2010
11:31 am
Dekalb teacher,
The $65,000 includes benefits. It’s a figure they’ve used several times in budget discussions for the past two years. I just used it to show the number of teaching positions they are cutting.
DeKalb County seems to want to keep that number under wraps. Maybe because they realize the public won’t support cuts that his the classroom again and again.
dekalb teacher
March 28th, 2010
1:42 pm
Allen: The pay that I am being cut does not go to Gwinnett. It goes toward the deficit in which Dekalb finds itself. Where do what you are passing as fact get its origin. Gwinnett property taxes, along with the state and federal funds it receives pays for the education of Gwinnett students, Dekalb students. Either you are stating opinions of your own, or are sadly misinformed. M.G., Even with benefits, I don’t make 65,000. They already took away the part that they put in toward retirement, all other benefits rose. Lewis claimed that he was losing ground on his 200,000 + salary. What does he think we are doing with our salary being cut by thousands. I just read what is considered middle class in the USA. We don’t even meet those standards.
Another thing, I love my job and I love teaching in south dekalb. I resent the insinuations that I have read that those are all the underachieving schools. The school where I teach made AYP which is considered the standard. We were not on the list for CRCT investigation. We did it honestly. I am not speaking as a black person in defense of the general population in south Dekalb. I am speaking as a white teacher in what happens to be a title 1 school where most of the students happen to be black, doing what I am destined to do, teach the future of Georgia, the USA, and the worldd North Dekalb, get off your ego trip that you are God’s gift to Dekalb County.
mighty ODE
March 28th, 2010
2:09 pm
Has mighty ODE summoned up the nerve to finally use the words administrative bloat? Or is it going to take another round of layoffs and furloughs of their teacher members?
Teacherforlife
March 28th, 2010
2:27 pm
@catlady and Science teacher: I just got a kid through the RTI and then the SST process (been keeping data, making graphs, etc. since last year) – he was tested; the psychologist’s tests agreed with my data, but now the LTSE wants more data! I am confirmed in my belief that DCSS does not want ANY child placed in Sp. Ed. BTW SST is the third level of the RTI process – the level where testing can be approved. The 4th level (in GA) is Sp. Ed.
dekalb teacher
March 28th, 2010
2:36 pm
Allen: Either you are stating your opinion as fact, or someone has sadly misinformed you. My paycut is in response to the poorly managed budgets which has put Dekalb seriously in the red. Gwinnett county education is paid for by Gwinnett county residents property tax, state funds, and federal funds, just as Dekalb education is paid for by Dekalb county residents property tax, state funds, and federal funds. Dekalb does not pay for education in Gwinnett and Gwinnett does not pay for Dekalb.
MG: Even with benefits, most teacher pay does not come to 65,000. They have already taken away the portion of retirement that Dekalb contributed. Benefits continue to take a larger chunk of our salary. Crawford Lewis stated that he is going backward with his 200,000 + salary, which is why he needed a 15,000 raise and more expense money. What does he think teachers are doing getting thousands cut from salaries with no expense accounts even though we buy hundreds of dollars of school supplies for our classrooms each year.
Another point: I resent all of the insinuations that if you are in a South Dekalb county school, you must be underachieving. I teach in a south Dekalb school. We made AYP and are not under investigation for cheating on the CRCT. We do it honestly. To assume that since the population of the school is black, underpaid, and underachieving is nothing short of racist. No I am not a black teacher defending black population. I am a white teacher who teaches students, wheter they be black, white, hispanic or whatever. I teach the future of Georgia, the USA, and the world, and am proud of it.
Write Your Board Members
March 28th, 2010
2:47 pm
DeKalb Teacher
You are wrong. Because of all the undeveloped land in Gwinnett, the state considers Gwinnett a “poor” county. The built out counties of GA (ie DeKalb,Fulton, Cobb and others) have some of their revenues diverted to the poor counties. Residents of have a millage rate that is about 5 mils less than DeKalb.
Why shouldn’t the owner of a 400K home anywhere in the state pay about the same amount to support the schools?
Here is more information about this issue…
http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2009_10/fulltext/hb904.htm
and
http://www.senatorjackhill.com/default.asp?pt=newsdescr&RI=42
Eleanor
March 28th, 2010
4:07 pm
Crawford Lewis is a disgrace to the school system and DeKalb County. Anybody that tries to say they siphoned premium gas out of their car when the tank was half full and he realized he should be using regular and didn’t want to damage his car by using premium is not by any stretch of the imagination intelligent enough to have the position he has. He abused the system using his school credit card in as many days as he did in a row; using his state car to go visit his mother out of town and most likely charging that gas to the system; and if he honestly thinks that people are stupid enough to believe his story about using the card only for his car issued to him, then I’ll gladly tell him to his face he is a liar. So sorry he felt he was going backward on $200,000 a year – how would he like to live on $15,000 a year or less and be raising a family? The bottom line the ones suffering are the students and teachers and the Board and Lewis can say all they want, but that’s the bottom line. The Board, Lewis, Pope and a few more need to hit the road. We need people who care about the teachers and students to run for the Board and believe me if I was 20 years younger I would run. Unfortunately I believed Pam Speaks and voted for her and for that I am sorry. She has done nothing but become a puppet of all of them. We have to be serious about getting rid of these albatrosses. And the State School Superintendent, Kathy Cox and the State School Board are NO better.
catlady
March 28th, 2010
4:54 pm
Teacherforlife: We are told we have “too many” kids in special ed. Apparently it doesn’t matter what your kid needs–if they are “too much”, it’s too bad. Don’t know how anyone sitting in an office can decide we have too many kids needing sped help.
I have taught almost 4 decades in this tiny county, and I don’t know of a single kid inappropriately placed in sped, (I am sure there are some). I know of quite a few over the last 4 years who have not been given even a chance of being evaluated, because our county has never implemented a functioning RTI process. (Our SST wasn’t too much better). Our director of sped also says (according to our principal and guidance counselor) that it doesn’t matter if a kid gets into sped anyway, they aren’t going to get any more than they are getting now with the classroom teacher! Say what?
If I had a child in school with suspected disabilities, I would be pushing a lawsuit. Unfortunately none of our parents understand their rights. They just blindly go along with what they are told. They rarely challenge the services they are granted.
We have only had a few kids tested since RTI was mentioned 4 (?) years ago, when we jumped on the bandwagon to get ahead of the curve. In almost every case, it was because the parents demanded testing. Almost all of our new sped kids have come in from another system with an IEP in place–so we had to take them! (I am guessing most IEPs will be modified for next year so the kids get fewer services) Why isn’t the state asking questions about low placement/testing from these counties? (Oh, yeah, the benefit to RTI is “cutting down your sped population/costs”–I remember that from the original blub about it).
Now (March) our county has decided we need different forms to display the data. We had several children ready (we had done what we were told (over and over) and had documentation) for the next step, and the process has been stopped! Cold!
Scienceteacher–do you teach in NGa?
One of my family members teaches in Hall Co and she says the process is much quicker there–weeks instead of months and years.
Mrs. Downey, how about launching an investigation of RTI–the good (this won’t take long), the bad, the ugly? Investigate why these children are labeled “too many” and why their needs are not being addressed fully.
Where are the EEOC or Hispanic civil rights groups? WHY ISN’T THE STATE INVESTIGATING? And when 90% of the kids who do get tested “just miss the cutoff”? Maybe the AJC needs to take the lead, again?!
catlady
March 28th, 2010
5:00 pm
dekalb teacher–my county also sends millions of dollars to fund “poor counties”, although I live in a truly rural county with 70% free lunch of the ~4000 students. Don’t know how they figure it by “undeveloped land”,as most of the land in my county is national forest or agricultural?
garderner on the side
March 28th, 2010
6:41 pm
To all of you anti-magnet people….read between the lines. Chamblee High School will have to cut at least 8 teaching, yes teaching positions, with the switch to 6 of 7 period days. NOW the 7 period day people will be teaching 10% more of their day than block schedule and with 180 STUDENTS at a time. You grade 180 lab reports. You grade 180 essays. You grade 180 science fair projects. You grade 5 assignments per week for 180 students. Make sure that you complete those 900 assignments in 250 minutes of planning. This is HARMFUL to the students. I would rather my salary be changed than affect my students! And stop hiding it, THIS IS A TEACHER LAYOFF: switch to 6 period day -40 points, loose magnet 20 points, loose DECA 8 points, loose single gender 8 points.
Attentive Parent
March 28th, 2010
6:54 pm
catlady-
here’s a site you can pass on to parents needing special services but without funds to pay for legal advice.
http://wrightslaw.com/ Great source of info.
My guess is you would find their free weekly newsletter illuminating as well.
Write Your Board Members
March 28th, 2010
7:11 pm
Gardener of the side
I have you heard of massive numbers of teachers not getting contracts? If so, please confirm it here. It is my understanding, with the exception of less than 200 non-renewals and the Pre-K teachers (whose contracts, if not already issued will be soon) all teachers got contracts.
So unless there is a mass exodus, there will be plenty of teachers in DCSS next year. Wonder how the savings will be realized?
ScienceTeacher671
March 28th, 2010
7:28 pm
Teacherforlife, sounds like something that would happen with us.
Catlady, no, I’m in the southeastern part of the state. And yes, the research upon which RTI is based does say that if it is properly implemented, fewer children should need special education services, because their problems could be identified and remediated sooner, when these children are still in the primary grades and before they have begun to fail and fall behind their peers.
One of the major problems, as I see it, is that the state is attempting to use the process in all grades, even after students have been failing for years and are very much behind their peers.
In our system, at the high school level, we usually have the students for only 18 weeks, but we’re told that data must be collected for a minimum of 12 weeks to be valid. So if for instance you get a math student, eventually suspect that the student has a math processing problem, and then begin the process and start collecting data, the student could be out of your class before you have a chance to get 12 weeks of data. Then, that student might not have math again for two semesters, during which time no math data could be collected…
Time to speak up
March 28th, 2010
10:01 pm
I am tired of being called ” anti-magnet” just because I think this is not an equitable distribution of county resources. It seems that each time posters express their opinions on this, the sentiment is directed at how unaware people are. When, actually, even magnet parents have to admit that they have been in fat city for some time. My child is in a classroom of 26 and this is likely to increase by several next year. Why should I be criticized for an opinion that the system cannot afford classes in a magnet school that are at 1-18. These are county dollars that should be available to support ALL county students , not just 7000 or so out of 100,000.
Angela
March 28th, 2010
10:58 pm
I guess they didn’t say they are eliminating over 300 teacher positions. Now we’re down to less than 6,700 teachers to 8,400 admin and support positions. Over 600 positions INSIDE the schoolhouse will be eliminated and 150 OUTSIDE the schoolhouse will be eliminated.
DCSS employees are moving OUT of the schools so they have nothing to do with students. At the same time here are our AYP percentages. We are the worst school system in Metro Atlanta and the BOE is still operating with a “business as usual” attitude putting more money into resources OUTSIDE the classroom.
DeKalb Schools has the LEAST percentage of schools making AYP in metro Atlanta while having the LOWEST percentage of employees as teachers.
Georgia school systems percentage of schools making AYP:
Forsyth Schools: 100%
Fayette Schools: 100%
Gwinnett Schools: 99.1%
Cobb Schools: 94.7%
Cherokee County: 94.3%
Clayton County: 81.7%
Fulton Schools: 94.6%
Atlanta Public Schools: 80%
*DeKalb Schools: 77.8
(source: state of Georgia Department of Education website:
http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/ReportingFW.aspx?PageReq=103&StateId=ALL&T=1&FY=2009)
Harold
March 28th, 2010
10:59 pm
Parents/taxpayers:
Please email your state representatives, Governor Perdue, and all active candidates for governor of the state of Georgia.
Let them know that you are a parent/taxpayer in the DeKalb School System and are concerned that DeKalb Schools has 8,800 admin and support personnel and only 7,000 teachers and media specialists.
Let them know that the DeKalb Schools administration and the BOE are cutting hundreds of teacher positions and personnel INSIDE the schoolhouse while retaining almost all of the admin and support personnel who are OUTSIDE the schoolhouse.
Tell them that DeKalb Schools has the LEAST percentage of schools making AYP in metro Atlanta while having the LOWEST percentage of employees as teachers.
Georgia school systems percentage of schools making AYP:
Forsyth Schools: 100%
Fayette Schools: 100%
Gwinnett Schools: 99.1%
Cobb Schools: 94.7%
Cherokee County: 94.3%
Clayton County: 81.7%
Fulton Schools: 94.6%
Atlanta Public Schools: 80%
*DeKalb Schools: 77.8
(source: state of Georgia Department of Education website:
http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/ReportingFW.aspx?PageReq=103&StateId=ALL&T=1&FY=2009)
Ask your state elected officials what their position is on cutting teachers and other staff inside the schoolhouse while retaining personnel outside the schoolhouse.
Tell your elected representatives and Georgia gubernatorial candidates that allowing maximum class sizes to increase allows the DeKalb Schools superintendent and DeKalb Schools BOE members the opportunity to:
1. DECREASE the percentage of personnel who WORK WITH students
2. INCREASE the percentage of personnel who DO NOT WORK with students
I already emailed my state representative Kevin Levitas, and he emailed back his concern that DeKalb Schools has the money for teachers and students; they are just not using it wisely.
Let the governor, your state representatives, and the candidates for Georgia governor know that DeKalb students placed into overloaded classrooms will not master the skills they need to succeed in the 21st Century.
Remember, your state representatives and gubernatorial contenders are sensitive to emails and phone calls from constituents. If enough emails and calls come their way, they will respond.
Ask them to take action to ensure the educational future of DeKalb students. They need to decrease the maximum class size so DeKalb Schools will be forced to invest INSIDE the classroom rather than OUTSIDE the classroom.
Here is how you can find the email address and/or phone number of your state representative. Go to this web address and enter your zip code – 5 digits + 4 more on the left hand side of the webpage:
http://www.votesmart.org/official_state.php?state_name=Georgia&state_code=GA&go2.x=11&go2.y=8
Here is the web address that will take you to the Georgia Governor candidates. Clicking on their names will take you to their websites. Their websites will have a link you can use to contact them:
http://www.uselections.com/ga/ga.htm
Here is the website to contact Governor Perdue:
http://gov.georgia.gov/00/gov/contact_us/0,2657,78006749_94820188,00.html
Lastly, please copy this post and FORWARD it to every DeKalb parents/taxpayers you know, and ask them to forward it to any of their friends and acquaintances.
Give them this DeKalb Schools website with the details of 8,800 admin and support personnel to 7,000 teachers:
http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/superintendent/files/795BF9ED3F3D479294A6DD1DE042E5C9.pdf
Angela
March 28th, 2010
11:00 pm
I urge every teacher to email their ODE representative to encourage them to find out what it takes for DCSS to return to Social Security. It took a majority vote of the employees to opt out of Social Security in 1978. I know – I voted in 1978.
The DCSS BOE will not want to return to Social Security because they will not want to pay the necessary contributions, so legal redress may be necessary. The ODE is the best place to find legal representation for DCSS employees to rejoin Social Security.
Here is the Internet address of the ODE Executive Committee members:
http://www.odegaenea.org/
Decatur City and a number of other systems in Georgia pay into Social Security as well as TRS.
Teachers who are in systems that belong to the Social Security system are eligible to collect retirement as well as Social Security. I’m retired and understand you need as many financial legs as you can get in retirement.
If DCSS returns to Social Security the DeKalb Schools BOE will:
1. Pay at the CURRENT Social Security rate (not at 1978 rates – they were funding your Board TSA at 32 year old Social Security rates)
2. Pay from Day 1 of employment (not 3 years into service)
3. Not be allowed to suspend payments to the federal government
The benefits to DCSS employees are:
1. You will be guaranteed Social Security benefits when you are in your retirement years
2. Your Social Security benefits will be portable if you change systems or jobs
3. DCSS contribution obligations cannot be negated under any circumstances
4. If you are an employee who came from a system or job where you paid into Social Security, you WILL NOT be penalized by the Windfall Elimination Provision which cuts Social Security payments to DeKalb County School System retirees who have earned them (I will see a 60% penalty on my Social Security annuity because of this tax provision. It’s too late for me, but not for you.)
ScienceTeacher671
March 29th, 2010
6:23 am
@Gwinnett teachers: the county surely does seem to be spending a lot of money advertising its job fair for educators on this site, doesn’t it?
Allen
March 29th, 2010
9:14 am
dekalb teacher, before you go too far accusing others of being “sadly misinformed” please review the following: http://dekalbschoolwatch.blogspot.com/2010/03/equalization-or-robbery.html
Where is Jim Cherry??
March 29th, 2010
10:57 am
WHO THE HECK wants social security back? There IS NO MONEY LEFT! Just like Welfare… it’s BROKE! I have worked for DCSS for 22 years… it’s broke too!! Have any of you teachers/staff members seen that Mountain Industrial complex?? They spent WAY too much money (TAX dollars) on that thing. You owe it to yourself to take a look! YES, waste is HORRIBLE.. Why do elementary schools have TWO AP’s? WHY do elementary schools have TWO counselors? WHY are there so many elementary schools that have 400 or LESS students? Yes, heat left on with winter doors wide open. AC left on and summer doors are left wide open. Teachers are too lazy to turn anything off, copy paper flows like the Mississippi river. And you think Ramona Tyson is going to be better than Crawford Lewis??? You are joking, aren’t you?
Jabberwocky
March 29th, 2010
12:19 pm
Many Dekalb teachers regret their vote in 1978 to withdraw from Social Security.
I personally feel that we were not well informed at the time. I am now retired and, even though I worked and paid into Social Security long enough to be eligible for a decent monthly sum, ….and if I drew from my husband’s Social Security it would be significantly more….because we withdrew from Social Security, I receive a mere pittance of Social Security.
My neighbor , who worked for a system that DID NOT withdraw from Social Security, receives both his pension, which he paid into for all of his teaching years,,,,AND his full Social Security. He mentions how lucky he is almost every day.
Oh…and Social Security is NOT Broke. Unfortunately if other departments of government continue to BORROW from Soc. Sec. and never pay back the billions it already owes Soc. Sec., it may eventually run into trouble. Can’t help but think that no one up there in Washington is going to let that happen.
Where is Jim Cherry??
March 29th, 2010
12:51 pm
@Jabberwocky… don’t think Social Security is broke?? Just type Social Security broke in the search bar of your browser and take a look. Better yet, look here… if you dare:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/social-security-choice-benefit-cuts-or-tax-hikes-2009-09-22
Private School Guy
March 29th, 2010
6:20 pm
Unfounded rumor but people are talking… Crawford Lewis is retiring and Dr. Bouie is departing as well. The dominoes have begun to fall. We will see what happens over Spring Break.