Class sizes of 40. Prisoners tending school grounds. This can’t be Cobb County. Can it?

We have prisoners do the yardwork at our school occasionally. We just don’t take the kids out on the playground while they are there. I think that is a fabulous idea!

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This is the new reality. Teachers will do the best they can. Those students who want to learn will adapt, overcome. Those that don’t will continue to disrupt and disavow responsibility and our elected leaders will continue to undermine public education.

We are, in fact, seeing the demise of public education, a systemic attack on the foundation of an institution that has served the public good. The partnership between parents, teachers, students, administrators and elected leaders has been shattered.

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Do these school buildings actually have rooms that are designated for such a large capacity? I would request fire marshall to inspect each classroom.

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There are no sidewalks between our house and the school. The school is on a curvy road with – did I mention – no sidewalks? The suggested class size is ridiculous. How did things get this bad so quickly?

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There are words for it, but most of them are not nice to say in polite company. The refusal of our legislature to even consider raising revenue leaves us with no place to go. Our teachers got emails today saying that cuts would be coming. They included a copy of our new “RIF” policy which the board approved earlier this year.

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40 in a classroom? Please, parent, who was in my classroom today with twenty students, could you imagine double that size in my COBB county school classroom? Shall we call me a glorified babysitter then? There will be NO teaching going on. Hazard duty is what it will become. If parents don’t volunteer to help, then all is lost. My resumes are going out tomorrow.

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Bell curve,
What county are you in. Was the new rif [olicy sent to cobb teachers or are you in another district?

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I live in a neighboring district, that I would prefer not to name after all we haven’t received contracts yet.

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Hey guys…What if a school district did this: operate as normally as possible for as many days as possible, and then simply cancel the remainder of the school year whenever the money runs out. Exactly how, legally, is a county like Cobb beholden to the state to educate these students? (I know this would be a tremendous disservice to the children and the community as a whole…but would it really be that much worse than classrooms with 40 students and disgruntled teachers?) Let’s just shut the whole operation down! What will the state do then? Run everything itself? How?

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Wassamatter, Georgia? Don’t SUPPORT THE TROOPS?

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Willence – if your wife is really a teacher (scary thought if she hooked up with a moron like you), perhaps you could get her to explain how SPLOST works?

If you and the rest of the t-bag trash don’t want to pay for this great land, then hit the road.

Childish, freeloading deadbeat….

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Its a joke that all of these school systems are considering cutting teachers and increasing class size due to budget shortfalls in a state that already ranks so low in national ratings of educatonal performance. Teachers are already grossly underpaid considering the importance of their role in the lives of our kids. They get a pitiful level of support from the school system. They work 60-80 hours/week and devote a surprising amount of their own money to supplies and furnishings for their classrooms. In Cobb last year, they had to provide their own paper because the school system couldn’t afford this basic essential for the last few weeks of school. I’m not sure what level of government determines the funding level for our schools, but they should be ashamed! Politicians always speak about how our youth are our future, our greatest resource, etc. Its all just lip service. Kill health care reform and spend half of the $900B on education! Save the rest. Shoot… devote a few hundred of the unspent billions from TARP to education. Put your money where your mouth is and stop pretending to place importance on education for political gain.

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We’re just returning to Boomer Years public education. Back then, 35-40 was the average class size. There was only ONE teacher per class and NO parapros. The three-story buildings had no elevators; children in wheelchairs were all in a basement room. There was one special ed teacher for all. Rules were very strict and the teacher was the sage on the stage. All desks faced forward; the teachers taught and the students quietly took notes. A large wooden “board of education” was standard equipment in each classroom. Any disrespect shown to the teacher was immediately rewarded with a swing Hank Aaron would be proud of. We all survived our “no frills” education and actually learned the three “R’s” quite well. For pre-K to 4th, memorization and drill works best anyway. This is easily accomplished in a large classroom. Of course, the best solution is a Free Market Education. Everybody wins.

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Yeah “Free Market” is back, once again I want to thank you for home schooling your children. It means so much to the rest of us. I suppose you think the “trickle down” theory was also a smashing success. The whole problem with your theory is that some things are just not applicable to your free market mantra, and education is one of them.

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Quite frankly, before I put 40 in a classroom, I would send half the Central Office personnel into the schools to teach the students. They are certified teachers, and I know Cobb is just like DCSS – exceptionally “fat” in the admin end.

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I know another way to save some $$ would be to start school a week or so later and not have to aircondition the schools during part of the hottest part of the summer and do away with the silly week off in September.

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I really hate to mention this, but has anyone considered eliminating the afterschool program in the elementary schools? It is a wonderful option for parents, but you can’t get daycare anywhere else that I know of for $7.00 for 3 1/2 hours. The buildings could close much earlier saving on utilities and salaries paid to afterschool workers. Educating our children should be our primary concern — not providing afterschool care.

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Angela, I totally agree with you!! I cannot believe that they haven’t looked at cutting central office positions either. This is were the big bucks are being spent. All of your specialist going from school to school within there county. Speech therapist, Audiologist, child psyc. just to name a few and yes they all are certified to teach! They could do one part-tine and teach the other half. These types of services could now be done under the new universal health care anyway for free! Why is the school districts going to still us them as part of education these are health services anyway.

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Are these prisoners or criminals? Not being a criminologist, I would presume the two descriptives are not necessarily interchangeable. I would hope the principal of each school which benefits from prison labor would take the time and initiative to interview those who would tend the grounds, much as any maintenance man would undergo in the normal course of pre-employment. If the prisoner, in the (unbiased) opinion of the interviewer, would not be a suitable “candidate” for the job, send im packing. Obviously, supervisory precautions, which may not be necessary in a “normal” employment scenario, would have to be implemented.

From the standpoint of prison management, how would these prisoners be selected? Would there be an interface between managements of both the prison and the school system?

As for the notion of introducing 40 kids to a classroom supervised (not being taught by…but supervised) by one teacher…BEE, AAA, DEE…Bad idea! Given the actual authority (or lack thereof) which teachers have over their kids, and given the “free reign” mentality in which (I would imagine)the majority of youth function, the entire concept is nothing short of an invitation for anarchy. However, if our short-sighted, Alice in Wonderland legislators would allow both principals and teachers to assume total and complete command of the school house, something like this just might pass muster. This, however, would have to be a long-term, MAJOR change in cultural behaviors within the educational camp…certainly nothing that could happen (even if there was political acceptance) overnight.

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@ Hank: Who is the “moron” ? Did you miss the class that taught literary irony?
@ Wilence: How many hours(days)has that laptop saved your wife in grade calcucation, and lesson planning? How about 21st century learnig and instruction?

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Teach, you come across as a leader. While your profession is in the midst of what is sure to be a major long-term alteration in student/teacher interaction, perhaps a degree of stability, within your profession, might be garnered by organizing…by initiating a union vote.

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Cobb County…. Hello. Every property value just dropped 20% by this article being published. You had better get rid of these bozos before you become Clayton Co.

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this is mexico coming to america. wake up people only a few people pay taxes and it isn’t people form mexico

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I am Cobb County resident with no children. I would much rather pay more in property taxes than to have some classrooms with 40 or more students trying to learn critical skills like math and English. Full disclosure – my wife is an employee of the school system, but, even if she weren’t, my feelings would be the same.

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Time to allow the millage rate to increase. It has held steady through several years of this recession. As taxpayers we should be willing to take an increase. Question: Sam Olens is leaving – did he forsee this crisis?

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Could all of this crap be an April fool’s joke? yea, I didn’t think so neither. 40 students in the classroom is absolutely absurd. Getting rid of teachers is absolutely absurd. But yet people like both Constantinos, Crooks, Crowder Eagle (Oh, how I hate hyphenated names – I refuse to even write it that way!) and Sanderson make money.Did they take a pay cut?

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One of the problems in Cobb is that seniors age 62 and over don’t pay school taxes — BUT the county’s “fair share” payment under QBE is based on a tax digest that includes senior citizens. It makes no sense. Cobb is paying more QBE funds than it should.

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If the government continues its reckless spending, you cry bloody murder. If the government tries to tighten its belt and make tough choices, you cry bloody murder. If you don’t like the schools, teach your own kids. They’re only the most important things in your life!

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What happen to being concerned about our childrens education? If you up the size of classrooms the children will have a hard time learning because the teacher will spend most of her time discipling. How absurd to even suggest that children that live within 1.5 miles of there school can walk. I have two boys that would have to walk down two busy streets that are not properly lit, and no sidewalks. I don’t know what can be done but, this to me is not a fathomable suggestion.

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“This, however, would have to be a long-term, MAJOR change in cultural behaviors within the educational camp…certainly nothing that could happen (even if there was political acceptance) overnight.”

It would also require MAJOR change in cultural behaviours within the home as well. Parents would have to be parents, not Thug Enablers, and accept that little Johhny was actually punished for a reason at school, and accept it.

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I see an increase in homeschooling or private school enrollment. The government can’t spend your tax dollars appropriately … our children are our most important investment and yet they are once again being given the shaft. So sad

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Endlessly, people want to point out the difference between SPLOST funds and operating funds. However, SPLOST expenditures have operating expenses down the road. When was the last time you heard a board member ask “much will this cost us to operate/maintain for the next ten years?” Why are we rebuilding Clarkdale? Why will we be operating TWO complete and separate kitchens and cafeterias at the high schools to isolate 9th graders for lunch? Why do some schools have double administration? Why does every board post need a magnet program? Why are 2-year-old projectors being removed and replaced? How much has each teacher already paid out of his/her pocket to balance this budget? The employees have lost thousands of dollars in pay each and it will takes years for our salaries to recover…if they ever do. We have done our share to keep education in Cobb going. Time for a new solution……raise taxes and cut waste.

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Well now, how many of these students are here because their parents wanted a FREE college education for their children. Perhaps Georgia will see a flight of people leaving when lid’l johnie and janie are sitting in a classroom of 40 kids. Georgia simply can not offer everything free to everyone without taxation. Next stop…more limits on college enrolles. So, if you moved here for the free education…coming soon, you’ll be getting what you paid for.

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Cobb county’s central office has been fat for years. Let’s see the AJC report the rising number of central office employees, their salary as compared to other county school systems outside the metro area. Don’t raise my taxes, you have plenty of money, you just choose to throw it away. Too many holidays, too many sick days, too many personal days, comp time, vacation time, paid insurance, milking the pension system…I am not surprised this school board has gotten us in this mess…how on earth could you not see this comming? The private sector is in recovery mode, you clowns could not find your way out of a paper bag. I guess we will see cell phone towers at every school, charge teachers to park, maybe even charge the students a cover charge!! Think outside the box….give me a break.

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SOLUTION: Get rid of the corrupt road construction companies who hire only illegals to reap personal profits and rape the people of the county of jobs. This should cover the shortfall!

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If you are a Cobb teacher, like I am, did you watch his video this morning? If not, he goes on to say “Have a good spring break next week and FORGET ABOUT YOUR SCHOOL DISTRICTS FINANCIAL WORRIES and spend time with your family.” How the hell am I going to enjoy a break when I may potentially lose my job? I would love to know if Sanderson got a raise this year or if he took a paycut.

If you are going to pack 40 kids in the classroom and expect grades to rise – you are surely misinformed. How can we do this to our kids – the most important thing in our lives? Find the money somewhere Fred. Stop the sports funding. Go to a four-day work week.

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Like most on this blog I feel that the central office should be cut to the bare bones and we know that it is not. As for raising taxes, I’ve spoken to several financial people and they don’t feel that it will do the good that some seem to think. In this economy, raising property taxes is not going to give us the gains when people aren’t paying their taxes. I agree with Jill, those attending the schools should kick in extra. As a former room mom I can verify that many do not pay for field trips or for the activities that are done in class. Usually these not paying are living in the more expensive areas. I’ve seen kids with holes in the shoes come in with their field trip money in change. Yet those living in the 500+ subs never paid. Now these same folks may kick in lots to the Foundation and have their name on the wall, but don’t even bother to buy all the school supplies. Before some of you get all worked up, I understand that doesn’t apply to everyone but it does apply to quite a few.

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“Appropriate” class size is a function of appropriate placement, external support, community culture, and student motivation. An example: I taught in a public high school [~1900 students] situated in a university community in Oregon with two (A/B) calculus classes of 49 and 51 students; the average AP score was > 4. Expectations were high; all students in the two classes took the AP test. The graduation class sent 9 students to Stanford, 11 to the Ivies, and another 25+ to other top-tier universities; other, equally capable students, chose the state’s flagship university. Average SAT scores for the graduating class was >1200 (83% of graduates took the SAT). It’s worth noting that the high school student body was a socioeconomically diverse group that fairly represented the overall demographics of American society. Although each of the impacted students would have undoubtedly benefitted from smaller classes, the results indicate that large class size is a surmountable factor in student success.

Georgia is another story. Class size does matter—the bottom line is a deficit of a postive academic culture. [You can fill in the blanks.]

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Raise class size to 40? The Fire Department needs to see if some of these classrooms can hold 41 people.
Inmates doing custodial work? Every school employee has to pass a background check. By definition, “inmate” will not pass a background check.
I am surprised there has not been an uprising among the parents, teachers, students, and citizens in Cobb County.
Any politician that thinks these ideas for balacing the budget make sense will not be elected. They should be impeached immediately.

When the school system as teachers for solutions, they never listen to us. For example, teachers for years have said make it mandatory that repeaters pay to take the class again. Putting these repeaters in the class of 40 is ridiculous!

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Lets really think outside the box, and let prisoners train to be substitute teachers and administrators. The prisoners could earn time off by teaching our at risk youth. What a win-win situation, they have “authentic” real life experiences and could share the choices they have made and the consequences of those choices.

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Come out of your dream world. 40 kids will not make teachers have to focus on discipline more than education. They ALREADY focus more on discipline than education. Why does it take such a major change to get people involved? If parents were involved in the FIRST PLACE, we might not be in this shape. But no. Schools are nothing more than a baby-sitting service for parents. Don’t believe me? When Sonny created a 2 day gas holiday (whether or not it was a good idea is another debate), what did people do? THEY WENT NUTS because THEY had to find a place for their kids.

And don’t throw out the “Well, we’ll just home school our kids.” That is not a reasonable response. You will still have to pay taxes. That move will just guarantee that your kid doesn’t benefit from any of that tax money.

And on the matter of TRS… TRS is a separate financial matter. Teachers pay into TRS for their entire 30 year careers. Some teachers even have to pay into TRS and then TRS gives them no credit toward retirement. Explain how that is just?!

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Well Howard, Sports Programs, just like the Arts, Band, and etc. are what keep many of our students in the classroom to be taught. Most students especially our young men would not be even regularly attending school let alone class if there was not some “hook” (incentive) to keep them there. Every student needs an opportunity to have their non-academic side addressed to create as many well rounded indiviuals as we can in the various school systems. So while I can understand why some changes need to be made probably across the board, I cannot support drastic changes that would adversely affect any programs that address a student artistic or phyical gifts and interests.

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Teacher-I am sure that the severely disabled were not mainstreamed into your classroom back in 1982. I grew up with large class size(25 in a class). However, we did not have 20% ESOL and another 35% special needs mixed in with the average and above average.

Taxes-Everyone-Schools are funded with both state and federal dollars, not just property tax. A large portion of our state’s budget goes to education. A couple with 1 child earning 100k, living in a 200k home is definetly paying their fair share, especially if they live in the area for 25 years and only use the facilities for 13. Yes, taxes on a 200k are only about $2500. Where do you guys think the rest of the money comes from? Increasing the mill rate is not going to do it. Gwinnett just did this, even made it retroactive and sent out bills for last year. We still have a shortfall. Bottom line, the fat needs to be cut.

Prisoners will be school employees and need background checks. The article does not state that Cobb county plans to extend employment to the prisioners. However, they should make sure that they are not hard core offenders. As the previous poster mentioned, keep the kids inside while they are doing the maintenance, and schedule accordingly.

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I have no kids in public school. All have graduated and moved off to college, but I moved to East Cobb for the schools and I want them improved, not killed. The quality of the public schools drives the quality of life. If you don’t believe it, go look at the people in jail. Most are uneducated. Look at the people working behind desks in local businesses, most have high school diplomas and college degrees. if you won’t support the schools, start building the prisons, and forget about social security in your retirement years. There won’t be anyone left to pay it.

Our school board needs to understand that the citizens of Cobb are behind our quality school system, and that we will replace them if they damage it. As our board, they are the stewards of our school system, not its owners. If they won’t take responsibility for improving what was given to them for care for, they will be held accountable and be replaced.

My wife and I are nearing the 62 year cut off for school taxes. I can’t understand how this decision was made, but I for one would rather see some sort of a program for seniors that truly can’t afford their property taxes rather than a blanket rule. No one wants to throw an 80 year old on the street because they can’t afford their property taxes, but that is the exception. Most of these people are fully capable of paying and many have school age children living with them. This rule only makes sense if these seniors aren’t considered part of our society.

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Mt. Pisgah, hands down. St. Francis claims to offer a “college prep” curriculum, but it is really just aimed at the special education population. In fact, the AP and Honor level courses they offer barely even meet the standards of the on-level courses taught at other schools. Unless your child needs a special education curriculum, St. Francis is not the right school. However, if they do need it….then they would actually be perfect.

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All the comments are correct in the overview of the problem.However, we as voting citizens will forget about these concerns/problems when November comes. We will not go to the Polls because we are to busy or we vote for the same people who created these problems. I forsee big changes in how we run education and goverment for our nation and state. A majority of these changes will not be accepted by the one’s who are affected. Money is the root of the problem and when there is no money everyone will suffer. Taxing for additional funds is not the only answer.It has to be an overview of the whole system,not only for Cobb County but the whole state of Georgia. The future of our education system is at a critical point.This also goes for our colleges.

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I LOVE JILL’S COMMENT!!!!!!! and the teacher’s comment about how they can’t even get parents to pay for field trips! I wish I would stop hearing how education is so important to them when like teacher even said they can’t even get these parents to pay for a little field trip. How true they can afford cigs, alchol, lottery tickets, new cars, vacations etc. but no, not even a field trip let alone $500 for their child’s education. YOU GET WHAT YOU GET SO DON’T PITCH A FIT!!!! EVERYTHINGS FOR FREE HEY!!!!

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Where and when I was raised, no one was allowed to ride the bus unless they lived further than two miles away from the school. Even then, there were bus “stops” and not every kid picked up in front of his/her house. When we lived closer than two miles, if our parents didn’t want us to walk they made arrangements to get us there. With no one willing to accept any kind of responsibility, it’s no wonder we’re in the mess we are.

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THIS MUST BE AN APRIL’S FOOL JOKE…..Cobb County might have to raise classroom sizes to 40 students,

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One of the previous posters mentioned asking everyone to contribute $500. That might work. However, those who can would have to subsidize those that can’t. Buford City schools pay tuition(correct me if I am wrong). Cobb County could test the waters and try to offer a hybrid public/private school model for the k-5 crowd. See if they can get 18 parents that want to pitch in and subsidize a teacher’s salary for their child’s grade(perhaps $2k-3k a piece). All of the parents that pitch in get the same teacher. In return the students get to use the same facilities, have a smaller class size, and a teacher gets to keep his/her job. Because the funds would be private and limited, no room would be available for ESOL,special needs, or anyone with a behavioral disorder. This would cost less than sending a child to a private school(6k and up), keeps the child in the same school, reduces the amount of students in other classes,and keeps one more person off unemployment. There are a lot of parents grappling with whether or not to place their children in private school. They don’t want to take thier child away from their community of friends, stuff religion down their throats(most priv. sch are relig), have smaller facilites(libraries,gymes,playgrounds), or less qualified teachers. Also, 2-3k is a lot easier to afford than 6k. On the other hand, the parents know that when there are 40 kids in a class and 33% of them are not up to grade level, their average child is going to get cheated.

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It’s bad and difficult enough to teach 32 students, but 40? It’s like we, the teachers, are being punished. We are robbing the students of their right to a quality education. Cut some of the fat cats in CO. Do we need both Constantinos? Cardner? We need to think about going to a 4day work week and cut the sports funding. When I was in high school, we had to pay to play a sport.

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If the state wants us to improve standardized scores, then they have to rethink this asinine idea over. There will be no more personal learning – it will make us teachers become robotic. Can you imagine hosting a language lab? A science lab? We are nearly tripping over the kids now in class, and they want to squeeze in 8 more? Have you SEEN the size of some of these kids! Whomever suggested this should be fired themselves – I’m just sayin’

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Fred,
How much did the video cost me? 1 furlough day
You said stay united and support our co-workers. LOL. What does that mean? United we were hired, united we are fired? I guess I can support my co workers and hand them a band aid because they are feeling the cuts too. If it weren’t for my passion for education, I would have been long gone. By the way, did you know that you could save money if you go back into the classroom? I am so fed up with the politics of education. I guess you want us to relax over spring break because many of us may not have one next year. You can shoot high test scores to the ground. The only resources you care about is a number 2 pencil and a scantron. To teachers, AYP means All Yield to Part time jobs…..the end result is Can’t Rely on Cobb Testing (CRCT)….. ….

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Just feed me an apple filled with Boric Acid…… (Cobb’s Vision with a little acid)
Our vision is that all children will receive the respect(walk to school in the dark), encouragement (sit in an overcrowded classroom with swine flu) and opportunities(no sports or fine arts….paper and pencil…bubble within in the lines and no erasures) they need to build the knowledge, skills and attitudes to be successful, contributing members of a global society (how… we are broke).

Second largest school system in Georgia (Second largest school system ranking at bottoms up)
26th largest in United States (which means…wait let me do the math ..18,000 employees x 6 furlough days =108,000 furlough days)… See I wasn’t educated in Cobb….I can do the math ……LOL oh yeah…Who said I need teeth to teach? Just call Dr. Bare Mouth why don’t you. Imagine me teaching phonics and Spanish…….

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Hey Fred,
I just thought you would like to be evaluated by one of the 49 School Psychologists in the county because you have lost your hair as well as your mind…

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For anyone who is interested, Cobb County’s RIF plan can be found here: http://www.cobbk12.org/centraloffice/adminrules/G_Rules/Rule_GCQA.pdf

As a teacher in my third year, this worries me. In board meetings, various members have stressed the importance of using performance as a measure of who to keep and who let go, but in reality the RIF is totally based on seniority.

I’ve read through some comments that point out the “bloat,” and there is some. However, it’s mostly in pots we can’t access for teacher salaries, like SPLOST money or federal money that is earmarked for specific purposes.

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this is a rediculous idea. ill be a senior when all of this happens, so im not worried about walking, and even if i had to who cares some of these kids need to walk a little more.i understand that this idea wouldnt be very safe for elementary and possibly even for middle but high school they should be fine.

but class size is even more rediculous, its already out of control with disruptive students that honeslty just dont care. and when you have a higher chance of putting them all together you will have 1 hour and 30 minutes of constent chatter and bickering. and face it you have students that skip well this gives them even more incentive to. im an a/b honor and ap student and i dont think ive missed a day of school since freshman year, but in all honesty id consider it if i had to deal with this nonsense.

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How about we look at the top and where this whole problem stems from….The Recession! I am thinking that if the Fed Gov’t would have or could come up with a better way to jump start this economy, many of these problems would be solved. Did Stimulus or TARP work? I would say not. When the economy improves, so will the situation for the states and schools. FairTax anyone?

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@ Hank(?) have you actualy read Atlas Shrugged? You seem to have missed the point.

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Wow what a weak liberal political agenda this Maureen Downey is pushing?
Why can’t we make prisoners perform property maintenance?
A teacher can teach 100 students if they sit down, listen and behave. If they don’t kick them out of school and get on with teaching those who are there to learn
We need to cut costs at government schools in every conceiveable way!
Cobb Property owners and parents are sick of paying more and more taxes for less and less efficient government programs–especially public schools that produce a third world class of citizens that can’t manage to get through life without bigger and bigger government.

Cut government school costs in every possible way…and while we’re at it let’s repeal Congress’ health care bill and give a pink slip to every politician that voted for it to begin with.

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Class sizes of 40? Almost everything as been said. None of it is good. If we had students like the studetns in the 1980’s, we might manage. But today, with all the special problem kids plus all the entitled little people who think they do not have to behave or do work? No way this will improve instruction ( note, I did not say test scores though that seems to be the expected result these days).

I am curious why someone mentioned the defined benefit teacher retirement plan. Teacher retirement is an independent, strong, and well funded system. Over $350 a month comes out of my salary as a contribution. The local Board also contributes, but the amount has been cut several times during my time as a teacher. Our funds also depend on investments, just as 401K’s do. Employers contribute, just as in most pension plans.Teachers make so little. I will get only 48% of my salary when I retire. Why do you have a problem with a system that has served teachers well and is well funded? It is no secret that Perdue has tried to get his hands on the fund and failed. Leave my retirement alone.

As for RIF being done by seniority, unless there is documentatin by the adminsitration that a teacher is not performing, those with seniority have a right to keep their jobs before the newer employees. Older employees deseve to be considered first. They would have more trouble finding another job. And because they are older does not mean they cannot perform. We know what works. We know how to manage a class. We know how to TEACH, not just administer a process like robots. We don’t need a teacher’s guide to teach a subject. We can do it without one. Enough about this. PROVE they cannot perform or keep them. We will fight any attmppt to nonrenew us if it is not justified and does not follow procedure, JUST AS ANY UNION IN ANY OTHER JOB WOULD!

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@Tim, unfortunately for your point of view, it’s the 21st century now. Laws don’t allow us to “kick out of school” every student who doesn’t function well in a class of 100 students. “Government schools” have a mandate to prepare all children to be 21st century citizens, not just the well-behaved ones. Just as you’d like to kick those kids out of school, I’d like to kick voters and taxpayers with your fantasyland ideology out of the county. Then maybe we could get on with coping with present-day challenges in a realistic way.

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We are a two teacher family and we each have almost 20 years of experience and an Ed.S. The pay cut down to the “base pay” as listed on the RTTT grant application would be almost a $30,000 pay cut each. We do not overspend but this would bankrupt us. I don’t know many households who can afford a $60,000 pay cut. Many of my colleagues are in the same boat. We have worked hard for all these years, spent tens of thousands of dollars and countless hours of work earning advanced degrees and are tired of having to constantly defend ourselves.

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Taxpayers have a choice: raise the millage rates a bit now so that your inceased property taxes can allow the schools to keep functioning at a reasonable level, or see your property values plunge by likely tens of thousands of dollars, and then try to sell your house and recoup your investment. What’s your choice?

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Maybe Booklover is on to something. The first visceral reaction is to say that not having public school hurts our future, but what if it doesn’t? What if we in Cobb nearly elminated property taxes by closing all of the schools and allowing many of them to reopen as privately run tuition-based schools? Wouldn’t the increase in the number of private schools naturally reduce the average tuition? Many parents in Cobb already send their children to private schools anyway. Seems to me that the only kids who would not get an education would be the ones whose parents don’t care now anyway and who allow them to disrupt classes. Maybe Johnny Disruptive’s parents wouldn’t send him to school at all — or they would send him, but because they now have to pay directly they will force him to behave and learn. Cost of private education will normalize and probably be around what the taxes on a house in Cobb are currently — if you have more than one child, you might pay a little more, but it will be worth it for a better education. Home values will actually go up because property taxes will be almost nothing and people will feel like they have some control over their child’s education. hmmmmm

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I just got my first (temporary) job in a Cobb County School and I am a little bit sickened by this experience. I worked in a lot of different rooms and had my eyes opened. More than half of the students that attend the school I worked in are here illegally. The money that is spent on non-English speaking students through language coaches, ESOL specialists, Title 1 tutors would astound you. I don’t think asking people to pay for the services they use (especially disproportionally) is that crazy. Parents should have to prove their residency, legal status and tax information, just like they require a health check. If you think that you have to provide a social security number to attend school, you are wrong. Is it really fair that citizens of this country and county get a second rate education to people that are breaking the law to be here and don’t pay taxes to pay for the education of their child? If EVERY parent paid into the system I doubt the problem would be this bad. How many more teachers could be hired if there wasn’t such a huge financial drain? In retail, using/taking/consuming something you didn’t pay for is called stealing. I think we need to wake up and deal with the problem of illegal immigration in this country. Maybe these American jobs are not directly being taken away by illegal immigrants, but it sure looks like it to me.

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ESOL classes should not be offered in public schools. The official language in this country is English, and everyone who moves to America knows that. Secondly, during the school year, EBT cards need to be reduced because most of the students receiving the services eat breakfast and lunch at school. Furthermore, if parents are receiving EBT cards, they SHOULD fix their children’s lunches at home.

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Former Teach, I’m with you on the ESOL thing. It’s absolutely absurd that we first accept illegals, and then bend over backward in tending to their(among many other things) language short-comings. Even those entering legally should…as with obtaining any license: pilot, driver, etc…demonstrate a minimal skill level/grasp of the official lingo as a condition of admittance.

I’ve spoken to many American expatriates in several countries…they, and their families, learned the local lingos on their dime, often times, by simple integration into the local economys.

As far as I’m concerned (and I am quite certain many others would agree), ESOL is a program we can do entirely without. Kids have an enormous capability of simply “picking up” these things. Once the kid has mastered conversational skills, I might agree with tax-supported classes in grammer/proper usage, etc…BUT NO WAY ON BASIC TRANSLATIONAL SKILLS; TOO MUCH SPOON-FEEDING ON PUBLIC EXPENSE; THAT’S GOT TO STOP!

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Let’s think a moment here. How much of our family budgets go into the sports and entertainment industry here in the state of Georgia? The Atlanta Braves, Falcons, Thrashers, Hawks, not to mention theater tickets for all other forms of entertainment that families with children patronize should be taken in account for the support they give to the community. Now other than giving out “T” shirts and plastic souvenirs of team insignias, how much do these multi-billion dollar industries put back into what’s most important- our kids- our schools! Posters of favorite sports players hang on our kid’s bedroom walls, CD’s and DVD’s are played over and over with our kids knowing more about these celebrities than these celebrities know about our kids, our families or our lives! (How about those celebrities who live here in Georgia) Economists see American families as mere “Consumers” including many in the Sports and Entertainment Industries” and I strongly feel they need to know that now more than ever, we need their support. Everyone pulled together for the earthquake in Haiti, well what about all our families in Georgia who are now homeless! Families have lost their jobs and their homes! The Banks who hold mortgages and won’t work with families ought to be ashamed of themselves- have they forgotten what community really means-they’ll advertise that they do- but do they really? While economists keep reporting that the economy can only get better once the “consumer” begins “consuming” again!…Are they for real?? Our homes and families are falling apart and they’re concerned about us increasing our consuming level to what it was?? Well, I’m not a consumer 1st! I am a wife, a mother of 4, a step-mother of 2, a full-time student, a daughter, a sister, a friend to my neighbors, and I care that the Cobb County School Board had to make those very hard and difficult budget decisions last night! It shouldn’t have even gone that far! How about all those other state and local budgets using up end of the year overages just so they can “justify” asking for the same amount of money for next year’s budget? If end of year monies become available, then why can they not be allocated to where they can be used the best? Couldn’t any overages been sent to the Education Budget during times like these?? Since when did we as Americans ever give up so quickly and for so much! I challenge our sports teams and players to rally together along with other leaders out here in Georgia- I call it HALF-TIME – It isn’t over ‘til it’s over and I believe it isn’t over! It’s only just begun for Georgians, our families and our kids! Let’s get our best and that means everybody together and come up with better priorities- Our families and our kids are our future- they’re what makes the heart and soul of Georgia a better place to live in and together we can make it happen. We have great businesses and organizations out there talking leadership. Well, let’s put some action behind our lip service! Some that I personally know and have been apart of is: Dale Carnegie, Junior Achievement, American Legion, Cobb County Schools, Kennesaw State University, PTA, AVID – We have the Chamber of Commerce and a whole bunch of great people-so let’s just see what we can come up with when we all pull together!

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