“For the first time in 10 years, I cannot call myself a teacher.”

Mr. Platt — thank you for saying what needs to be said! I agree with you. The Board has done nothing to help solve this problem for the future. I am so sorry that you lost your job. I know many other great teachers in Cobb that have lost their jobs and it breaks my heart. What the Board fails to realize that you and all the other teachers are the heart and soul of the district. You are what makes the Cobb County School District one of the best in the state.

As a parent with you in kids in Cobb Schools and a homeowner, I am willing to pay an increase property tax to ensure a good education for my children. I am dismayed that the Board is not seriously considering this option due to political reasons. I think that is very shortsighted and not in the best interest of our schools. I have written to the Board on this very issue and received very tepid responses about how many would not like that solution.

Mr. Platt — I wish you good luck in the future and hope that you find a job where you are respected and can continue to do what you love!

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It is really very simple. Non tenured teachers have little to no rights to due process so they are the easiest target. It is about what is easiest for the central office administrators and the board. Students and academics do not enter the thought process if these people. It is cowardly and dishonorable but perfectly legal in this state. The path of least resistance is the only path the people we allow to run our schools want to take. It happened to 140 teachers in my district last year (Hall) and now it is happening in the metro area districts. Everyone wants to whine about it but no one wants to do anything to have the rules changed. Just like everything else in education in this state.

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Platt has said repeatedly this isn’t about him as he is fully confident in his ability to find other work. It’s about the students who are shortchanged as a result of shortsighted cuts.

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Platt or the School Board? Can you really support the School Board’s decisions?

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Actually, TENURED teachers were caught in this RIF trap as well. In my district, contracts were offered to teachers who had not yet met tenure requirements. Total years of service to the state and the county were NOT considered, even if you were a full-time, tenured employee. Maureen, I have tried in vain to get clarification on just what TENURE means in GA. Is there any way you could delve into this? Many of us were caught in this strange limbo land even though we thought we were protected by tenure. Please do not misunderstand me—BAD teachers should have been removed FIRST. However, just as there are remarkable young STEM instructors, there are experienced STEM instructors who were dismissed as well. There did not seem to be any attempt to look at critical teaching fields of expertise.

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“But to assail the budget crisis as being his downfall is NOT teaching his students to accept responsibility for personal choices and their consequences.”

Agreed. Truth is often a bitter pill to swallow.

“Maureen, I have tried in vain to get clarification on just what TENURE means in GA.”

You do have a computer don’t you?

http://www.pageinc.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=7#Tenure

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“It’s about the students who are shortchanged as a result of shortsighted cuts.”

Okay quick show of hands; who wants to raise property taxes? Sort of like everyone wants to go to heaven but none wants to die.

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It’s a “me” society now. There is no longer a majority sense of village and togetherness when it comes to our communities. Some people always fall back on the fact they shouldn’t have to “pay” someone else’s way. Those same people’s children are probably attending private schools. What these same people fail to realize is that ALL children are our future, no matter if they attend a private school, a public school, or a non-traditional school. These kids are going to be our leaders, doctors, firefighters, policemen, chefs, waitresses, real estate agents, mortgage brokers, nurses… you can see where I am going with this. By ensuring that only “their own” are enlightened and educated, they are ensuring that “their own” children will be the ones screwed over by the non-educated and less fortunate kids of public school who had to cheat their way through. And people think the economy is bad now.

EVERY child deserves education whether their parent’s can afford it or not. I mean.. this IS America isn’t it??

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Whine! Whine! Whine! Let’s see how many of you whiners will get out and vote these state legislators out! My feelin is that you all won’t vote. You’ll just whine.

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How can board members be blamed for a poor economy? The system receives allocated dollars from the state and federal governments along with revenues from property taxes (and in some cases SPLOST dollars). It is from this finite number of dollars that they must fund all portions of the budget. Most systems have already cut operational budgets to the bone, leaving only services to cut from (including classroom instruction). I agree that you can always find waste, and it should always be sought out, however the primary cause of today’s financial crisis in school systems in Georgia and around the country is the state of our US economy.

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SallyB, my husband was pointing out the same thing just yesterday. I long for the time when we can have a real union and not just advocacy organizations

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No one is blaming the board for a poor economy. However, they deserve a lot of blame for a poor management.

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Oh, and I forgot: manage and control the Georgia Lottery better. How many jobs could have been saved by the lottery head’s $250,000 BONUS this year?

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There are also thousands of good teachers who have been teaching for years…even OLD ones..Just because you are new, young, and good doesn’t mean you are entitled to jobs. I, now retired, had 33 perfect evaluations. States with unions are also laying off teachers…The ones I know go strictly by tenure….union rules. Tn has TEA handle salary negotiations and the pay and benefits are less than in GA…..
Some of the states with best scores are in the midwest with much less diversity and more middle income students.

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To an outsider, I can see it appears as though teachers are just whiners. However, I offer the situation in DeKalb as evidence of just how much waste and mis-management occurs in the ivory-towers of the county offices. It is difficult to observe the abuses. The abusers of the system get by with it year after year and decade after decade. Yes, there are some lazy and worthless teachers in the ranks. Why not find a way to rid the system of those individuals? Why not task the “dead-weight” at the top with stepping-up and doing just that? Have them in the schools day in and day out to observe and identify poor-quality instruction. They should spend their days documenting and applying criteria already in place to alleviate the system of BAD teachers.

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Oh, and let’s not forget the “instructional specialists.” I never met ours until year 2 on the job in this county. I didn’t even know she existed! If she’s not reaching out to new teachers (either fresh out of school or new to the district), who is she helping? What is she doing? She’s making nearly $80K, though.

Many boards prefer to spend money on this type of “educator” (who frequently has personal connections to people on the board) rather than talented, passionate teachers like Mr. Platt.

As sad as it makes me, I suggest that Mr. Platt look for a job with the military, the federal gov’t, a defense contractor, or private industry. All offer better benefits and/or pay, less legal wrangling, and more social prestige than teaching in GA.

He is exactly the kind of teacher we need, but clearly we aren’t willing to sacrifice to keep him.

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I have seen some of the pictures of the Supers at thier meetings–Have you notice the nice expensive name plates that are displayed where they sit. In times like this, I think masking tape is better served, since teachers supplies are so cut back. I love it when I tour the Central Offices at some of these counties–nice sate of the art fax machines, well-maintained lawn, nice sprinkler systems,, 300 dollar roll back chairs-while teachers scramble to hunt for a pencil sharpener during EOCT’s and CRCT’s, told to use only 100 sheets of copying paper a year while dumping 35-40 kids in a classroom. It is neat to watch the county pay for the supers car, when they already make more than the average Georgia Doctor.

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Where is the federal money that’s supposed to coming our way. $850,000,000.00 to GA supposedly.
Can we trust the legislature and the governor to dole it out in an expeditious manner?

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re: Cobb Mom

“maybe they should start their own school and we’ll fund it with that money???”

Here is the beginning of a paradigm shift in education. Why must we continue looking at education as it currently is? Why not truly “think outside of the box” and power-think new ways to provide education for our young?

Georgia is full of bright, intelligient citizens. Working together, methods never before conceived can be discovered. We educate to prepare children to be productive citizens. Let us, as Georgians, focus on that issue.

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Educating the children of Georgia has taken a backseat to our pocketbooks and the political debate of who should pay to educate some one elses kids.

What happened to “community responsibility” in Atlanta and Georgia? Too many of our neighbors are only interested in lending a hand when their own homes have been devastated or their personal comforts are challenged. Why is it that we now choose to sacrafice our children’s future so we may hold on to that precious couple of thousand dollars for that afternoon golfing or the evening on town?

Georgia, remove your collective heads from your communal posterior and realize what is important to our communities.

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PRoud Black Man asks who wants to raise property taxes?

The folks who care about their own property values and the ability to sell their homes some day should raise property values
The folks who want more than the basic services from their communities should raise property taxes.
The folks who dont want their cars beaten to c rap on potholed roads should raise property taxes.
The folks who do not want to live in a third world country should raise property taxes.

If you want to live in clayton county – reduce the taxes you pay and enjoy what you get.

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I think the bitter pill to swallow is not necessarily the RIF’s per se but the lingering question, “Has EVERYTHING been done to insure that the children of Georgia receive a basic education in math, science, social studies, language arts, and the fine arts?” In the rather small school district where I teach, the local supplements for coaches and salaries for administrators are approximately two million dollars annually, which is relatively small compared to other systems. I do not begrudge these salaries nor am I advocating anyone losing their jobs; however, since most of these positions do not DIRECTLY affect the basic education of a child tough times call for tough decisions (and in my school system, the tough decisions are being made). If the Georgia Assembly can move a piece of legislation to suspend classroom sizes as quickly as it did, why did it not consider legislation changing the use of SPLOST revenue to cover teacher salaries? Why has the State not suspended the GHSGT or the EOCT? Are both exams necessary especially in these difficult economic times? It might also be somewhat helpful if administrators at every level taught at least one course in their field (and I do realize that this is not practical at the elementary school level). Honestly, when I read these blogs, I feel fortunate in that the jobs lost in my system have been mostly through attrition. Our school board and administration have gone to great lengths to minimize the recession’s effect; however, like everyone else around the state, we are feeling it.

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Maureen-

STEM has multiple meanings. In its traditionally understood meaning it is being touted in order to obtain support from the business community and politicians to provide funding for whatever programs are said to be beneficial.

For example the new math curriculum gets blind support because we do need to do better.

In reality much of the national STEM agenda is a reimagined math and science that will not get Americans ready for the jobs of tomorrow. As the phrase goes “algebra for all means Algebra for none”.

Teachers like Mr Pratt, whom I do not Know, have the science and math background to know what MUST be mastered to have the foundation to perform true science, math , computing, and engineering in college. But those skills and interests are not equitably distributed within the US population. Hence the need to reimagine STEM courses as activities accessible to all.

That’s how they plan to close the achievement gap. We will simply no longer push academic programs unless anyone can do them.

The Common Core Standards are a big part of this push for mediocrity for all under rhetoric designed to win political support.

It’s not just STEM. Look where English is going.

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teaching_now/2010/05/farewell_to_a_farewell_to_arms.html

It’s the College Board pushing this little content LA curriculum.

This is the future actual implementation that Common Core will create.

Maureen- Do you think you’d be a writer today if SpringBoard had been your high school curriculum?

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I would take the “mediocre” CCSI math standards as the first step over many of the current state standards in this country.

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@ drew,

damn right I don’t my taxes raised.
besides not being able to afford it, all raising
taxes will do is give them more money to waste.

when that days comes, when they can show me they
are good stewards of the monies give,

then -maybe- talk to me about tax increases.

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the only thing would could make this situtation worse
would be unions.

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I don’t know why Cobb County had to do what was done. I am a former teacher and am married to a teacher. Without teachers, schools would not exist. What I was commenting on was status quo does not have to continue. School boards, teachers, parents, and other members of the local community must work together (not in opposition to one another).

As to my responsibility to manage public schools in my district; simply put, boards of education are to set policy for the system. We are to be the best stewards we can be with taxpayer’s monies and provide (with the resources available to us) teachers and other staff resources and facilities with which to educate our children.

I cannot speak to the thinking of other school board members (except to say that the 7 members of our board have the same goals), nor can I say we have all the answers. We work hand-in-hand with our teachers. We inquire of them what we (as a board) need to do to help them perform. The goal of our board, our teachers, our community is to provide the highest quality education possible with the resources we have.

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I realized this morning that if the federal government gave every state one billion dollars for the sole purpose of education, they would be giving only around 5% of what they gave Wall Street. Does that help to put things in perspective?

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em, until 1988 (maybe later) our elementary principal taught a math class EVERY DAY. He said it kept him in touch with the real world. It is among the things I highly recommend for administrators. Also: no administrator should be “over” something he/she does not have /SIGNIFICANT experience with (for example, a sped teacher should not be principal), no one should be even considered for enrollment in a leadership degree program (much less be hired as an AP) without 15 years of CLASSROOM experience, and no administrator should be out of the classroom for more than 5 years before being rotated back into a regular classroom for at least 2 years before returning to administration. This would solve a lot of our problems.

In addition, no curricular or program decisions should be made by non-teachers (current licenses) in the legislature, state BOE, or DOE. We don’t allow others to make the rules for the AMA, do we? (other than basic legalities)

When I first came to this small, rural county, there were 5 people in the CO (with 3000 students). Now, we have 7 in just the bookkeeping department! Our student population is up to about 4200, but we have over 50 CO personnel!

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catlady,

Wouldn’t we need more “administrators” if they have to rotate back in classrooms for a couple of years every 5 years? Is there any database showing the number of years of classroom teaching experiences of current administrators?

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@EduPoli: Thanks for pointing out the very real fact some of this “crisis” is a direct result of insufficient long-term budgement management on the part of Public Schools across GA. I guess the message to the voters is pay closer attention to who you elect as stewards over public funds.

@ Cobb Mom: The answer to your question is simple, research SB346 which just passed the GA Legislature in this passed session and has been signed by the Governor. It required (rightly so in my opinion) Tax Assessors across the state to stop “lying” on property tax statements falsely propping up the tax digest and reflect the true value of real estate across the GA in the wake of the real estate bust. Translation, lower tax revenues and wider budget deficits for school boards and county commissions.

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Not bad: no, because as some come “off rotation, others would be going on rotation.

I am just so tired of administrators who have little experience teaching and NO credibility deciding what I need to do. Or, add in there that they are administrating “out of field”.

In my county, three of our 7 principals have less than 10 years of hands-on teaching experience. The other 4 I don’t know about.

I liked it better “in the old days” when I worked under principals who were very experienced. Things went better, they stood up for teachers more, and they protected us from this silly (stuff) that seems to be dumped on us nowadays by people who think they have “found the cure.”

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Our system is cutting teachers (mostly by attrition), instructional days have been cut, and our classroom supply money is 1/3 the amount we got 5 years ago, but so far as anyone can tell, they have not cut jobs at the county office, and the landscaping and grounds crew is still replacing all the annuals in all the flower beds at every school in the county on a regular basis….

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But if you have 100 administrators right now, some would have to go back in classrooms, and we need someone else to be in their positions. Once you have those numbers set, then, yes I see that simply rotating them won’t change their numbers. Of course, we will have fewer teacher positions, too.

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In DeKalb County we have 8,500 admin and support to 6,800 (soon to be 6,700 or less) teachers. We have lots of personnel. Unfortunately, most of them don’t teach.

Out of those 8,500 non-teaching personnel, DeKalb has:
1,239 Central Office employees, 143 principals, and 264 Assistant Principals

I think we have more than enough “supervisors”.

DeKalb parents/taxpayers do not want less teachers – we want more teachers and less admin and support.

You can see why we are reluctant to raise property taxes with numbers like these (Cobb County taxpayers should run their numbers – they are only slightly less top-heavy – you’re creeping up there – trying hard to overtake us in the area of non-teaching personnel.).

It seems easier and more expedient for DeKalb voters to just elect a new BOE. We have 9 members and 5 are coming up for election this year. I believe this Lewis scandal (remember how every BOE member had nothing but praise for Lewis just a few months ago and the month before gave him a $15,000 raise) just might ensure that they are all replaced. Then that BOE must get a superintendent who will rebalance the numbers in favor of the classroom.

I’ve mainly concentrated on analyzing and posting DCSS personnel analyses, but I’ve looked at the state Salary and Travel audits for every metro system so see how they compare with DCSS. With the exception of Decatur City Schools and Forsyth County, they are all extremely top heavy with admin and support personnel.

These metro administrators eventually retire and populate the halls of the Georgia DOE. Where do you think most of the administrators Kathy Cox got came from? The educational system worked out pretty well for them (very generous pensions from their hefty salaries + nice salaries from the state of Georgia). They see absolutely nothing wrong with the way it is structured. They truly believe that administrators are more important than teachers and students. I know and worked with quite a few of the DOE administrators that came from DeKalb. They’re nice people, but most never left their offices except to go to other offices to meet with other administrators. LOL – A friend of mine said she was down at the DOE offices a couple of years ago, and it looked like a retired DCSS administrators home. You know it has to be bad when so many of Kathy Cox’s administrators came from DeKalb County Schools.

Governor Perdue, please don’t tell me we need to be cutting teachers in DCSS when we have a ratio of 1.25 admin and support personnel for every 1 teacher.

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Until teachers unionize, or establish some kind of professional organization with some bite to it, nothing will change substantively in Georgia. Unfortunately, the only thing management understands is “we won’t work until you meet our demands”, period. There is no incentive to improve the quality of education as long as teachers show up, sigh, complain, go home with stress-related illnesses, and talk, talk, talk in the hallways about how difficult teaching has become. Stop complaining, and use what you know about good education to put your feet down. If we don’t put our feet down now, we are likely to find that we are putting them down where we don’t want to–walking out the door when they RIF the next bunch next year.

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After 30 plus years in GA, teaching 4-12, but mostly 6th grade..where I was best, it makes me so sad to read all of this sometimes. Yes, in Ga test scores are slow…in TN 3-4 days….Why delay?
I am sad all the younger teachers think experienced teachers should be the ones to go…I guess in 1974 I might have thought that also.
I am sad people’s property values are falling, for most of us that is our major investment. And, blaming one political party for this mess is short sighted. There are too many issues to even list. We spent, and spent, and spent…like the money would never run out. And now we are stuck with overpaid admins and county office people. Nurses, assistants, teachers, and librarians, who have spent lifetimes in the schools have been “fired”. I complained about my salary..till I went somewhere that paid way ($22,000) less.
I hope people realize our educational system will need to be restructured to meet 21st century demands. Old ways and coddling kids just does not work. We need more competitive schools, with different goals for a variety of kids. The one way fits all is not really good anymore. Maybe it is a good thing I am not teaching anymore.

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@Poor (Proud) Black Man,

You ask Maureen does she have a computer well do you have a DICTIONARY??????????????
You seem to spend a great deal of time on your computer there is also a DICTIONARY search on any web use it.

It also, seems that you don’t have any type of professional job because many of those job refer to tenure.

The definition is: a holding, as of property, office,etc; the right to hold or posses something; the length of time something is held; conditions of possession; permanent possessions, as of an office or position.
(Webster’s New World Dictionary-The American Language-College Edition. (1968).

See even a dictionary as old as 42 years has that information-YOU JUST HAVE TO LOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HUGS!!!!!!! (Now watch that BLOOD PRESSURE)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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unions….
sure, good idea. states all over the nation are trying to climb out from under the fiscal suicide of educational and government unions
- and you folks want to try it yourselves.

you think it’s hard to effect change now….

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Unions are necessary whenever the management abuses workers. And, this is what is now happening in GA education.

In addition, teacher unions actually HELP with decisions and side with what is BEST for student learning as opposed to making business decisions for other reasons. Someone has to stand up for what’s best for students – especially since the republicans in this State do not!

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As a teacher and tax payer, I do not support raising taxes to fix the current budget crisis. Throwing money at this situation is not the answer. Right sizing the Central Office Staff and over paid administrators is what needs to happen before taxes are raised. If you think that raising your taxes is going to mean better schools you are very wrong, because unless the money is properly spent, it’s just being flushed down the toilet.

All political parties are to blame. Our government in general is not watching how money is being spent and unfortunately the children that we are educating will end up in a huge heap of debt.

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School districts take the path of least resistence: teachers’ salaries. It has always been this way. There is so much waste in education that it is unbelieveable…books are bought and discarded way too soon, unneeded supplies are bought because budgets will be cut if the money is not spent (have to show need), and administration (especially the district office , but also some schools) is top heavy and fat.

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@ HS

I chose my words intentionally. Even if I didn’t I’m still not
stupid enought to try myself to a union in this imploding
economy

insteresting logic from someone who allegedly teaches

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@ john konop,

interesting start for discussion. couple of thoughts

1) make the cuts where? knowing how agressively they protect
their own, it would probably be office and janitorial staff

2) pre or post tax?

3) how are you defining administrators?

4) you’re assuming they’re capable of teaching a class. not
a given anymore.

5) charge who? the students, the district, the state, other?

6) most (if not all) activities already do. what I pay annually
for my kid to be in band ….

7) not practical. in Gwinnett for example students are bursting
from the seams at nearly every school. but it would be a good idea
to have a neutral/external 3rd party verify the buildings are really
needed.

what would really help would be to get us out from under the required
lowest bidder/minority participation requirement. whatever we allegedly
save gets eaten up by the fixes and retrofits these buildings require.

pretty much already done. most the folks who do the traveling
are admin types – teachers are in class

9) brace yourself for cries of racism. what might be a better idea
is to see if we’re getting these lunches supplied at competitive prices

10) good idea in principal, not necessarly good in reality. while we
welcome and love volunteers, by their very nature we can’t rely on them.
office staff and class assistants are vital to a smooth running school.
if anything, these folks should get raises.

11) not sure how much we’re legally able to compete with the local
economy. we already host community enrichment classes as a sort of limited con ed.

12) fine by me

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Any downsizing of the government school bureaucracy to balance the budget helps our family. Keeping property taxes lower also helps our family. This is more money for our free market home school. Our school is very efficient and has less than a 5 to 1 teacher/pupil ratio. Our ITBS scores have been in the 95+ percentile range. My students’ courses are tailored to their strengths and interests. All are artistic. More than one has had their work selected for a traveling children’s art exhibition based in New York. Another has been hired to do CSI book illustrations. All my students have current technology and each has his/her own computer. All have studied a foreign language since elementary school. All have traveled abroad and had the opportunity to visit many famous landmarks. They regularly participate in volunteer work days. My students also have regular chores to maintain the house and yard. They will not own a cell phone until they can pay for one themselves. We have been able to accomplish all of these things by living frugally and paying CASH for everything. The government schools cannot match what I do for a fraction of their per/pupil spending. To top it off, our property taxes continue to support the education of another’s child. We are hard working productive citizens raising responsible, educated children. WHY SHOULD WE BE PENALIZED FOR GOVERNMENT’S GREED AND MISMANAGEMENT? How many parents out there used the public schools so you could buy those nice $200-$300 thousand dollar homes that have lost half their value? IS THIS MY FAULT? Should my family have to pay for your greed and lack of money management skills? If individuals had acted responsibly, they wouldn’t have taken the bankers bait and purchased homes with artificially low interest rates. They took on debt way out of line with their income and never thought there would be a rainy day. Well, today there is a thunderstorm and you are getting SOAKED!

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Walton High School Parent…..I don’t believe that you really understand…..it is not that they are giving the Wheeler magnet program so much “disproportional” resources or attention. It is the fact that the parents, teachers and students in the magnet program are so passionate and vocal about quality education. Perhaps if Walton were on block scheduling, your child could take “8 classes for free” instead of 6 with zero period or summer classes for $600. From what I have read, Wheeler students and parents are vocalizing the frustrations of all of us in Cobb County.

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A very good question:

Do you have any sense of how much all of what you are suggesting will actually save? Any ball park figure would be nice.

My guess:

If implemented correctly I would guess it would save most of the teachers’ jobs. I have never had a chance to work on the budget I am just a business guy. But as someone who has made a living as a successful clean up guy I have leaned a few tricks.

1) The DOE cuts would save a lot of administrative cost at the local level. A top heavy management groups tend to create busy work to justify jobs which is very counter productive.

2) By making extra activities cost justify you will also make all involved appreciate it and it will be treated in that manner rather than a right. And that in itself fosters an attitude that cuts waste. Also it would foster more revenue generating ideas if people paid.

3) Eliminating math 123 would have huge savings via repeated grades, summer school…… Also by allowing kids the option to track toward a vocational degree without mandatory college bound classes, we would lower the drop out rates and create a work ready graduates which would contribute tax revenue rather than drop-outs that drain the system.

4)By getting the community involved in the school via volunteers it would be easier to raise money for schools via an attachment.

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@John Konop

Having been in education for 19 years (started later in life than most) You are correct in many of your assumptions, but especially #3.

It is right on target. European countries and other countries test children for aptitude around 7 or 8th grade and they are channeled into a vocational or college track. We need excellent training in the vocational areas before students graduate from high school not after. I have taught special ed, regular ed, and gifted classes. I have seen students out of their league and how they struggle (and this includes non-motivated gifted students).

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I see many great comments and ideas on here. I agree that many administrative positions can easily be cut. An administrator needs only 3 years in the classroom (still “wet behind the ears”) in order to tell others what to do. My county will NOT hire a good teacher with an opinion as an administrator. They love young, uninformed, inexperienced administrators who have no real opinion on anything. That way the higher ups can train them on exactly what to say and do….zombies. They often run everything….and you are right that teachers have no control over anything anymore. Teachers are told every move to make….and admonished if even the smallest offense by a colleague is not reported…yet they do not want to hear what students do. If teachers complain about students, it is time for said teacher to take another class in Diversity, Classroom Discipline, etc. These idiots need to GO!

To those who think they want a union, you DON’T! ALL teachers would be forced to join the union and to adhere to its guidelines. You merely trade one boss for another…..neither of whom you may particularly care for. I have many friends in unionized states….and some like it; others do NOT.

By the way, you already have a “union” in Georgia……Georgia Association of Educators….and PAGE really is a union also…by definition. One writer, N.Ga., was correct in saying that Georgia is a “right to work” state and teachers cannot strike. Do it and you will be replaced….easily. So, organize and strike if you like. Many are waiting to take your place. That makes teachers even more beaten down.

Tenure does not exist in Georgia below college level. What does exist are DUE PROCESS RIGHTS after the 3rd contract (may be 4th…my memory is fading) is offered to a teacher. All that means is that during the first few years when a teacher does not have those rights, he/she can be dismissed without cause. In other words, administrators will not tell you why you no longer have a job. After Due-Process rights have been “earned”, administrators can still get rid of teachers, but adequate cause must be documented. I laugh at those who mistakenly believe administrators cannot get rid of “bad” teachers. Just because a teacher disagrees with a parent or does something a parent doesn’t like does not make that teacher a “bad” teacher. Any administrator worth a dime can get rid of a truly “bad” teacher…but they cannot get rid of them without proper documentation and without cause.

I do believe Mr. Platt lost his job primarily because he was too vocal. He knew too much. He had too many ideas and was not afraid to express himself. For a teacher without due-process rights, that is not a good move. My advice to Mr. Platt if he wishes to continue teaching is to learn the system…..which is….keep your mouth shut, your ideas to yourself, and make it through your first 3 years without incident. After you have established yourself, you can begin to share ideas with certain key people. Anytime you put yourself in the limelight, you endanger your teaching position….no matter how good you may really be! Otherwise, find another job where you can speak freely. Lesson: teachers do NOT have freedom of speech. Did I say I agree with that? No, but that is the “system”, at least here in Georgia. I suspect that is true everywhere else, given what my friends around the nation have told me!

To the HS Teacher who thinks Republicans are at the root of all educational evils: You apparently are either new to this state, new to education, or do not keep up with political events very well. Roy Barnes, a Democrat, did more to hurt education than any governor before or since. HB 1187 is a document we are still digging out from. He disrespected teachers openly….hence his non-effective bid for re-election. He took over the TRS board and replaced even good Democrats with his own folks. He fired the TRS investment firm and hired his own choice of investment firms. Sonny may have tried a few things with TRS, but Roy Barnes succeeded! Guess what? I believe that investment firm is still with TRS. Maybe they are good…DK…but I resent a sitting governor exercising such authority over the teachers’ money! I will respond to your 11 items:
1. Why are HS math standards confusing? Please explain. Saying it does not make it so.
2. Standardized testing has been around forever. We use CRCT in ways that are valuable for education and instruction. Apparently you don’t use those scores…..but many of us “good” teachers do. I believe the EOCT is a great idea that came about because too many high schools in Georgia instruct students at about a 2nd grade level and those students get HS diplomas. Parents in those schools need to wake up, support the school, keep their children off the street, out of gangs, and need to value education. I’m still all for EOCT.
3. What do you mean? I am totally in the dark. Who “cheated” in the name of improving a test? Standardized tests or teacher-made tests?
4. I agree. No furloughs. The Democrats were part of this decision also. It’s bi-partisan!
5. Republicans did not strip teacher contributions to retirement if you are referring to DeKalb County and their choice about Social Security. Many school systems do not have their employees paying into Social Security…and this has been going on for over 20 years. Can’t blame it on Republicans! If it bothers you, move to a system where you will pay into Social Security. Problem solved! Contributions to TRS go up and down depending on the economy. Apparently you have not been around long. Be grateful for what you have and stop expecting everything to stay the same or increase for you when everyone else around you is losing their jobs right and left. Economies, by nature, go up and down. Everything, including teacher salaries and retirement, has to adjust to a changing economy. You can’t blame economic problems on Republicans…..when this economic downturn was spurred by the Democrat congress of approx. 1993….but that’s another issue.
6. Reduced teacher benefits result from your own school system….and if you are in DeKalb, you have Democrats to blame!
7. Refuse step increases…..refer to #5 above.
8. Explain how Perdue attempted to change the retirement system. Read my earlier comments about Barnes. I have first-hand knowledge of how Barnes worked against TRS! Any attempt by Sonny is small potatoes compared with what Barnes actually did do…..and will do again if you give him the opportunity.
9. Republicans did not lay teachers off. Every school system was given how much had to be cut….and the latitude to cut as they saw fit. Get in the face of your own school system….your own Democrat school system….for answers on this one. Georgia’s budge MUST balance. It is not like the federal….which can carry a deficit large enough to enslave us all for generations. That means every area must take the hit…..including schools. I have been in schools long enough to know that much money is wasted by administrators and board members in high positions. Get mad with them, for a change!
10. Legislators in general, in all political parties, are often ignorant and/or indifferent to educational realities. We need to educate them. No legislator has forced class size increases. That, again, is left up to the local board of education. Yours is Democrat controlled. Talk to them!!! See if you get anywhere with YOUR DEMOCRATS!
11. Who has been hired at DOE during this period of time? I would like an answer to this one! Are they Republicans? Are any Democrats in the bunch?

Do you have any idea how many Republicans are AGAINST VOUCHERS? Open your thick skull, please! Republican politicians are told often that they will NOT be elected if they embrace vouchers. I am certainly against them, and I happen to be a Republican.

It bothers me that we have HS teachers who are as politically uninformed as you. I’ll bet you have your head so far up Obama’s socialist posterior that you cannot see the light of day! Hope you don’t take that love for socialism to the classroom with you! You give educators a bad name! We are supposed to be a little more bi-partisan, aren’t we? Of course, I am retired….and proud of it!

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Admin: John Knopp said to cut salaries of administrators making six figures by 20%, if you salary is below $100,000, his suggestion is to leave you alone. If I am reading correctly, he also suggested that the number of administrators be reduced by 20%.

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I left a detailed comment earlier, but it must have either been too detailed or too political!

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“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship… The average age of the world’s great civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependency; from dependency back again to bondage.”

– Sir Alexander Fraser Tytler (1747-1813)

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YOUR QUESTION:

…..I still don’t see if changing math programs will really save any money. We still have the same number of students, who may take different classes but still need some classes taught by teachers who must be paid. If we change programs, we will need new textbooks – not just for math but whatever other classes some of the students may take in its place……

THE ANSWER:

If you are an administrator at the central office or DOE this is classic example of out of tough management. Any teacher will tell you math 123 his created a money drain with the failure rate on summer school and in house tutoring. And if we let kids track properly not the one size fit all failed math curriculum from KATHY COX not only would we save money we would help with the drop out rate.

And a trained graduate with a skill produces tax income via a good job against a drop-out draining the system. Do you get the concept?

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Admin, I believe Mr. Knopp’s remark, yesterday, regarding a proposed 20% reduction in admin salary was merely a shot-in-the-dark number. The message, however, is resoundingly clear: AS ADMIN, YOU (COLLECTIVELY) ARE OVERHEAD. In other words, you add nothing…repeat, NOTHING…to the (let’s call it) organizational output, which is simply EDUCATING KIDS.

Teachers, as with other “front line” employees, are the most-visible component of the organization. Waiters, waitresses, and table busters are the “engine”…the direct customer contact…of the organization, yet (understandably), they are renumerated (paid) the lowest salary, and are, speaking honestly, the most-expendable…WHY? Because they are considered unskilled menial labor.

In recent months, teachers, not only in Georgia but across the Country, have been considered expendable. Therefore, the powers that be must consider teachers as unskilled menial laborers. Meanwhile, the (supposedly) “thinkers”, the leaders; the administrators remain intact. To use the restaurant analogy, who’s gonna do the “customer contact work”…the teaching? YOU???!!!???

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It is amazing. While great teachers like Mr. Platt give their heart and sweat to teaching and make the least money, the fats cats like Crawford Lewis and Alvin Wilbanks get all kinds of perks on top of their massive salary. Please tell me….given the salary that Mr. Wilbanks makes…why should tax payers give him a car supplement or reimburse his contribution to his retirement?
Here is part of the RICO indictment against Crawford Lewis:
Improper Use of DCSS Purchasing Card
DCSS issued CRAWFORD LEWIS a county-issued purchasing card, (hereinafter P-Card). He was authorized to use that card to purchase gasoline and various incidentals related to his job. He fraudulently used his P-card in various methods.
1. Theft: CRAWFORD LEWIS pays for personal vacation
For example, on June 17, 2008, CRAWFORD LEWIS called Marcus Turk, CFO of DCSS and stated to Turk that he was going on vacation and was short on funds. He asked if he could use the P-Card to pay for his hotel. Turk advised CRAWFORD LEWIS that such actions were illegal. The next day, Lewis repeated the same request and received the same response. Despite these warnings, CRAWFORD LEWIS used his DCSS P-Card to pay for a hotel room at The Lucayan in Freeport, Bahamas for Two Hundred Ninety-Five and Twenty cents ($295.20). (See Exhibit DDD). No official business was conducted during this stay.
2. Theft: CRAWFORD LEWIS pays for unauthorized personal activities
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CRAWFORD LEWIS used his position at DCSS to initiate and facilitate personal
relationships with female employees. Specifically, he paid for a room at The Ritz Carlton in Greensboro, Georgia, on March 12, 2008, which he used exclusively for personal use with a female su1Jordinate accompanying him. (See Exhibit EEE). No official county business was conducted despite the county P-Card being used for payment. CRAWFORD LEWIS also used county-purchased gasoline to travel to these locations.

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caught in the filter, I guess.

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Admin, thanks for your detailed reaction to my comments. You should not take my views of administrative functions personaly, but rather as a reflection of reality.

I, as I am quite certain are many of the readers, view the current educational situation from a “bottom line perspective”. I fully appreciate administrative/leadership efforts which yield positive results. However, based on the current status of the educational camp, it would not be unreasonable to assess educational leadership, at all levels, as being somewhere between “FAILURE TO MEET GOALS” and “COMPLETE FAILURE”.

If, sir, you are not of “internal stoutness” to appreciate this observation for what it is…a results-oriented analysis…than perhaps you are unworthy of your current position, the duties, responsibilities, and the paycheck.

Using the questionable restaurant analogy, if, despite your hands-on, as well as your strategic views of management, you were obliged to lay off a great number of your personel, who would be at the leading edge of the “responsibility food chain”?

By taking a stand for the administrative functions within the educational camp, you have, knowingly or not, acknowledged the failings within your endeavor.

I repeat, sir…DO NOT take my comments personaly, but rather, ask yourself if, in your current seat, you have done YOUR JOB at least to standard. Have you supported the teacher corps within your domain? Have you ensured that the classroom remain a learning environment? Presuming you have fiscal responsibilities, have you sheparded those monies appropriately?

I have no doubt that you “do things”…”a lot of things”. Have you worked hard…or hardly worked? The results, which we see all around us, speak of the later.

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Our kids in Cobb County are the ones who are suffering from the greed of the Republican run of Georgia. Raise our taxes. It is absurd that we only pay $5,500 in taxes on a 1/2 Million dollar house in Cobb County. When I tell my Relatives, who live in states with Schools that are in the top 10 in the country they can not believe it. These are my Republican relative’s. The taxes are too low. The Atlanta area has foolishly relied on growth for the last 30 years.

They busted the few unions that were here. The good union jobs with the Ford and GM plants and in Construction are gone. Professional jobs have been outsourced. Construction workers have been imported from South America and Mexico and are all illegal and work for less than $10/hr cash, when 1980’s a Carpenter made $16-18 hour paid taxes and could support an American Family.

The biggest problem of all the illegals brought their families or had border babies in the last 5-15 years and now our Schools are full of these ESOL students. My Children’s Schools are 40%+ Hispanic, look at the cost for ESOL, Look at who is in the Special Ed Classes ( the Classes with 3 teachers for 6 kids, easy to pick out in my daughters year book). Then look at the free lunch rolls.

And Cobb County has the nerve to cut the AP Teachers, they cut the elementary STAR’s Progarm at midyear. Where is the outrage for the non-tax payer, illegal ussage of the schools. Most of all where is the outrage for the Employers who hire these illegal workers, like Turner Construction ( Marieta Courthouse, Jacksonville Courthouse, Atlanta Airport and party to the Bribes of Dekalb County School Supt.), Traton Homes/Tower Builders, the list goes on and on.

Why are our resources wasted on ESOL. The parents should pay for English instruction prior to sending their children to our schools.

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I was hired as a teacher recently, not prior teaching experience. I was dedicated to my students, I spent some many hours at home to be ready for them, the salary is a joke, the treatment that you received as a teacher was worthless, etc. I admire teachers now more than ever, I couldn’t stand the treatment and I only taught for less than a year. When they notified me that my contract will not be renewed, I think I was the only one who came out of that office with a big smile. I rather go back to my old field, it will take me 13 years as a teachers to earn what I am being offered right now. I took a big paycut when I decided to become a teacher, just for the love of teaching but now that I see how hard it is, I don’t want to be one anymore. There is not job stability, and I need to put a roof on my children’s heads…I feel so bad for the dedicated teachers and the students.

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“Too many chiefs and not enough Indians creates dysfunctional out of touch ideas like math 123.”

I don’t know if there were “too many chiefs” on this matter as setting the state standards are the state DOE’s responsibility, not local districts. So, having highly paid superintendents in local systems has nothing to do with the creation of state standards, math or otherwise. Now, we can discuss whether or not the state should set academic standards or graduation requirements. We can make those decisions completely local, too. Is that something we want to do? If not, then, that will definitely be a rightful responsibility of the state DOE. Now, we can start talking about how that process should be accomplished, and what might be the reasonable costs.

“we should focus the money on teachers not cell phones, cars, lunches travel, meetings……by beurcrats.”

So, do you have any figure on these? By the DOE folks? By the local administrators?

“I guarantee I could figure out how to increase teachers in the classroom as well as increase quality without the massive DOE budget and less local administrators.”

Again, this sounds exactly what politicians tell us before the election. “Just trust me, I will do X, Y, and Z.” They never tell us the specific plan, and once they get elected, their focus is now on re-election. So, if you aren’t like any other politicians, please, tell us more specific plans with specific dollar figures.

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About why the math standards are so confusing. As a teacher of Math II and next year math III, I find the topics too scattered and the feel the state is taking a “wait and see” approach before itself invests millions of dollars in Math I-IV text books. Math II= Algebra II, Geometry, Statistics. Most math teachers are weak on the stats because we have little experience teaching it since most HS math had focused on algebra and geometry (so us math teachers have to step up our reading and studying so we know what we are talking about when we get to the unit on stats.) The math III “webinar” training at Kennesaw state was silly. DOE conducting seven classes from all over N GA over the internet with a live monitor who tells us her last day is June 30th. Also please know that the High school graduation test next year will reflect the new GPS standards. The high school graduate today will be required to now know:
1. How to at least multiply a 2×2 by another 2×2 matrix.
2. must use adjacency matrices in a real-life manner (not hard but new to us). an example would be using the a chart showing different species of life consuming each other (food chain).
3. Must know how to manipulate and understand polynomials as high as degree 3 (remember folding box activity x(x+2)(x+3)=? to maximize volume)

I wish the kids had text books to take home to work on the examples. “Carniegie” I think has the topics down well but without internet access is useless. Several students who transferred in the middle of the year I KNOW missed many topics from previous units because I pretested them. I think Math II is the year to master quadratics. They are tough for some kids. Especially the concept of completing the square. If they do not master those skills, Math III conics (ellipses, circles, etc…) are near to impossible to teach. Math III standard is an 11th grade class and my school tells me that I must have a higher pass rate so my focus will be on the testing. I know it is not too late to revert back to the traditional way but would make things better.

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RE: Admin making 6-figures.

This would obviously save money and with a 20% lay-off it would create many jobs for teachers.

RE: DOE

The DOE has over 500 employees not including expenses. Once again cuts here would create many teaching jobs.

RE: fuel charge

In all due respect only beurcrats would have a problem with figuring out how to collect money at a reasonable cost. You can bill the family and hold back transcripts for the money. We do have computers that would do must of the work.

RE: utilizing the existing space

In all due respect the sate controls the budget for state institutions. Instead of building more buildings we could make them use the space like it or not.

RE: travel and entertainment

You are right the teachers have no T&E budget but the DOE and central office does. We all know about the cars, cell phones…..the AJC already reported on it.

RE: lunch

It is not about making money only covering the cost.

RE: volunteer

Once again if you got the community involved instead of fighting it you would find it easier to raise money from the community.

RE: revenue generating ideas

Because the state has not broken down walls between state agencies and demanded it!

RE: math curriculum ie Math 123

This failed Kathy Cox program has cost the state a ton of money via summer school, tutors, drop-outs…. Also if the student had training for a job instead of dropping out they would create tax revenue via working rather than draining the system

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What are you talking about? “Outsourcing” means we will send the students overseas to be educated by teachers from other countries.

If teachers are finding jobs in China and the Middle East, good for them. I doubt many are considering this as a permanent option, though. Most likely 2 or 3 years max.

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A lot of people talk about math 123, but what happened to 4?

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Once upon a time…long long ago…there was a community of hunters and gatherers. EVERYONE in the community either hunted or gathered, sharing their bounties among the peoples of the community.

One dark and dank day, the organization man…THE ADMINISTRATOR…showed up. Eyeing the situation, he cried, “No no, you must have order…you must have ADMINISTRATION”! And so the organization man insisted that each group of both hunters and gathers appoint ADMINISTRATORS to count and sort the various types of bounty. Seeing as how each group…the hunters and the gatherers…included many different species of catch, the ADMINISTRATOR insisted that each ADMINISTRATOR appoint an assistant ADMINISTRATOR responsible for sorting, counting, and distributing each type of catch.

Well, wouldn’t you know it…pretty soon, there were more ADMINISTRATORS than there were gatherers and hunters. With diminished output, starvation ensued, the hunters and gatherers, weak from diminished sustenence, died off, and soon, there were only ADMINISTRATORS left, who had…in the belief that their efforts had somehow enhanced the jobs of the hunterers and gathers…awarded themselves disproportionate amounts of the bountys. Forgeting how to hunt and gather, the ADMINISTRATORS soon ran out of bounty, grew weak, and, like the hunters and gatherers, eventually died off.

Hence, an entire community, once happy and prosperous, vanished…ALL BECAUSE OF THE ADMINISTRATOR!

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I understand that, as a student, I do not know everything that happens behind the scenes. However, we had plenty of teachers let go at Lassiter High School, with the newest going first. Some of our favorite teachers, Coach Rustay (AP Microeconomics teach and a softball coach) being one of them, were done away with. He was the only AP Economics teacher at the school, so I will be very interested in that fate of that class next year. Also, teachers like him will be missed.

Now, for what I know based upon my parents and the jobs they hold…

Dear State Politicians (or those running for office),

Please fund education properly. This means you need to put money into the programs. Stop taking out the money. Do something that, yes, might anger people. Raise taxes. It is not something new, and it will help. Then we might be able to keep teachers that truly help students and take an interest in us. This can only help the state.

Do not blame the people. Do not blame the students. Do not blame the teachers. If a county such as Cobb is having to lay off teachers, I can only fear what rural counties have had to deal with. We were one of the counties that pulled on the reserves to pay salaries and avoid furlough days. Others were not so lucky. Do not try to tell me that this did not affect student progress. However, next your not even Cobb can avoid cuts. Cuts have been made in teachers and the school calendar, what more do you want from us?

On another note, increased taxes can also mean increased law enforcement. I hear we are currently operating at 1/3 the level we should have, if we are lucky. Perhaps we could put money into that as well and avoid becoming a magnet for crime. It is things like this that just does not allow me to sit at home comfortably.

Thank you,
Concerned Citizen

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