Contracts delivered today to DeKalb teachers
I am hearing today from DeKalb teachers about contracts and letters, which appear to the source of confusion to some folks.
One teacher wrote:
We were informed today that we are receiving a 6.25 percent pay cut for the next academic year. Today, teachers were presented with contracts that are due on May 9th. The explanation for the pay cut was explained as an effect of a $70 million dollar budget shortfall. Teachers were given no other explanation or choice. This comes after we received a confusing email from the district explaining a “calendar change.” In this message, it appeared that teachers would be receiving pay increases of $1,000-$1,200 per month. This was later explained as an error.
But DeKalb spokesman Walter Woods said: “All contracts of employment for the 2012-2013 school year have been delivered to schools. Employees will either receive a contract or a delay letter. Teachers also received a letter today explaining that all contracts are printed with a 6.25 percent reduction in pay. This has been the standard practice for the last three years. Teachers are being reassured that after the Board of Education has approved the budget, their salaries will be adjusted.”
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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141 comments Add your comment
Angela
May 1st, 2012
12:50 pm
@Beverly Fraud,
The unions represent the administrators too! Most organizations that are suppose to represent the people always go to the highest bidder. Again, as I said teacher will need to STAND as ONE! We are who can only fix this problem.
Angela
May 1st, 2012
12:50 pm
teachers
Angela
May 1st, 2012
1:02 pm
All of you DCSS employee let us organize and stand firm. All should attend the next town hall meeting. I will get date.
oldtimer
May 1st, 2012
1:16 pm
Say what….Baxter would have gone somewhere else without the tax breaks…..1500 jobs will provide much improvement in the econmy east of Atlanta. Look at TN….their tax base has improved with Dell, Nissan, Volkwagon….to name three who have built large facilities there. That eventually leads to money for schools.
The biggest issue with msot school systems is salary. I agree with posters who argue for cuts in the county office FIRST…..Most county offices are on the friends and family plan as schools are the cash cow in many counties.
As a former Dekalb student and teacher…..fire the school board first. Many have been there 30 years. Get some new ideas..new people….then take the recommendations from all these studies and put certified people back in the classroom. If they are good enough to be consultants..they can probably teach.
oldtimer
May 1st, 2012
1:17 pm
And teachers……prayers are lifted up for you…
A Conservative Voice
May 1st, 2012
1:55 pm
@Angela
May 1st, 2012
11:37 am
@A Conservative Voice,
LOVE, HUGS AND KISSES TO YOU! Another jack— who disrespect educators. Sad that you have such a low opinion. Perhaps if your parents had been a better teacher to you you would have some
some self respect and respect for others.
Angela, please calm down…….I don’t disrespect educators. You, being a teacher, know as well as I do that there are bad teachers in every school and it sounds to me like you have that “union mentality I despise so much”. Do your part to get rid of the “Bad Apples” and you and your cohorts will be so much better off. Oh, and please leave my long departed parents out of this argument…..they had nothing to do with the destruction of our once fine, fine school system.
Dekalbite@Fred in Dekalb
May 1st, 2012
1:57 pm
I can see you have not been in the schools for a very long time. Why don’t you go to some of the classrooms and see how children are packed in there like sardines. I’m appalled that you condone these class sizes for our students.
Students deserve competent, well paid staff in reasonably sized classrooms. Everything else needs to revolve around that premise. Students learn from teachers in classrooms. That is so simple, yet it is something DeKalb has forgotten.
time to get real
May 1st, 2012
2:09 pm
Two years since I’ve been RIF’d, and nothing has changed in DCSS. All the squaking and complaining gets nothing done. TWO YEARS. Face it, things will never change. EVER. Don’t buy into that “you’re lucky to have a job” nonsense. AJC needs drivers. Jobs are available. Whenever anyone says “central office jobs” anyone expecting the high paid bloat to be let go is a fool at this point. Hope? Optimism? How’s that working for you since Lewis & Pope STILL haven’t had to pay the piper?
Tonya C.
May 1st, 2012
2:17 pm
You know a great solution? Forego contracts altogether. They are one-sided and screw teachers anyway. But teachers would no longer be bound to commit to an entire school year. If a position opens up in another school or district, they could move without penalty or retribution.
Then see the kevetching from parents when their kid is on the 3rd teacher of the year by spring break. Just saying, since so many are advocating the free market and all…
truthmissle
May 1st, 2012
2:18 pm
Lol @ Dekalb. Lol @ it’s sheep. Lol.
Angela
May 1st, 2012
2:19 pm
The DCSS principals are calling mandatory staff meetings. Gee, I wonder what could it be about. I will bring you all up to snuff afterwards. I can tell you there is a huge huge up roar in every school this day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Angela
May 1st, 2012
2:25 pm
@A Conservative Voice,
“You, being a teacher, know as well as I do that there are bad teachers in every school and it sounds to me like you have that “union mentality I despise so much”. Do your part to get rid of the “Bad Apples” and you and your cohorts will be so much better off.”"
*******************************************************************************************************************
Can you define a bad teacher. Here again, this is disrespectful to educator because you have not HAVE NOT been in our shoes to determine what a good teacher or bad teacher is.
AGAIN, I ASK COME AND VOLUNTEER AND THEN SPEAK ON WHAT IS A GOOD OR BAD TEACHER! COME PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! IF YOU ARE HERE TO DO THAT I WILL BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO GET IT APPROVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE TAKE ME UP ON MY OFFER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Angela
May 1st, 2012
2:34 pm
@Tonya C.,
I am not sure that understand the purpose of our contracts. Please note without a contract teachers really would not have any leaverage. There is a process. Teachers cannot just be fired for many reasons. See if your boss in other companies don’t like you these people can just be fired, we cannot. Personal issues between principals and teachers must have due process.
Tonya C.
May 1st, 2012
2:40 pm
Angela:
I understand the purpose, but I’m also more than aware that the theory of contracts isn’t currently matching the reality of them. They are not HELPING teachers anymore. They are vague and subjugate the rights of teachers to the BOE and state. Add to that the PSC penalties for a teacher breaking one (but none for the BOE oe State) then what’s the point?
A statement of memorandum or annual offer letter would be the same with the ability to retain due process rights. The contracts teachers are currently signing bind them without really giving them anything for it.
So over it!
May 1st, 2012
2:54 pm
Cheap labor=cheap education, simple equation! I work for Dekalb but I will make sure my children never attend an uneducated Dekalb County School. All of this actually reminds me of yet another “mafia mob.” Their mission statement states that: “the DeKalb County School District is to form a collaborative effort between home and school that maximizes students’ social and academic potential preparing them to compete in a global society.” How can we ever compete in today’s global world when foreign languages and the arts of any sort are going to be cut? Please visit the classrooms of Art, Foreign Languages and PE teachers in the county and you will see the smiles of these children…we desperately need these sort of classes to create a uniform balance and give children a break from constant testing pressure. Also, the fact that we’ve got delayed contracts when all private and public schools have finished hiring for the upcoming school year is just heartless. Now I am really upset for ever spending 70 hours a week on creating fun, animated and educational lesson plans while some teachers still use lesson plans from 1965 and yet they’ve got contracts for next year!
Enough Already, We feel the pain
May 1st, 2012
3:02 pm
Rumor is circulating that our new Superintendent DID NOT KNOW ABOUT THE CONTRACTS GOING OUT, and there will be a recall and reprint of all contracts. She called an emergency meeting with principals. This would be a major waste and show of incompetence. Wow, who would even believe that!!!! Anyone else hear this? FirstClass is magically down today so very little communication is possible amongst teachers. If this rumor is true, there is no way she should ever be taken seriously and acknowledged as a leader. She is like a fish out of water. Please let this not be true. Is another group of incompetent administrators, possible? If ever we decide to have children, I know where they would not attend school. We will know more to confirm this evening. Dekalbite, I hope you are collecting and keeping this data!
Taylor
May 1st, 2012
3:03 pm
The Republicans are destroying public education. This is a manipulation to have the public begging for vouchers so their buddies can profit from opening private schools. Why are we giving massive tax breaks to corporations when we can’t fund our public schools?
Dekalbite@Enough Already..
May 1st, 2012
3:24 pm
Not sure what data there is to collect here.
Perhaps you would rather Ms. Tyson and the rest of the Lewis group were running DeKalb Schools. That’s what many of the BOE members wanted. That’s why they dragged their feet on selecting a new superintendent, and that’s why some are undermining her now.
IMO – DeKalb Schools cannot move on until she “cleans house” of the upper management that Lewis used, and I don’t mean move them around the Central Office. They have way too many connections with past and current BOE members and are too connected to “family and friends”. But the most important reason to let the management group who were under Lewis go is they utterly failed to move students forward and in fact presided over a decline in student achievement. They set the policies, procedures and programs, allocated all of the money and told teachers what to teach, when to teach and how to teach it. Until they are made responsible for the dismal results they produced, nothing will change. Moving them from place to place so they can retain their high paying jobs is just flat out wrong.
1st Year Teacher
May 1st, 2012
3:32 pm
I’m frustrated with this whole process not because of the pay-cut, but because of the way teachers are treated.
This has been my first year and I have really enjoyed working with the students. The climate within the schools and within the county is a different matter.
In my opinion, it is assumed that you (the teacher) are lazy/incompetent/unprofessional until you prove otherwise to your superiors. Seems backwards to me.
G
May 1st, 2012
3:54 pm
@Enough Already, We feel the pain – wife called and yes that is what happened. Unreal!
Matt
May 1st, 2012
3:56 pm
To “Taylor” @ 3:03pm “Republicans are destroying public education. This is a manipulation to have the public begging for vouchers so their buddies can profit from opening private schools. Why are we giving massive tax breaks to corporations when we can’t fund our public schools?
How are either of the political parties destroying education? How is mismanagement of funds in the DeKalb County School System tied to what corporations are paying in tax? When the government proves totally inept at running a service (education in the metro area) what do we have to lose through privatization????
Ooooh, I see – DISTRACT people from the obvious truths, that their LOCAL politicians are the ones that are making a mess of things by instead blaming it on a national political party, then complain there is not enough money because someone is not paying their share and then try to make privatization sound like some sort of evil plot of the good-ol-boy system. Now I get it.
Or maybe I’m just giving you too much credit and in actuality, you are just a confused individual taught to attack whatever you don’t understand.
Dekalbite@Fred in DeKalb
May 1st, 2012
4:17 pm
“If you believe everything that DeKalbite writes, you wouldn’t know that neighboring counties are experiencing the same challenges.”
The main difference Fred is that students are achieving at a higher rate than DeKalb students in all of the metro area schools. If DeKalb had a good student achievement rate, there would be nowhere near the uproar from parents, taxpayers and teachers.
Even in demographically similar school systems, DeKalb still lags far behind in our student progress. Comparing us with demographically similar school systems, our students are not less intelligent, our parents are not less involved, and our teachers are not less hardworking. The difference has been the administration of DeKalb. Cutting paraprofessionals and calling this Central Office cuts is not going to do it. A handful of coordinators was as high up the food chain as Ms. Tyson went. The Directors and Executive Directors and Assistant Superintendents that made such poor decisions and fat paychecks are still being moved around the Central Office to provide them with high paying jobs. Please name the Directors, Executive Directors and Assistant Superintendents who have been let go in a Reduction in Force. These were the “movers and shakers” who put our school system on the road to decline.
Prof
May 1st, 2012
4:19 pm
@ G and Enough Already: “FirstClass is magically down today so very little communication is possible amongst teachers.”
It sounds as if this blog is the only place of communication abt. this for teachers. I hope they all have their laptops turned on, and will keep the rest of us updated. This really is remarkable!
Maureen Downey
May 1st, 2012
4:25 pm
@To all, Waiting for statement from DeKalb on wrong letters going out to teachers yesterday.
Maureen
Beverly Fraud
May 1st, 2012
4:26 pm
Angela I think I have something we can agree on:
Maureen, can you ask Walter the Mouth Organ why, if the 6.25? has been “the standard” for three years, why there was only a letter THIS year?
And will Walter the Mouth Organ comment on whether or not the Superintendent actually knew about the contracts going out? (With a friendly reminder that about the Open Records Act if he obfuscates the truth)
Beverly Fraud
May 1st, 2012
4:29 pm
Ahhh…sometimes the 4th Estate DOES respond!
Maureen Downey
May 1st, 2012
4:32 pm
This is being sent to DeKalb teachers:
MEMO TO: Certified Instructional, Supervisory, and Administrative Personnel
FROM: Dr. Tekshia Ward-Smith, Chief Human Resources Officer
THROUGH: Dr. Cheryl L. H. Atkinson, Superintendent
REFERENCE: Clarification Memo Regarding Employment Contracts
for the 2012-2013 School Year
Thank you for your contributions to the DeKalb County School District. Please allow this memo to serve as clarification to the Employment Contract for the 2012-2013 school year you received on April 30, 2012.
Each year the District includes in the employment contract certain measures leading into the budget process. This amount generally reflects a lower amount due to the timing of the budget process and the State of Georgia required deadline for contract issuance. According to state law, the deadline for contract issuance is before the deadline for the final adoption of the operating budget. The contract you received reflected the language from the 2010 contract and should have reflected what was printed on the 2011 contract. The Superintendent intends on recommending to the Board of Education, at a minimum, the same number of work calendar days for FY2013 as worked in FY2012.
Please know that the Superintendent DOES NOT intend to take a recommendation to the Board with any additional reductions in pay from the current work calendar. Our goal is to deliver to the Board of Education a balanced budget that will support all District operations.
As teachers, you are on the front line of the District, impacting lives everyday. We appreciate your efforts and are committed to pushing as many dollars to the school as possible. Upon final adoption of the FY2013 budget, you will be notified, in writing, of such action and your salary will be adjusted accordingly, as it has in the past few years.
Once again, please know that we are working hard and doing all that we can to have a balanced budget and lastly, I would like to reiterate that the Superintendent intends on recommending to the Board of Education, at a minimum, the same number of work calendar days for FY2013 as worked in FY2012.
For additional information regarding this clarification memo: please email the Division of Human Resources at hr-info@fc.dekalb.k12.ga.us
Thank you once again.
bu2
May 1st, 2012
4:32 pm
@Fred
Whether the information is precisely right, what about the consultants report showing how much higher the number of administrative positions were in Dekalb than in comparable counties? Dekalb (i.e. Bowen, Walker, et.al.) has put the administrative staff and employment of adults there at a much higher priority than teachers in the classroom and students. Some of those administrative staff may be quite competent and may lose their jobs. But other counties get by with fewer. The priority should be the classroom.
And if what Angela has said is true about the contracts and Enough has said is true that the staff can’t get correct info to the state, there are a lot of central office staff who aren’t competent.
Beverly Fraud
May 1st, 2012
4:56 pm
DeKalb, Clayton, APS and Fulton. The Four Horsemen of the Incompetence.
Dekalbite@bu2
May 1st, 2012
5:11 pm
Nice post. You are correct. The personnel who are in job positions that hold too many employees for their responsibilities should not be assumed incompetent. Many of these personnel also hold teaching certificates and could easily go back into the classroom to help alleviate the record breaking class sizes students are currently experiencing.
All the public can go on is the information that DeKalb provides to the state. I’ve been closely looking at the state salary and travel audits from 2007 to 2012. To Ms. Tyson’s credit, the most recent one – under her auspices – 2010-11 is the most accurate.
LOL – Does anyone think the DCSS administration gives information to the state as part of the open georgia transparency laws and then to says to the public – don’t use this information because we really gave the state bogus figures? There are a few mistakes, but the majority of the state reports are pretty accurate when contrasted with the recent audit DeKalb Schools commissioned from the Management Advisory Group.
The Management Advisory Group report showed 300+ Central Office positions that were recommended as excess, and if you read it in depth you will see that many of the Central Office positions were overpaid as well.
DeKalb needs to get its financial house in order. Cuts to the classroom need to be a last resort.
Enough Already, We feel the pain
May 1st, 2012
6:36 pm
It’s great that we are finally able to put the FACTS on the table and look beyond manipulations on both side of the coin. No, I would not like to see any of the past directors restored to their positions, but nor would i like to see an incompetent like Cheryl play puppet to another group of rising stars who have their own agenda in mind. Yes there is bloat in Central Office, yet there is bloat also in ineffective principals and teachers who are incompetent as well. Support personnel should be separated into the groups that have data and support of their effectiveness, not lumped in a pile as insignificants who do not service the North side and labeled useless. Everyone is not friends and family members of those once in place. Some populations have different needs than others, to deny our students access to the best administrators, teachers and support would not help this situation. To drop millions of dollars into the schools in the hands of incompetent principals without a plan is a bad idea. Look what just happened by giving Cheryl a job too big for her to handle. Ask us as teachers and educators what we need face to face when you want real data. Do not trust everything that you collect as data from the opinions of bloggers where we are comfortable saying anything that we would like to say as we hide behind the pseudo-sercurity of anonyminity. Some may feel it takes anonyminity to tell the truth, I say it takes courage. Working with my students today after taking the test, we discussed critical thinking and reading, something we all could use in refresher course.
Enough Already, We feel the pain
May 1st, 2012
7:05 pm
@Dekalbite, you are not the only one who has evidence. In your own words, Tyson and Cheryl now approve what information goes to the state site now. This would not have happened unless it was brought to their attention in previous years that something was wrong with the reported data, maybe 2009-2010 and before? I again will repeat, information has been reported wrongly in past years, as you admitted errors. If the process has been corrected, then good. You are very misleading in you sarcasm and no longer should I energize your asides. I am sure you mean well, but you do more harm than good misreporting information. You stated in recent posts that your purpose for blogging is to persuade readers. Others like me prefer to just have broad conversations and accept and share likes and differences in opinions.
Another Dekalb Teacher
May 1st, 2012
8:28 pm
Our principal today, May 1, 2012, told us how lucky we are to have a job! 6.25 percent cut and everything! She reminded us that some teachers (12 years plus) had not received a contract. Oh and BTW, we will also have a faculty meeting tomorrow! Ridiculous!
Dekalbite@Enough Already
May 1st, 2012
9:27 pm
“You stated in recent posts that your purpose for blogging is to persuade readers. ”
Not really. I’m pretty dispassionate. I’m not as much pro Teacher as pro Kids. The reason I’m concerned about what happens to teachers is that they are the only workers who are “members of the classroom”. A classroom is a microcosm that can sustain or impede students. If we as a society give children an unsafe, dirty, overcrowded environment with the only adult in that environment stressed out and demoralized, then this will adversely impact the students.
I do like to crunch numbers because data is what I always look for whenever someone asks me to form an opinion. Please note that I always try to cite a source and give the links to that source so that other commenters can look at the numbers for themselves. They may come up with different conclusions. If they feel the data supports their differing conclusions, good for them. At least they are doing some critical thinking rather than just absorbing the sound bites of others.
“Others like me prefer to just have broad conversations and accept and share likes and differences in opinions.”
That’s fine for you, but that doesn’t work for me. That’s a little too much like people who say global warming doesn’t exist when the most respected scientists say it does. Since when have we as a nation decided that our opinions are the same as fact – a Fox News phenomenon. Most businesses who deal solely in opinions instead of crunching the numbers and paying attention to the data will meet an untimely end. The housing mess was created by too much opinion (housing will always go up) and too little data (absorption of housing is finite).
Now the above comment is truly just – IMO.
Fred in DeKalb
May 1st, 2012
10:29 pm
Well said, Enough Already, We feel the pain! Well said. I’ve been saying the exact same thing for several months now. I’ve also noticed DeKalbite leaving out key information thus allowing readers to see the comments out of context.
It’s not a secret that serious work is needed in DeKalb Schools. The personnel audit indicates the Central office is overstaffed and compensation is on the high side for Central office directors and above. Even Central office secretaries are paid quite well compared to other similar size school districts. Some in the school house (department chairs for example) are underpaid compared to other similar size school districts. I believe Dr. Atkinson is ready to right-size this. She will need help as not only some Board members but some in the community would like to see things remain status quo. Citizens will need to openly support her in making these changes.
Dekalbite@Fred in DeKalb
May 1st, 2012
10:52 pm
So you are using some data to see DCSS is over staffed and overpaid in the Central Office. Good for you. See how interesting it is to read the data?
Dekalbite@Enough Already
May 1st, 2012
10:54 pm
“You stated in recent posts that your purpose for blogging is to persuade readers. ”
Not really. I’m pretty dispassionate. I’m not as much pro Teacher as pro Kids. The reason I’m concerned about what happens to teachers is that they are the only workers who are “members of the classroom”. A classroom is a microcosm that can sustain or impede students. If we as a society give children an unsafe, dirty, overcrowded environment with the only adult in that environment stressed out and demoralized, then this will adversely impact the students.
I do like to crunch numbers because data is what I always look for whenever someone asks me to form an opinion. Please note that I always try to cite a source and give the links to that source so that other commenters can look at the numbers for themselves. They may come up with different conclusions. If they feel the data supports their differing conclusions, good for them. At least they are doing some critical thinking rather than just absorbing the sound bites of others.
“Others like me prefer to just have broad conversations and accept and share likes and differences in opinions.”
That’s fine for you, but that doesn’t work for me. That’s a little too much like people who say global warming doesn’t exist when the most respected scientists say it does. Since when have we as a nation decided that our opinions are the same as fact – a Fox News phenomenon. Most businesses who deal solely in opinions instead of crunching the numbers and paying attention to the data will meet an untimely end. The housing mess was created by too much opinion (housing will always go up) and too little data (absorption of housing is finite).
Now the above comment is truly just – IMO.
Fred in DeKalb
May 2nd, 2012
6:40 am
DeKalbite, I’m always willing to share data,even if it does not reflect my point of view. I can even admit when I make mistakes. As Enough Already, We feel the pain said, you do more harm than good misreporting information.
DeKalbite@Fred in DeKalb
May 2nd, 2012
3:59 pm
The point is that some departments on the admin and support side are overstaffed and overpaid. Teachers on the other hand are not overstaffed or overpaid in DCSS. That’s what the 2004 audit (the one Lewis ignored) said. That’s what this recent audit by MAG said. And that’s what the state Salary and Travel audit shows as well.
Fred in DeKalb
May 3rd, 2012
9:16 am
DeKalbite, if you want to talk about things that should have happened in the past, Dr. Freeman should not have increased the size of the Central Office the way he did before he left. Dr. Hallford did nothing to reduce it either. Only when Dr. Brown attempted to address it, he was undermined in his attempts to do the right thing.
Let’s deal with the present and make sure when we share information, it is correct and in context. We both agree with the report findings that the Central Office is overstaffed and salaries need to be right-sized. Let’s work together, in our own ways, to see this is addressed.
Dekalbite@Fred in DeKalb
May 5th, 2012
2:06 pm
Dr. Hallford increased the Central Office a lot more than Freeman. He’s the one that instituted all of those area superintendents (wasn’t it 12 or 16 Area Superintendents at first?) – each with their huge staffs. Do you remember that each of these many area superintendents had a cadre of coordinators in every subject?
Dr. Brown attempted to address it, and yes he was undermined. My main concern is that Dr. Atkinson will be undermined when she tries to reduce the Central Office and also the support personnel who are overstaffed as well.