Bibb school chief and his miracle plan under fire
Some folks in Macon have launched a petition calling for an investigation of Bibb County superintendent Romain Dallemand, whose short tenure has been rocky.
Hired 19 months ago to lead the under performing system, Dallemand rolled out an ambitious reform plan earlier this year for the schools, a plan dubbed the Macon Miracle.
Among its 100 action points: A dramatic restructuring of grade configurations, year-around calendars, Chinese classes for all students from pre-k to grade 12 (they would be phased in with teachers hired from China, a sore point with American teachers being laid off), schools of choice that students could pick based on their interests and dorms that would house students in need.
Here is the explanation on Change.org, for the new petition, which had 425 signature this morning:
Whether you live in Macon, Atlanta, New York, London or Tokyo, we need your help. We are trying to save our school system, so please take a moment and sign this petition. Help a community fight back for sanity and accountability in our schools and board of education. Only with enough signatures and attention will we have the leverage to force the board to call for an outside investigation. We want transparency and accountability. Help us save our schools!
If you are wondering why you should sign this petition, click the links below. This is the superintendent we are dealing with as well as a rubber stamping board of education that work for him instead of the citizens as it should be. Our superintendent has spent nearly as much time traveling all over the country and even the world dining on gourmet meals, staying at luxury hotels, while our students lack basic needs like toilet paper or books. He claims that no good ideas can come from Macon or even the state of Georgia and this is why he travels. Wasn’t he supposed to come into his new job two years ago with outside ideas from day one? He left his job and the people of Rochester, MN., in a mess and now he is trying to do the same here in Georgia. Good teachers are leaving in droves, morale is down, discipline is non-existent, and people are afraid to speak out. The citizens of this community have had enough. No more!
The Macon Telegraph has reported that Dallemand has been traveling a great deal, although the school chief defends the trips as part of his mission to find and bring fresh ideas to the county.
He told the newspaper: “The ideas will not come from inside Macon. The ideas need to come from outside Macon, outside the state, outside of the country.”
According to the Telegraph story:
Expense reports, credit card statements, and hotel and flight bills obtained by The Telegraph — more than 1,000 pages — show a pattern of frequent travel since Dallemand became superintendent of the Bibb County school system in February 2011.
Records show that the spending limit on two credit cards used for staff travel has been increased, and the spending limit on one of the cards has more than doubled in the course of a year. More than once during the year, bills for those cards came in higher than the spending limits, and other documents indicate that the system’s chief financial officer would not sign off on some of the spending.
Two weeks ago, the Telegraph reported that the state Professional Standards Commission “recommended a county-level investigation into public complaints about résumé credentials supplied by Bibb County school Superintendent Romain Dallemand. The group also confirmed that it has already recommended the board investigate Dallemand’s official spending.”
“The ball is in their court now,” said Paul Shaw, the director of educator ethics for the state Professional Standards Commission.
The PSC voted unanimously Thursday to recommend that the Bibb County Board of Education investigate an allegation that Dallemand provided an incorrect title on his résumé. But they threw out a repeat complaint about Dallemand’s travel spending, simply because it was a close duplicate of one that they had already forwarded to the Bibb BOE about two months ago.
As Shaw put it, “We’ve already said to the (Bibb school) board: ‘Here are some allegations about inappropriate spending and travel, and so you need to review your records and determine if there’s a violation of contracts.’’’
The Bibb school board is not required to investigate either case or report back to the PSC. There’s no PSC deadline for any investigation.
The complaints were mostly about travel spending, Shaw said. Dallemand, and occasionally top deputies, took at least 18 overnight trips in the year beginning in February 2011, according to a Telegraph count. And the spending limit on one official credit card doubled during the same period.
Two outspoken Dallemand critics, Darren Latch and Bill Knowles, filed the résumé complaint with the state. They’re questioning the superintendent’s claimed four years as a “mental health therapist” in Florida. Dallemand, in a letter to the school board Wednesday, said he has since asked Florida about his title and been told that he should call himself a “therapist,” not a “mental health therapist.”
Officials in Florida said Thursday that based upon the current law, Dallemand couldn’t call himself a mental health therapist without a license, which he was never issued. However, they noted that some changes in the statute took place since 1994 to 1998, the period in question, and there are some exemptions in place where a therapist wouldn’t necessarily need a license.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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69 comments Add your comment
Road Scholar
July 5th, 2012
10:14 am
There always has been something in the Macon water supply!
Romain Dallemand Is A Beverly Hall (former Supt. Atlanta) On Steriods
July 5th, 2012
10:24 am
IF IT QUACKS LIKE A DUCK, LOOKS LIKE A DUCK……
ITS A D-U-C-K !!!!!!
In a stunning turn of events, Cheryl Coryea has settled her lawsuit against the Rochester Board of Education for a hefty $320,000. (She originally only sought $270,000) The lawsuit was instituted by Coryea when she was wrongfully terminated by then Rochester School Superintendent Romain Dallemand as retribution for her “whistleblowing” about Dallemand’s $5000 desk, which he had purchased and then hid in storage trying to avoid detection. This settlement allows Dallemand to slither away from Rochester without even being called to the stand. (Oh yeah, in an earlier deposition Dallemand admitted Coryea was terminated in part for her whistleblowing.)
MACON SHOULD NOT MAKE THE MISTAKE THAT ATLANTA PUBLIC SCHOOLS MADE.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
Keith
July 5th, 2012
10:36 am
He is black and the wagons are already in a circle to protect him. Control is what matters in Macon, not school system (or any other branch of govt.) performance.
Georgia, The " New Mississippi "
July 5th, 2012
11:06 am
The Bibb County public school system was a lost cause decades before Dallemand arrived. You have more private schools ( 1-12 grades) in Macon Georgia than anywhere else in the state. The local Johnny Rebs have no skin in game but want to call all of the shots ( I am a taxpayer , don’t tread on me, etc. etc). The Black leaders make TOO many excuses for poor behavior of the students.Combine that with the 50’s style race relations and it is almost like being caught up in a time warp.
Mikey D.
July 5th, 2012
11:37 am
Wow… An educrat who thinks a little too highly of himself, abuses his power and wastes money… Yeah, that’s certainly uncommon…
Alphare
July 5th, 2012
11:37 am
Year-round Chinese classes is dramatic. Why?
Tony
July 5th, 2012
11:46 am
Excessive and wasteful! Fire him. Too many people like that give the rest of us educators a bad name.
Old Macon
July 5th, 2012
11:47 am
@ Alphare: I’m a former Bibb teacher. Year-round Chinese is dramatic, bc students in Macon struggle with basic English!! I’m not kidding!
William Casey
July 5th, 2012
11:50 am
When some goofus comes touting “miracles,” one should not be surprised that he’s “living large” while he can. He knows that he’ll be gone in a couple of years. The are NO miracles in education, only tough, grind-it-out work. Are Boards od Education really THAT stupid?
Howard Finkelstein
July 5th, 2012
12:14 pm
This guy seems quite impressed with himself. He should be FIRED!!
Mountain Man
July 5th, 2012
12:22 pm
Anyone who comes in claiming the ability to work miracles should be naturally suspect.
Mountain Man
July 5th, 2012
12:38 pm
So how is he going to pay for these “miracle” changes? How will he pay for year-round school (the ONLY good idea)? What is he going to do about absenteeism? What will he do about social promotion? How is he going to handle discipline problems in the school? How will he attract and keep good teachers in his schools, teachers who know their subject matter explicitly and are able to articulate it in a way students can understand?
Answers to these questions would be the miracle.
Loving Life!
July 5th, 2012
1:02 pm
@Mountain Man “Anyone who comes in claiming the ability to work miracles should be naturally suspect.” – that is going to be my new Facebook status! Classic!
After reading the so-called “Macon Miracle Plan” Dallemand appears (at least on paper) to be a very ambitious administrator. The problem however, is his lack of community involvement – not only with the development of this strategic plan but also with his administration of the district. Of his 8 member leadership team only 2 are from Georgia and only 1 other is from the Southeast. You mean to tell me there are no administrators in Macon that understand the history of the district and challenges its student have faced and will face in our uncertain economy that could at least serve in a advisory position to the new superintendent?
The major problem with Dallemand is his lack of transparency within the community. Instead of embracing them he is belittling them into believing they are too inept to run their own school so he can travel around the county to find more competent educators to do so. At least stay in budget hotels Dallemand!
Of the “Macon Miracle Plan” ideas I do believe year-round school is much better for students. As an educator I can honestly say that students have a hard time remember everything they learned from the previous year after a summer of lounging around the house. Another problem is the year-long measurements we use for assessments – the CRCTs and EOCTs. If we create more targeted, site-created weekly or bi-weekly assessments this will allow us to more strongly zero in on the information that students are not retaining and provide support. Possibly an implementation of four-day school weeks will also help, leaving the fifth day free for remediation of students who did not successfully pass the previous week(s) assessment. During my time as an curriculum assistant principal at a middle school in Pinellas County, FL I implemented a similar procedure which was disliked by teachers (because it involved more paperwork in tracking tutorials and testing scores) however, it produced dramatically higher FCAT scores (Florida’s version of the CRCT).
yyic
July 5th, 2012
1:10 pm
He is very arrogant.. So much so that he feels NO one in the USA is smart enough to make education work for our children.. He blatantly called all American to stupid to find a solution to fix their schools.. Oh wait, He is NOT a problem solver, he instigate trouble wherever he goes! He left Rochester paying thousands for his mistakes and indiscretions there! Not only that he is a liar which lied on his Resume’ to make himself look better than he is, he is cheat and a thief which wont follow the laws, even after he too. He is snake in the grass of our education system throughout the USA that needs to be stomped on!!!
Hollywould
July 5th, 2012
1:17 pm
Check out the PEG program he is bringing in to Macon. Basically it says,” White teachers cannot teach black kids because they don’t understand the culture” Bringing in Chinese to kids who cannot comprehend or talk basic english. He was run out of town in Rochester/ lied on his resume/ now has a majority black Board to kiss his a## for all of his crazy ideas. I was born and raised in Macon. Loved that city but it is now a cesspool for the entitlements. Best thing about it now is I-475.
Petition Starter
July 5th, 2012
1:38 pm
Thank you for covering this story. I started this petition because not only has Dallemand failed our schools but so has our current Board of Education. Our only hope is some outside intervention from the Governor’s office or other state agencies to look into his lavish spending. The current BOE chair Tommy Barnes received the PCS complaint two months ago and not only failed to act but even failed to inform the other 7 board members. Dallemand is a flim-flam artist that took an already bad system and made it far worse and certainly far poorer. How can a man that has never even taught be expected to run a school system? Most of his degrees are also from online diploma mills. He had a 1.8 and 2.2 GPA at the few legitimate schools he attended. Teachers are leaving in droves. He wines and dines the local media and even hired the wife of the Telegraph’s editorial writer Charles Richardson to work in his “Welcome Center” for a cushy $70k salary in a do-nothing position. To compare Dallemand’s tenure in the Bibb school system with a banana republic would be insulting to most third world countries.
say what?
July 5th, 2012
1:40 pm
Sounds like his twin, Dr. Cheryl Atkinson, found the perfect job in DeKalb. They are doing the same thing. Her super 9 are from out of state, as she believes everyone with a history connected to DeKalb or the metro area are stupid. And she is correct when it comes to the rubber stamping and evil incivility of the BOE.
Without intervention both school systems will be bamboozled and left on the hook paying millions is contract fees to get rid of either of them.
mountain man
July 5th, 2012
1:42 pm
“Of the “Macon Miracle Plan” ideas I do believe year-round school is much better for students.’
Of course it is, but the State is allowing schools sytems to cut the school year down from the required 180 days to save money already, so where it the money going to come from for year-round school? Unless he is just talking about breaking the 180 days up thoughout the year. That would only produce a very small learning effect. A better idea is to keep teachers all year round and use them for intensive “summer school” for those kids that do not pass the requirements. If they don’t pass after summer school, retain them until they do pass!
Jack
July 5th, 2012
2:00 pm
The kids need to learn English first.
Dr. John Trotter
July 5th, 2012
2:17 pm
I have been writing about these gypsy superintendents for years now (including a word or two about Romain Dallemand). They jump from one school board bed to another, depending what gullible school boards will fatten their wallets and purses and give them free reign to bully and to travel. It looks like Macon (Bibb County) hired the classic gypsy superintendent 19 months ago, Romain Dallemand. Mr. Dallemand offered up his notorious “Macon Miracle” which is more akin to a “Macon Nightmare.” I have been writing about him of late and promising the good teachers and parents of Macon that MACE will “hit the town” this year. Help is a’comin’! Meantime, the teachers of Bibb County (most of whom, I presume, have been members of GAE and PAGE – by the way, how’s this working out for them?) have been suffering under the indignities of this pseudo leader.
Dallemand’s “ideas” have to come from outside Macon, heh? Hmm. They look like they have come from the pit of h-ll…with demands that all the children from the First Grade to the Twelfth Grade take Chinese classes. Ridiculous. Perhaps first learning the Standard English Language – the language of Commerce in the world – might be a little more practical. It appears that Mr. Dallemand has come up with the Macon Nightmare Plan on the back of a coffee-stained napkin at a Five Star Restaurant in Manhattan or San Francisco. It is amazing how the illusions of grandeur spring forth when you are wining and dining yourself (or, as we say down South, “eating high off the hog”) on the taxpayers’ money.
Attention Bibb County Board of Education: Admit your fatal mistake. Don’t prolong the agony for the children, the teachers, the parents, and you. Just send the man packing. He will find another “search firm” (hey, tell him to call attorney Glenn Beck) who will be able to find another unsuspecting and gullible school board to take on the miseries of Romain Dallemand.
http://www.theteachersadvocate.com
http://www.georgiateachersspeakout.com
Dr. Craig Spinks/ Georgians for Educational Excellence
July 5th, 2012
2:31 pm
How many sorely needed tax dollars are wasted upon recruiting retread SOSs by their boosterist attorney-recruiters? How many more scarce tax dollars are wasted by these retread not-so-”supers” and in retaining their attorney-boosters to represent their respective school boards?
Millions? Tens of millions?
How many teachers and school nurses are furloughed to finance these educRATS’ grandiose ideas and life styles? Too, too many.
Petition Starter
July 5th, 2012
2:41 pm
@ Dr. John Trotter: I loved your comment and it was right on the money. I especially loved your phrase “gypsy superintendent” which fits Dallemand to a tee. I started the petition and now am actively suggesting all teachers in Bibb county join MACE. The other unions, if you can even call them that, have stood back and said and did nothing while his Macon Mirage was enacted and discipline has completely eroded. Teachers must work longer hours for less pay. The school year is about to begin and so many teaching positions are unfilled. Dallemand is increasing the number of students per classroom because he never actually taught himself. Dallemand’s degree from Argosy isn’t even recognized in Georgia for a teaching certificate. The Board had to seek a special waiver from the state. The real power are behind the scenes, his two Minnesota assistants actually are running the show. Dallemand is simply a figurehead that likes to stuff his face with gourmet meals and travel the world on the taxpayer dime. His Macon Miracle is nothing more than a Rochester Rehash with a lot of other failed ideas like Chinese, PEG training, and a few more he stole from Dr. Hopson in Pulaski county Arkansas. See what happened to Hopson here: http://www.fox16.com/news/local/story/State-dissolves-PCSSD-board-removes-superintendent/cxkJoFW700yqrgBWIvaJBA.cspx
Kevin Matchstick (T5 Certified English 6-12)
July 5th, 2012
3:20 pm
I encourage everyone to move to Macon and enroll their children immediately into the public school system. Give it a year or two of life here and see how it is.
Now imagine a lifetime.
Dallemand should be buried alive for what he’s done to an already crippled school system – not just here, but everywhere. The entire man’s life is one scam after another. Despite the atrocities, mark my words, he will NEVER see traditional justice or undergo any kind of punishment or jail time that is proportional to the damage he has done.
We put 1st degree murderers behind bars for life in Georgia. That’s the punishment for intentionally ending a life. I want you to imagine how many young lives Dallemand has not ended, but simply ruined thanks to his actions. They’re willful, they’re intentional, and his actions should be punished in accordance with the damage he’s done.
Hillbilly D
July 5th, 2012
3:31 pm
These “miracle workers” just seem to go from place to place. They come in with grand promises and everything appears okay for a while. Then the sun shines on them and things don’t look so rosy. They get run out of town and move on to another high paying job, somewhere else. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Dr. John Trotter
July 5th, 2012
3:35 pm
Petition Starter: I appreciate your kind words. I have seen these jokes/disasters for years. I could have played that game, had I wanted to look at myself sideways in a mirror. I had all of the proper credentials at a real young age. I was a Graduate Assistant in Administration at UGA while in my mid-20s and Assistant Principal at a large high school here in Georgia at 27. My first doctorate was earned at UGA by the age of 30, with a nearly 300 page dissertation (a content analysis study). But, I saw so much hypocrisy in public education, and the superintendents, by and large, just want you to be a “yes” man. And all who know me know that I am anything but a “yes” man. If you just go along to get along, you will advance far in the educational bureaucracies. But, as can see from the current state of public education, this way of thinking has not boded well children, parents, or teachers. What happens is that the clowns-for-superintendents like Romain Dallemand come along and essentially destroy school systems with their total lack of attention to student discipline (in fact, they do what they can to even impede it!). As we say at MACE, you can’t have good learning conditions until you first have good teaching conditions.
You guys hang in there, and we’ll make a trip or two down there to Mulberry Street very soon. We hope to meet with a group of teachers who want to see real changes in Macon. Macon is such a beautiful and quaint city. It’s a shame that this bucolic setting is being ruined by Romain Dallemand’s “Macon Miracle” which is really “Macon’s Nightmare.” He ought to dump that plan right in the Ocmulgee River. By the way, I went to Law School at Mercer. I loved my three years there, especially all those fried green tomatoes down at Willow on 5th (closed now, I believe) and the fried cornbread at Jeanine’s on Mulberry Street. No wonder I gained about 10 pounds while I was at Mercer Law! Who wants to study The Rule Against Perpetuities and Promissory Estoppel without imbibing in fried green tomatoes and fried cornbread! Ha!
http://www.theteachersadvocate.com
http://www.georgiateachersspeakout.com
WolfenStorm
July 5th, 2012
3:56 pm
Check out Bill Knowles’ Wearepolitics.com for a whole lot more on this story. Also Bibb School Supporters on Face Book, as well as Remove Romaine Dallemand, also on Face Book. Good background also on this site https://sites.google.com/site/campaignofnoconfidence535/Home/what-were-working-on It is the Rochester, MN where Dallemand was ousted before coming to Bibb. Our incompetent BOE either didn’t bother to research him or they simply didn’t care.
There are many of us here, in Macon/Bibb County who are angry, frustrated, and disgusted with this flimflamming, scamming, incompetent, and unqualified superintendent. He spends freely on his luxuriant life style with tax payer dollars. He claims to be open and transparent yet hides in his totally redone, soundproofed office, and refuses to meet with those who do not agree with him. Board meetings are a big joke, where five of the members, as well as Dallemand and his puppet masters, giggle and whisper among themselves when ever the speaker is someone who doesn’t agree with their agenda. His Macon Mistake is a bullet point rehash of the plan that failed in MN, his background is highly suspect, and he hasn’t done anything to improve the schools. He has forbidden the submission of discipline reports from teachers and principals, and wants a hug a thug policy instead. We have had physical and verbal abuse from students and he ignores them all until it becomes an arrestable offence. And then he even downplays those. He has surrounded himself with overpriced minions, whose duties are also highly suspect. He built a welcome center and filled it with staff making over 70,000 dollars each, and it is said they have very little to do. He has ignored teacher and staff input, and rules as a dictator, threatening them with their jobs if they don’t agree with him. We have lost many of the best due to him and his attitude. Morale among those who are left is extremely low. He has ‘promised’ FREE internet to all, including take home computers. He wants to destroy the gifted program, and ignores the evidence that not every child is college material. He has added 30 minutes a day to all schools, in order to satisfy a requirement for FIVE SIG schools. He again has ignored public input. He has brought in high priced consultants, and programs, that do not even have a record of successful results, anywhere. He has traveled all over the country, and even to Belgium, and has a trip scheduled to Finland…on the tax payer dime, again. But he hasn’t done a single thing to actually improve our schools. He does have some supporters that call him “savior’ and are not capable of articulating why they support him, other than he is a black man. There is so much more, and I could go on and on. Check out the links…it is appalling that this stuff is happening here, and there is a groundswell of opposition, but we can use all of the support we can get.
Teachhhh
July 5th, 2012
4:01 pm
What one school is facing . . . http://www.wearepolitics.com/1/post/2012/06/wearepolitics-exclusive-just-how-bad-is-it-at-westside-high-school.html
And, how teachers are now hired in Bibb to make sure the agree with Dallemand’s “Macon Miracle” . . . http://www.macon.com/2012/06/30/2080407/with-lots-of-openings-bibb-school.html
Thanks for reporting this! Bibb’s parents, students, and teachers appreciate any help we can get to rid ourselves of this disaster.
Help us
July 5th, 2012
4:11 pm
If you are reading this, please go and sign the petition. I am a teacher in Bibb and we are living under threat of retaliation…so please sign and post the link on your Facebook page. Remember, all we are asking for is an audit.
Big Jim
July 5th, 2012
4:30 pm
I’m suspicious of anyone who has the same name as lettuce….
Darren Latch (aka: "StrangerOz")
July 5th, 2012
4:33 pm
to Maureen Downey – Thank you! We need to bring to light the injustices and blatant breaches of Standards, Ethics and Codes of Cunduct as perpetrated by Dallemand, his deputies and his accomplices (BOE5). Added to this, the most recent ‘concealment’ by the Bibb BOE Chairman, of the Professional Standards Commission ‘formal complaint’ on MR. Dallemand’s (quote) “Misuse of Public funds” … and other breaches of which don’t seem to ever make the light of day….
@ Dr. John Trotter / M.A.C.E; >>> THANK YOU << https://www.facebook.com/StrangerOz This is updated constantly.
There will be more news within the coming days of a new – serious – formal complaint lodged with a state agency.
They (BOE5, MR. Dallemand and his ‘cabinet’) can conceal as much as they like – though the public WILL know the truth!
With M.A.C.E coming into the equation, our teachers and faculty will be able to get the representation that they need so much… Bibb Schools Supporters support and encourage our teachers to contact M.A.C.E and discuss what has and is happening inside our system under the control of Dallemand and his deputies.
We look forward to dicussing this further.
Money for Nothing, Chicks not Free
July 5th, 2012
4:45 pm
Lived east of Macon as a child….those idiots have not been able to get anything right since the 1970’s.
Romain Dallemand Is A Beverly Hall (former Supt. Atlanta) On Steriods
July 5th, 2012
5:20 pm
@Dr. John Trotter
July 5th, 2012
2:17 pm
As a retired APS employee from Macon and Living in Gray, Ga I hope that the administrators, teachers, parents and board members will LISTEN to YOU.
You have always been on the front line fighting for the rights of teachers as well as their students.
PLEASE COME TO MACON.
THEY NEED A WAKE UP CALL JUST LIKE WE NEEDED IT AT APS AND DID NOT LISTEN.
AND HOW DID THAT WORK OUT FOR US?
IT DID NOT.
Romain Dallemand Is A Beverly Hall (former Supt. Atlanta) On Steriods
July 5th, 2012
5:33 pm
@Karl Moss
July 5th, 2012
5:16 pm
I are a produck of teh Bibb Kounty Kphool Cystem and it wuz bad whch I gratuated in 1979
_________________________________________
I graduated in 1968 from Peter G. Apppling High School.
We had the best teachers in the 50’s and 60’s.
We had an excellent education from elementary to high school.
They taught us COMMON SENSE, RESPECT FOR OTHERS, TO DO UNTO OTHERS,
AS WELL AS FRENCH/SPANISH, PHYSICS, ETC.
My first job after of high school was a federal job at age 19 as a supervisor of 35 people
in Washington, DC.
They recognized my home training, my common sense and the quality of my education.
I feel sorry for kids today. They will not get that opportunity because of
people like Dallemand.
Solutions
July 5th, 2012
6:04 pm
Another Beverly? or worse? Questions, questions, if only we had a state investigative agency, we could call it the GBI!
mountain man
July 5th, 2012
6:04 pm
Sounds like Beverly Hall II. I am sure he had the requisite qualification for the job (proper skin color).
username
July 5th, 2012
6:26 pm
I hope something happens soon. It was so bad last year that we just decided to leave the system as a whole. I know so many teachers and they are all unhappy its out of control and he is a common criminal. I am disgusted with the lack of help from the board, the doe, the PSC and every other agency I personally contacted.
Cloy
July 5th, 2012
6:37 pm
THANK YOU Ms Downey for this timely article. Slowly but surely the moron behind the curtins is being exposed for actually who he is—a con artist and flim flam man. The blatant defiance of BoE Pres. Barnes to public outcry for transparency and ethical behavior has only heightened the the concern of taxpayers and parents. After attending meetings and forums I am convinced the Board is under some kind of Voodoo Whodoo brought by Dally from his native Haiti. They agree with absolutely anything he comes up with and barely question as to how it will be financed and what benefits our students, This entire debacle should be on the Nat’l Evening News as a wake-up call across the country. I’ve had enough of lavish trips,meals and limos on my dime. Welcome Center–over built and over staffed with questionable ties to Title I spending. Mandarin Chinese–Google Confucious Institute (sic),nothing but Chinese propaganda. PEG–Google Glen Singleton–it will turn your stomach. All this to fix a broken school system with runaway spending that has a huge deficit caused by his short tenure. Our best teachers and students are being run off and our sorry local leaders refuse to even acknowledge this outright bullying. Also a big Thanks to Mace.
wovoka
July 5th, 2012
6:46 pm
The world wide web is an amazing source of information, documentation, has countless ways to verify facts. Why doesn’t he use the web for his research? Why does this man need to travel and spend so much money exploring what will improve school systems when he was hired by people who thought he already should have some of these answers? Well, because he can spend this money and get away with it. Many superintendents spend their school systems dry before “moving on,” but they move on before the board realizes what has happened. Don’t question the superintendent. Question the ignorant school board that has “been amazed” and dazzled by his BS. Basically what he needs to do is make sure every child can read and perform simple mathematical functions, because they certainly cannot do that now. Those who can do more than that are already being served. It is really great to think about learning Chinese, but it would even be better to think about learning how to speak one’s own language (English) correctly first.
E. Denise Caldon, Georgia Whistleblower v BOR
July 5th, 2012
7:15 pm
While I admire the energy and resilience behind those asking questions and wanting fiscal accountability by the Bibb County BOE, why are Georgia parents and students not outraged about the fiscal non-accountability by top officials at the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia as they continue to fill their pockets with millions of our tax dollars allocated for “education” and given to them annually in a “lump sum” check? Do you not realize that the USG students dropping out of colleges and seeking their third part-time job to pay the increasing tuition fees are former K-12 students?
And now concerned Bibb County parents are objecting to salaries of BOR administrators who are paid more than teachers? You need to hold onto your hats. Once your K-12 child graduates and enters Georgia public colleges, BOE fiscal non-accountability is small potatoes to the fiscal non-accountability by top officials at the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.
A few examples are below:
In response to the over $2.5 million the Board of Regents approved 9 May 2012 for millionaire UGA President Michael Adams, the Board of Regents’ Chairman, Ben Tarbutton, was quoted as saying: “It’s a lot of money. There’s no getting away from that, but we’re here to celebrate the job he’s done,” Board of Regents chairman Ben Tarbutton said. : http://www.macon.com/2012/05/04/2014466/under-plan-retiring-uga-president.html
“Celebrate?” Our tax dollars earmarked for education are there to “celebrate” the retirement of millionaires?
FYI: BOR Chairman Ben Tarbutton is the nephew of Hugh Tarbutton, who Gov. Deal appointed today to the Port Authority – which is another reason why Gov. Deal has chosen to ignore the information given to him about the BOR that their attorney, Attorrney General Sam Olens, is trying so hard to bury from public view. See: http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/deal-appoints-friends-to-1470619.html
“For nine years after he retired as the chancellor of the University System of Georgia, Stephen Portch remained on the state’s payroll, collecting $823,000 as an adviser and consultant, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has learned.”
http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/university-system-execs-retire-957564.html
“University execs’ deferred pay, often hidden, tops $7 million.”
http://www.atlantaunfiltered.com/2009/10/05/university-execs-deferred-pay-often-hidden-tops-7-million/
Even Bibb County’s State Senator, Cecil Staton, responded to the millions of “often hidden” dollars filling the pockets of top officials in our state’s higher education system by stating, in part: “Presidents of large universities are often paid as if they were CEOs of large corporations. It has been that way for some time.”
I encourage you to continue demanding accountability–while remembering, K-12 is just the beginning of a public education system that is broken statewide. Your battle for your child has just begun!
Lee
July 5th, 2012
7:33 pm
To me, the most troubling sentence in the entire article is this little gem:
“The Bibb school board is not required to investigate either case or report back to the PSC. There’s no PSC deadline for any investigation.”
What good are Standards of Conduct if you have no authority to investigate? And it shouldn’t be Bibb County investigating, it should be the PSC.
Where have we heard that before, school systems investigating themselves? Oh yeah, APS and Dougherty CRCT cheating scandals.
Fred in DeKalb
July 5th, 2012
7:41 pm
It is great that this blog permits different perspectives to post. It seems Fred been banned from the DeKalb School Watch blog simply because he has a different point of view. If so, it says a lot about the objectives of those running that blog. They obviously don’t appreciate differing opinions during a discussion. Facts will always trump speculation.
Dr. John Trotter
July 5th, 2012
7:53 pm
Don’t depend on the Professional Standards Commission (PSC) doing the job for you guys in Macon. My experience with the PSC is that it is like SACS in that it is very reluctant to bring any “charges” against a superintendent. You see, the good ole boys set up the PSC and SACS, in my opinion, to keep teachers and school boards in line, not the superintendents. In fact, I simply call SACS “the superintendents’ union.” The local Bibb County Board of Education has to feel the pressure. There has to be dozens, if not hundreds, of Maconites coming to the school board meeting down Mulberry Street with signs of protest. These citizens have a right to carry these signs into the board room as long as they do not keep others from seeing and they are not disruptive. Direct action will do much more good than writing letters of complaint to an outside agency like the PSC, but everything little thing helps!
http://www.georgiateachersspeakout.com
Fred in DeKalb
July 5th, 2012
7:55 pm
And to say what?, you do realize that Dr. Atkinson is doing what MANY citizens of DeKalb have been begging for the past few years, reduce the size of the Central office while removing many of the long time holdovers. Unfortunately most did not realize that if you are not a school based employee, you are considered a part of the central office. It is interesting that when some great workers at the Central office posted a farewell (one in particular was an administrative assistant that most said was a position that was not needed), the blog monitor pretended not to have made the statement about being unnecessary.
This is an example of the kind of comments they don’t want at DSW, one that reminds them of what they have said when hard working people no longer have jobs. The witch hunt is not over from folks over there. The went after the Fernbank Science Center and said several incorrect things about workers over there. Who will be next?
36 Years in Education
July 5th, 2012
8:14 pm
Thanks, Dr. Trotter. You are not scared to stand up to bullies. I can name at least four people who were harassed by this superintendent after they disagreed with him on minor matters. He is evil and none of his cast of characters understand Georgia laws.
He is a nut.
Dr. John Trotter
July 5th, 2012
8:27 pm
@ 36: No, we’re not scared of bullies at MACE; to contrary, they are afraid of us. We like dealing with bullies. Some say that we are “thugs” for the teachers! Ha! We have been called worse!
Archie
July 5th, 2012
8:43 pm
My first exposure to Macon was about a quarter of a century ago. At that time, it was a very provincial Southern town (although admittedly bigger than most of that genre). It doesn’t look like much has changed since then except now there are some “carbon copies” of the “good ole boys.”
BibbTeacher
July 5th, 2012
8:52 pm
There are a few reasons for the uproar and the reason that 2/3 of the teachers that did not renew their contract left for other system with another 10% giving no reasons. First is probably the PEG program coming. Second, the spending of more than 100K to create the Miracle plan and new system mission statement – which strangely is identical to the purpose of one of the consultant firms that has been hired (printed 2 years ago). Every system employee was forced to come by bus in a very scripted event with the “results (?)” stated by the administration on their blog to give open dialouge that never replies to a question. Third may be that to make room for the Mandrian teachers, which are being paid more, class sizes are being increased with a net loss in teaching positions (but they tout they only follow best practices). Forth may be that after coming in and making much fanfare over reducing administration positions there is now a net gain of 55 administration positions quitely. Fifth may be that discipline is out the window, now there is a memorandum of understanding to keep disruptive students in the classroom – administrators are faced with explaining if to unspoken limit of disciplinary actions is reached. Sixth may be their new transfer and hiring process in which downtown administration determines if a teacher may transfer, and where this years vacancies were filled by a blind draft. Nevermind that 4 of 7 High School prinicpal positions are open, so the administration assigned (drafted for them) their new staff. The travel is a question and I would guess that it rivals if not surpasses Atlanta’s expenditures.
HS Math Teacher
July 5th, 2012
9:05 pm
All this mon….excuse me….man… would have to do is drive TEN MILES south on highway 247, and see how it’s done at Warner Robins High School, Northside, or Houston County High.
Instead of producing a video about “Girls Gone Wild”…they need to make one called “Administrators Gone Wild.”
Proud Teacher
July 5th, 2012
9:51 pm
This is so wrong, and this is not the only school in Georiga suffering under this type of educational shift. Why cannot common sense be a part of any new curriculum in Georgia?
I am so sorry, Bibb teachers. This is wrong.
OMG
July 5th, 2012
11:57 pm
Please do not allow adversaries to the Macon Miracle and the superintendent use AJC for their agenda. If they were so concerned about our system, they would have come forth years prior to 19 months ago. Macon is racially divided and not about educating all children. These people could care less about the children in Macon. Not one of them have taken an active role in helping the schools and principals. I am embarrassed that they have shined light on their prejudices. Their main argument is that they are taxpayers. They were taxpayers when our system plummeted under past administration. AJC investigate the root cause of their motivation and you will find the real reason. This is more about race than they let on.