tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post5397993505383279411..comments2024-01-08T03:21:35.616-05:00Comments on DeKalb County School Watch: Fran Millar is pitching Brad Bryant for Superintendent - what do you think?Cerebrationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161868015604029471noreply@blogger.comBlogger195125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-5075280706495828362011-07-13T16:52:19.984-04:002011-07-13T16:52:19.984-04:00@atl, another interesting article if you have time...@atl, another interesting article if you have time that someone shared with me. The source is Education Week from 2000 regarding Standardized Testing.<br /><br />http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/edweek/staiv.htmFredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04676448124010158751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-63172461734529739592011-07-13T07:47:44.572-04:002011-07-13T07:47:44.572-04:00DCSS Counselors work 10 months, but their pay scal...DCSS Counselors work 10 months, but their pay scale is based on a longer day. <br />Interesting blog comments. Bottom line for student achievement. <br />DCSS needs teachers that know what to teach and how to teach our students. All other certified staff, on and off campus, need to work as hard, if not harder than classroom and/or content area teachers to improve student achievement. All other employees need to support teachers! Students need an education! Excellent teachers need and want to teach students! Excellent certified staff, not in direct teaching roles, work hard to support teachers. What we don't need in DCSS is dead weight. Staff taking long lunches, coming late to work, leaving early, not caring about anything except their paycheck. DCSS Central Office staff is perceived [many of them] as dead weight! Many schools have "dead weight" individuals too! Cleaning house of individuals that do not make a difference with our students is a must and we need to being NOW!Passionate...https://www.blogger.com/profile/07428539988625033252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-47402210175463081572011-07-11T15:13:34.948-04:002011-07-11T15:13:34.948-04:00@ Fred
Re counselor salaries:
"Are you sugge...@ Fred<br />Re counselor salaries:<br /><br />"Are you suggesting DCSS sets the salaries for this position along with counselors instead of the state? "<br /><br />Counselors are considered 10 month employees by the state of Georgia like teachers. Why would they make so much more than teachers? If you have a link to a different pay scale for counselors, please provide it.Gaylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07862880288663811743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-1434373740598826622011-07-11T14:46:33.371-04:002011-07-11T14:46:33.371-04:00@ Fred
"I'll take what you requested a s...@ Fred<br /><br />"I'll take what you requested a step further and suggest there should be a simplication of titles across the state so one can compare tiles and compensation across school districts. That would help citizens more than anything else."<br /><br />That was what the state of Georgia already did in the Salary and Travel audit. They force school systems to put all personnel in categories and then list their salaries. How do you think we could compare the salaries of our Security personnel with say APS:<br /><br />DCSS Schools Security Personnel Salaries by:<br />A. Salary Category<br />B. Number of Personnel<br />C. Percentage of Personnel in Salary Category<br /><br />$90,000 to $100,000 1 0.5%<br />$80,000 to $90,000 3 1%<br />$70,000 to $80,000 9 4%<br />$60,000 to $70,000 22 10%<br />$50,000 to $60,000 50 23%<br />$40,000 to $50,000 27 12%<br />$30,000 to $40,000 87 40%<br />$20,000 to $30,000 8 4%<br />$10,000 to $20,000 3 1%<br />$5,000 to $10,000 3 1%<br />$500 to $5,000 4 2%<br /><br /><br />APS Schools Security Personnel Salaries by:<br />A. Salary Category<br />B. Number of Personnel<br />C. Percentage of Personnel in Salary Category<br />$100.000 to $113,000 2 1%<br />$90,000 to $100,000 0 0%<br />$80,000 to $90,000 1 1%<br />$70,000 to $80,000 0 0%<br />$60,000 to $70,000 1 1%<br />$50,000 to $60,000 5 2%<br />$40,000 to $50,000 5 2%<br />$30,000 to $40,000 10 5%<br />$20,000 to $30,000 39 18%<br />$10,000 to $20,000 59 27%<br />$5,000 to $10,000 47 21%<br />$500 to $5,000 52 24%<br /><br />This is a gross measure. DCSS needs to do what EVERY other school system in the metro area is doing:<br />Here is an example from Cobb. Posters should go there to see an example of what DCSS should be doing:<br />http://www.cobbk12.org/centraloffice/hr/compensation/schedules.aspx<br /><br />Here's Rockdale:<br />http://portal.rockdale.k12.ga.us/about/fs/hr/employbenefits/Pages/default.aspx<br /><br />Here's Fulton:<br />http://portal.fultonschools.org/departments/Human_Resources/Pages/Salary_Schedules_11_12.aspx<br /><br />ALL of the metro systems have salary schedules posted online - not just for teachers. It's amazing that DCSS doesn't look at what other systems do.Gaylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07862880288663811743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-48349152753197997832011-07-11T13:49:32.929-04:002011-07-11T13:49:32.929-04:00@ Fred 11:31 am
"The online check register i...@ Fred 11:31 am<br /><br />"The online check register is a request going around the country. Let us know when someone establishes that. Remember, if this is done, you may need a staff to maintain it."<br /><br />Cerebration is correct. Alabama has 130+ school systems publishing check registers:<br /><br />"http://www.peytonwolcott.com/CheckRegisters_Alabama.html<br /><br />Here is an example of a check register for DeKalb County Schools in Alabama (get the irony of the name?). Posters might like to see what a check register looks like:<br />http://www.dekalbk12.org/Financialreport/Accountability.pdf<br /><br />if we put those MIS people to work on this, check info would be input by anyone writing a check, but the software would do almost all of the work. We need to work smarter, not harder.Gaylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07862880288663811743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-66375492395293769652011-07-11T11:39:04.486-04:002011-07-11T11:39:04.486-04:00BTW - the Ernst & Young 2004 Audit did just th...BTW - the Ernst & Young 2004 Audit did just that - simplified titles. And that's about all they did in the end - as Lewis stopped them from comparing salaries beyond teachers.Cerebrationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11161868015604029471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-23961472484897925892011-07-11T11:37:18.339-04:002011-07-11T11:37:18.339-04:00I like this quote from the Check Register site --...I like this quote from the Check Register site --<br /><br /><i><br />"A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy; or, perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."<br /><br />- James Madison, American president</i>Cerebrationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11161868015604029471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-31452933672484444242011-07-11T11:35:58.075-04:002011-07-11T11:35:58.075-04:00I think the bank does that just fine. No need for...I think the bank does that just fine. No need for a staff. In fact, we already have a substantial staff under Marcus Turk, and their data is certainly already online. I know my checkbook is online. If I gave you a password, you could view it. <br /><br />Peyton Wolcott has led the charge and there are literally hundreds of systems available online. I've chatted with her - getting online is quite simple and she stands ready to help.<br /><br />http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Checkbook_register_onlineCerebrationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11161868015604029471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-52475547241778649902011-07-11T11:31:03.037-04:002011-07-11T11:31:03.037-04:00@atl,
"In that same vein, DCSS should be publ...@atl,<br />"In that same vein, DCSS should be publishing: "<br /><br />While I don't disagree with the spirit of what you are suggesting, I believe this is a responsibility of the state. In fact, most of the information you are requesting can be found on the state websites, as you already have done with DCSS salaries. I'll take what you requested a step further and suggest there should be a simplication of titles across the state so one can compare tiles and compensation across school districts. That would help citizens more than anything else.<br /><br />The online check register is a request going around the country. Let us know when someone establishes that. Remember, if this is done, you may need a staff to maintain it.Fredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04676448124010158751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-88827279148899606142011-07-11T10:51:20.317-04:002011-07-11T10:51:20.317-04:00@ Fred
"my request was for you to create a b...@ Fred<br /><br />"my request was for you to create a blog topic to discuss and then we would have a thread reviewing them."<br /><br />In that same vein, DCSS should be publishing: <br /><br />1. A list of employee job classifications<br />2. The certification, licensing, and/or experience requirements that correspond to the job classifications<br />3. The job description for each job classification<br />4. The pay scales for each job classification<br /><br />DCSS should also be publishing an online check registry and a detailed breakdown of the number of personnel in each job classification.<br /><br />It is taxpayer money that funds all of the jobs in DCSS.<br /><br />Taxpayers should not have to depend on interpreting the state websites, scouring the DCSS website, and gleaming facts from the newspaper and local blogs.<br /><br />Make it easy and transparent for taxpayers. Perhaps we would have avoided the recent criminal charges against the two highest administrators in DCSS if these reforms had been in place.Gaylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07862880288663811743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-38181068994758101872011-07-11T10:49:44.709-04:002011-07-11T10:49:44.709-04:00See, once again, this is a very good example of wh...See, once again, this is a very good example of why I continue to advocate that the school system start their own blog and information center. Sadly, Ramona axed the entire communications department except for Philandrea Guillory's tv station.Cerebrationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11161868015604029471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-10587292757900920452011-07-11T10:48:01.317-04:002011-07-11T10:48:01.317-04:00Fred, write something up and email it to me at rep...Fred, write something up and email it to me at reparteeforfun@gmail.com<br /><br />If you are looking to rewrite a post similar to the one Kim and Ella attempted, I really don't have time for something that extensive. Neither do Kim and Ella these days. But if you would like to write a post, email it to me and I'll put it up for you.Cerebrationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11161868015604029471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-76396512648501755252011-07-11T10:35:27.660-04:002011-07-11T10:35:27.660-04:00@atl, you think $71,000 for salary + benefits is h...@atl, you think $71,000 for salary + benefits is high in the metro Atlanta area? You say that not knowing the years of service these individuals have? What do you think they should make for salary and benefits, especially when you consider their case loads? You do know this includes immigrants, homeless children, poor families, even those from "good' homes that may have some dysfunction.<br /><br /><br />Are you suggesting DCSS sets the salaries for this position along with counselors instead of the state? I thought you said earlier that the state establishes these along with market conditions.Fredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04676448124010158751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-8026674495244224762011-07-11T10:26:37.076-04:002011-07-11T10:26:37.076-04:00@Cerebration, I reviewed the Mr. Potato Head post....@Cerebration, I reviewed the Mr. Potato Head post. I noticed on 7/27/2009 @ 4:27 PM and 4:28 PM, Kim identified postions and asked for help yet got not responses. I am proposing we address that now. Most of that blog seemed to be focused on the salaries to the positions.<br /><br />Most of the ideas I provided were centered around improving the education for low income students, given that is where most of the challenges exist. This is not to ignore the students that come to school with a foundation and prepared to learn. <br /><br />atl mentioned earlier and I agree, when a teacher has to spend more time on basic skills and remediation, it can take away from those students that are ready for more challenging work. I would also consider ability grouping though it got a bad rap many years ago. I admire teachers that can effectively teach multiple skill levels in one room. Unfortunately, not enough have this skill.Fredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04676448124010158751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-80074105348292026232011-07-11T10:23:00.478-04:002011-07-11T10:23:00.478-04:00@ Fred
"We have them in DCSS and they work w...@ Fred<br /><br />"We have them in DCSS and they work with DFACS. They are called School Social Workers and DCSS has about 44 of them. <br />"<br /><br />Yes. I know and DCSS spends $3,000,000+ on these 44 social workers including their salary and benefits which puts their average cost at around $71,022 per social worker (very high for the market in terms of social worker pay). <br /><br />In addition, we have around 270 counselors (per the state 2009 salary and travel audit) that cost approximately $22,500,000 in salary and benefits which puts their average compensation at $83,000 a year (versus teachers at $65,000, and the counselors work only a few more days than teachers). <br /><br />The functions the Parent Center personnel perform are redundant in that the Social Workers and Counselors used to perform much of these same functions. Indeed they are in a perfect position to perform these functions.<br /><br />The rationale often is that these functions are just too burdensome for over worked social workers and counselors in DCSS, but classroom teachers have been asked to take on more students and more responsibilities. <br /><br />Again, the upper management takes its eye off the ball of its core business - the education of students. Preservation of the classroom appears to be an alien concept for the DCSS administration. This disconnect is wearing our school system down.Gaylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07862880288663811743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-7407548587172346802011-07-11T10:20:09.979-04:002011-07-11T10:20:09.979-04:00Oh - on that note of confusing job titles, we did ...Oh - on that note of confusing job titles, we did once publish a post on the difference between Instructional Coordinators, Instructional Specialists, Instructional Supervisors, etc... I find these quite confusing... We tried to discuss and answer those questions -<br /><br />Read on -<br /><br /><a href="http://dekalbschoolwatch.blogspot.com/2010/02/clarity-on-instructional-specialists-vs.html" rel="nofollow">Clarity on the "Instructional Specialists" vs "Instructional Supervisors"</a>Cerebrationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11161868015604029471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-28552670498339174462011-07-11T10:17:09.343-04:002011-07-11T10:17:09.343-04:00Yes, please do reference your ideas for improvemen...Yes, please do reference your ideas for improvement, as I've somehow missed them in the discussions about Title 1 funding.Cerebrationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11161868015604029471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-28564574688512109212011-07-11T10:15:58.858-04:002011-07-11T10:15:58.858-04:00@Cerebration, my request was for you to create a b...@Cerebration, my request was for you to create a blog topic to discuss and then we would have a thread reviewing them. There are many that don't need an explanation. I bet there are some positions listed in the spreadsheet that people wonder about. There should be enough knowledgeable participants to answer the questions. I really believe this could be educational and an eye opener. <br /><br />My hope is that we end up with more knowlegeable citizens regarding positions in our school system. Perhaps then more specific questions can be asked.Fredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04676448124010158751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-29419204302385677362011-07-11T10:15:19.611-04:002011-07-11T10:15:19.611-04:00One more post on the subject for you to read, Fred...One more post on the subject for you to read, Fred. When we first started this blog, Kim and Ella spent hours upon hours collecting salary data and comparing ours to other systems.<br /><br />They published their findings in the "Mr Potato Head" post (Feb 2009), accessible by clicking Mr. Potato Head on the home page, or by clicking this link -<br /><br /><a href="http://dekalbschoolwatch.blogspot.com/2009/02/dekalb-county-schools-system-as-mr_11.html" rel="nofollow">DeKalb County Schools System as Mr. Potato Head?</a>Cerebrationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11161868015604029471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-78078324801162864492011-07-11T10:11:56.149-04:002011-07-11T10:11:56.149-04:00@Cerebration,
"what are your suggestions for ...@Cerebration,<br />"what are your suggestions for addressing the pitiful lack of success in our classrooms? You seem to think that all is well, but the test scores tell a much different story. Have you asked John Evans what happened that his 3rd grade grandson has not yet learned to read?"<br /><br />I thought I have offered many including today at 7:08 AM. I have NEVER indicated all is well, in fact several times indicated that I was not satisfied. I can reference those if you'd like.<br /><br />I empathized with John Evans when he told his story but at the same time I wondered about the assistance provided by the parents of his grandson. I wanted to ask if his grandson had been tested for possible vision or dyslexia. I wanted to ask if they took advantage of any outside services to help such as those provided by Title 1 or tutoring on their own. I wanted to ask how much reading they do with their grandson.<br /><br />As you can see, there are many questions I would want to ask before blaming the school system. If it is indeed a partnership, why was his grandson allowed to progress to the 3rd grade without grasping concepts for reading. Did they just realize there was a problem?Fredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04676448124010158751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-9113216654496835472011-07-11T10:10:22.323-04:002011-07-11T10:10:22.323-04:00Interesting, as we have input from teachers, staff...Interesting, as we have input from teachers, staff and retired DCSS employees as well... <br /><br />There is no way to post all of the jobs for DCSS - however, as we often encourage readers, you can go to the state's website and download the Salary Report here -<br /><a href="http://www.open.georgia.gov/sta/viewMain.aud" rel="nofollow">Open.Georgia-gov</a><br /><br />This can be sorted in Excel by salary, by job title, etc... this is how I quickly add up the number of say, k-12 classroom teachers. Most job titles are fairly obvious, however there are some interesting ones, like "Miscellaneous Activities"... <br /><br />I would recommend that people download the file, click the column listing job titles and resort (keeping the rows intact). Then you can find the numbers of jobs by simply subtracting the last line number in that job category from the first. It's pretty much a no-brainer thanks to the state.Cerebrationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11161868015604029471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-79621597934075758152011-07-11T10:03:52.215-04:002011-07-11T10:03:52.215-04:00BTW, Ramona Tyson's "Vision" is all ...BTW, Ramona Tyson's "Vision" is all about consolidating buildings and building new ones -- nary a mention of children and learning. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/vision-2020" rel="nofollow">Vision 2020 by Ramona Tyson</a>Cerebrationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11161868015604029471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-5697102167061728812011-07-11T10:03:25.350-04:002011-07-11T10:03:25.350-04:00@Cerebration and atl, may I suggest something that...@Cerebration and atl, may I suggest something that can be productive for readers of this blog. Would you consider creating a new blog topic asking about the positions in a school system? Using the latest salary and position data, we can go position by position and discuss the position along with the merits it provides to a school system. As I indicated earlier, I disputed the number of teachers identified by atl. This way everyone can see what we are looking at and make a determination for themselves.<br /><br />In doing so, we won't be able to determine how a position is funded, local, state, federal. This speaks to whether any regulations are associated with the position. We should mention that if you think this is worthwhile.<br /><br />I should point out that I am getting assistance from several educators, both retired and active, with my posts. There is no way I would know everything I am posting without help. Their reason for helping is to provide some balance with what is being said unchallenged. I thank all who have helped.Fredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04676448124010158751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-84739528097774871682011-07-11T10:01:38.135-04:002011-07-11T10:01:38.135-04:00Fred, Let's not get bogged down in debating th...Fred, Let's not get bogged down in debating the minutia. I've asked you this before -- what are your suggestions for addressing the pitiful lack of success in our classrooms? You seem to think that all is well, but the test scores tell a much different story. Have you asked John Evans what happened that his 3rd grade grandson has not yet learned to read? I find it very sad that you refuse to acknowledge the enormous failure that is harming so many children. We need ideas for improvement - do you have any? Do you have a vision for DCSS' future? Have you read ours? I think it's quite good --<br /><br /><a href="http://dekalbschoolwatch.blogspot.com/2011/02/without-vision-people-perish.html" rel="nofollow">“Without a vision, the people perish…”</a>Cerebrationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11161868015604029471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-29266623444269948762011-07-11T09:52:05.021-04:002011-07-11T09:52:05.021-04:00@atl, thanks for sharing! A much smaller school s...@atl, thanks for sharing! A much smaller school system but you answered my question. <br /><br />DCSS proposed outsourcing jobs however David Schutten on behalf of custodians fought this. It seems DCSS tried this in the past with poor results. I think there was a blog topic about this. <br /><br />If DCSS wants to get serious about reigning in costs, this should be on the table. Are citizens vocal enough to fight for this? I don't know.Fredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04676448124010158751noreply@blogger.com