What Every DCSS Student Deserves

The topic of magnet schools and their associated costs is often discussed on this blog. In fact, the magnets sometimes take over conversations that start out on a completely unrelated topic. Bloggers main concern is the cost of magnet schools—all of which are given extra, locally-funded points (teachers). After the cuts to last year's budget, the following magnet programs have the following numbers of extra teaching staff:

DeKalb Elementary School of the Arts - 7
Wadsworth ES - 3
Clifton ES - 2
Evansdale ES - 2
Kittredge ES - 6
Chamblee MS - 4
Chapel Hill MS - 2
Columbia MS - 1
Chamblee HS - 7
Columbia HS - 6
DeKalb School of the Arts - 7
SW DeKalb - 6

One of our researchers for the blog has tracked down some enlightening data on the subject. Arabia Mountain High School is not technically a magnet school. Rather it is a "choice" school with an environmental science and engineering magnet component. Arabia Mountain successfully operates at a much lower per student cost than comparable schools even though it doesn’t receive additional points.

Check out what our blogger dug up on high school costs per student comparing SW DeKalb with Arabia:

I. Southwest DeKalb HS:

Cost per student (including benefits cost): $6,323

Student Enrollment: 1,667 (October, 2010 state FTE enrollment numbers)
Personnel Total: 172
Total School based employee salary cost: $8,433,646
Total School based employee salary cost (including 25% benefits): $10,542,057
Administrators: 1 Principal and 5 Assistant Principals
Instructional Coaches: 2

Fast Facts:
- 65 (38%) of SWD school based employees are non-teaching staff
- 107 (62%) of SWD school based employees are teachers (directly instruct students)
- 56 (33%) of SWD school based employees are Content Area teachers (math, science, social studies, and language arts) - i.e. totally responsible for AYP results
- Average teacher's pay (including benefits): $69,361
- Average administrator's pay (including benefits): $116,940
- Percentage of SWD HS students (based on NCLB Test Takers) who are classified as Economically Disadvantaged: 62%
- Percentage of SWD HS students who are Special Education Students (Based on State Report Card): 7.6%

II. Arabia Mountain High School:
Cost per student (including benefits cost): $4,980

Student Enrollment: 1,473 (October, 2010 State FTE student enrollment numbers)
Personnel Total: 130
Total School based employee salary cost: $5,868,765
Total School based employee salary cost (including benefits): $7,335,956
Administrators: 1 Principal and 4 Assistant Principals
Instructional Coaches: 0

Fast Facts:
- 45 (35%) of Arabia Mtn. HS school based employees are non-teaching staff
- 85 (65%) of Arabia Mtn. HS school based employees are teachers (directly instruct students)
- 50 (38%) of Arabia Mtn. HS school based employees are Content Area teachers (math, science, social studies and language arts) - i.e. totally responsible for AYP results
- Average teacher's pay (including benefits): $59,304
- Average administrator's pay (including benefits): $109,786
- Percentage of Arabia Mtn. HS students (based on NCLB Test Takers) who are classified as Economically Disadvantaged: 52%
- Percentage of Arabia Mtn. HS who are Special Education Students (Based on State Report Card): 3.4%

Much has been blogged about Arabia Mountain High School being a high cost center school built for an elite group of students. However, comparing it’s cost per pupil with an established high school such as Southwest Dekalb High School which also houses a magnet program, Arabia Mountain High School seems to have a very reasonable per pupil cost. Nor does Arabia Mountain High School appear to be elite. This school has a fairly high number of low-income students (52%), especially when compared to Kittredge (14%) and Wadsworth (36%). Arabia Mountain has eight Special Education teachers to serve students staffed into the Special Education program so they are not screening Students with Disabilities out of the program. Entry into the Arabia Mountain Environmental Energy and Engineering Magnet Program does not appear to be based on being “gifted” or in that upper 5% in mental ability so many posters seem to advocate for magnet programs. Although I’ll grant that the physical plant and the science and technology equipment that went into this school was extremely expensive, the energy cost must be exceptionally low (a fact that will be of extreme importance in the future), and you've got to admit that the ongoing cost per pupil ($4,980) is impressive. Remember that 90% of DCSS’s annual expenditure is in personnel cost.

Most of the lower per pupil cost is driven by the lower administrator cost per employee and the lower teacher cost per employee. Arabia Mountain High School per teacher and per administrator costs is substantially lower than the overall county per teacher and per administrator costs, which are $68,000 and $114,000 respectively (25% benefit cost included). Arabia Mountain had substantial teacher turnover last year, and seasoned science and math teachers are extremely difficult to replace. Close to half of Arabia Mountain’s teachers are in their first or second year of teaching (per the Georgia Certification website) - most with only a bachelor's degree. Time will tell if they stay. If they remain, their pay will slowly increase so the per pupil cost will advance to the point that it is comparable to most DCSS regular education schools. Hopefully, this crop of new teachers will remain at Arabia Mountain even though the pay for a math or science major is so alluring in the private sector.

Arabia Mountain shows creative thinking in its educational programming and overall administration and organization. There’s a part time engineer and a retired engineer for direct student instruction. There are no Instructional Coaches. They offer a full array of AP classes including AP Calculus AB. The students are required to wear uniforms. Their list of business partners is extensive. Go to Arabia Mountain HS’s website to see the summer requirements. There were no custodians listed on the website so that expense in this analysis was based on other DCSS high schools’ custodial data. I've heard that the custodial support was outsourced at Arabia Mountain. If that’s true, it seems that Ms. Tyson might have looked to data from this school when she was making the decision to take custodial and all other outsourcing off the table for DCSS in her budget balancing efforts.

Even though Arabia Mountain serves a substantial amount of magnet students, it doesn't cost any more to operate than the vast majority of the regular education schools. The students have a specialized educational interest. Although it’s imperative that Arabia Mountain produces results in terms of increased academic achievement, magnets should also be thought of in terms of educational interests, not just reserved for students who score well on academic tests.

Comparing and equalizing cost centers and ensuring equitable access to resources is imperative if EVERY student in DCSS is going to have:

1. A clean and safe learning environment
2. A competent teacher in a reasonably sized classroom
3. Abundant access to cutting edge science and technology equipment

Ms. Tyson and the BOE need to be looking at each school in DeKalb in terms of cost centers, how that cost compares with other schools, comparing the compensation and cost of groups of DCSS employees doing similar job functions in other school systems, and measuring this information against the academic results of DCSS students. This is the essence of cost/benefit analysis. All the expensive personnel and programs in the world along with those “non-negotiable” Central Office edicts will not produce the results taxpayers want and students deserve. A good education does not happen anywhere but in the schoolhouse and most specifically in the classrooms. Let’s make them equitable and let’s make them cost effective.

Sources:
Arabia Mountain High School Website
Southwest DeKalb High School Website
2010 Georgia DOE Enrollment Data
2010 State Salary and Travel Audit
DCSS Community Net
Georgia Teacher Certification


(Data corrections are appreciated. There are no paid positions on this community blog, and no one is perfect.)

Gifted and Magnet School Data Now Available

NEW DATA! As I was perusing the 2020 Vision documents, I found to my surprise and delight that some critical data akin to the data requested by Sandy is now available on the DCSS website! Go to the 2020 Vision web page and download the new files that show exactly how many gifted students are identified at each elementary school, how many each school sends to Wadsworth, Kittredge, Chamblee MS, Chamblee HS, Chapel Hill MS and SW DeKalb HS.

In addition to the raw numbers - which are quite eye-opening - there are maps with bar charts showing very clearly where most of the gifted students reside. The answer is undeniably in the north end of DeKalb. Some north DeKalb schools have so many gifted students one has to wonder why these schools are not simply labeled "High Achiever Magnets" and require lotteries to get in!

This begs the question - is it really "equitable" to merge schools and force so many from the northern parts of the county to drive into Avondale? In fact, if you look at where the gifted students in south DeKalb actually live, you will see that they don't live anywhere near Avondale either! This idea of creating a "central" location merging all magnet schools may need to be revisited.

Here are direct links to these files:

Elementary School Kingsley ES High-Achiever Magnet and Gifted Students (DATA)

Elementary School Kingsley ES High-Achiever Magnet and Gifted Students (MAP)

Middle School and High School High-Achiever Magnet and Gifted Students (DATA)

Middle School and High School High-Achiever Magnet and Gifted Students (MAP)

I find it interesting that we are always told that the magnets get extra funding because they serve so many gifted students at once. Well, these charts don't tell us how many students at Kittredge and Wadsworth are gifted, but they do tell us for Chamblee and SW DeKalb. If I'm reading the chart correctly - these are some comparisons

Magnet Schools for High Achievers/Number of Gifted
Chamblee MS - 294
Chamblee HS - 388
Chapel Hill MS - 81
SW DeKalb HS - 262

Regular School/Number of Gifted
Druid Hills MS (Shamrock) - 83
Druid Hills HS - 161
Peachtree MS - 152
Dunwoody HS - 225
Henderson MS - 157
Lakeside HS - 317
Salem MS - 57
MLK HS - 118
Stephenson MS - 51
Stephenson HS - 115
Tucker MS - 63
Tucker HS - 117

In fact, we have 1010 students labeled gifted in our regular middle schools, and only 375 who "won" a seat at a magnet school for high achievers.

And we have 1805 students labeled gifted in our high schools, with only 650 who "won" a seat at a magnet school for high achievers.

We have 3,289 students labeled gifted in our elementary schools. How many gifted labeled students do you imagine "won" a seat at Kittredge or Wadsworth? (Remember, not all students at these magnet schools are labeled gifted -- and the populations of both schools combined is barely 600.)

Every DCSS elementary school is host to gifted students. Some more than others. Some may even have more than the magnet schools. In fact, Vanderlyn has 150 gifted students, Princeton, 109, Pine Ridge, 90, Oak Grove, 173, Montgomery, 112, Henderson Mill 103, Fernbank, 145, Evansdale, 118, Chesnut, 95, Briarlake, 93 and Austin, 102.

Are these gifted students being properly served? Are too many "gifted" resources being spent on magnets for those lucky winners and not enough on gifted students back at the "home" schools? There are some really important questions here. Before we go merging the magnets as they live in their current form - perhaps we need to step back and evaluate the equity for gifted students countywide. There's no way to create a magnet school that would hold 3,289 students.

Interesting meeting at Kittredge Magnet School

It seems that the redistricting fears have already kicked up so strongly that Jim Redovian felt the need to respond to some Kittredge magnet parents requests for a sit-down.  I couldn't resist sitting in as well.

Jim began the meeting by introducing his co-board members, Paul Womack and Pam Speaks and stating that the purpose of the meeting was to "take the thoughts and pains about redistricting away from the minds of the parents".  It was just the three of them, no other board reps were in attendance.  Donna Edler (in a runoff with Zepora for District 7) and Nancy Jester (in a runoff with Redovian for District 1) were also there.  I think word got out that there was a possibility this was going to be more or less a Jim Redovian pep rally, however, that's not what happened at all. Redovian was put on defense in responding to the many questions fired at him by the 100+ parents in attendance.  On one hand, he insisted that his hands were tied, while on the other, he more or less promised that nothing would change for the area's magnets.

I shot some (terrible quality) videos with my phone, one of which I split in two parts posted above for everyone to watch (they overlap, so you might want to start the second one at 2:40). I found it interesting, as in the video, basically, Jim promised a parent that his child would not be redistricted out of Chamblee.  Also, Paul Womack promised us that they were in the process of cutting the administration so deeply that it would be "unrecognizable".  And in response to a question about the enormous administrative costs, Jim stated that we have to have so many administrators due to federal mandates from the $450 million we get in Title 1 funds (which is a wildly incorrect number - we get about $30 million in Title 1 funds annually).

During the discussion, Paul reiterated that we have over 11,000 "empty" seats, mostly in south DeKalb, costing us millions in FTE dollars—thus the need for closures and consolidation.  He later promoted Coralwood school, which focuses on children with special needs and does an excellent job, however, since they only serve a couple hundred 3,4 and 5 year olds, I think they don't receive FTE dollars either. (I'm not certain where their funding comes from though.)

Paul also had terrible, hateful comments about "the blogs".  He pretty much stated that we don't know what we are talking about.  That all of our information is wrong and that we "delight in sitting at home with nothing else to do except create rumors and see where they go".  Funnily enough, after that he and Redovian went on to make several statements that endorse specific postings from this blog, such as the fact that the magnets need to be replicated in every school, that there is a history of nepotism in the school system, that more money is actually spent in south DeKalb vs north, that Wadsworth is not equitable to Kittredge, that the (untrue) perception is that you can only get a good education in north DeKalb, that the board has a history of not being transparent. (One parent made the suggestion that in this day and age, many people get their news and information electronically and the school system should be providing it as such.  In fact, why don't they have a Q&A blog of their own? I swear - it wasn't me! But, as I have often said, I couldn't agree more.)

Regarding his point about administrative cuts, Womack further stated that "we have teachers who can't write teaching our children" and he specifically asked Tyson what she was going to do about poor performing teachers and administrators.  He said that in the past, the superintendent "non-renewed" only about 15 contracts per year, however, this year, Tyson "non-renewed" 152. Womack said that there is currently an accent on getting rid of as many non-performers as possible, in preparation for a new super in April or May.

Womack also was very pleased with the budget cuts they made, stating that they are ahead of the curve by about $29 million.  He was proud that the board had "stayed out of the classroom", to which several parents responded that the board cut 20 points to the magnets—8 to Kittredge alone—costing them teachers. (Also, remember that they cut 200 parapros as well as many media clerks and technical support staff to all schools.)

Redovian, in trying to get back to the topic of magnets, assured the crowd that he thinks it would be "insane" to do anything with Kittredge and Chamblee. Womack seconded that by stating that "your program here is safe".  Pam Speaks, on the other hand, eluded to the fact that if they can't replicate the program, then they should at least place it in an area of the county that is accessible and equitable for all.   Redovian pointed out that if they moved the magnets, they could lose faculty. He said that the "rumors" of moving the program came from the Citizens Task Force on redistricting and that they were referring to the many small, very expensive magnets, like Evansdale and others located all around the county.

Basically, it was a very casual, unfocused discussion from which no new information or knowledge was gained. There is no way that these board members could have any knowledge of what kinds of recommendations will come from the consultant's charrettes and in my opinion, were speaking out of turn. There is no way that they can promise anything to anyone.  Truly, until we get all of the facts, none of us can know what the future holds for any school in the system.

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For more notes on this meeting, check out Dunwoody Talk's in-depth report.