Questions: First, how can we ever really trust a school system that refuses to produce an enormous document that taxpayers paid so much money for? Second, if those salaries had been cut or frozen as recommended, would we be where we are now—cutting classroom budgets to the core? Third, why hasn't Tyson spent any energy looking again at top level salaries or called for another study to be conducted to see if we could save money at the top?
To read up on where we stand today with the missing $340,000 audit, read Jim's report by clicking below.
DeKalb school audit found bloated salaries — then what?
Thank you Jim, for helping Sandy look into this situation. We at the DeKalb School Watch blog have been trying for over a year to locate this study for which the taxpayers paid so dearly. It is discouraging to watch the painful and now slowed process of major school consolidations along with cuts to the regular classroom while knowing that our leaders were told long ago that they are wasting money at the top. To date, Tyson has not even given a cursory look into possible cuts to her upper level staff and their armies of support staff—none of whom have direct contact with students. Now, it looks like what should have been a big step forward in getting school consolidations done, will just be small, slow, advances (basically the same initiatives Dr. Lewis attempted, but backed away from two years ago) which will simply keep the focus on the school facilities and the leadership’s desire to pass a SPLOST IV. Seems they aren’t interested in looking in the mirror to check for fat.
ReplyDeleteCan't DeKalb get another copy from Ernst and Young?
ReplyDeleteIt's a classic either/or.
ReplyDeleteEITHER they have the study and they are intentionally not releasing to the public, and the BOE stands by their decision, OR there is a tiny chnace they lost it and threw $300,000 down the drain.
But clearly the incompetents at the Mountain Industrial mega-complex didn't lose the salary audit. They know it will bring down a #$%^storm if it does go public.
I wonder if a former board member like Cassandra would release a copy?
I'll pay the $255.95 to get the report!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWalter Wood and Jeff Dickerson's $270,000 annual salary from DCSS to Cohn and Wolfe would be a good place to get the funds to pay for uncovering the report!!!!!
SHOW US THE MONEY!
There is something in the ORIGINAL document of the Ernst and Young audit that the most corrupt government organization in metro Atlanta does not want the stakeholders to see. The fact that they gave Sandy a school system generated document regarding the audit proves that we MUST see the original document. Ms. Tyson you are now in charge of a system that has the largest budget in Metro Atlanta. Ms. Tyson you are NOW being paid a huge salary and are guaranteed a huge pension when you decide to leave the system. Ms. Tyson BE A LEADER, reveal the REAL, ORIGINAL document from Ernst and Young or your legacy at the DCSS will be a FRAUD! Hiding audits from view, creating misleading documents about said audit. Minutes of meetings being changed and NOT downloaded in a timely manner to the DCSS website. All this means one thing. DCSS IS A FRAUD AND UNTIL THE ENTIRE UPPER MANAGEMENT AND THEIR ENABLERS ARE GONE, DCSS IS HEADED RIGHT OFF THE CLIFF!
ReplyDeleteCan't DeKalb get another copy from Ernst and Young?
ReplyDeleteDUH!!!!
Seriously...If Ms. Tyson is serious about making all records that should be open, 'open', she'll go find the audit report TODAY. It can be done. Someone has it. E&Y didn't destroy it. It exists and she should be able to get it.
There is no "should" be able to get it. All DCSS has to do is call E&Y and have the audit couriered over. They clearly do not want this document release. To say they don't have it is not an excuse when the report exists at E&Y.
ReplyDeleteSandy, Thanks for your work on this. Please don't drop this -- failure to locate the report is no excuse, because Ernst & Young absolutely has a copy of it, and DCSS is the client, so DCSS has control over E&Y and can direct E&Y to provide another copy or to allow you to examine their copy. Please keep after this and please keep the AJC involved in pushing DCSS to comply. I was disgusted at all of the assertions at last night's BOE meeting that "no one will lose their jobs" due to redistricting. What a waste of taxpayer funds if they perpetuate non-teaching jobs for jobs' sake, at the expense of our children's education. The non-teaching positions and excessive salaries need to be cut! Getting and publicizing a copy of the E&Y audit is a crucial step in this process -- you have to embarrass DCSS before they'll do anything about cutting the excess. Keep up the fight!
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many demoted administrators or people sent to central office got to keep their salaries? It happens...
ReplyDeleteWhen she said no one will lose their jobs she meant that the teachers will follow the students and no one will be reassigned. For the non teaching personnel in only 8 schools there is always enough attrition to make sure that the janitors, secretaries, principals, assistant principals can be placed in other schools. The principals will either be placed as principals or assistant principals depending on their performance. The APs will have a shot at the more than 8 expected principal vacancies, the AP vacancies including those created by any promotions.
ReplyDeleteLooking for a seven year old salary survey may be a fool's errand. You would better spend the time using public salary data from the other three largest school systems and making a comparison of what the pay is in 2011.
ReplyDelete@ anonymous 12:29
ReplyDelete"You would better spend the time using public salary data from the other three largest school systems and making a comparison of what the pay is in 2011."
There is really not enough information given out by the school system to do that. That is a $341,000 job - who will do that even if there was enough information? This is the school system's responsibility - to ensure taxpayers have the number and pay for employees that is commensurate with other school systems and private industry.
The information is pertinent in that the last 7 years has seen a constant increase in expenditures on non-teaching personnel while teachers' pay has remain stagnant. This information would be very useful as a point of comparison between the number and pay for jobs that existed then and those that exist now.
Documents that taxpayers pay for should be available as a matter of public record.
Freedom of Information Act will uncover the report from Ernst&Young. Look for an office within the DeKalb Co system and petition for the report.
ReplyDeleteAt least one reason the 2004 report is critical and vital is the possiblity of legal/criminal sanctions.
ReplyDeleteBell City, CA city council members, city manager, et. al., are under investigation for receiving excessive pay.
Citizens, remember, the proceeds used for this big paychecks are both taxpayer funds and possibly proceeds of an on going criminal enterprise in which case, monies should be forefeited!
Something to think about!
Lassiter High named Georgia School of Excellence
ReplyDeleteDCSS named Georgia School System of Disgrace
It's a matter of principle now. I helped pay for the report by gosh I should be able to read it. Simple as that. Is it me or is this whole mess starting to have an odor about it? Wonder if the feds would be interested in opening an investigation?
ReplyDeleteHere's Ernst & Young's Atlanta office info:
ReplyDeleteErnst & Young
Suite 1000
55 Ivan Allen Jr. Blvd
Atlanta, GA
30308
United States
Phone: +1 404 874 8300
Fax: +1 404 817 4301
I left a message at E&Y yesterday. Wonder if they feel like doing a public service by releasing another copy. DCSS may have commissioned, but we PAID for it.
ReplyDeleteI know they never will, but wanted their PR people to think about it.
E & Y cannot release the study without the OK of DCSS.
ReplyDeleteSandy, please cut and paste and send this to Ramona
Dear Ms Tyson
Since DCSS seems to have misplaced the study could you please notify
E & Y to release their copy of the study to me.
Please copy me on the correspondence that you send to E &Y.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
cc: Megan Matteucci AJC and the guy who wrote the AJC article
In 2006 Lewis used the ORIGINAL study - the real deal - to JUSTIFY A RAISE for 9 employees including Zepora Robert's daughter. That's in the Jan. 9, 2006 BOE notes. So the study was around at that time. If DCSS "lost" or an employee destroyed a $341,000 study that taxpayers paid for, in my opinion they should be obtaining the original from Ernst and Young for the fulfillment of the Open Records Request.
ReplyDeleteOn top of that, in our research, we found that Ms. Guillory was hired as head of PR, apparently without her board member mother abstaining from the vote:
ReplyDeleteCALLED MEETING OF THE DEKALB COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION - April 20, 2005
Mr. Tim Freeman, Associate Superintendent of Administrative Services, recommended that the Board approve the appointment of Philandrea Guillory, a relative of a board member, as Director of the Public, Press and Partner Relations Department. A motion was made by Ms. Andrews, seconded by Ms. Roberts and carried with a unanimous vote.
Reading the BOE minutes from 2005, it appears that Tim Freeman, son of former DCSS superintendent Robert Freeman, recommended Philandrea Guillory, daughter of sitting BOE Chairwoman Francis Edwards to the administrative position of Director of the Public, Press and Partner Relations Department.
According to the BOE minutes, the vote for Ms. Guillory was unanimous with no mention of any BOE member abstaining. Doesn’t that mean Ms. Edwards voted for her own daughter to become the Director of the Public, Press and Partner Relations Department?
Exactly right, No Duh.
ReplyDeleteAnd to those who say this audit has too much age on it at this point, we remind you we have asked for action on this continuously. We gave the "leadership" a couple years to do as they'd promised - to act on it - and we have been asking for them to live up to their promise to enact it ever since.
The audit would still be valid and useful because the salary problem has only gotten worse. It wouldn't be valid if there had been some sort of action taken in the right direction since the audit was commissioned. Salaries have gone up, and the percentage of the total DCSS payroll that the central office comprises has increased. Therefore, the audit would serve as a minimum starting point. We need that. Where is that high-powered attorney from Fernbank? Is she willing to throw around some of her weight for this report as she did for Fernbank's attendance lines?
ReplyDeleteBOB MOSELEY, WHERE IS THE SALARY AUDIT?
ReplyDeleteYou were the highest ranking administrator at the time still with DCSS.
WHY ARE YOU HIDING IT FROM THE PUBLIC?
STATE SENATOR AND HEAD OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS RON RAMSEY:
Clearly the Office of Internal Affairs has a copy of the salary audit/
WHY IS A STATE SENATOR HIDING THE AUDIT FROM THE PUBLIC?
BOB AND RON, HAVE YOU NO SHAME??!!
@5:30 I bet that we are overspending on salaries even more than we were when this audit was done.
ReplyDeleteWould the county have to supply this information to those of us who were working for the county when we participated in the audit and are still working for the county now?
ReplyDeleteIsn't this mismanagement of funds worthy of national attention, especially since Dekalb is such a big school district that would definitely benefit from/impact Georgia's RTT funds?
Would SACS care that the school system is refusing to release this? Has anyone contacted them specifically about this issue?
ReplyDeleteMaybe Dr. Lewis has it.
ReplyDeleteHow about a deal? He gives DCSS back the study, and they give him back his job!
BOE minutes 6-13-2005 (published 6-13-2005) see attached for full minutes.
ReplyDelete"The DeKalb County Board of Education held a public hearing/work session and meeting on Monday, June 6, 2005, in the auditorium at Miller Grove High School, 2645 DeKalb Medical Parkway, Lithonia……
Present at the meeting were Chair Frances Edwards, Vice Chair Bebe Joyner, Cassandra Anderson-Littlejohn, Elizabeth Andrews, Sarah Copelin-Wood, Chip Franzoni, Lynn Cherry Grant, Simone Manning-Moon, Zepora Roberts, and Superintendent Crawford Lewis……
Dr. David Francoeur, Associate Superintendent of Human Resources, recommended that the Board approve the appointment of Ms. Vicki Durbin, a relative of a board member and currently employed as a Secretary II in Plant Services to the position of Security Specialist.
Mr. Franzoni made a motion to approve the recommendation, Ms. Copelin-Wood seconded, and the motion passed unanimously."
From state Salary and Travel audit -
Plant Operations Secretary/Clerk 2004: $40,809
Security Officer 2007: $53,997
Did you see any member abstaining on the vote for the BOE member's relative Vicki Durbin? And all BOE members were present. How can you vote for a promotion for your own relative?
ReplyDeletePlant Operations Secretary/Clerk 2004: $40,809
ReplyDeleteSecurity Officer 2007: $53,997
On what planet does a secretary have any qualifications to become a security officer, with a $13,000 raise?
Planet DCSS Nepotism World, of course.
And how does a security officer make more than most teachers?
ReplyDeleteCere, I am sure that this is just one of many misdeeds that the school district has done.
ReplyDeleteWhen a systems security guards and secretaries make more than teachers there is a huge problem. One of the problems is that the state sets a minimum for teachers but not any other employee in the school district, so the sky is the limit.
@ anonymous 12:25
ReplyDelete"I am sure that this is just one of many misdeeds that the school district has done. "
I think you may not realize is that these people who were over paid are still in place except they are being over paid much more now. If you think it was bad in 2004 when the audit was done, can you imagine how much worse it got under Lewis?
To date, Tyson has not even given a cursory look into possible cuts to her upper level staff and their armies of support staff—none of whom have direct contact with students.
ReplyDeletePlease start with Ron Ramsey and Robert Tucker. Start with a fresh Internal Affairs department where the investigations are thorough, fair and where the guilty are not protected at the expense of the innocent. Sounds farfetched? THIS is the Internal Affairs as we know it today. No TRUST that these people want truth. Their role is not to investigate, but to cover up. I bet Tyson knows this ... she's from the "old school." Oh, for the day when a new superintendent comes on board with no ties to anyone and an open mind to observe.
CSS IS A FRAUD AND UNTIL THE ENTIRE UPPER MANAGEMENT AND THEIR ENABLERS ARE GONE, DCSS IS HEADED RIGHT OFF THE CLIFF!
ReplyDeleteCSS IS A FRAUD AND UNTIL THE ENTIRE UPPER MANAGEMENT AND THEIR ENABLERS ARE GONE, DCSS IS HEADED RIGHT OFF THE CLIFF!
CSS IS A FRAUD AND UNTIL THE ENTIRE UPPER MANAGEMENT AND THEIR ENABLERS ARE GONE, DCSS IS HEADED RIGHT OFF THE CLIFF!
To "anonymous" who said it was a "fools errand" and to compare it to other systems. No hun. We weren't in a recession 7 years ago. We are now and salaries need to reflect that. The 22.56 school system millage rate may very well be contributing to foreclosures. I would like to see a cap on the millage rate- maybe 20 mill or less so that DCSS drops this mindset of an bottomless well. We are not Gwinnett or any other county. We are Dekalb.
ReplyDeleteGet familiar with Phenix City, Alabama. Around 1954 there was such corruption in the city that it went under martial law.
ReplyDeleteIs there an equivalent for school systems in Georgia?
We are not Gwinnett or any other county. We are Dekalb
ReplyDeleteSo we can't compare our salaries to other big systems in the state? Surely that is what any salary survey would have done.
No we are DeKalb and we like beating dead horses. The well that is bottomless is the potential of all our children provided we support their education.
You are Dekalb. The worst county in the entire state. I guess when you're fed crap long enough, you acquire a taste for it. You guys only complain and actually DO NOTHING. Losers.
ReplyDeleteactually, I like living in DeKalb. My neighborhood school is fine (one of the best in the state), my home value has stayed constant, and most of the people I meet are pleasant. I have some doubts about living in Georgia but my counttry right or wrong-if right mine to keep it right and if wrong mine to put it right.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the progress on the super search?
ReplyDeleteTyson increasingly interested in the job, give the Womack sales pitches on her behalf?
It seems that the super search has been put on hold. Does anyone have any news of progress? How many aplicants? Interviews? What is the consulting firm doing? Don't they have to report?
ReplyDeleteUnless of course we already have made the decision to put the position on hold?
You know the DCSS website is a great resource. More of you should use it.
ReplyDeleteApplication deadline is March 1st.
http://www.dekalbsuperintendentsearch.com/
Is there hope for DCSS?
ReplyDeleteEducation bill targets failing schools in Georgia
Senate Bill 68 would allow parents to petition for changes in schools that do not meet adequate yearly progress for two or more consecutive years in the same subject or high schools that fail to graduate at least 60 percent of their students.
Sen. John Albers, R-Roswell, and Sen. Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock, introduced a bill that would allow Georgia parents to draw on guidelines in President Barack Obama's Race to the Top program to reform schools.
Changes could include closing a school and opening a charter school, firing principals and replacing up to half of a school's staff, creating financial and career incentives for staff, increasing teacher training, closing a school and sending students to nearby higher achieving schools.
The Georgia bill is based on qualifications and incentives found in the Race to the Top school improvement program. Some Georgia school systems, including five in metro Atlanta, will share $200 million in federal money to improve student achievement under Race to the Top.
http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/education-bill-targets-failing-833958.html
Superintendent search. I went through the qualifications that were listed on the DCSS website. I also remember seeing a requirements sheet from the search firm which said that the candidate had to have five years experience (without specifying the field).
ReplyDeleteI think that they have to drag this out for another six months until Dr. Beasley gets his five years experience. Then the announcement will come " Eureka. Look what we found in our Oval Office after a nationwide search"
If Beasley gets the job, I hope he gets a new wardrobe. The suit he wore the other day at the Social Studies Fair made him look like a clown! There is no way they give Dr. B the job of Super. NO WAY! Right? No way!
ReplyDeletesomeone needs to go on a search and find the stuff on Dr. Beasley "un-enrolling" kids to up his CRCT-equivalent pass rate in Birhmingham (maybe even while principal in DCSS)-- no way you can have someone like that in charge while you have the CRCT scandals going on and other losing their liceneses and stepping down for doing the same thing.... go and find the proof that he did the same thing....
ReplyDeleteI want to commend the creators of this site. I am new to the area and did not fully understand the warnings I was given in regard to DCSS and after reading the comments posted my eyes are open and my understanding has been made so clear. Keep up the good work because if this type of corruption and cover up is allowed to continue unchecked the future of education is bleak. Salute!
ReplyDeleteRudolph F. "Rudy" Crew.......http://rossier.usc.edu/faculty/rudolph_crew.html
ReplyDeleteIf you want someone who will cut the corruption research this individual.
Rudolph looks like all the folks on white horses. They dabbled here and there just long enough and then cut and run.
ReplyDeleteIs Miami-Dade or New York better now because of him?
@ anonymous 12:26
ReplyDelete"For the non teaching personnel in only 8 schools there is always enough attrition to make sure that the janitors, secretaries, principals, assistant principals can be placed in other schools. "
That's just not true. There are not always 8 principals or counselors or nurses, APs, etc. leaving DeKalb every year. They should be applying for available positions, but if they are not hired, they should be cut. How else will we save the money that needs to go to the classroom so we will enough teachers to teach our students. Do we really want even larger class sizes in order for these non-teaching personnel to retain their jobs. DCSS is not a jobs program. It is an educational system. As such, Ms. Tyson and the entire BOE should be asking what's best for students?
I'm appalled that Mr. Bowen would insist no one loses their job. He should be more interested in the savings to the school system and EXACTLY how these savings will impact student achievement. I believe Mr. Bowen has non-teaching relatives in the system (as do most of the BOE members) and is concerned that no non-teaching personnel get cut under any circumstance.
Under his (Rudy Crew) leadership at Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the district progressed dramatically on several fronts. Among the highlights were rising student achievement levels, higher academic and conduct standards, and dramatically reduced overcrowding, including a 91 percent decrease in the student-station deficit. The system is now viewed as a model for other districts across the nation.
ReplyDelete@4:09
ReplyDeleteIs that from his CV or the facts?
The Great Governor Purdue and the Highly Successful State Superintendent Kathy Cox DRAMATICALLY increased high graduation rate during their 8 year term of office. (Well, at least, until they are recalculated correctly!).
Vox
When Crew initially came to Miami-Dade he found monies that were allocated for jobs which no one held but the monies were held in trust for these positions yet no one held them. So he eliminated those jobs to generate funds. He then reassigned individuals who held positions which they were not not qualified for yet they were making 6 figure salaries. He then would dress like a regular joe and go into the schools to see first hand how the office performed and how the overall atmosphere of the schools. He made a lot of changes. He included teachers in the curriculum development and requested their feedback on projected ideals because teachers were the individuals who would implement these objectives.
ReplyDeleteIn June of 2008 Crew said the district had overspent millions of dollars during the past two years because it had hired more teachers than budgeted, lost state funding, and encountered rising costs.School Board member Renier Diaz De La Portilla called for Crew's ouster, criticizing the way he has managed the schools' budget, Ana Rivas Logan, another board member, called Crew "insubordinate." At an August 4, 2008 school board meeting, the item to terminate Crew's contract failed. Despite Crew's strong support from business and community leaders, the School Board bought out his contract at its September 10, 2008 meeting.
@4:31PM
ReplyDeleteThere is almost always 2 sides to a story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/09/education/09miami.html?_r=1&ref=rudolphfcrew
Vox
Rudy may be what we need....
ReplyDeletere:
ReplyDelete"So we can't compare our salaries to other big systems in the state? Surely that is what any salary survey would have done."
You can compare them to anything you want but they need to reflect the realities of Dekalb County. That should include the income levels of the citizens of Dekalb. Salary surveys reflect a more perfect world. Few in private industry get raises (or even jobs) when they don't perform. The low graduation rate is a sign of non-performance. I suggest that you take your resume to one of these other systems whose salary that you desire, tell them your success level and see what's available to you. (And, btw, I believe administrative should pay less (in general) than teachers. Teachers are the producers. Giving raises (Ramona) during a recession is mind boggling ignorance. Just because parents/DCSS or whoever want these kids in Taj Mahals doesn't mean the taxpayers want to (or are able to) pay for it. The same applies to plying the kids with equipment. Make do or do without. I've seen rusting equipment on school sports fields. Tell the kids to bring it in and put it away.... or do without.
Is it correct to say that when people screw up they are then sent to the DCSS Administrative side where they potentially earn greater salaries? Help me out on that.
"That's just not true. There are not always 8 principals or counselors or nurses, APs, etc. leaving DeKalb every year."
ReplyDeleteIt is true and we have 5 vacancies at principal already for next year.
We expect at least 5 more. Of course, I have the advantage over you-I can see the numbers.
You can compare them to anything you want but they need to reflect the realities of Dekalb County. That should include the income levels of the citizens of Dekalb.
ReplyDeleteYou think that salaries in Cobb and Fulton are radically different from those in DeKalb?
@ anonymous 12:38
ReplyDeleteI agree with much that you said. However, teachers are the producers. They must be paid commensurate with other metro systems or we will have a difficult time getting these producers. I spent a decade in sales, a very high pressure job, and we routinely "jumped ship" if we could get better pay with another company. It was easier to produce in my sales job though.
My boss didn't tell me how to sell, weigh me down with paperwork, or make me try to sell to the worst marketplace of customers. Every customer was not equal. What insane boss would want you to work with customers who weren't that interested in buying what I was selling. If you're going to be productive in sales, the first rule you better learn is to qualify your customers and don't spend your valuable sales time with the ones who do not have the money to buy the product.
I don't think that's what we're asking teachers to do. We're asking them not to qualify the customer and to spend time with students who are not looking to "buy" what they have to offer or do not have the requisite skills to "buy" the product.
This model of asking your salespeople to sell to the hardest customers just like he would sell to an easier marketplace would never work in the business world. It won't work in the educational world either. People naturally gravitate to the most reward for the least amount of work (or were you under the impression that the producers in business really like the least reward for the hardest work and most stress?)
I don't know what model will work to get really good teachers to stay at low performing schools, but I'm pretty sure it's not going to be performance bonuses.
I'm just like you - resentful that my small ranch house is soon going to cost $400 a month in taxes. But most of my resentment goes to the administration of DCSS and the BOE. They are the ones ultimately responsible for student achievement.
I never worked for a company where the CEO could have absolutely NO Return on Investment and continue to stay employed and get raises. They should be asking the producers what will work and what they need to get the job done. Then they should be supplying them with what they need. If they need to shut down some of the programs of the non-producers and funnel that money into the needs of the producers, that should be done as well. If we're going to run our schools on a business model, we're going to have to make everyone subservient to the production side of the house.
@anonymous 1:27
ReplyDelete"We expect at least 5 more. Of course, I have the advantage over you-I can see the numbers.'
We expect to see the numbers as well. Ms. Tyson needs to say exactly how much savings will be incurred by the reduction on positions, and we should be able to see this in the budget.
@ anonymous 1:42, you are somewhat all over your map with you post but one thing should be pointed out, you can't compare the business model for sales to education. You sold widgets and could probably reasonably predict how they can be used along with how long they can last. It seems you had a reasonable territory thus able to make money. If you did not make your number within a certain time period, you would be asked to leave. You probably knew what was coming and left on your own before that.
ReplyDeleteChildren are unpredictable and it's hard to find two that are the same. The territories (schools) that teachers are assigned to may not be the best. There is no differentiated pay to teach in the tougher schools. Teachers can get greater personal rewards when they do reach children and have an impact in that environment. Unfortunately when you consider that close to 50% of teachers leave the profession within 5 years, it means you more than likely have high turnover in the tougher schools (check NEA reports). This makes it harder for those students to have consistency with their education because of the turnover.
Most teachers I know do it for the love of the job not the pay. DeKalb tried to move senior teachers to lower performing schools in the early 90's. Statistics show that most of those teachers left the district or retired thus hurting all children. If you can come up with a model that can encourage stronger teachers to work in lower performing schools, you will have something. Perhaps it is with extra money, more time off, greater control over discpline, you name it. Find that and you may have a silver bullet to improving education.
@ anonymous 2:40
ReplyDelete"you are somewhat all over your map with you post but one thing should be pointed out, you can't compare the business model for sales to education. You sold widgets and could probably reasonably predict how they can be used along with how long they can last. "
I started teaching regular ed in DCSS in 1972, left for almost a decade to earn some real money - sales is a quick way (and BTW I did extremely complex systems sales) - made lots of money with my teacher ethic of working my behind off - got married, had a child, and came back to teaching regular ed. I also taught in a special area for 11 years and supported teachers outside the schoolhouse for 8 years so my teaching career spanned 29 years with my business career spanning 8 years.
If anyone understands the ins and outs of both education, business model, and the admin and support model, that would be me. That's why I also understand the flaws of the business model imposed on the educational model with the constraints that are in place today.
In business I chose my customers - those who would give me the greatest Return on Investment. If I was given a bad market and asked to be responsible for it, I left for greener pastures. While this works very well for the free marketplace, this is not a good model for educating our children.
"Perhaps it is with extra money, more time off, greater control over discipline, you name it."
You are more fluent than I as you express what needs to happen for the "producers" in education to want to teach in low performing schools. Only when the "producers" are asked what will help them in their classrooms will we see a change. When I sold complex systems, I told my boss what I needed to close the deal, and he moved heaven and earth to get me what I needed (and I worked for AT&T with a million employees). His compensation was linked to my compensation. That MUST happen for teachers, the "producers". Not through intimidation like APS, but through asking teachers what they need and giving it to them.
I know all about the 90s and the movement of teachers to South DeKalb. My child was in Kindergarten in DCSS when her school lost the Kindergarten teacher with 27 years of experience in the effort to balance North versus South per pupil expenditures. Within a few years those teachers retired or moved to Gwinnett and Fulton and the objective was not accomplished.
Please look at the real statistics for teacher turnover in the Atlanta area:
0-1 years of experience: 39%
2-5 years of experience: 23%
5-10 years of experience: 20%
10-15 years of experience: 9%
15+ years of experience: 9%
It's worse than you think:
Fully 62% of teachers have less than 5 years of experience in the Atlanta area code.
http://swz.salary.com/SalaryWizard/Public-School-Teacher-Job-Statistics.aspx
I contacted Dr. Rudy Crew and he said he is more than likely going to apply for the position of superintendent
ReplyDeleteDare we hope?!!!!!
ReplyDeleteanyone know what's up with the libertarian audit?
ReplyDeleteA good superintendent is critical to stopping corruption and earning community trust. Will the board let anew leader get rid of some dead wood and bring in strong leaders. We need someone with a proven track record.
ReplyDeleteI have heard that our highly compensated interim superintendant is going to "Clean House" of the central office as part of her life long compensation package.
ReplyDeleteWe should all advocate that she does exactly that!
I hope that is the case.
Otherwise we have been duped once again by our current Board of Education.
Keep on fighting the fight!