tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post346887139488101818..comments2024-01-08T03:21:35.616-05:00Comments on DeKalb County School Watch: Comments on the response to SACSCerebrationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161868015604029471noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-72602497665616685292010-09-22T12:12:46.951-04:002010-09-22T12:12:46.951-04:00Amen Anon. 9:46. Philandrea, the daughter of a fo...Amen Anon. 9:46. Philandrea, the daughter of a former BOE Chairman, Francis Edwards, makes 120k as well as her husband who runs transportation gets paid about the same. One family, over 225K of OUR tax dollars. It doesn't include her brother, Jamal Edwards, of MIS fame. He was the one who hid out in a school for 6 months after getting a promotion and a raise. The parents finally exposed him to Ms. Tyson via, Asst. Super Debbie Loeb. Ms. Tyson seemed so surprised when she was told Jamal had not reported to his new job.<br /><br />This is what has to stop! Jamal would have been fired if this had happened in a real corporation. However, he is celebrated as someone who got away with it in the DCSS circles, they even laugh at his nickname, "Where's Waldo"<br /><br />Is this what we want in our school system? Is this how we expect OUR tax dollars to be spent?<br /><br />November 2nd, time for change!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-30095612419725179652010-09-21T21:46:31.092-04:002010-09-21T21:46:31.092-04:00@ Anonymous 9:30
"Ironically, Philandria is ...@ Anonymous 9:30<br /><br />"Ironically, Philandria is the ONLY person in that department who did not lose her job in the central office bloodbath. "<br /><br />That's not irony. That's family connections.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-22949432926589029032010-09-21T21:30:52.267-04:002010-09-21T21:30:52.267-04:00FYI: Anderia Russell writes the Parent Resource C...FYI: Anderia Russell writes the Parent Resource Center Newsletter for the Office of School Improvement. This newsletter is specific to information about the Title I funded Parent Resource Centers located in select Title I schools. Not in any way related to Kaleidoscope.<br /><br />Kaleidoscope was originally a printed newsletter about positive events throughout the district. After the Lewis coup and his subsequent promotion of Philandrea Guillory (then BOE member Francis Edward's daughter), she become responsible for publishing it. Articles that had been submitted by teachers and administrators piled up for months before she attempted to write and publish. After the top officials realized that she could not string a sentence together in proper English, the newsletter was abandoned. <br /><br />After Julie Rhame became head of the PR Department, she took it over and redesigned it as the on-line jewel it became. Now that she is gone, there is no good news available about DeKalb. Ironically, Philandria is the ONLY person in that department who did not lose her job in the central office bloodbath.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-86581912928499579602010-09-20T16:48:39.059-04:002010-09-20T16:48:39.059-04:00Not to mention MILLIONS more in legal fees!!
And ...Not to mention MILLIONS more in legal fees!!<br /><br />And thanks for clarifying about Kaleidoscope. I had always thought Julie was the one who made that so wonderful. That's what PR is - keeping the GOOD word out there. Crisis management - well, that's a totally different thing!<br /><br />So - correction -<br /><br />Hurrah for Julie Rhame! (Too bad her efforts were all for naught.)Cerebrationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11161868015604029471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-2164214715794359522010-09-20T16:35:04.406-04:002010-09-20T16:35:04.406-04:00I'll agree with you that the public should see...I'll agree with you that the public should see the mess that is the DCSS unfiltered and unspun. I'll give you that. But, there are also a lot of GREAT things going on in the schools that our students and teachers do that the public needs to be aware of as well! The budget for the PR Dept. was not that great. But MILLIONS are still being wasted on the educational program of the day that works no better than the last, bloated administration, salaries for the beneficiaries of nepotism that don't produce anything of value, legal fees due to inept administration, etc, etc, etc.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-87086297182771934602010-09-20T15:03:02.637-04:002010-09-20T15:03:02.637-04:00"Tell me again how a PR department is not nee..."Tell me again how a PR department is not needed. "<br /><br />EVER DeKalb student deserves these educational components:<br />1. A safe and clean learning environment<br />2. A competent teacher in a reasonably sized classroom<br />3. Abundant access to cutting edge science and technology equipment<br /><br />Give our students these educational components, and we will have no trouble attracting good teachers, successful students, and enthusiastic parents. That's what creates good public relations. <br /><br />I think we need to let the citizens of DeKalb County see the wreck our school system has become - unfiltered through a PR department's verbiage. <br /><br />I'm tired of DCSS hiding behind the Premier logo (who thought of that one - glad it's gone) coasting along on academic successes we haven't seen in 20 years. <br /><br />The fact that more and more funds have been drained out of the classroom and into the admin and support jobs program should not be disguised. Transparency needs to occur in order for voters to get upset and get organized. Until our students have the 3 components listed at the beginning of this post, PR is just another expense on the admin side.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-46569034719365525652010-09-20T13:09:54.294-04:002010-09-20T13:09:54.294-04:00"
Kaleidoscope has been around for 20 years -..."<br />Kaleidoscope has been around for 20 years - at least since the 90s (maybe the 80s, but I remember receiving it in printed form in the early 90s). We don't need the PR department to publish this newsletter and post it online. It was not published by the PR department for at least a decade, yet it was still an excellent publication"<br /><br />First of all, you are correct in saying that Kscope has been Around for a long time, however, you are very wrong in saying that it has not been published by the PR dept for a decade. It has ALWAYS been published by the PR department ( although that department has had several name changes through the years). <br /><br />But thank you for saying it was an excellent publication.<br /><br />But those of you that say they don't need a PR department are just not being realistic. Any operation as large and as much in the public eye as DCSS desperately needs PR PROFESSIONALS on staff (not failed principals or other staffers pretending to be PR people). It does not need to be a large staff or a very highly paid staff. But the good word needs to be put out there and we used to do a great job of getting the word out about the amazing things our students and teachers wer doing in the schools. Crisis management was not part of our job responsibilities since Clew took us out of that loop and relied on DD for that job. To his detriment, obviously.<br /><br />Taking a look at the DCSS web site, All I see are a couple of stale old rather poorly written stories. We were producing upwards of 20-30 good news stories per month. Tell me again how a PR department is not needed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-11048891784306293922010-09-20T11:14:34.261-04:002010-09-20T11:14:34.261-04:00Cerebration, you definitely had it right the first...Cerebration, you definitely had it right the first time. Julie Rhame (not Rhames) and two other members of her PR staff painstakingly produced the Kaleidoscope electronic newsletter each month, and they also produced the Kaleidoscope TV show for PDS-TV with the help of a couple freelancers. I worked next door to them and can tell you that they put in a LOT of overtime to get the good news out about our district. It's a shame that they are taking the fall for our districts bad behavior. <br /><br />If Andrea Russell did produce the Kaleidoscope, then she'd still be doing it since she still works there. She produces a Title 1 newsletter for the parent centers. You can see them on the Title 1 site - and in my opinion they are amateurish compared to Kaleidoscope.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-29926580520625268112010-09-20T09:07:18.513-04:002010-09-20T09:07:18.513-04:00WHOA there! I call FOUL on Anonymous Sept 18 436p...WHOA there! I call FOUL on Anonymous Sept 18 436pm. Completely WRONG regarding Kaleidoscope. Cere you had it right. Kaleidoscope is a publication that has been ongoing for well over 24 years at least. It almost dies out with the budget cuts just before Julie took over. Under her leadership it was revived as the electronic version you referred to. It was painstakingly designed by she and her staff with the help of an outside graphic artist. <br /><br />AT NO TIME did Andrea Russell have anything to do with Kaleidoscope! The stories were all written by the two writers on staff, one a writer/photographer. <br /><br />I don't know where this Andrea Russell idea comes from but it is completely incorrect. I know this because I am one of the ex-staffers that worked on Kaleidoscope and we took great pride in that publication and the TV show by the same name and worked very hard on both.<br /><br />I hope this clears up any misunderstandings.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-11900945392541728462010-09-20T00:36:42.856-04:002010-09-20T00:36:42.856-04:00I read through the docs - some could have been OCR...I read through the docs - some could have been OCR'd to be searchable. A lot of it was documents, copies of web pages, etc. Some of it had handwriting on it. My guess is they compiled all of it together and ran it through a document handler (part of a souped up photocopier) that scans all the stuff for you into a PDF which you can email from the copier. I have one at work, pretty nifty.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-88830245778134683012010-09-20T00:32:37.753-04:002010-09-20T00:32:37.753-04:00Well, started to wade through this. I found a few ...Well, started to wade through this. I found a few interesting things, this was just from section 1, not sure if I have the stomach to wade through the rest.<br /><br />One: Some of the sample letters to new hires referenced "Premier" DeKalb. Way to send them outdated info, Whee!<br /><br />Two: The very last page of document 1: On August 30, Laura Stevenson emails S. Spruill and Ramona Tyson, copies the Board and others, and basically says, "I agree that...the process of reviewing, revising, receiving public input and vetting these rules should not be rushed for the sake of expediency." We all know what happened, but thank you M. Spruill for trying. It got rushed through anyway, didn't it? <br /><br />Three: P. 333 has some juicy irony. In order to pass these four policies the Board votes to waiver Board policy on how policies are adopted. Which means - any policy could be be waived at any time, so why have any policies at all if you aren't going to follow them. <br /><br />Four: I was glad to see that comments I sent in were included. But because of the short time, there were very few comments overall. I had posted that more sufficient time was needed for review, and a few other things.<br /><br />Question one: Did any of our comments matter? Were any changes made to the policies based on public input? <br /><br />Question two: Will SACS notice that these policies were changed very quickly? If they wade through the thousands of pages, will they notice the line that says on p333 "It is recommended that the Board of Education waive Board policy on Policy Adoption...to amend policies...in response to inquiries from SACS." In other words, you asked us questions, we knew our answers were going to be junk, so we changed our policies to fit your questions. Hope you don't notice. And yeah, all those people that got their jobs because of nepotism - yeah they can keep them, the policies aren't retroactive.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-826983358581983152010-09-19T23:30:29.495-04:002010-09-19T23:30:29.495-04:00@ Dan M., 10:07 PM
Would you please publish the c...@ Dan M., 10:07 PM<br /><br />Would you please publish the comment from Dickerson? I think we would all like to know what our tax dollars are paying for.<br /><br />Dickerson needs to remember that regardless of "who" hired him, <i>our</i> tax dollars are paying him. He is <b><i>not</i></b> working for a private company. <br /><br />In fact, perhaps Dickerson should take a leave of absence from the Georgia Gang while he is working for DCSS. At the very least, Dickerson should recuse himself from any discussion that could concern or relate to DCSS in any manner.Be True to Your Schoolnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-43113588130687016502010-09-19T22:07:54.511-04:002010-09-19T22:07:54.511-04:00I e-mailed Jeff and Dick, and got a snarky reply f...I e-mailed Jeff and Dick, and got a snarky reply from Dickerson.Dan M.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-18492305641285128352010-09-19T21:22:13.226-04:002010-09-19T21:22:13.226-04:00@Dan MgGee
I agree with your comment about Jeff D...@Dan MgGee<br /><br />I agree with your comment about Jeff Dickerson. Full disclosure would be in order.<br /><br />Why not just send your post to the Georgia gang at Channel 2. They do read the emails. Dick Willims is a fair guy.<br /><br /> Meet the Georgia Gang<br /><br /> * Dick Williams (Moderator)<br /> * Jeff Dickerson<br /> * Philip Kent<br /> * Alexis Scott<br /> * Martha Zoller<br /><br />Marta is the smartest one of the bunch<br />E-mail your comments to the Georgia Gang: georgiagang@myfoxatlanta.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-69139769887996334192010-09-19T21:18:30.709-04:002010-09-19T21:18:30.709-04:00Do you really think that they wanted to make it ea...Do you really think that they wanted to make it easily accessible and searchable? They said that they would post it, and now they can say that they did. It's all part of the bureaucratic, CYA behavior of the bunch. I say vote the entire Board out and start with a new bunch. It couldn't be any worse than the present Board.Burroughston Brochnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-65003088953888647492010-09-19T21:17:53.873-04:002010-09-19T21:17:53.873-04:00"years ago there were those massive quirky De..."years ago there were those massive quirky Destination units that were supposed to do everything but no one knew how to operate them."<br /><br />Those Destination units cost millions of taxpayer dollars. They were not used because they were extremely heavy to move and multiple teachers were supposed to "share" a unit. The problem was by the time the teacher left his/her classroom and rolled the unit into his/her classroom (they were so heavy it was dangerous for students to move them), hooked them up to the network via a hardwire ethernet connection, and booted the Destination unit up, too much classtime was taken up (also they had their own hard drive so teacher computers couldn't connect to them). MIS finally C-50ed all of them. Again millions down the drain. No input from anyone except a few people in MIS for these extremely expensive units.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-58934798024092834582010-09-19T21:15:03.483-04:002010-09-19T21:15:03.483-04:00Anon 7:10 PM -- how very true. It's all abou...Anon 7:10 PM -- how very true. It's all about perspective. I try very hard to see things from leadership's perspective. All I ask is that they take the time to see things from the parents' and teachers' perspectives. This is a lot to ask of a lifelong administrator who is paid very well for doing things the way they've been done. We all need to stand up, shake off, and head in a brand new direction!Cerebrationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11161868015604029471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-5682307608625625072010-09-19T21:06:56.671-04:002010-09-19T21:06:56.671-04:00"There was also the purchase of the ETP softw..."There was also the purchase of the ETP software for Elementary Schools much of that never got used and the programs are no longer compatible with the current OS they are using. But bad hardware and software choices are pandemic in most school systems. "<br /><br />Millions and millions were spent purchasing the ETP (Elementary Technology Program) software and very little of it worked. Much of it was based on CD ROMs which never worked with the DCSS Network. Waht a mess. Millions down the drain. It was finally just thrown away - literally. Two or three people in MIS made all the decisions on using millions of dollars to purchase this software (no teacher input). This is typical of DCSS.<br /><br />Most systems do not make the bad decisions that DCSS makes. MIS has been run like a separate entity - subject to no one, and with absolutely zero input from schoolhouse personnel. And we wonder where tens of millions of dollars of general operations student funds go every year?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-67314995772693200652010-09-19T20:58:30.798-04:002010-09-19T20:58:30.798-04:00@ Anonymous 8:43
There are very few jobs that can...@ Anonymous 8:43<br /><br />There are very few jobs that can't be outsourced outside the schoolhouse. <br /><br />For example, I'm all for outsourcing Professional Learning. This in house training group has done little in the way of training for teachers. Before Crawford Lewis became the head of Professional Learning (his job before becoming Superintendent) and increased this Central Office group exponentially, schools were allocated Professional Learning dollars. Principals and teachers hired educational trainers or sometimes just professionals who could contribute to their success with children to come into the school and train faculty members. Training was tailored more to the needs of the particular student groups within each school. <br /><br />When Crawford Lewis took Professional Learning over, he drew the dollars back into the Central Office and began to create an expensive group of trainers who treated all schools as if they have the same needs. Sound familiar?<br /><br />This highly educated, specialized group could be outsourced or partially outsourced. So could Human Resources - the poster child for misspent taxpayer dollars. <br /><br />I don't think any group outside the schoolhouse should be off limits when trying to make our tax dollars go less into admin and support and more into direct contact and instruction for students.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-34912032761580669522010-09-19T20:50:42.010-04:002010-09-19T20:50:42.010-04:00MIS has a history of poor expensive decisions for ...MIS has a history of poor expensive decisions for improvements in classroom tech. ( years ago there were those massive quirky Destination units that were supposed to do everything but no one knew how to operate them.) There was also the purchase of the ETP software for Elementary Schools much of that never got used and the programs are no longer compatible with the current OS they are using. But bad hardware and software choices are pandemic in most school systems.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-78739212086748260092010-09-19T20:46:56.252-04:002010-09-19T20:46:56.252-04:00I am an ODE member and Area Rep. Much of my perso...I am an ODE member and Area Rep. Much of my personal philosophy regarding education is at odds with ODE, GAE and NEA. I would also be at odds with PAGE as well on many issues. I do post here but my post do not reflect my association with the group.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-12996425240513316092010-09-19T20:43:39.385-04:002010-09-19T20:43:39.385-04:00It seems that they are outsourcing all the jobs th...It seems that they are outsourcing all the jobs that actually require knowledge and skills to perform. These are the type of jobs you can't stick anyone friend or family member in.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-38165123978633989812010-09-19T19:10:47.440-04:002010-09-19T19:10:47.440-04:00Cere 6:53 so that's what all the fuss is about...Cere 6:53 so that's what all the fuss is about...the children...I thought it was just a bunch of angry noise makers....this seems to be the consensus of the administrators and BOE members..however we know better...our children and tax dollars are at stake everyday they make ineffective decisions.<br /><br />Parents that are concerned are the one's who often time receive the most critism from spectators (arm chair quarterbacks). We must fight with our voices not be critical of good but speak loudly about misconduct and inappropriate spending (the Palace & relocatio of MIS)...if only they (BOE & Administrators) could see what we see from the outside for just one hour of the day...I believe the BOE and administrators would have a change of heart about this blog and the persons feeding information into it. Because they don't respond to emails being sent to them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-6445426259787310072010-09-19T19:00:04.077-04:002010-09-19T19:00:04.077-04:00Anon 6:46 that is what I stated in my post....admi...Anon 6:46 that is what I stated in my post....administrators are making the decisions for the teachers therefore they must go...however some ineffective teachers must move on as well....if they are constatly having failing students we must lay blames where it should be...parents, students, teachers and administrators...all play a vital part in a school's success...working together for the greater good which is educating our future not giving them a pass to later become an uneducated failure to society...just sayingAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151096942903989101.post-18471867143512831892010-09-19T18:53:47.311-04:002010-09-19T18:53:47.311-04:00Good comment Anon, 6:37 PM -- We ARE the Little E...Good comment Anon, 6:37 PM -- We ARE the Little Engine that Could! We may not always be accurate, but I have discovered time and time again, that our contributors often know more about a topic than our board members. Why do they fight us so? Just think of what they could learn if they actually read some of our postings and chatted with some of our contributors. We ALL want what's best for kids in the end, don't we?Cerebrationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11161868015604029471noreply@blogger.com