Teachers in it "For the Money"

There was a piece on, I think it was, the NBC morning show today about teachers. I only caught a brief part where someone was saying some teachers are "in it for the money".


I have never met that teacher. Would you please identify yourself!?


I guess facts do not get in the way of teacher bashing by some folks.

FACT: (emphasis added)

Here are the worst paying college degrees:



College Degrees                     Starting Salary                         Mid-career median salary



Social Work                          $33,400                                          $41,600

Elementary Education            $33,000                                            $42,400

Theology                               $34,800                                          $51,500

Music                                   $34,000                                           $52,000

Spanish                                  $35,600                                          $52,600

Horticulture                           $37,200                                          $53,400

Education                              $36,200                                             $54,100

Hospitality/Tourism                $37,000                                           $54,300

Fine Arts                               $35,800                                           $56,300

Drama                                  $35,600                                             $56,600

Source:  http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/the-best-and-worst-college-degrees-by-salary/577/

What "Superman" got wrong

An excellent article from the Washington Post
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/guest-bloggers/what-superman-got-wrong-point.html

ED Sweetens the Deal for Evaluating Teacher Incentive Fund

ED Sweetens the Deal for Evaluating Teacher Incentive Fund

Merit Pay Fails Another Test

Merit Pay Fails Another Test

Obama: Money without reform won't fix school system

Speaking to TODAY's Matt Lauer in the Green Room of the White House for nearly 30 minutes, President Obama said that additional funding tied to significant reforms - including a longer school year and lifting teaching as a profession - is a much-needed fix.



http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/39378576/from/toolbar

School Board Meeting Minutes 9/16

Hi everyone, here are the minutes of last nights board meeting. It was a pretty uneventful meeting.

The meeting began with public comment. Myself and one other person spoke. I challenged the board members to become a teacher for a day as part of the Cobb Chamber's program to bring people into the schools to see first hand what difficult work being a teacher is!! I think this program is a great step and I would like to see Politicians become teachers for a day in some of the tougher Cobb schools. I would love to see them teach at Griffin Middle School (my school) or at South Cobb High School, or even Lindley. Then they would learn much more about the realities of teaching! I encourage parents, civic leaders and business owners to look into the program. Ok, back off my soapbox!!

Next the Facilities and Technology committee made their annual report. This committee is set up as an oversight committee for the SPLOST funds. They review the expenditures and make sure they are in line with the original SPLOST notebooks. They reported that the new in-house program management is working out well. It is saving the district money and seems to be improving communication on projects.

The new lawyer, Clem Doyle, made his report on the board's request regarding having the Georgia State School Board Association do the superintendent search. The original proposal by the GSBA was a 17 step plan at a cost of $15,000. The board asked for a new proposal to only do parts of the search. The new quote was $5,000, depending on how many candidates the board wanted background checks ran on. No commitment has been made with GSBA yet by the board and the decision was tabled until October.

Superintendent Sanderson made his report. He discussed the upcoming public safety week. He thanked all the men and women who serve Cobb as police and firefighters. The board voted to uphold the hearing decision regarding a student who had disciplinary issues. The consent agenda from the earlier meeting was approved.  Superintendent presented the plan to renovate Pine Mountain Middle School. The plan was originally projected to cost $13.3 million dollars but is now going to run just $6 million. The board approved the plan and the project will move forward. The The board discussed the the new SPLOST forecast and the 20% cut across the board to all the projects. All projects above $200,000 will have to come back to the board for individual approval but the general plan was approved. That ended the Superintendent's report.

Jay Dillon presented the September report and no changes were made.

The board members made comments. John Crooks praised Patty Thomas, principal of Sedalia Park Elementary for the school gaining approval to continue their status as a charter school. David Morgan reminded everyone of his upcoming monthly town meeting at South Cobb High School. Allison Bartlett reminded everyone of her upcoming town meeting at Russel Elementary on Thursday September 30th at 6pm. Holly Cash invited everyone to the new football field dedication at Osborne High School tonight at 6:30pm. Chairperson Crowder-Eagle announced her town meeting at Pine Mountain Middle School on September 28th at 6:30pm. She also congratulated the counselors at Sope Creek Elementary and Hillgrove High School for the RAMP program. David Banks congratulated the Lassiter Swim team. John Abraham asked the community to pray for the parents of recent Kell High School graduate Zack.

The meeting was adjourned.

Diminishing expectations and diminishing returns in education

Diminishing expectations and diminishing returns in education

Professional Development Offerings

Here are some current professional development opportunities from GAE. Please contact GAE if you are interested in attending.

Finding the Right Balance: The Ideal Learning Environment for Success”


October 23 and November 6

9am-3pm

Hampton Inn

4000 Watson Boulevard

Warner Robbins, GA 31093



“Special Education Strategies: Meeting the Challenges of Teaching

Students with Academic and Behavioral Difficulties”

September 25 and October 9 9am-3pmGAE HQ Board Room100 Crescent Centre Pkwy.Suite 500 Tucker, GA 30084
“Bullying Prevention Intervention Training”

October 2 and October 30

9am-3pm

GAE HQ Board Room

100 Crescent Centre Pkwy.

Suite 500

Tucker, GA 30084

The Marietta Daily Journal - Cobb school board to address SPLOST III revenue shortage

The Marietta Daily Journal - Cobb school board to address SPLOST III revenue shortage

The Marietta Daily Journal - Cobb Marietta SAT averages lower than metro peer districts

The Marietta Daily Journal - Cobb Marietta SAT averages lower than metro peer districts

DeKalb: ‘Accreditation is safe'; legislators not so sure  | ajc.com

DeKalb: ‘Accreditation is safe'; legislators not so sure  ajc.com

Superintendent Survey

As you already know, Superintendent Sanderson will be retiring after this year. In an effort to seek public input into what qualities the new superintendent should posses, the district has put a survey on their website. They will also be forming focus groups for input. Please consider applying for the focus groups, we should be vocal in what WE want to see in the next superintendent. I am providing the link to the survey and asking that you not only take the survey, but encourage your fellow staff members to take the survey. We have a unique opportunity to participate in the choice of a new superintendent. Thank you, please email me if you have any questions.

http://www.cobbk12.org/SuperintendentSurvey/

Connie Jackson

President, Cobb County Association of Educators

http://www.ccaepresident.blogspot.com/

conniejacksonccae@gmail.com

School Board Meeting Minutes 9/8 (sorry they are so long!!)

School Board Meeting 9/8 Report

All school board members were present for the morning work session

1. Alison Bartlett brought up paying for field trips again. She would like to see parents who don't pay for field trips have to personally talk to the Principal. The other board members did not like the idea and it was decided that they would seek input from the PTA.

2. The remaining money from installing artificial turf was discussed. Each high school was given $800,000 for the turf. The cost of installing the turf varied depending on the prior condition of the field. This lead to the "richer" schools costing less to install the turf. Kell high school was the lowest $550,000 and Osborne high school was the highest at $697,000. Board member Bartlett wanted all the excess money put into one pot and then given out equally to each school. David Banks disagreed and wanted each school to get whatever was left over from their $800,000.

3. The September board meeting was moved for the week we are off to next week on the 16th.

4. The search for a new superintendent was discussed. The board reviewed the proposal from the Georgia State School Board Association to conduct the search. Lynda Crowder-Eagle said that they had already done some of the steps and so it was not going to need all 17 steps. They asked that an itemized list of steps be brought back to the board. Holly Cash brought up that the law firm, Brock & Clay, had done the search in the past, why didn't they just have them do it. John Abraham up that that could be construed wrong to the public and Crowder-Eagle agreed. They will await the list from GSBA. The survey should be up and running right after the meeting. I was asked by Crowder-Eagle to facilitate teachers/parents finding out about the survey at my school visits and at my sons' schools. Jay Dillon and I agreed that I would link to it on our website and our blog. I will also tweet about the survey. Crowder-Eagle will notify the principals of my area schools that I will talk with them about facilitating the parents/staff taking the surveys. An application to be on the focus group will also be on the website. We will actively encourage members to apply to be in the focus groups.

5. The district's Strategic Plan was discussed at length. Data was given to each board member regarding the numbers. I was also given a copy. While the district did not meet it's overall target, there were bright spots. More students are enrolled in advanced content classes and AP classes. The number of students taking the ACT had risen. While all the data on graduation rates is not in, improvement had been seen. There was a significant growth in the number of students who passed the EOCT in math. How the targets are set was discussed. They are set based on the trends over the last several years. It was mentioned that Area Asst. Superintendents and Principals are evaluated on how their areas/schools did on the strategic plan. I am trying to get a copy of the evaluation form to check this. The new special education law regarding special education students on GAA getting diplomas will help raise the graduation rate. Holly Cash brought up that if a student does not graduate in 4 years they are considered a drop out but some take 5 years to graduate. She would like to see data on how many students take 5 years to finish. The board asked Dr. Jones to make the report more concise and shorter before the next meeting.

6. The board discussed the spending of the $20 million in Federal Education Jobs bill. Bartlett warned that the state might lower their funding amount due to the federal money. They also discussed Sanderson's recommendation to give the step raise and pay for 2 furlough days. He stated that he wanted to put money in every educators pocket right away and that the furlough pay did that. He also said he wanted to restore the step raise to get the teacher pay back to where it should be. He wants to carry forward the remaining balance to be able to adjust the budget for coming gaps passed down by the state. He is worried that we have not seen the end of budget cuts to education.

7. The new Human Growth & and Development curriculum was mentioned. It will go out for public comment.

8. The board approved the application from Sedalia Park to remain a charter school for the next 5 years.

9. Splost 3 money was awarded to renovate Pine Mountain Middle School. This will be on the next meetings' consent agenda. The contract for the renovation came in 50% under what was budgeted. 13 million was budgeted and the bid was for 6 million.

10. The board discussed the Splost 3 adjustments. They had KSU recalculate the money coming in to Splost and it was projected to be 26% less than what was originally thought. That was 800 million down to 586 million. In response, the allotments were cut 20% across the board. Flexibility is written into the Splost plan and it will be tracked and calculated. Due to the major construction savings at this time, the board discussed taking out a TAN - a tax anticipation note (a loan against future splost income). This would allow them to accelerate, or move up, the construction plans that they now have staggered over the next couple years. This means they would take out a loan for $62 million dollars that they project coming in from Splost, and use that money to do all the construction projects now. The cost of the TAN is around $200,000 dollars and the potential savings is around $15 million dollars. It was pointed out that this wold allow for savings, but would also put cobb people to work and generate jobs and stimulate cobb's economy. The projects that would be accelerated are listed on line. I will link to them on the blog.

11. The construction costs for Wheeler and Clarksdale were discussed. both have been fully funded out of the Splost 3 undesignated classroom fund. There was $14 million in the fund, $9 1/2 million went to Wheeler and $4 1/2 went to Clarksdale. The increase in the cost of Clarksdale was caused by the State decreasing the amount it would pay to help re-build Clarksdale. These projects took all the money that was in the undesignated classroom fund.

12. The personnel appointments and the board agenda for the next meeting were approved and the meeting adjourned.

The Marietta Daily Journal - Georgia getting new school board ethics policies

The Marietta Daily Journal - Georgia getting new school board ethics policies

School board reforms — including DeKalb’s woes — dominate Capitol discussions this morning

School board reforms — including DeKalb’s woes — dominate Capitol discussions this morning

Green buildings may make employees feel better, a Michigan State study finds - latimes.com

Green buildings may make employees feel better, a Michigan State study finds - latimes.com

Cobb Sick Leave Policy

In the past couple of days I have received numerous calls regarding the new sick leave policy. I spoke with the district in an attempt to clarify the new policy. It says that sick leave that is NOT prior approved will count against you. Once you reach 7 days that you have called in for (not pre-arranged), then the principal will implement progressive discipline. This does NOT mean you automatically go on PDP or get an NI on your evaluation. It does mean you will, at the Principal's discretion, get a letter of concern, a letter of direction, or even a warning. The district arrived at this number, 7, but averaging the number of days that all teachers missed in one year and then that number was adopted, the number 7. Please let me know if you have a question or you feel your principal isn't following this plan. The policy can be found at this link.

High Museum - Take a look

Welcome Back Educators!


We hope your school year is off to a fantastic start! As you make your plans for the year, please consider a visit to the High Museum of Art. Our permanent collection and special exhibition tours are specifically designed to support your curriculum and engage your students in new and exciting ways. During a visit to the High, your students can examine the works of Salvador Dalí, create masks inspired by African art, expand their literacy skills, learn about American history, and so much more!



All of the Georgia Performance Standards that connect to our tours are now available online.



Art Access

Do you teach at a Title 1 School or a school with a high percentage of free and reduced lunch? The deadline to apply for Art Access, our free field trip program, is September 17. For complete details and to download an application form, go to our Art Access page.

Method to Grade Teachers

Here is an excellent article on teacher evaluations from the New York Times.

National debate is under way: What is the fairest way to measure a teacher’s classroom performance?

National debate is under way: What is the fairest way to measure a teacher’s classroom performance?