RT3 Funds – PhD Program For Administrators
Board Meeting Analysis
RT3 Discussion Analysis
At the 09/09/2013 board meeting, Race To The Top (RT3) training was on the agenda. The Executive Leadership Academy, better known as the PhD program for administrators, was started under Dr. Atkinson. The DeKalb Schools Board approved in a split decision the first year of the academy last year. At a price tag of $350K, the academy was designed to prepare 8 potential district leaders for local and district level positions.
Mr. McMahan wanted to make sure these 8 potential district leaders stayed around, but Dr. Carter was more interested in diverting the funds back to the Bridge Initiative. Dr. Morley attempted to find a legal obligation to continue with the program to no avail. The Executive Leadership Academy was struck down with a 4-5 vote.
“Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue.”
But, WAIT A MINUTE! for a fact, Ziegler was already an area supt when she was put into this public trough. Who were the board members who for/against their further slurping on the public’s dime? Can you please list the board members and their votes?
Pay them to stick around for two mandated years as they drive off into the sunset of highly paid admins and higher paid retirees? Kiss of death is to keep them. Let’s attract real new competent educators. That is at this point the impossibility. Won’t touch DCS with a 10′ pole. Only get bottom feeders. No more Paid 4 PhDs! Let them do it like the rest of us: hard work, reputable doctoral programs, hard work, scholarly research, scholarly dissertations with meaningful research contributing to our profession and educating students. Raise standards for all!
Kill all phony Pilot Programs.
Dr. Jester,
I watched the PhD discussion…the entire discussion could have been half as long if all the Dr. So&So, and Dr.So&So were not used to address each other. I do respect proper titles, but it is so glaring…do we truly need any more Drs in DCS? Really now!! Enough already! Form over Substance.
Dr. Hurley
More comments welcomed by Dr.ConcernedCitizen, Dr. MidvaleDad, Dr. Sarah, and many other scholarly Drs of Common Sense.
Concerned Citizen,
The board members vote by a show of hands and not electronically. I can’t tell from the video who voted for or against it. Given this new voting format, it will be difficult to hold the board members accountable for their votes.
HA Hurley,
The board made it clear that all money was to be spent in the classroom. The $300K and Bridge Initiative money would go a long way to reduce class sizes and remove furlough days.
We would, however, get a lot of bang for our buck if we paid more for gifted and ESOL certifications. I see schools with 100+ gifted students and turn in a zero for gifted points on QBE count day because none of the students received gifted instruction. Gifted receives 1.7 times the normal funds and ESOL receives 2.5 times the normal QBE Funds.
Stan~ Gifted and ESOL are not certification levels, but Endorsements. Meaning only a couple of courses are required for each. Universities used to work with school systems and provide those endorsement courses to many teachers on numerous Saturdays. Most Metro systems are now in such a mess, that even universities are shy to work out such programs. Online courses are competing, also. TFA is encroaching with only 5 weeks of training, period. Serving Gifted Kids used to be done in smaller classes. Now, the groups are crammed in, along with all other groups. They also need to be served on FTE Count days to receive credit if served by a certified/endorsed teacher. Surprisingly, extra pay has not always motivated teachers to add endlrsements, but smaller class size, fewer prep periods/subjects speak to teachers, statistically. Given the current pressures, disrespect, lack of step raises and overcrowding…many are at their last nerve. Ultimately, we can’t count kids if they are not being served.
HA Hurley … yes, “Endorsements” … thank you! For posterity …
GaPSC: 505 – 2 – .158 GIFTED IN – FIELD ENDORSEMENT
An individual with the Gifted In – Field Endorsement is in – field to provide direct instruction to gifted students only in the grade levels and fields of the base certificate(s). Direct instruction may be provided in resource classes, advanced content classes and/or cluster group classes.
Local Control
Principals should be given the leeway to motivate their staff to get the endorsements that would benefit their school. By giving more services for more periods on count day, the school could earn more points which could be used for more teachers to bring down student ratios, provide more prep periods, pay teachers more, or whatever the principal and the staff want.
I’m very concerned with the direction the board is headed with the treatment of the teachers. Dr. Morley, in the 08/05/2013 Board Meeting, stated she “would like to see more punitive measures and fine teachers”. The rhetoric coming from the Interim Superintendent is to find more ways to blame teachers for everything. This is not the direction I want our schools to go.
The teachers cannot continue to be punished by the likes of Thurmond, Ward-Smith, Morley, Carter, Ramsey, Beastley, RAMOONA, and all the rest of the motley crew. There will be a day of reckoning for all of their uncivilized behavior to the teachers, principals, and students and parents of DeKalb. I hope I will live to see them all go down. PHd’s and all, good Hurley!