Category Archives: Budget

AP Courses/Exams And College Graduation Rates

Posted on March 4, 2016 by | 2 comments

Advanced Placement (AP) courses provide high school students with the opportunity to take college-level courses in high school. DeKalb County School District contends:

  1. Students who successfully complete an AP course are more likely to graduate high school and graduate from college.
  2. The district’s purchase of an AP exam for students will provide greater access and equity for students.

The State of Georgia covers the cost for one AP exam for students who are served by Free & Reduced Lunch (F/R Lunch). The administration is asking the DeKalb School Board to pay for an additional exam for students not on F/R Lunch at $83/exam and students that qualify for F/R Lunch who pay $53/Exam.
1,994 F/R Lunch Exams @ 53.00 each = $105,682
2,275 Regular Lunch Exams @ 83.00 each = $188,825
Total = $294,507
.pdf link icon  AP Exam Cost Estimate Sheet
Related Posts
  Mar 6, 2016 – March 7, 2016 – Board approves Purchase of AP Exam for all students
  Mar 6, 2016 – AP Exams – Tax Dollars
Correlation is not Causality
It is more likely that students who voluntarily choose to take AP courses and exams are the types of students that are already better prepared and highly motivated. Success in college perhaps is not attributed to the AP class and exam themselves, but to the personal characteristics that led them to participate in the class to begin with.
AP Exam Scores
AP exams are graded on a five-point scale where a grade of 3 is considered a C. In 2015 only 16% of the students from Title I schools received a C or higher on their AP Exams while 60% of the non Title 1 students earned a C or higher.  56% of the money this year ($166K of the $294K) is ear marked for the non Title I schools.
.pdf link icon  AP 2011 – 2015 Score Summary
Number of Exams Taken and Percent Scoring 3 or Higher

2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015
R TI # Taken % Passed # % # % # % # %
SYSTEM 8,160 31.7% 8,375 35.3% 7,660 38.0% 7,530 39% 7,451 41%
GEORGIA 106,211 52.2% 116,703 53.9% 142,011 55.4% 136,843 65% 142,587 55%
ARABIA MOUNTAIN 4 1128 7.3% 1003 13.0% 553 20.0% 396 29% 311 28%
CEDAR GROVE 5 Y 233 6.4% 217 7.4% 179 4.0% 181 20% 262 12%
CHAMBLEE 1 982 70.1% 1028 69.3% 1006 74.0% 975 72% 1,062 73%
CLARKSTON 3 Y 92 14.1% 173 11.0% 257 8.0% 252 11% 193 10%
COLUMBIA 5 Y 320 5.0% 308 1.9% 251 6.0% 296 6% 152 19%
CROSS KEYS 1 Y 176 29.5% 161 31.1% 164 36.0% 206 26% 241 23%
DeKalb Early College 3 Y 20 40.0% 16 56% 27 41%
DEK SCHOOL OF ARTS 2 196 54.6% 228 47.4% 260 59.0% 266 71% 252 70%
DRUID HILLS 2 423 50.8% 525 51.2% 505 47.0% 521 53% 552 45%
DUNWOODY 1 888 50.8% 991 49.5% 799 58.0% 874 60% 958 67%
ELIZABETH ANDREWS 2 Y 27 3.7% 29 0.0% 27 0.0% 18 0% 16 0%
LAKESIDE 2 1077 49.8% 1170 58.5% 943 66.0% 968 61% 1,154 57%
LITHONIA 4 Y 189 10.1% 175 11.4% 180 8.0% 186 12% 189 11%
M. L. KING 4 Y 230 12.6% 257 12.8% 253 15.0% 194 3% 213 3%
MCNAIR 5 Y 120 0.8% 123 3.3% 108 2.0% 67 2% 75 0%
MILLER GROVE 4 Y 166 12.0% 178 13.5% 213 9.0% 218 7% 118 14%
REDAN 3 Y 194 9.3% 193 8.3% 197 4.0% 127 12% 98 15%
SOUTHWEST DEKALB 4 Y 450 36.2% 415 40.2% 492 57.0% 438 43% 372 33%
STEPHENSON 3 Y 369 17.6% 341 16.1% 288 14.0% 347 12% 341 13%
STONE MOUNTAIN 3 Y 77 29.9% 114 30.7% 108 35.0% 128 35% 122 21%
TOWERS 5 Y 260 2.3% 164 4.3% 135 1.0% 143 3% 161 2%
TUCKER 2 Y 540 16.3% 582 19.4% 702 15.0% 713 17% 581 20%

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Posted in Budget

3% Raise For All Georgia's Teachers Next Fall

Posted on January 15, 2016 by | 9 comments

Teachers across Georgia should expect to get at least an additional 3% bump in pay starting next school year.

Governor Nathan Deal

Governor Deal’s 2016 State of the State Address
Gov Deal said, “I have shown our appreciation for our teachers by making public education a priority, and we will do so again this year by appropriating an additional $300 million for k-12 education, which is more than is required to give teachers a three percent pay raise.”
This will be the third bump in pay DeKalb teachers should see in a 12 month period.  At the beginning of the 2015-16 school year, teachers received a 3%-4% pay raise in the 4-3-2 plan.  Just recently the district rolled out a mid year teacher schedule adjustment where teachers received an increase of up to $14,000 to make their salary competitive with other metro Atlanta school districts.  And now teachers can expect an additional 3% starting next year if the school district passes along the additional funding meant for teachers the state will send to each school district.
[Update 1/15/16 ]
Question:  Does the school district actually have an option whether or not to pass this additional funding along to teachers?
Answer: It does not look like it will be mandated.  The Governor did, however, allude to repercussions in the flexibility given to the spending by districts that don’t pass the money along to teachers.  Every year the district gets Class Size Flexibility and 65% Rule flexibility waivers.  This year DeKalb Schools will also be applying to become a Strategic Waiver School System (SWSS).  It would seem those waivers could be in jeopardy if the school district doesn’t comply with the Governor’s wishes.
Governor Deal said:

“We will distribute this money to your local school system under the existing QBE formula, but it is our intention that your local school system pass the three percent pay raise along to you. If that does not happen, it will make it more difficult next year for the state to grant local systems more flexibility in the expenditure of state education dollars, as recommended by the Education Reform Commission.
We have given local school systems large increases in funding for the past three years and given them the flexibility to decide how to spend it. Based on a survey by the State Department of Education, 94 percent of school systems used those funds to reduce or eliminate furlough days. With the additional funding this year, furloughs should be a thing of the past and teachers should receive that three percent pay raise. “

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Posted in Budget, Governor Nathan Deal, Teachers