MDJ Staff/File
However, the board did approve Superintendent Dr. Michael Hinojosa’s request to start fundraising for a Teach For America contract.
After an hour-long discussion among board members about what they wanted the budget to look like and how they wanted to deal with the $62 million deficit the district is facing, the board voted to reject an amended recommendation by Hinojosa.
“Based upon the dialog that I’ve heard around this table tonight, I would be willing to reluctantly accept Alternative C with the full understanding that it will put us in a very dangerous place,” Hinojosa told the board.
Alternative C included restoring all elementary media parapros and having only three furlough days rather than the five he originally recommended.
But when Board Chair Scott Sweeney called for a vote, it was rejected 4-3, with Tim Stultz, Alison Bartlett, vice chair David Morgan and David Banks voting against it.
The four board members voted against the budget for varying reasons.
Banks preferred an alternative of his own, which swelled the already $62.4 million deficit by about $28.5 million by recommending the district only have two furlough days, not increase class sizes at all and restore all elementary parapros.
Bartlett and Stultz didn’t suggest any changes to the original budget that Hinojosa recommended.
“I don’t feel the urgency from the board about the situation we’re in,” Stultz said. “We need to look at greater cuts.”
When Sweeney asked Stultz where those cuts would come from, Stultz replied that “90 percent of our budget is salaries and benefits, so a majority of that would have to come from that.”
“You would support about $54 million reduction in salaries and benefits across the board?” Sweeney asked Stultz.
“We’re already facing that for future budgets,” Stultz said. “The time, unfortunately, is here.”
Cutting $54 million from the budget would force the district to eliminate around 700 jobs, including the 350 Hinojosa has recommended.
Morgan said he wanted to restore elementary-level media paraprofessionals, but not the furlough days.
If the board had approved Hinojosa’s amended recommendation, the district would have dug $7.1 million further into their reserves, on top of the $21.5 million the superintendent had already recommended, dropping that fund from $99 million to about $70 million.
Hinojosa called the move “dangerous” because board policy requires at least one month’s running costs in the reserve fund.
Mike Addison, the district’s chief financial officer, said it costs about $71 million to run the district for a month.
After the board meeting, Addison said that he couldn’t recall a time in his 29 years with the district that a budget hadn’t been approved at this point, and Hinojosa said that never in his 18 years as a superintendent had it happened.
“We’re in overtime now. I keep using baseball analogies, but we just went into extra innings,” he said. “It was disappointing that we didn’t get a budget. We need to move on. Luckily, we have another month.”
Dr. Stanley Wrinkle of west Cobb, who retired in 1994 after serving as assistant superintendent for Cobb Schools for 18 years, said he couldn’t remember a time when the budget wasn’t approved.
“It’s a very difficult position for the board itself to put the district in,” Wrinkle said. “The board has made a very serious mistake by going this route.”
He said there is no fat to trim from the budget.
“It is the optimum it can be right now,” he said. “I can assure you nothing is in the budget right now ... that can changed in any way.
“It is beyond reasonable belief that this board would have put the school district administration, and in particular the teachers — who have already gotten contracts — in this position,” he said.
However, Bill Rogers, who served as the district’s chief financial officer for 31 years, said the board shouldn’t approve any budget they aren’t comfortable with.
“The objective is to have a good budget that meets the board’s requirements ... so take whatever time is necessary, even if it is later,” he said.
Addison said after the meeting that the budget must be approved no later than June 30, and if the budget is approved after that, then the state could essentially withhold funds.
Sweeney said the board will more than likely hold a special called meeting to further discuss the budget, but he is unsure when that will be.
In other business, Hinojosa said he was pleased that the board decided to give him permission to move forward with fundraising for Teach For America.
After spending nearly 45 minutes talking about the program and what Hinojosa was asking for, the board voted 4-3, with Kathleen Angelucci, Stultz and Bartlett opposing.
“I do not support this at all,” Angelucci said. “It’s appalling, a real slap in the face. This is very difficult for me.”
Angelucci argues that the six-week training that Teach For America teachers undergo before being put into the classroom is insufficient.
“You wouldn’t choose an attorney who went through a six-week book camp,” she said.
However, Morgan said principals should at least be given the option to choose what teachers they want to serve in their schools.
“I’m hearing that if you bring in Teach For America, it’s an indictment to our teachers … we are putting an option on the table,” he said. “I believe the ability to compete in our society brings a better product.”
Hinojosa echoed Morgan’s remark when explaining how he could reconcile cutting jobs while asking to add 25 TFA teachers.
“Those would be for vacant positions that the principals will fill anyways, and they would have a chance to pick from those Teach For America teachers … Mr. Morgan made my argument very well,” he said.
Board members allowed Hinojosa to look for funds to pay for TFA training with four stipulations: the number of possible hires is limited to 25, funding for their training couldn’t be taken from the General Fund, current Cobb teachers can’t be displaced and principals have the discretion to hire who they like.
Hinojosa said he will not start fundraising until after the school year is over and hopes to have the money raised by August, with the expectation of bringing back a contract for FY14 before the board in early fall.
Hinojosa said only 15 of the 350 jobs the district is expected to cut remain filled.
The board also approved a $699,000 contract with Northside Psychological Services of Atlanta to provide mental health services for 35 schools in Areas 5 and 6, which are located in north and west Cobb.
Matt Yancey, project manager for Success For All Students with the district, said providing this service is very important because so many children in these schools come each day with unmet social and emotional mental needs.
“They are providing services that otherwise would not have them,” he said. “It’s for the long-term sustainability of this project.”
The board approved the district’s request to move their 16-member staff to an agency that is in a better position to sustain them, Yancey said.
The service will be paid for with what remains of the Safe Schools/Healthy Students $8.5 million grant that the district received from the federal government in 2008. Since the beginning of 2009, the district has helped about 1,000 students in these two areas.
July 1 will mark the end of the grant, but the district has applied for a no-cost, one-year extension that Yancey is confident will be approved any day now. He is unsure what will become of the service at the end of the extension but said he hopes that the therapists will continue to work in the schools but with a different agency.
The board also approved 10 principal hires: Kelly Metcalfe, McClure Middle; Jenny Douglas, Pickett’s Mill Elementary; Peter Manson, Russell Elementary; Alfreda Williams, Bryant Elementary; Dr. Patrice Moore, Bullard Elementary; Dr. Kelly Luscre, Big Shanty Elementary; Monica Howard, Kennesaw Elementary; Deborah Broadnax, Powder Springs Elementary; Angela Stewart, Lovinggood Middle; and Stacey Abbott, Hollydale Elementary.
The principals at all but Bryant and Powder Springs elementary schools are retiring after this school year.
— Assistant News Editor John Roach contributed to this report.
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why can't he fund raise for the teachers and
parapros he is cutting from the squad? We are
moving from the ill advised to the imbecilic
here. The common sense of our Super and our
Board has taken an extended holiday.
pull down big salaries because of their private
fund raising efforts, why can't the county
superintendents do the same? Somebody will tell
us the governing laws are different. Well,duh!
Change the laws.
How about identify yourself and run for the Cobb school board....My friends, family and I would all vote for you right now.
Amazing when a voice of reason surfaces...there is still hope. I wish the Cobb School Board would read some of these comments and get busy cutting the waste; for example, take nurses...if your kid is sick...they should be home with you not in a Cobb school being nursed at taxpayer expense.
It does not take a boat load of money to run an excellent school system...it takes kids who want to learn (no matter class size) and parents who are involved with their kids. PERIOD.
To all the parents who dump their kids off at school and expect a genious to emerge 12 years later...GOT BIG NEWS FOR YOU....It won't happen no matter how much money us taxpayers pony up.
I'm glad my school has a nurse for my Type 1 Diabetic daughter. I glad you are not in charge of schools you are full of BS.
Why don't you give us you detailed budget plan to run a school district with 105 thousand students, 100 buildings, 15k employees and still meet all of the Local, Federal and State Unfunded Mandates. It must suck for the folks who work with you and you know it all ego.
Does Hinojosea need another do nothing committee ?
We have a SPLOST committee, a F and T committee , a balanced caladar committee, a new blue ribbon committee, a TFA fund raising committee and we have to hire an ex interim super to put together a notebook - Fire the superintend, Disband the committees fire the book maker and hire a real superintendent !!
As a teacher I am happy to have a job. I do think that people with real student teaching experience and degrees in education will be more beneficial to the classroom, BUT some of these TFA folks might be great in the classroom. We won't know until we try, but I do not think right now is the time with the layoffs that are coming and if our Super can fundraise to pay for TFA folks, why can't they fundraise to help our overall budget crisis???
The harsh reality is everyone, not just teachers are being asked to do more with less every year. It is just how it is right now. It really is demoralizing to see so many people that think poorly of teachers and the comment that are made about us on here. Please don't take what I am about to say as complaining, because I'm not I just want to throw my personal experience out there. I have taught classes with 17 kids and taught classes with 35 kids. I can handle both, BUT the honest truth is with exceedinly large classes (ones with 30 kids) are not in student's best interests - it is about cutting corners and saving money. Classrooms become so cramped that kids are literally almost on top of each other and in some cases kids have even had to sit on the floor during class due to not having enough desks. It is also hard to give as much individualized attention to each student when you have almost twice as many students per class, especially in AP classes or classes that have struggling/lower-level kids. Also, quite frankly it can become overwhelming for even the best teachers in regards to classroom management and grading when you have exceedingly large classes - great teachers can and will do it, but the kids will suffer at some point :(
First, over time, education has experienced what we in business refer to as "scope creep". Education is no longer about academic teaching, it is now all about "total student care and nurturing". The problem now is that we don't have the money to continue "total student care and nurturing". To remain effective, education will have to narrow its scope back to its core mission of delivering excellent academic teaching.
Second, Teach for America is a response to the issues of education quality and effectiveness. Professional educators have failed America, period. The metrics speak for themselves... high school drop out rates, college drop out rates, low test scores, low GPAs, students ill prepared to enter college. students ill prepared to enter the workforce and etc. When you continue to fail at your job you need to be replaced. TFA is your replacement.
EXCEPT: When your team continues to lose you earn a first round draft pick. Stop sending teachers apathetic, twitter addicts, with uninvolved parents and watch those GPA's rise. Focus on fixing this economy and watch these kids feel like it's worth getting an education because there are jobs to be had. Focus your magic solution machine on poverty NOT these teachers you see as "failures". What has changed in 30 years since you got your education? Are teacher prep courses less rigorous? Have teachers just become lazy selfish uncaring bastards? OR...is it just possible that poverty plays a role on student success and as a country we have lost the war on poverty?
Over time teachers unions have led to:
- significantly increased costs (salaries, benefits)
- notably reduced instruction time (a number of "planning" days, planning sessions during school, planning 1/2 days, blah blah blah)
At the same time, the needy illegal immigration population has mushroomed.
At the same time, at many schools, the role of the PTA as a means to add greater meaning to the live's of housewives has grown like kudzu. (our PTA has 70 committees - not one of them focused on something as basic and meaningful as "CRCT Prep, Test Taking Skills, After School Tutoring". It's all scope creep junk.
The combination of these forces has made a mess.
The second paragraph though I have some issues with. Teachers have been given some VERY difficult circumstances in which to do their job and VERY little control over the inputs. It is much easier to get the desired outcomes when you have control over the inputs, i.e, you can hire your employees, you can fire your employees, they have to come to work, they have to produce in order to keep their job. Some children are ill-prepared to be students, so you cannot blame all of the outcomes on the educational system. You don't hire those who are ill-prepared to be employees, but teachers have to take those children who are ill-prepared to be in the classroom. And yes, some students are ill-prepared - poor impulse control, poor etiquette, bullying and harassing behaviors, etc. Would you keep those employees?
It has to do with the DOE. Our educational system started failing when the federal government took over. It is all about standardized tests, data, and looking productive. If a child can only be failed ONCE in elementary school and ONCE in middle school....how can the teachers effectively teach when a lot of kids don't have basic skills when they reach high school? Also, socieity's view of education has changed to where we automatically blame the teacher. What happened to holding kids/parents accountable as well? Kids have to earn grades and if they don't do the work/study/read/etc...they aren't LEARNING. We have ruined our educational system by simply passing kids and giving completion grades - sometimes this is due to bad teaching/laziness and other times it is done so the school has higher passing and graduation rates to give positive "data".
When your team continues to lose you earn a first round draft pick. Stop sending teachers apathetic, twitter addicts, with uninvolved parents and watch those GPA's rise. Focus on fixing this economy and watch these kids feel like it's worth getting an education because there are jobs to be had. Focus your magic solution machine on poverty NOT these teachers you see as "failures". What has changed in 30 years since you got your education? Are teacher prep courses less rigorous? Have teachers just become lazy selfish uncaring bastards? OR...is it just possible that poverty plays a role on student success and as a country we have lost the war on poverty?
It would be like a person who has never used a computer telling Bill Gates how to run Microsoft.
And any discussion regarding education that doesn't involve a discussion about the general ineffectiveness of an increasing number of parents is null and void anyway.
-Stanley Wrinkle is quoted today as the voice of reason? When he worked for CCSD, he notoriously dictated a measure limiting free speech and banning topics such as evolution and homosexuality from appropriate educational topics in the classrooms.
Is Wrinkle an appropriate source to criticize the Board of Education?
And in the broad perspective, Are the citizens of Cobb sure that CCSD's decisions are being made by sound minds and with sound judgements? Yes,Hinojosa is included in this example.
Mindlessly turning over more and more money to the government is dangerous to our standard of living.
Has anyone who is putting them down ever spoken with someone who has gone through the TFA Program? I’m going to guess not, so let me tell you about it. When individuals are accepted into TFA they could never guess how life changing it is going to be. My cousin who was accepted into TFA, which is harder to get into than Law School at Colombia or Harvard, came away a completely different person. TFA teachers are thrown into school systems that most of us would hope our children would never have to attend. These are systems with no PTA’s, no parapros and no family support, and these teachers have to sink or swim. And you know what for the most part they swim. My cousin was able to do what most other teachers at her school couldn’t. Her school gave her the bad kids. The students who couldn’t do anything in their lower grades, but had been moved up, because no one wanted to deal with them. And you know what she did, she gave these children hope. She told them that yes they could go to college and be doctors, lawyers, teachers, or whatever else their dream may be. They passed in her classroom and their behavior improved. They moved onto the next grade and they passed their state exams, and now two years later they are calling her to thank her. Thank her for believing in them.
My cousin no longer teaches. She is excelling in law school and today has plans to practice education law and work on education reform upon graduating. She every day struggles with her decision to leave and not teach, and I believe, as does she, that she will most likely return to teaching. So before you all start yapping about what a waste it is, stop and think about what you may be missing out on. I am not saying TFA is a perfect program, because we all know it isn’t. But I am saying it is life changing not only for those who participate, but also for the lives of the students they teach.
and what's best for them.
If a principal elects to bring in TFA teachers, who graduated at the top of their high school class and excelled at leading colleges, and it works - good for them. If the typical run of the mill teacher doesn't like it - too bad.
Once they graduate most new attorneys carry a briefcase for 3 to 4 years. They aren't thrown in the courtroom with seasoned professionals.
Teach for America = nice name ...lousey idea and a clear conflict of interest by the one board member whose wife runs the operation....here's an idea...how about fire that board member.
Even teacher get a half hour for lunch
Name calling and rude comments will not progess the discussion
Teachers have signed their contracts for next school year for 191 days. yes, really. 191 days. We know the school year will only be 175-180. No mention of the extra missing days. How is this legal? Maybe someone will pull together a class action suit to recoup the lost contracted salaries over the last 5 yrs due to furlough days and magically disappearing days.
I am encouraging my wife to leave Cobb Schools. Several conecting counties are asking for her professional services.