Morning Metro: Teacher of the Year, MARTA Solar Power and History Lesson
Decatur Metro | November 17, 2011
- Profile of Robyn Tibbetts – Teacher of the Year [Champion Newspaper]
- Breakfast with Santa tickets – Now on Sale [Decatur Minute]
- MARTA set to unveil Georgia’s largest solar canopy [Fox5]
- Dunwoody may get a Walmart neighborhood market [Heneghan's Dunwoody]
- Medlock wants to show support of Melton’s [MANA]
- DeKalb schools job listing: Secretary – starting salary $72,000 [AJC]
- Alleged Midtown shooter pleads “Not Guilty” to killing Decatur resident [AJC]
- POEM: History Lesson – Natasha Trethewey [Poetry Foundation]
More Run for Justice photos HERE
Latest from Decaturish
Is the picture from the Run for Justice that was run in Oakhurst last weekend to benefit Atlanta Legal Aid?
Yes.
Woohoo!
#296 looks like a great ambassador for Team Decatur!
Is that you, New Scott? If so, yer a cutie!
Thanks for putting it less crudely than the other comment that I had to moderate.
Been wondering what kind of crude it was
LOL! Just so we’re clear, it wasn’t another comment I made, but from another poster!
+1
No, it’s not me. Not even 10 years ago, on a good day.
In addition to the link above, Maureen Downey at the AJC has done some great work on the rampant corruption and sheer waste at DeKalb schools. She initially noted the $72,000 job listing for a secretary (!), but equally interesting is the sheer scale of the administrative bloat in DeKalb, see here: http://blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-blog/2011/11/16/what-do-all-these-support-personnel-in-dekalb-do-are-the-positions-and-salaries-justified/
Anyone interested in more information on the waste of our tax money can peruse the DeKalb list of projects for SPLOST IV, which is here: http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/splost-iv. $10 million is being slotted for high school football stadiums, including (amazingly) the installation of artificial turf in at least four stadiums, new running tracks and new football stadium lighting. When it comes to classrooms (oh, those), how about $9 million for interactive white boards? Chalkboards are just so passe, you know. And these are just a few examples from the list they’ve disclosed. Many of the “needs” are so pressing they haven’t been specifically identified, though I am sure the money will find its way into politically connected pockets one way or the other.
The secretary directly reporting to the Superintendent has more responsibility, justifying a higher salary, but she’s not the only secretary with that salary. And the numbers of the non-teachers in the piece you posted, and their salaries, are absolutely outrageous. I wonder if the people doing these jobs would be compensated similarly by the private sector?
Immediately before SPLOST went to a vote and the cellphone towers were put on schools without parental input into consideration, I realized a new Superintendent was just lipstick on the pig that is the Dekalb schools administration. Same people, same arrogance, with a new figurehead.
And at the end of the day, these people are only doing what constituents and other citizens are allowing them to do. There are many many concerned parents in Dekalb, but for whatever reason, those completely ambivalent to everything going on seems to greatly outnumber them.
Does anyone know if the cities that are considering incorporation, get authority over the schools in their new city automatically?
As far as I know, any new incorporation is totally removed from the schools issue. For example, I believe Dunwoody kids still attend DeKalb schools, just as Avondale kids do.
Once incorporated, I’m assuming a city could launch their own school district if they chose to. Likely a tough sell in today’s economy, though…
I’m pretty sure state law prohibits the creation of new school districts.
Interesting. Just did some Googlin’ and it looks like you’re right. Seems like quite a disadvantage for these emerging new municipalities. Yes, they get greater control over zoning and services but, for a lot of people, their greatest desire for influence lies with schools. Incorporating does nothing to fix that.
I am sure there are many involved and concerned parents in DeKalb, but many of those seem to be of the opinion that no amount of waste and graft justifies denying the school system the lavish funding it’s getting. On the whole, the county seems to have acquiesced to the kind of open waste we’ve seen from the school board and administotrs. Of course the school administration plays many of the voters like violins, claiming that any dimunition in revenue will result in teacher layoffs at the same time they’re advertising for $75k/year secretaries.
Whoah. Any secretary worth $72K not only better type at least 867 words a minute, but should also transform into a cocktail cart promptly at 5 pm, and then a chauffered limo to cart me home.
Another cynic wonders why MARTA needed this solar array. To provide hot water in the closed station bathrooms?
Hooray for Robyn Tibbetts!
+1! she sounds like a fantastic deserving teacher of the year! how lucky we are to have her in our fine district!
She is fantastic and is a lifelong resident of Decatur. I also used to have a HUGE crush on her when she was in high school and I played ball at Medlock Park with her younger brothers.
I had a crush on her in high school to and now I am lucky to be married to her! We’ll talk later Joe Blow… Ha!