Comments on: DeKalb Schools Budget Committee Recommends Closing Fernbank Science Center

By: At Home in Decatur

At Home in Decatur — Wed, 30 May 2012 17:06:13 +0000

I’ve got no problem with bailing out DeKalb County Schools, especially since banks and select other private industries have been bailed out. But if Superintendents get to keep their jobs despite bailouts, then their salaries need to be downgraded in response to the lack of risk. It’s not like they are that much more talented or credentialed or experienced compared to many of the educators below them. $100,000 to $200,000 seems more than enough to attract good candidates. If it’s not, raise it by $10,00 and then see who applies. I’d rather that salaries were based on what’s necessary to attract good candidates than based on what incumbents want to earn. Ditto for CEOs–if they have job security despite failing performance, then they don’t need the security of a gigando salary and bonuses.

By: At Home in Decatur

At Home in Decatur — Wed, 30 May 2012 16:48:25 +0000

Agree that focus should go back on Central Office to take the cuts recommended by the Budget Committee. Looks like the hits will actually be taken by the students in classrooms and the teachers. A shame. Bad karma for those responsible, long time in purgatory.

By: Vlad

Vlad — Wed, 30 May 2012 15:27:21 +0000

Actually, when I worked at the Agnes Scott observatory a few years ago, we hosted groups from outside Decatur quite often, ranging from scout troops to sixty-person school field trips, during the schoolweek and over the summer. The tiny parking lot has a large bus turnaround/parking space and is specifically configured for bus dropoffs and large groups.

They’re equipped to handle large-ish groups and happy to host them!

The Observatory’s director, Dr. Chris Depree, can tell you more. His contact info is on the Bradley Observatory page I linked to above.

By: DawgFan

DawgFan — Wed, 30 May 2012 15:05:57 +0000

Bailed out by who? Citizens of Maine? Wyoming? This is a local issue. Period.

And big banks didn’t nearly destroy the economy. They played a part, but they aren’t solely to blame. Read up on prior federal policies which demanded that banks make loans to uncreditworthy people to buy houses at inflated prices (prices inflated in large part by the Fed’s decision to reduce the cost of money to almost nothing). Research how much of an impact that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had on this by securitizing these horrible loans. And, I guess the concept of personal accountability no longer exists in this country. People were buying houses they could not afford and they weren’t all victims of this.

And where is this money going to come from on the federal level? In case you haven’t noticed, the federal government is currently racking up historic annual deficits. Maybe Obama and Congress can just print another trillion dollars. At the rate we are going, we are going to be bankrupt in a couple of decades and we aren’t going to have to pay for this later anyway.

And I won’t even go into the difference b/t the effect on this country if the entire banking system failed vs. the effect of the citizens of one county failing to hold their school board accountable and demand major changes at the top and demand a drastic reduction of unneccesary adminstrative positions. If Dekalb Co. continues to allow the school board to treat the school system as a jobs program and allow the unfettered corruption, it is their problem and they should bear the consequences.

By: Daydreamer

Daydreamer — Wed, 30 May 2012 15:01:53 +0000

Perhaps now the focus can go back where it belongs, the central office. I don’t know why it had to be an all or nothing, to close Fernbank in the first place. Maybe there are areas they can cut back in, but shuttering it completely seemed so drastic. I’m sure they already apply for grants from the NSF and other institutions, but maybe there are other avenues they haven’t yet perused that they should, since they’ve been put on notice that they’re expendable to some.