Dekalb County School Board Approves Lay-Offs for 430 Workers, Teachers Not Affected

Dekalb County school board has voted to lay-off approximately 430 workers amid a massive budget shortfall. The budget shortfall could be as high as $115 million one board member told Fox 5 Atlanta.

This reduction will not affect teachers, but will come from positions ranging from custodians to IT personnel.

A final vote is expected in May.

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Chattooga County Eyes Four-Day School Week for its Students to Curb Costs

From the Chattanooga Times Free Press:

School officials in Chattooga County are digging through ideas other systems are using to curb costs, including four-day weeks and fewer school days.

Chattooga Superintendent Dwight Pullen said officials are eying Murray County's 160-day school year calendar and Peach County's four-day week for some ways to save money.

"This is something I would want to have public hearings on before I make a recommendation to the board," Mr. Pullen said. "It would be a major cultural change for the community."

Chattooga County could save an estimated $218,000 with a four-day week, or about $125,000 with a 160-day year, he said. Schools would be in session Tuesday through Friday for more hours a day on the four-day week, Mr. Pullen said. The system now is on a 180-day schedule, like most Georgia school districts.

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Georgia Sees Spike in Swine Flu Hospitalizations

Georgia sees a spike in swine flu hospitalizations. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the spike was the most in the country for three weeks in a row, federal officials said Monday.

It is too early to say whether Georgia or the country are seeing another wave of the illness, which had diminished across the nation for several months, the officials said.  But the number of people being hospitalized in Georgia equals the number of swine-flu hospitalizations when the disease peaked here last September. Officials stressed that no other state is seeing such an increase.

"In Georgia," said Dr. Anne Schuchat, a Center for Disease Control expert on influenza, "things appear to be different." In the first two weeks of March, Georgia had 80 and 72 hospitalizations, respectively, according to the state Department of Community Health. In contrast, the first week of February saw 17 hospitalizations.

The weather is changing in Georgia and it is getting warm. Let's hope this is much ado about nothing. To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.

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Parents Call in National Firms to Launch New Schools Out of Frustration with Crowded Classrooms, School Boards

From the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

Lagging test scores. Crowded classrooms. Inattentive school boards. Aloof superintendents. Parents fed up with some Georgia school districts are partnering with national education management chains to open public schools of their own. The management firms enable parents to open charter schools with national resources.
The number of Georgia schools run by community groups and education management firms is expected grow by 50 percent next fall as six new campuses prepare to open using government money to privatize the daily functions of public schools.

The firms, which charge a management fee, handle the heavy lifting of opening campuses -- sometimes constructing classrooms, developing the curriculum, hiring and training staff and overseeing operations. A few even offer stock options to teachers. Nationally, for-profit education management organizations, or EMOs, oversee more than 500 charter schools, about 10 percent of the charter school population. Their nonprofit cousins in education management have a larger share of the business, overseeing  11.5 percent of charters. Public education is estimated  to be a more than $554 billion industry, according to U.S. Department of Education school funding projections.

To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.

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UGA Research: Myth President Obama is a Muslim Still Exists

From Athens Banner-Herald

News reports debunking the myth that President Obama is a Muslim did nothing to dissuade religious conservatives from believing the rumor, according to research by a University of Georgia professor.

Despite the best efforts of journalists, people on both the left and the right tend to believe what they want to believe whether it's true or not, said the paper's author, UGA journalism professor Barry Hollander.

"You have people out there who want to believe the worst about politicians they don't like," Hollander said, noting that panelists who called Obama a Muslim perceived it to be negative.

Hollander analyzed data collected by American National Election Studies, a political think tank that asked 2,400 panelists questions in September, October and November 2008 to gauge how their opinions changed.

To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.

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Police Officer Gary Clements Tests Positive for Cocaine, Allowed to Resign by Police Chief & Wasn't Charged with DUI

Why in the world didn't College Park, Ga., interim police chief, Ron Fears, fire police officer Gary Clements when he tested positive for cocaine. He should not have been allowed to resign. He should have been fired on the spot and charges filed for driving under the influence.

According to investigators, Clements tested positive for having cocaine in his system when he backed into another car while transporting two prisoners. After the accident, he had to take a drug test.

Police said Clements told them he had the drug in his system after he tested the drug by tasting it after he pursued suspects who got away. "He did some of the old type of testing. He tested with his finger," said Fears. Right. He should have been fired on the spot and arrested for driving under the influence immediately. Smells like a cover-up to me.

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Milton County Proposal Gets Committee Approval, Could Get House Vote by Next Week

A controversial proposal is making its way through the Georgia legislature that could lead to the re-creation of Milton County, made up of cities in North Fulton County, and could be voted on by the state House of Representatives in a week. The proposal, known as HR 21, won approval from the State Planning and Community Affairs Committee on Thursday by a 9-7 vote. This now clears the way for consideration by the House Rules Committee and the full House shortly thereafter.

Milton and Campbell counties were merged with Fulton County during the Great Depression as a cost-cutting move. Since then, however, northern Fulton’s population has exploded. Some north Fulton residents contend that the county's Board of Commissioners has become increasingly unresponsive to their needs and an inefficient steward of their tax dollars.

Opponents of a re-created Milton County argue that dividing Fulton County would hurt Atlanta and the entire region. Some opponents have alleged that race is an underlying motivation for the proposal -- south Fulton is predominately black, while north Fulton is majority white. Fulton County Commission Chairman John Eaves on Thursday called the 1932 merger of Fulton with Milton and Campbell counties a “marriage” that Milton County proponents are trying to tear apart. Source: AJC

Personally, as a resident of North Fulton County, I applaud such a plan. I am aware that the road to the November ballot is a long and arduous one, because proponents need a two-thirds vote in the House, which has been deemed an uphill battle by many, since Republicans would need to pick up at least 15 Democratic votes. My tax dollars aren't being used in my town because they are being used for Fulton County's needs in general. Some say that a re-creation of Milton County would hurt Atlanta and the entire region. Well, sometimes you can't always have it your way. Some have also expressed the notion that race is an underlying motivation for the proposal, with South Fulton being predominantly black and North Fulton, predominantly white. As I said before, my grouse with Fulton County is the ineptitude and waste of our tax dollars. It has nothing to do with race.

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Students Say Racism Still at University of Georgia, Though Less Blatant

From Athens Online:


Nearly half a century after a federal judge forced the University of Georgia to admit black students, race still is an issue at UGA, students on campus say.

But today's students are a lot more likely to judge each other on quality, not color, say both black and white scholars. UGA still has a predominantly white student body, even though the number of blacks and other minority students has climbed dramatically in the past five years.

Greek organizations are among the most segregated of UGA groups, but last month two fraternities took what may be a historic step toward more integration at UGA, holding an open forum to talk about race relations.

To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.

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Dekalb County Taxpayers Foots School Superintendent Crawford Lewis' Salary & Legal Bills During Probe

Dekalb County taxpayers will continue to pay school superintendent Crawford Lewis' salary and legal bills despite his decision to step aside temporarily as an active investigation into school construction projects is underway. Under the terms of his contract, board Chairman told the Atlanta Journal Constitution, that the district will pay his legal expenses unless he is arrested or indicted. In the event that happens, the board may seek reimbursement of those expenses.


Lewis isn't the only one afforded such treatment. Most public officials, including teachers, fire fighters and police officers, who are placed on administrative leave during an investigation are usually compensated. Their pay cannot be taken away unless they are proven guilty.

The board voted to give all Lewis' duties to Ramona Tyson, who makes $165,035.  Lewis' salary was recently raised to $255,000 and his contract extended to January 2013.

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