Today I had the great privilege to attend the Veterans Memorial Program sponsored by Memory Gardens and Pam Hovey. "Unity with Pam" is a local television program and Pam put together a great ceremony. I was so impressed that an original Tuskegee Airman, a real Buffalo soldier, and a member of the Flying Tigers were all represented. What history right there under a tent in a cemetery in Columbus, Georgia!! I could have listened to their stories all day!
Carver High School JROTC was well represented and one of their students was recognized. When you see the JROTC students present the colors or participate in a program it is always well done. What a great leadership and citizenship program! Our students are so fortunate to have so many choices of great programs in which to participate!
I walked over to the cemetery with a group of third and fifth graders from St. Mary's Elementary School. I visited the school prior to the Veterans program. I enjoyed the students so much! They were happy and busy as they worked. When I meet a new group of students I always think, "I could be teaching school every day! What was I thinking when I left the classroom?" I was a good teacher, but the teachers I see in classrooms today are GREAT teachers. I am not sure that I could reach the quality of much of the instruction I observe. There is magic in watching an excellent teacher practice his/her craft. Visit a school and see for yourself!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
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Now that it is the end of the year. Budgets and the goverments stimulus money has been issued. What will hiring look like for the Fall. I know that a lot of us are still looking to be hired in this county.
ReplyDeleteWe are about to begin hiring a few positions that we know we will have to have when school begins. We are trying to be very careful not to end up with too many teachers for our student population. That is a difficult call to make while still offering choice to parents. Principals are eager to fill their positions and we will turn them loose soon to begin the process. Still trying to balance the budget but we are getting closer!
ReplyDeletePLEASE GIVE MORE INFORMATION ON THE NEW CHOICE TRANSFER LAW..I JUST READ THIS THROUGH ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION...I HAVEN'T SPOKEN WITH ANY OTHER PARENT THAT HAS HEARD THIS INFORMATION
ReplyDeleteThe governor has just signed this law into effect. A representative of the school district will be attending a meeting next week at the State Department of Education to get more information about how this law must be enacted. The State Department has some procedural items to take care of prior to school districts moving forward. Stay tuned . . . we will provide more information as it becomes available.
ReplyDeleteHow does being displaced work? Is it the teacher with the most years in that grade level and school that gets to stay in their current position or is it the teacher with less years at the school but more years in MCSD that gets to stay in their position?
ReplyDeleteBy displaced I am assuming that you are talking about if we have to lay off teachers. For each group of teachers where we might have a reduction in force, the administration has to develop the criteria for the reduction and have the Board of Education approve it. The criteria may be different for different jobs and at different times. Sometimes, it may be seniority - across the district. Sometimes, it may be seniority - in that grade or subject. We look at the situation and determine which criteria will work best for that situation. It is our desire that we will not have to lay off any teachers but can handle the cuts through attrition. It looks like that will be the case, as of now. We will have to transfer some individuals. When this occurs, if it is teachers, we ask for volunteers. If no one volunteers, we look for seniority, years of experience, degree, and other factors. Looking at a situation district-wide sometimes helps us make these transfer decisions.
ReplyDeleteCutting 25- 60 teachers. Raising classroom sizes. We can't fit the 29 kids we have in our classroom now as it is!!! The kids and teachers can't move. There are more behavior issues cause kids are on top of ech other and can't have personal space. How will you know who to lay off next year??? What about BRAC Are we not getting a few thousand more students this year how are we going to teach them with no where to put them and no teachers to teach them. I am getting more and more frustrated with this school system everytime I turn around something else horrible is happening!
ReplyDeleteDuring these tough economic times with state funding continuing to be cut, we tried very hard to make the cuts that would make the most sense. The enrollment has declined in Muscogee County in the past several years so we were able to cut the 25 teachers without increasing the class sizes over the amounts approved by the State. The first wave of students associated with BRAC are expected in March, 2009. When the students arrive and we know which grades and which schools, we will hire the necessary teachers. Until we have this information we can't hire the teachers or we will hire foolishly. Please read the article carefully. Our first discussions included cutting 60 teachers. We did not want to do that so we found other cuts we could make throughout the district so that only 25 teaching positions would be cut and that could be done through attrition so that noone actually lost their job. I can assure you we worked long and hard on developing this budget and keeping an instructional focus even with millions of dollars less money.
ReplyDeleteDr. Andrews,
ReplyDeleteI read the article in the newspaper today about the budget and I wanted to ask you to reconsider your decision on year-round schools. You said that it could potentially save the district 57,000 dollars a year to shift the year-round schools to a traditional schedule. This could amount to 2 teacher salaries or three parapro salaries. Should we really leave it up to the parents of the children at these schools to make this decision when we are all paying for it through our tax dollars? Given the test scores this year at these schools compared to our traditional schools, is it really justifiable to keep this program? I'm sure there are studies out there that would support the notion that year round schools are not beneficial to student achievement and if you look at those scores, the proof is in the pudding. I would think that parents would appreciate all of there children of elementary, middle school, and high school age being on the same schedule. Please consider changing this. I'm sure that many other people in Columbus would agree that it is a waste of money and in times like these, every penny counts!