Board Members of Atlanta Public Schools

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Public Schools Board Member have been under firer for the mess going on inside the Atlanta Public School System. Many people want Dr. Beverly Hall to step down and get some new managment. Atlanta public schools have under fire since the alleged cheating scandal of the CRCT test among elementary and middle schools.

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Waiting for Super

There is a lot of buzz about the new movie "Waiting for Superman". The educational system is not meeting the standards inside the United States of America. Bill Gates and others are putting together a plan to push American schools to the next level so that they can compete globally with nations. Oprah has made a big push with this new movie to a national audience to help reform the school system in America. Waiting for Superman has begin to open some eyes about how the U.S. competes globally with education.


videos

Waiting for Superman Trailer

Geoffery Canada

Can You Read

A lot of kids in school can't read and now one is really addressing the problem to help these kids learn better. I think schools should put phonics back into the schools. Many reading programs in the middle schools and elementary schools have more of a remote memory learning process for reading. Kids are not being taught how to read correctly in my opinion which is causing a lot of youngsters to not have a good foundation for learning.

Home life plays a role in the learning of our children. We must look at alternative approaches to how kids learn so we can better their overall ability to read.





Why Kids Cant Read

Re: Teacher Pay Cuts

Schools force teacher furloughs to trim budgets

The schools all across the U.S. are losing teachers do to money woes and budget crisis. In addition to some teachers being laid off they are also making teachers take days off without pay to help curve the budget and regain the millions of dollars the some how has come up missing in the school budget.

ATLANTA — High school librarian Melissa Payne is starting her new school year with $1,000 less in her paycheck and three days that she'll be forced to stay home from her job.

It's the same story across the country, where teachers — once among the groups exempted from furlough days — are being forced to take unpaid days off amid massive state budget cuts.

Georgia is the only state so far to impose statewide furloughs for educators this fiscal year, though others are considering it. But furloughs are happening in individual districts in states such as New Mexico, Florida and California, said Ed Muir, deputy director of research and information services for the American Federation of Teachers.

For teachers like Payne, furloughs hurt a salary that already stretches thin most months.

Frustration

She took a pay cut to move to a new school district in metro Atlanta this year, shortly before her new employer announced that all educators would be furloughed for three days. Now with student loans from graduate school and a brand-new home mortgage, Payne is frustrated.

School Systems in Peril

100 Atlanta school employees implicated in test cheating scandal

Atlanta Public Schools are in peril due to the city wide cheating scandal. Most of the schools in the district have been under evaluation for cheating on the CRCT. Dr. Beverly Hall has been asked to step down because of the cheating test scandal.

An investigation of suspected cheating at Atlanta Public Schools has concluded that as many as 100 employees at 12 schools violated testing protocols, the chairman of a special investigative committee told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Thursday.

Gary Price, chairman of the independent panel that was formed to investigate irregularities on state standardized tests at city schools, did not detail the violations, which could range from inadvertently violating test security rules to outright cheating. Price’s committee will release the key findings and recommendations from its exhaustive three-month inquiry on Tuesday.

"I'm outraged, primarily because I think about 50,000 kids in this system," said Price. He has also declined to name the schools where these employees work, although school names will be included in the findings, he said. "If [students] don't perform well on these tests, if we've been passing people along through the system, that's the important issue.



DeKalb fires 2, demotes 2 over sales of books written by administrators

What is it for a principal to make a 100,000 a year and want a little more money.
Several principals in the Dekalb county school system wrote books and then sold the books to the county totaling up to thousands of dollars. Princiapls who wrote books took it upon themselves to buy and sale copies of their own books which brought about the investigation.

DeKalb County’s top school official is firing two principals and demoting two other officials after an internal investigation found school funds were used to purchase thousands of dollars worth of books that school administrators had written. The personnel moves came in response to an investigation into the book sales by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

All told, the school system found three educators-turned-authors raked in a total of almost $100,000 in sales to district schools. One principal used her school’s funds to buy more than $11,000 worth of copies of her own book.

Interim Superintendent Ramona Tyson said the investigation uncovered a misuse of school funds that was “alarming,” “disturbing” and “unethical.”

In addition to the firings and demotions, Tyson outlined policy recommendations to the school board so the problem won’t happen again.

Home Schooling

It's almost as though homeschooling was invented for a special needs children's education. Kids afflicted with ADHD, autism, dyslexia or Asperger's among other learning difficulties can all benefit from being taught at home by their parents. Some public school systems can afford to hire trained therapists for these fields, but the extra attention and time afforded a student at home by a loved one can make a big difference in a child's ability to learn. It's just natural for a parent to be able to teach their own child more effectively. They've been doing it for the student's whole life and know how to best approach new things with them. They will likely be more patient than a public school teacher and offer the extra time it might take to learn. A classroom would likely not be as able to offer the one-on-one time it might take until a student "gets it".

It's likely a parent would also know better than a public school instructor what manner of teaching would best suit their child. Some learn better with visual aids, some by repetition and some by seeing it done for them and copying what they're taught. It's very likely a parent would already know this from their own experience. They'll also know what to look for when a special needs child is getting frustrated and ready to act up or quit, thereby avoiding a bad learning experience for the child.

If you're wondering what sort of curriculum would best suit your special needs children's education, there are several avenues to get started.

We would first look on the Internet. Non-profit groups who support your child's disorder will likely have a presence there and should have good information about learning difficulties and how to overcome them. They will likely make suggestions or direct you to other good sources. They may even list case studies of various methods of learning and their success rates.

We would also try to find support groups on the Internet for your particular disease. There will likely be several forums on the Web where you can read others' posts and ask questions directly. Parents on these websites are often very willing to share their experiences and will offer help when they can. Although your child is an individual, often there can be common practices that will help almost all children suffering from a common ailment.

There are also many books available about homeschooling your special needs children. Some are written specifically for particular disorders and offer teaching suggestions as well as curriculum selection guides. Most are written by people who have been homeschooling their own special needs children, so they speak with experience and write in every day language, rather than from theory with medical-babble-speak.

If you start with these suggestions, you should quickly be on the road to solving how to best get your special needs children educated. It can be as rewarding for you as it will be for your child since you will have contributed directly to his education and well-being.

written by AJ Adams http://www.elementary-home-schools.com

Stolen Merchandise

Yesterday was a stressful day at the high school. I have often wondered what goes through a students mind we he decides to steal something that doesn't belong to them. It seems like these kids get a kick out of just taking something to gain a rep. Many of my friends have had cell phones stolen, car keys, and money.

I think most of these kids wouldn't like it if someone stole something from them. I had my flash drive stolen right from under me. I want to wring the neck of the person that took it. I think if kid that steals something should have his hand put in a buck of shit !!!


peace coolwater