Please Lobby the State Bd. of Education ( call or write) for changes to GCPS's IE 2 Contract, now that it is to be negotiated with them.  Please find the members and contact info below :

During the last session Brooks Coleman carried Sonny Perdue's water on HB 1209 or the Investment in Educational Excellence (IE2).

The 5 areas covered under HB 1209, which authorizes IE2 are very broad...
-Class size requirements
-Expenditure controls and categorical allotment requirements
-Certification requirements
-Salary schedule requirements
-Any other requirements or provisions of this chapter as identified by the local school system and approved by the state board except as provided. The final plan for each school is posted on the Gwinnett School site.


State House Representative from District 100, Brian Thomas (D-Lilburn) has been one of very few outspoken opponents of this bill. Brian wrote an editorial in the AJC expressing his concerns about this legislation back in March 2008.

Under this approach, every school would be required to develop a strategic plan that would contain higher performance goals than it would normally have set. These goals must be higher than current goals because the contract with the DOE entails a requirement of higher achievement. The need to identify higher-than-normal goals applies to all schools within the district, from those that are not meeting AYP, or annual yearly progress under No Child Left Behind, to those that are currently excelling in student achievement.

Brian has gone toe-to-toe with School board members and the 'CEO' of the school system, Alvin Wilbanks about this program. Thanks Brian!

Until about 3 weeks ago, nobody in the public had not heard anything else about this bill. That is when the The Gwinnett BOE announced they would hold only ONE public hearing concerning the program before sending the contract off the Georgie DOE for final approval in January 2009. Why only one hearing and why have it in Suwanee at 6:30 on a Thursday night rather than having multiple hearings in Lawrenceville, Norcross, Duluth, Snellville and Lilburn? When asked by the AJC why only one public input session was scheduled, the spokesperson stated “...that is all that is required by law.“ NICE.

District 4 board member Dr. McClure (R) commented to one parent the morning of the meeting that he did not expect many people to attend. A packed room of 650+ showed up that night. The public comments session was limited to 30 minutes with no Q & A session. Since then the Gwinnett BOE has held 2 meetings to vote on the progress of the contract. Once on a Wednesday at 9am and the last one was this past Saturday at 7:30am. No public comments were allowed at either meeting.

There may be some good ideas in here but why is the largest school system in the state going to be the first one to try this....except for the fact that Coleman represents a district in Gwinnett.

   Link to Video so you can watch the FOX 5 News Story on Todays IE 2 Vote by GCPS School Board.  Vote at Shorty Howell Park in Duluth !

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/myfox/MyFox/pages/sidebar_video.jsp?contentId=8089348&version=1&locale=EN-US

  The GCPS School Board has called for a rush vote at 9:00 AM at Shorty Howell Park in Duluth after a Legislative Breakfast. The vote will take place tomorrow.  Please try to show up at the Community Building for the vote !

Link to today's AJC Article : 

http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2008/12/16/gwinschools.html

Call GCPS Board Members on the Telephone and Write Letters to the Editor about the IE2 Plan please !!!

Carole Boyce, District I, 2008 Chairman (770) 995-6796

Daniel D. Seckinger, District II, 2008 Vice Chairman (770) 277-4490

Dr. Mary Kay Murphy, District III (770) 840-9752

Dr. Robert McClure, District IV (770) 736-0001

Louise Radloff, District V (770) 923-4784
*Contact Information taken directly from the BOE website

Link to Gwinnett Daily Post Front Page Story on School Board Public/Not Public Hearing :

http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/main.asp?SectionID=6&SubSectionID=84&ArticleID=53852

AJC Article 650 Attend Tonights Hearing ! - 2008/12/12 00:04

Skeptical parents question school improvement plan
650 people pack hearing room
By D. AILEEN DODD
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Parents and teachers complained to the Gwinnett County School Board on Thursday that they were left out of the loop when the district developed a proposal to improve student achievement that also seeks freedom from state laws governing class sizes and educators’ pay.

More than 650 people packed a public hearing to get more information about the School Board plan, but many did not get the answers they sought.

Recent headlines:


Skeptical parents question school improvement plan
Gwinnett commission won't cut ambulance services
Community reaches out to Norcross fire victims
• Gwinnett County news


“This is not a question-and-answers session,” board Chairperson Carole Boyce told the audience.

Still, speakers persisted with questions.

A draft of a proposal that seeks greater local control over education in exchange for greater accountability posted on the school’s Web site on Monday did not show how the plan would take shape at individual local schools.

A draft of a board proposal, which seeks greater local control over education in exchange for greater accountability, was posted Monday on the school district’s Web site.

The draft did not show how the plan would take shape at individual local schools. And school officials Thursday night did not offer much insight to those packing the board meeting room.

“If this plan is the right vehicle for student improvement, why not be transparent?” asked Brian Westlake, a Gwinnett schoolteacher. “Make the case to parents and teachers in order to get buy-in. I would like to see a board that treats us as professionals and views this as not simply another necessary step in the process.”

A hearing was required before the School Board could vote on the flexibility plan, which is authorized under the Investing in Educational Excellence law.

The law gives school districts that apply the freedom to bypass certain state laws to create educational programs that meet the needs of students. Districts would enter into five-year flexibility contracts with the state to improve student achievement, or face consequences.

The punishment under consideration in Gwinnett is converting to charter schools low-performing campuses that don’t achieve contract goals.

“What this contract does is simply grant us the permission to be relieved from some of the state rules and mandates that keep us from being as effective as we can be,” schools Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks said. “We might need some flexibility to do some things that these hard times call for.”

Wilbanks said parents and teachers would have an opportunity to be involved on the local school level as principals decide what options they will use to improve student success.

Gwinnett schools seek to bypass certain education laws, such as those concerning funding, class size, teachers’ pay and limitations on the use of aides to staff classrooms, in exchange for increased accountability over student success.

The board is considering voting on the flexibility plan later this month so that the state Board of Education could consider it in January.

“If we miss this window of opportunity, we like would be in a position to have to wait one more academic year,” School Board member Mary Kay Murphy said in a board workshop before the hearing.

Still, parents and teachers asked the board to delay a vote until they had time to understand the plan and make suggestions.

“This is a major shift in policy,” said parent Craig Lownes. “It smacks of a plan hastily created and done to meet an artificial date.”

Members of the Gwinnett branch of the NAACP and the Professional Association of Georgia Educators also asked for more opportunity to comment.

“How can we trust this plan and its makers, when the makers do not trust us teaching and learning experts enough to ask for our input into this radical proposal that will impact us in our classrooms every day?” said Barbara Wilson, co-president of the Gwinnett County Association of Educators. “The Georgia Legislature guaranteed that the flexibility plan would be a collaborative effort.”



Good and Accurate Article which I hope makes it to the Papers Front Page or the Front Page of the Metro Section.......

Mr. Wilbanks ($307,000+ employee ) in his Comments to the assembled crowd did not have kind words for Ms. Dodd and The AJC's open records request ! Someone should research the County Gas he is filling his Private Vehicle with, if it shows up on GCPS Records ?

 

 

   In Thursday's 11/27/2008 Atlanta Journal and Constitution page 1, there is an article talking about how the Board of Education wants to pull out of State Mandates for increases in performance in five years.  The information had to be obtained through an Open Records Request the School Board is intending on acting on the proposal in December. Again the School System acts in secret !  The plan calls for video teaching with a teachers aide in the classroom, as well as larger class sizes. The School System also is considering allowing several classes to share one certified expert teacher who provides lessons broadcast through a video monitor while a teachers aide would supervise classrooms and help students with work. It takes a professional teacher to improve student performance not a video screen. Another proposal would scale back mandatory work free lunch breaks for elementary school teachers in favor of more instruction time. Teachers say they have been left in the dark about what to expect.
According to the proposal the school district could grow class sizes and give principals the flexibility to hire more support staff such as social workers instead of more certified teachers when enrollment swells. Under its flexiblity proposal Gwinnett vows to use targeted instruction to improve performance in reading, language and math for all students.  Gwinnett School officials say it is too early for an open dialogue on the flexibility plan and that parents and teachers will be given an opportunity to voice their opinions soon. We expect that Gwinnett's proposed contract would be presented and reviewed by the Gwinnett board in December. At that time, the district will hold a public hearing on the proposal.  These are backdoor budget cuts. Large amounts of teachers and parents must turn out for the public hearing.....