1. Superintendent Fred Sanderson says when determining what kind of schedule Cobb's high schools should be on, be it block, traditional, or a hybrid, the decision should be made by the principals and him. Do you agree, or do you think this is a policy issue that should be decided by the school board based on the superintendent's recommendation?
The larger issue is we have several different types of schedules in the county for our high schools. If a student relocates within the county from one high school to another during the high school year the student is often penalized by loss of credit by the change in schedule. Since the county has a significant transient population that is a part of our high school dropout rates and Needs Improvement Area we need to work with the student to insure their success in education. All of our high schools should be on the same type of schedule. The Superintendent should make a County wide recommendation but the final decision should be made by the school board.
2. Do you favor a school start date between Aug. 1 and 15; between Aug. 16 and 30; or on the day after Labor Day?
My primary concern for �school start date� is the timing of state wide mandated exams like �Criterion-Referenced Competency Test� (CRCT) and �End of Course Tests� (EOCT). We need to optimize the time our students receive instruction to help insure their success on these mandated exams. With CRCT dates currently scheduled in April, teachers must cover all Georgia Department of Education standards prior to the April test date even though many weeks remain in the school calendar. For the sake of our students, it would be better to administer the CRCT in mid-May. This also follows suit for the EOCT in high school. Many of our high schools follow a block schedule which administers the EOCT in early December. Moving these critical exam dates would allow a later start date and still maximize classroom time granting teachers more time for in-depth instruction and students more time to master their subjects. A later start date has the added financial bonus of saving the school system money in air-conditioning costs.
3. Do you plan on voting for the constitutional amendment this November that would allow school revenues to be diverted to pay for redevelopment projects through Tax Allocation District (TAD) financing?
No. If this amendment is passed it will open up our school tax dollars to become tools for development. Developers could lobby our school board officials to help finance their projects. Taxpayer dollars for education should go to educating our students. I would support the lowering of school property taxes for businesses a limited number of years for redeveloping an area.
4. If the constitutional amendment passed, would you, as a school board member, ever vote to put school-tax revenues toward a TAD project?
No. School funds need to stay in the school system.
5. Do you think school boards spend too much time dealing with things like buying air conditioners, school buses and deep-fat fryers, and not enough time focusing on academic matters?
Yes. While it is important to ensure that the equipment necessary to house, transport and feed our students is important, the costs associated with these projects often conflict with the instructional side of the schools responsibility. It should be the primary responsibility of our schools and academic leaders to educate our students and provide them with the best instructors, materials and equipment needed to learn. It is easy to �mask� the expenditures made to improve the education for the students through expenditures for the property and plant versus true instructional costs.
6. Do you think it's true that there are too many high-salaried administrators at the District's headquarters? Would you work to reassign them, or do without them entirely?
The budget just approved by our school board shows rapid growth at headquarters since FY 2007. There were 529 positions funded in the central office then. The 2008-2009 budget funded 591positions under "central administration". That is 12% growth at headquarters. Central Administration is always a cost to be minimized, with the fewest people and funds to get the job done. It should be shrinking, not growing. The school system�s limited resources must be focused on things that directly benefit students-not administration.
7. Do you think Cobb teachers are "teaching to the test" when it comes to the CRCTs, SATs, etc.?
How do you teach to test? Students need a knowledge base to operate from to answer questions. Are we teaching our students to be better test takers? I sincerely hope so since test taking is an important life skill. The military tests to hire and move up in ranks, colleges weigh heavily on test scores, businesses test to determine applicant potential.
8. What would you do to lower Cobb's dropout rate?
This is a difficult issue since the state has changed the requirements for graduation with this year�s freshman class. The STATE DOE seems to think one shoe size fits all students and this is not correct. Under the new requirements we will not be preparing our students in the trade industries where the majority of them will work. We should value what each student will bring to our culture and society. We need scientists but we also need more electricians, carpenters, mechanics, cosmetologists�. Each is necessary for our society. We need to be offering a variety of job opportunities to our students that do not require the �college route�. I know as a nation we have a shortage of college students in the fields of math and science but to prepare the minority of students that go into these fields we need to offer them rigorous academic classes. But we also need to offer rigorous training/classes in the trade fields. We need to prepare our students to be successful in their chosen field.
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9. Are "portable classrooms," i.e., trailers, a necessary evil that we'll never be entirely without, as Superintendent Fred Sanderson contends, or do you think the goal should be to get rid of every last one?
Unfortunately, Cobb County has not used the growth projections the county paid the experts to provide. Instead, the County has used politics or �pork-bellies� for where the classrooms have been built. Even SPLOST III is providing us with unnecessary expenditures and not dealing with the issues.
Post 7 schools have many older schools with pressing needs and are poised for growth, but our area is receiving much less in SPLOST III than any other Post. The attitude that accepts failure, whether it is "always having students in trailers" or "never making AYP", does not serve the students or the taxpayers. Asking for another $800 million from taxpayers without promising to provide classrooms that the children need to perform is unacceptable to me.
10. SPLOST III calls for about $35 million for new whiteboards, overhead projectors and sound systems. Do you think this new technology that was introduced into a few Cobb schools in January has been properly tested and evaluated? Has it proved itself as a tool to advance student achievement?
Yes, this �new� technology has been properly tested and evaluated. It is currently being used in classrooms all around the nation and has been for a while. This technology provides teachers with additional ways of presenting instruction that may help students understand the classroom instruction better. Our students and teachers need the technology to keep up with the information age.
If we want our students to be technology literate, we need to provide our classrooms with the appropriate technology.
Good morning everyone. I have been able to confirm the dates for the June candidate forums. Cobb Democratic Committee hosts a Democratic candidate’s forum on TV23. This will give each candidate an opportunity to appear on TV23 before the election
Published: 04/16/2008
By Elizabeth Farnsworth
Marietta Daily Journal Staff Writer
MARIETTA - She's a teacher, an engineer, a mother of 4 in public schools, & she wants to be on the Cobb school board.
Democrat Alison Bartlett said she is seeking to represent south-central Cobb on the board. Dr. Teresa Plenge now holds the seat, which includes Osborne High School & Smitha & Tapp middle schools, but will not run for a 4th term.
Bartlett, who graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree in civil engineering, believes her background gives her a unique blend of assets.
Her experience in construction & project management equip her to exercise fiscal responsibility, she said. Bartlett is now in her second career as a high school math teacher. She said she understands what it's like to be in the classroom from day to day: managing, teaching students, working with parents.
Bartlett can also see things from a parent's point of view. Her daughters, Rachel, 14, & Hannah, 11, are students at Lovinggood Middle School. Her sons, John Patrick, 9, & Paul, 5, attend Cheatham Hill Elementary School.
"We have 4 children in public education. Right now, that's my family's focus - raising my children & giving them the best that we can," Bartlett said.
Bartlett feels the school board does a good job of managing finances, but thinks it is sometimes hard for current board members to relate to Cobb families.
Most of the school board members do not have children in the school system, she said.
"Sometimes they're out of touch with what is going on in the classroom or in our schools," Bartlett said. "One issue would be trailers. We have a lot of trailers in the county. I feel like the county hasn't looked at the overall perspective of what can be done to make education better for those kids. The reality is, they're not temporary in Cobb County. They're going to be with us for a while, because we don't have enough classroom space for all of our students."
Bartlett said she would like to see 90% of the state money that is allotted per student actually spent on that student - go directly to the school & the student's particular programs, she said.
Bartlett is proud of her experience helping parents learn how to speak up in a positive way for their children's needs. That's when she feels the most successful, she said.
She helped a group of parents start the Cobb Chapter for Gifted Children, & worked with the school district in putting a target teacher in all Cobb elementary schools. Now, the group is working to get advanced content classes in local middle schools, she said.
If elected, Bartlett would like to be a face that folks see & recognize in their schools.
"My children are not slated to go to Osborne High School, but I would like to get to know the teachers, the principal & the parents," Bartlett said.
Bartlett doesn't have a lot of free time-"I have four children!" she said, laughing, when asked about her hobbies. But when she's not busy getting them to sports practice or various activities, she loves reading & exercise. Right now, she stays especially busy coaching an Odyssey of the Mind team for her daughter, Rachel. Bartlett & her husband, Rick, have been married for 16 years.
efarnsworth@mdjonline.com
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