Serving DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale Counties Volume 18 Number 12
www.ocgnews.com SEPTEMBER 15, 2012
FREE
DeKalb School bus drivers up in arms over pay, benefits
D
By Joshua Smith
eKalb County school bus drivers are vowing to protest at every DeKalb School Board meeting until they get higher pay and better benefits. Hundreds of them packed the Sept. 10 School Board meeting, wearing yellow T shirts, the color of the school buses that they drive. The turnout was so great that protestors filled not only the board’s auditorium, but an overflow room at School Board headquarters in Tucker. “They say we ought to be glad we have a job? Is that how you reward people who have been working hard for this county for years, some even decades? We will not stop until something is done,” said 20-year veteran Cathy Douglass, who spoke on behalf of the drivers at the board meeting. “With food costs and every thing else going up, I don’t think it’s right that I get paid less now than I did four years ago. We are really hurting. We care about the children, but who cares about us?” DeKalb’s school bus drivers’ protest came as teachers in Chicago, the nation’s third-largest school district with 350,000 students, went on strike to demand better pay and benefits. Chicago teachers earn about $76,000 annually without benefits and are among the highest paid in the nation, according to Chicago Public Schools officials. The strike there has left parents scrambling to find somewhere to place their children. Meanwhile, in DeKalb, school bus drivers complained about eeking out a living in one of the district’s lowestpaying jobs. According to the district’s
Photos by Joshua Smith/OCG News
web site, the starting pay for a school bus driver is $13.50 per hour. Drivers work about five hours Monday through Friday. In addition to their regular routes, drivers may also volunteer to drive extra activities such as field trips or transporting teams to athletic events to earn more. The DeKalb School Board said bus drivers will not get a raise this school year, regardless of whether they protest or not. The board finalized its $774 million 2012-2013 general operating budget on June 20, eliminating over 500 positions that included teachers, librarians and bus monitors. The cuts also included the elimination of health benefit subsidies and a 25 percent salary reduction for all employees, slashing $128,551,284 in district expenses. “I have the utmost respect for our
Angry DeKalb County school bus drivers took to the School Board and to the streets on Sept. 10 to voice their concerns and anger regarding pay, health insurance and other factors.
drivers, but the money just isn’t there. Often times, bus drivers are the first faces our kids see in the morning and we entrust in them the safety of our children every day, but everybody is taking a hit because of the financial problems facing the district,” said Eugene Walker, school board chair. “Drivers have been reduced from 180 days of work to 178 days. That’s a 1.1 percent decrease in pay. Everyone across the board—teachers, custodians, everyone—has had to take furlough days and accept other options as a result of the budget cuts.” Dave Schutten, president of the Organization of DeKalb Educators (ODE), which represents 3,500 school workers, said the district is not singling out bus drivers for the budget cuts. None of the district’s employees have
received raises in the last several years, he said. “This is my question: Where’s the money going to come from? The money just isn’t in the budget. Everyone is feeling the hit from the budget cuts,” said Schutten. School Board Chair Walker said board members will not get a raise and School Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson also will not get a bonus. “People are frustrated. A lot of rumors are going around. Let me be first to say no school board members are getting raises and Dr. Atkinson is not receiving a bonus,” said Walker. “Property values have plummeted and until the economy can turn around, I don’t see anyone in the county getting a raise.”
Aiming High: Magic Johnson Bridgescape Academy opens in Atlanta to help dropouts
Magic Johnson
By Valerie J. Morgan
ATLANTA—Here’s a new way to fight the dropout rate that is plaguing the nation. Create a school exclusively for students who are not likely to graduate from high school. Said another way: Put struggling kids in a school that focuses strictly on helping them to get their high school INSIDE
Community News......................... P 3 Business News............................. P 8 We Worship.................................. P 9 Health & Wellness...................... P 10 Classifieds................................. P 11 CONTACT THE NEWSROOM Phone: (678) 526-1910 n Fax: (678) 526-1909 n E-mail: editor@ocgnews.com
diplomas. That’s what basketball great Magic Johnson has done in a new partnership with EdisonLearning. Together, they are opening Georgia’s first Magic Johnson Bridgescape Academy in Atlanta. The new school, located at 100 Edgewood Ave. N.E., is designed to help youths who have dropped out or who are at risk of leaving school, earn a basic high school diploma. The academy is open to youths ages 14 to 21. Anyone in Georgia may attend—at no charge. As a state-authorized charter school under Provost Academy Georgia, the Magic Johnson Bridgescape Academy is free to those who are enrolled in the program. Currently, there are about
400 students enrolled and the school is now recruiting more students who would like to attend. “Our goal is to ensure that no student falls through the cracks,” said Earvin “Magic” Johnson. “All students should have the opportunity to receive their high school diplomas and be fully prepared for college or the workplace.” This year in DeKalb County, 1,194 seniors–one in five–failed to graduate. Nationwide, nearly one in three U.S. high school students fails to graduate with a diploma. In total, approximately 1.1 million students drop out each year – averaging 6,000 every school day or one every 29 seconds The academy in Atlanta launches
as Georgia voters prepare to decide in November whether the state or local school districts should have the final say in approving charter schools. Opponents of the referendum want local districts to retain that authority, saying the measure will create more bureaucracy at taxpayers’ expense and take away funding from local school districts. But proponents say charter schools offer more alternatives to education and should not be turned down by local districts. Two DeKalb leaders weigh in on the issue in guest editorials published on page 7. Magic Johnson Bridgescape
See Magic, page 7
DeKalb seeks to wipe out blight with new permitting program
D
eKalb County has launched a 60-day pilot program to expedite the permitting process for partially-constructed homes that have been abandoned as a result of bankruptcies and foreclosures. The county hopes to attract builders who want to finish the homes by allowing them to pay as little as $500 in permitting fees, said Gary Cornell, the county’s interim planning director. Residential building permit fees normally run $1,500 to $2,000. County officials say there are currently between 1,500 and 2,000 incomplete homes throughout the county. The structures range from concrete slabs to deteriorating framed buildings that are now eyesores. The slashed fees will be offered to homebuilders through
Dec. 28. The program applies to previously permitted construction where work has been suspended for more than 90 days. A number of the homes have been bought recently “as is” by homebuilders who wish to complete the construction, receive a Certificate of Occupancy (CO) and place them on the market for sale. County officials say that if the existing structures are so deteriorated that they would fail an initial structural inspection, the builder would then be required to submit a full building permit for a new residential structure. For more information, builders may contact David Moss, senior inspector, at 770 572-4830.