Dekalb spending unique

teachers and school leaders, she said.

David Shutten, president of the Organization of DeKalb Educators, said he had not heard about the district’s plans and would like to know more about how the eight were selected and how the opportunity was advertised.

“I think it’s going to cause some resentment when people aren’t getting raises and there’s going to be this select group of people that got picked,” Shutten said.

Shutten said the money might be better spent bringing in good substitute teachers who could free up regular classroom teachers struggling with class management. This would allow the struggling teacher time to observe other teachers “who have it down,” he said.

“With classes of 40 and 50 kids in high school, classroom management is paramount.”

Atkinson said the doctoral program is tailored specifically to address issues unique to DeKalb County, such as its high concentration of refugees and financial problems.

About two dozen aspiring leaders completed applications and interviews for the eight openings, Atkinson said.

“We certainly wished we could have had more in the program,” she said. “But we have to start small and do it well.”

Between 1994 and 1998, the school system put some staff through a doctoral program at Clark Atlanta University, though Atkinson acknowledges she has not investigated to see if that proved to be a worthwhile investment of taxpayer money. “To be honest, I have not drilled backwards,” she said. “I have so much in front of me.”

The superintendent said there’s also a precedent in the system’s policy of paying for the training for teachers who want to be certified to teach gifted classes.

“We offer our teachers the opportunity to receive gifted certification at the district expense because that’s going to make them better at what they do with children,” she said. “The same goal is to offer something that is going to make these leaders better at what they do and ready to take on a greater challenge when that opportunity presents itself.”

Sonny Jester, former vice chairman of the DeKalb County Public School Foundation, a fundraising organization, said DeKalb has a history of lavishing resources on the administration instead of the classroom.

“If that money can be used for something other than Ph.D.s for central office administrators, I think it would be a better use of the money,” he said.

Teresa MacCartney, deputy state school superintendent for Race to the Top implementation, said, DeKalb “is unique” among the state’s 26 Race to the Top districts in using the grant money to pay for employees’ Ph.D. programs. But, she said, other districts, including Gwinnett, have or are developing leadership programs.

Sloan Roach, spokeswoman for Gwinnett County schools, said the district has had longstanding leadership development programs for teachers who want to become school leaders and for assistant principals who want to become principals that are continuing under Race to the Top. But no one emerges from these programs with advanced degrees or pay raises, Roach said.

Those chosen for DeKalb’s program had to commit to stay with the district two or three years after completing their doctorates, said Jeff Dickerson, school system spokesman. Each has been with the district at least 10 years, he said.

The state Department of Education has to sign off on the school system’s proposal, and MacCartney said that could happen as early as Friday.

In the meantime, the eight have already begun the program and are paying the initial costs themselves, Dickerson said.

Once the state approves funding, the district will pay for their remaining coursework, he said.

The eight are enrolled only in evening courses and are expected to complete all their coursework and additional requirements on their own time, Dickerson said. senators’ reimbursement vouchers.

Balfour, who acknowledged mistakes in filing reimbursement claims, in March returned nearly $800 to the state based on a couple of instances. He then amended other reports after an analysis by The Atlanta JournalConstitution found eight more instances in which he claimed reimbursement on days lobbyists reported buying him meals or lodging in other cities.

In 1998, Sen. Ralph David Abernathy III was convicted on 35 felony counts on charges related to the submission of false reimbursement requests to the Legislature. Abernathy, a Democrat, served about a year of a four-year prison sentence.