Teachers in Cobb County are angry that officials are contemplating a trip to a conference in Florida costing as much as $1,500 a person while the school system faces a $62 million deficit threatening 350 jobs.
Superintendent Michael Hinojosa wants to send at least 40 educators -- and potentially 10 times that number -- to Kissimmee to attend a conference showcasing what are purportedly the 100 most-improved schools in the nation.
"We are facing a $62 million budget deficit whether we send anyone to the conference or not," Hinojosa said Tuesday. "But the potential benefit is tremendous."
He noted that the roughly $60,000 for the 40 employees he wants to send would come from federal training grants.
The district's more than 100 schools could each send another four people apiece, but the schools would have to fund those trips. Schools can accumulate cash from cellphone company land leases for towers, vending machines or school foundations.
Due to various restrictions, none of the revenue that would pay for the trip could be used to supplement the general fund. The school board is expected to vote on a tentative budget Thursday that eliminates 350 teaching jobs.
Connie Jackson, president of the Cobb County Association of Educators, said even if the training money can't be used to retain teachers or to roll back five proposed furlough days, it looks bad to spend that much on a trip now.
"It still has the appearance of wasted money," she said. Jackson, who previously worked as a special education teacher in Cobb, said the county should instead use the money to train more teachers locally, at maybe a third the cost.
Why not have Kennesaw State University train teachers to handle non-English speakers, Jackson said. Or help teachers get the training they need to maintain their credentials? "There's a million things that you could offer that would reach more people."
Hinojosa said the Modern Schools Conference is crucial because schools will be exchanging best practices for teaching in an era of budget cuts.
"We have to find a new delivery model for public education because we can no longer afford the current one," he said.
About the Author
