LAST WEEK: SHOULD SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS BE REQUIRED TO LIVE IN THE DISTRICT THEY SERVE?
Earlier this month Decatur’s school board announced during its regular meeting that Superintendent David Dude couldn’t find a house he can afford within city limits. Since getting hired in November he and his family of five have rented a home in Oakhurst. During an informal conversation the board discussed:
Should Dude receive a housing stipend larger than the $1,500 he receives each month?
Is it feasible to offer similar stipends to school staffers or faculty members?
Should Dude be allowed, at least until finding a permanent residence, to rent one of two houses owned by the school system?
In the first year of a three-year contract Dude makes $179,000, not counting his current stipend and a potential $10,000 performance bonus. We asked if the superintendent needs to live in the same district he oversees, and should he be given an increased housing stipend, or even a rent-free, in-district home, much like a college president?
Here’s what some readers had to say:
You have GOT to be kidding! If a teacher who makes less than one-fourth of his salary can afford to rent in Decatur (me) and he can't, he might want to lower his standards a bit. — Christi Brittian
$179,000 a year in Decatur proper when you have children is not a lot of money. His contract already allows $1,500 per month to be used toward housing within the city. Decatur wants the best, and therefore must pay for the best. We pay insanely high taxes for a reason. Frankly, I love that Dr. Dude lives right here in our community. He shouldn't have to move to the county. — Tiffany Turner
I 'm selling a house just a mile-and-a-half from downtown Decatur. On Memorial Drive. Cheap. Only $59,000. Let him know. — Jose Antonio Olivo
Go one block outside the city limits in any direction and he can afford a nice house. — Renee Becker Prevallet
I live in Decatur on a teacher's salary. It requires a smaller home, a neighborhood not directly downtown, and some penny pinching. If I can do it so can he. #nostipendnecessary — Erika Martinez Nutter
He's already fired a [staffer] without doing his due diligence which was reversed and now he wants a house bought for doing shoddy work already. — Michelle Timothy
Ridiculous! These superintendents are getting "too big for their britches." One of our ridiculous superintendents "needed" a driver to get around DeKalb County, and she had four "bodyguard looking people" walking out on the stage with her. In the mean time I was buying all the supplies for kids in my class, dressing half of them, paying their field-trip money while I didn't get a raise for the last 10 years I taught. Put the money in the school house, not the superintendent's house. — Jacqueline Dalton Barfield
It seems like many of you are [not] differentiating between City of Decatur and DeKalb County. This guy is the superintendent for [Decatur] schools. Yes there are other places with a Decatur address where he could live for less, but they would be in the county school zone, not the city. If he runs the schools, he should live there and his kids should go to school there so that he is fully vested in the community and school system. And if the city decides that requires a stipend, then ok. $179k may seem like a lot of money, but you need to take into account cost of housing in that area (which is incredibly high). You're only going to get the quality of candidates that you're willing to pay for. — Cher Reese Jackson
Ridiculous that he can't find an "affordable" house in Decatur. — Jolynn Haley Burke Parnham
This article is ridiculous. He makes $179, 000 a year! Just proves the theory the more you have the more you spend. I am sure the school board of Decatur can afford a stipend with no problem. — Londa Saunders
Who wants to live in Decatur as it's way over priced and full of liberals. —Patty Taylor
— Bill Banks for the AJC
Mayor Kasim Reed has said on many ocassions that if PARKAtlanta isn’t doing a satisfactory job, he will look to replace the company at the end of its contract. It looks like he’s doing what he said he’d do.
Recently, Reed said the city will solicit bids for parking enforcement. This could only mean that the Wisconsin-based firm may be out the parking ticket writing business in Atlanta before the end of the year.
Under the current contract that expires in September, the city gets more the $5 million a year in parking fees. Over the past four years, PARKAtlanta has made about $6 million from the deal.
But the union has been highly controversial since 2009 when Mayor Shirley Franklin’s administration struck the deal. Residents have complained about being unfairly targeted, over-zealous enforcement and being unable to appeal tickets.
But Reed has said he doesn’t want to have uniformed officers writing parking tickets. He’d rather they work to curb crime. So is the solution keep PARKAtlanta, go with another company, use uniformed officers, a combination of officers and civilians or something else?
Tell us what you think. Send comments to communitynews@ajc.com.
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