Expect plenty of changes when the school bells ring in metro Atlanta this month.
Some changes were forced by declining tax revenue and state austerity cuts. Others, such as a standardizing of curriculum and performance measures, resulted from demands for better academics. Those demands coincide with teacher layoffs and furloughs.
"More so than ever, teachers are being asked to do much more for less," said John Adams, executive director of Educators First, an educators' advocacy group in Cobb County. "They're facing unprecedented class-size increases, funding cutbacks, along with pay cuts and furlough days. It's probably the toughest time ever to be a classroom teacher."
Metro Atlanta school boards spent this summer cutting a couple thousand teachers, expanding class sizes and eliminating bus routes.
The DeKalb County School District cut its budget by $78.6 million. Students will notice fewer buses, among other services. The system saved $4.7 million by eliminating 188 bus monitors and ordered shorter drives for field trips to save another $1.6 million. DeKalb culled another $700,000 by cutting 18 drivers in a bus route "efficiency" plan.
In Cobb County, the school board increased class sizes by an average of two students and cut back on library services. The system delivered some turmoil to Theresa Waldron's life with a relatively small cut: killing bus routes to four Boys & Girls Clubs to save $150,000.
The single mother in Smyrna has relied on Cobb buses to ferry her autistic 17-year-old son from school to a Boys & Girls Club. Waldron, a home health care nurse, works until 6 p.m. and cannot leave early to pick him up.
"It's really unconscionable for them to take this bus service away when we depend on it to keep our jobs," Waldron said.
By cutting teachers, some schools systems increased the student-teacher ratio. In some cases, teachers who have been at the core to a school's mission will be gone.
"I understood that there were going to be cuts," said Dionne Simmons, whose son will start fifth grade at the DeKalb Elementary School of the Arts. "I did not expect that teachers would be affected."
Simmons' son, 10, was going to focus on art and piano, but she learned the piano teacher was among five performing arts teachers who were cut or reassigned to other schools. A school system spokesman confirmed the cuts.
Teachers who remain in their jobs will have more work and less time to do it as systems have reduced the number of days worked.
Teachers in DeKalb were already coping with four furlough days carried over from prior budgets, when officials piled on two more this school year. Rather than reducing the number of school days, the furlough days will come out of teachers' planning time.
Despite the financial crises, officials found time for innovations.
A handful of Cobb middle schools will "flip" the classroom model: Students will view lectures at home on video and do "homework" in class.
Cobb and Fayette County will allow some students to bring cellphones, laptops and other devices to class.
"We believe that appropriate integration of technology will enable us to better engage our students and help make learning more relevant," said Fayette superintendent Jeff Bearden.
Teachers across the metro area spent the last few weeks learning new educational strategies aimed at bolstering test scores. This year, Georgia will roll out a new set of national academic goals called "Common Core."
The state will use a new system to give schools and districts numerical grades. The College and Career Ready Performance Index will measure performance based on factors including attendance and graduation rates; closing gaps in achievement; performance on ACT, SAT and end-of-course tests; and success at completing career-readiness programs.
Atlanta Public Schools parent Helena Marin has students in elementary, middle and high school in the north Atlanta area. She said parents are excited about a fresh start, after a contentious citywide redistricting.
"We're all relieved the redistricting drama is all over and we're looking to improve our cluster even more," she said. "I think everyone is very hopeful. We're just happy. Even the kids are excited and looking forward to a positive year in our cluster and in APS."
- Staff writers Jaime Sarrio, Wayne Washington, Nancy Badertscher, Jeffry Scott and Edward Mitchell contributed to this article.
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