Since we have seen that AUSTERITY dosn't work, which means the continual cutting and gutting of education and vital segments of society that are so important to growth; why continue to do it? Raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations in Georgia until the Depression is over... Recession leads to the Depression we are not in - because government needs to spend in order to get OUT of the Recession. If you go the opposite way (which is more Austerity) you end up with Depression... which you are now having and will have until you correct it...

...Redistricting happened a while ago, why has your area not been better prepared for it's changes?

It is a little difficult for me to understand how the District does their math. In order to education myself, I decided totry using some published facts ...

Based on my analysis of actual salary spend data between 2008 and 2011 from open.georgia.gov (excluding any spend data where former employees may have been hired as contractors) I found some interesting information:

1. Overall number of jobs are well over 500 less than 2008 (roughly 5 years ago)
2. However, the total salary spend in 2011 was only $2.9M less than it was in 2008
3. Using the "district published" number of 522 jobs (my count is actually 604) the aggregate cut in spending from job cuts amounts to about $550.00 per head.
4. The significant majority of teacher/administrator and district positions continued to show growth across the 4 year period of 2008 - 2011

So while the initial number of "lost jobs" sounds impressive, reality sends a completely different message.

Here is a simple summary of my findings:

Year FTE Self-reported Spend
============================================
2008 6438 $219,687,955.09
2009 6356 $230,781,255.89
2010 6096 $220,989,528.80
2011 5834 $216,779,275.76

If you would like the detailed report along with the supporting data in .pdf format, please send an e-mail to info@educationchoice.us.

Here's some easy math for you.

5th grade CRCT scores are now posted. Cherokee Charter Academy scored 13 points LOWER than the Cherokee County school district average. 26% of the CCA 5th graders FAILED the CRCT.

Honestly my hearts go out to these students and their families. They went to CCA believing they were getting a better education for their children and now those students will have to spend time retaking the test and hoping they pass or they face retention. They could end up back at CCSD schools after parents pull them and be a year behind the peers they left just one year ago. I honestly feel terrible for them.

CCA was actually the lowest performing 5th grade in the entire county.

@Flock...I think those scores are only the 5th grade writing test, not the CRCTs.
However it is still not looking good for those kids and parents who hoped they would get a great education at CCA, because this one element of their learning shows failure. Of course, this test isn't relevant to their charter because they only listed CRCT results in the charter.

Cheryl, my kids HAVE gotten a better education at CCA than they were getting at Horrible Holly Springs Elementary ... you don't know what you are talking about.

Schoolgirl, I'll tell you once but not again ... I don't engage with anonymous cowards who spout facts without sources and spin tales without merit because you are too much of a coward to put a face to your lies.

@knowles...I'm not sure of the point you're attempting to make with the salary analysis. However, if you're implying that administrators are consuming the salaries, ki believe you're way off base.

Teachers are paid based upon their years of service, degree and certifications. While there are fewer teachers, the existing teachers have greater years of service, many are obtaining additional degrees and certifications, as such, the per teacher compensation is increasing.

Your simple analysis failed to address the real reason for the apparent $550 per lost teacher.

@Chris....notice that I said this one area of their education is a failure. I am sure there are great things going on at CCA, but this one set of test scores is not favorable. Traditional public schools are graded and compared using this score...why should charter school be any different?

Where are the crct scores posted?

These are NOT the CRCT results but the mandated writing test given in grades 3, 5 & 8. Results for the 5th grade can be found at www.doe.k12.ga.us under the curriculum and assessment heading. CCSD schools are together and the charter scores are listed at the end with other charter schools on the 2012 School Aggregated Test Results.

@chris knowles

I don't believe I asked you to engage me.

@kelli

Just ask a teacher and/or administrators. I believe under the" highly qualified" rule of NCLB hey are required to show you. I've asked,several times, and I've never had a problem getting this info.

@Cheryl thanks for the correcting me!

Wow, they didn't meet the state average.... That's not good.

@Flock
I do believe you struck a nerve! I feel really badly for these kids too, as I have several friends with children still at CCA. Luckily, none of them in the 5th grade. I'm interested in seeing the rest of the scores. The head of the PTC said back in November '11 that CCA's scores were going to be outstanding.

Our children were at CCA, but we removed them after attending for a brief time. We discovered upon returning to their old school just how much they were not taught at CCA, especially for my 4th grader.

Going through some papers recently, I found their "work" from CCA: if you love worksheets, then CCA is your school. I know some people really love it, and were really excited about it opening, myself included. But out of approximately 2,100+ applicants, why are only 826 students currently enrolled (per March 2012 school meeting report)? Did they manage to go through every single child on the waiting list, and they still cannot fill it to capacity (i.e. 995)?