Library Workers Step In For Teachers In Atlanta Amid Budget Shortfall

In light of a major budget shortfall and a shortage of teachers, Atlanta Public Schools has asked school librarians to fill in in the classroom.

"Dozens" of employees from APS' media centers are being placed in positions vacated by teachers involved in the district-wide cheating scandal, positions that the library workers say they aren't certified or comfortable to take on, WSBTV reports.

"I haven't taught elementary level education in 21 plus years," one employee wrote in an e-mail to WSBTV. "I'm not prepared to teach the very children who have been cheated by the cheating scandal."

The transitions are being implemented as APS feels its thinning resources. The district is facing a $20 million shortfall, and is looking to slash $10 million this year, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

APS is also considering furlough days to reduce costs, according to AJC. A large cost comes from the need to pay more than 120 employees who are on administrative leave for being a part of the cheating investigation -- the paid time off is biting into the district's budget by nearly $1 million monthly.

In addition, the system has hired 109 new employees to replace those who have left schools across the district, according to WSBTV. But not all are teachers.

"It's a crisis in the sense that we didn't plan for it, but it's certainly one that we're going to solve and work through," APS interim Superintendent Erroll Davis told WSBTV last week.

Davis promised last month that those who were implicated in the investigation would not be back in schools. But one teacher told WXIA-TV last week that though she was placed on leave for being named in the investigation, her principal called her to prepare to teach for the coming year.

An APS spokesperson told WXIA-TV that the call was likely a mistake.

In addition to cutting administrative and curricular costs from the budget, the district also faces the possibility of returning nearly $1 million in federal funds that were granted for falsely high test scores.

The teachers who are costing the district millions are those remaining from the list of 179 implicated educators who did not respond to Davis' memo last month to quit or be fired. The district is now determining how to proceed, and APS faces a long process ahead for ridding the system of those who are targeted in the report.

Comments

[Benjamin Sisko]

09:37 AM on 08/10/2011

Quite a few things in play here. First of all, it's rather sad that the cheating scandal is having such dramatic repercussions in Atlanta. Right now, public education is not the "best advertisement for its own product," and we will soon see an increased number of parents opting for home-schooling or on-line education for their children. Parents who can afford it will send their children to private schools. No different than the US Postal Service losing business to Fed Ex and UPS because of customer dis-satisfaction. Secondly, I can understand responsible librarians being concerned about their ability to go into the classroom, but really, aren't they already playing an instructional role to the students coming into school libraries? Call me idealistic, but I think every adult working in a school building has either a direct or indirect responsibility to educate children.

[mweberhbr]

01:10 PM on 08/08/2011

A chimp could do thier job. In fact I have a great idea we have the technology to eliminate most teachers. All you need is a virtual class room with a low paid class room moniter could even use honer students to be the baby sitters. What you do is find the smartest math teacher in the counrty or world put them in front of tv screen and have them teach all the schools across america you find the brightest science history english teachers and thats it talk about saving money we would cut the taxes for public schools to next to nothing. Actually you put some ex drill seargents in the class room they will keep them in line end of story no more teachers unions no more cheating and no more wastefull spending by schools.

[MSchlagel]

07:10 PM on 08/08/2011

Well Bonzo, I congratulate you for the presenting the most simplistic solution to the education of 50M K-12 students. Yes, of course, let’s turn education into a passive television exercise. Let’s resolve the student to teacher ratio by raising education ratios from 1:36 to 1: 50,000,000. Let’s make education into a slightly longer version of Orwell’s Two-Minute Hate. Brilliant. But, so pricey. Let’s forget the educational experience all together. The money we save from never educating anyone should make you so happy that you forget all about those nits rummaging round in your fur.

[Ayla87]

01:07 PM on 08/09/2011

Salman Khan has a successfully reached over a million students all over the world. And as one of those students, he's done a better job than any teacher I ever sat in front of.

[OMEGA MAN]

12:23 PM on 08/08/2011

This is the ultimate goal of the right wing. Using untrained workers in education to dumb down the population. OBEY !

[dukeanddad]

12:06 PM on 08/08/2011

It is a sad commentary on the role unions play in our society today. How can they justify continueing paying someone for months and, in some cases years, before you can remove them for wrongdoing? I agree that there must be proof of that wrongdoing, but it should be presented in a forthright and speedy manner.
This is not a problem with just teachers union but all other unions that protect their members at all costs. By not doing the jobs that they are being paid to do, refusing to do those jobs or by doing something they know to be improper, they are stealing from their employer. In this case its not only the public but the children. The taxpayers pay teachers to educate their children and if they can't (or won't) do it, then its time to replace them.
As I said,its not just the teacher's union, but most public employee's unions. Membership in a union does not grant you a lifetime job. After a lifetime of union membership, I'm afraid the unions are "cutting off their nose to spite their face", They're turning the people against them, the people who pay them. And it's a terrible thing to see!

[rt6913]

11:00 AM on 08/08/2011

This is the entire problem with the education system in this country. These teachers and administrators CHEATED - and yet we can't fire them on the spot, nor can we suspend them without pay. They screw the students directly and then get to screw them again indirectly by taking pay for nothing.
Teachers should be treated like most employees in this country. If concerns are raised resulting in removal from the classroom they should be suspended WITHOUT PAY! Once the situation is evaluated and a decision reached that allows them to return to the classroom then they should be paid all back pay missed. If the decision is to terminate then they are owed nothing. This would greatly improve the speed of decisions as weell as address the fiscal shortfall created by paying people for doing nothing BECAUSE THEY SCREWED UP!

[fortressfountain]

10:35 AM on 08/08/2011

A better way than teachers? Oh sure get the parents and the community to volunteer-much like the USA wants people to volunteer to make people take their meds, and become community outreach workers.
I do not have a problem with them wanting us to be a 3rd world nation. Just do not tax me and allow me to set up a hot dog stand and weave baskets without interferance from the gov.

[CaptMike65]

10:05 AM on 08/08/2011

I think a lot of people could do teachers jobs and probably do a better job. Teachers consider themselves to be experts in their chosen field or major yet very few have ever actually worked in that career field. Most teachers finish college and become teachers. The result is students are being taught things that don't apply in the real world. My point is students attend school for 12 years and still don't have the skills needed to make a living. There has to be a better way.

[mweberhbr]

01:16 PM on 08/08/2011

there is teach them life skills along with the book crap. Also if I was in charge I would eliminate 90% of the teachers in the country hire the best and brightest in each field then you do a live stream tv for each and every school the students sit and watch and learn then you have ex military as class room control officers who also have smarts to explain something or help out this will eliminate the union problem witll eliminate extremmly high public school taxes for those of us who pay them that being land owners and maybe we will end up with smarter students. The only other issue is parents need to get involved, they need to go to the schools and spend time thier as aids or coaches or help out with clubs as i would eliminate arts music and sports they would have to be funded by the locals and those interested in donating thier time to thsoe sorts of activities .

[jp90]

08:42 PM on 08/09/2011

Please get in front of the nearest online teacher you can find to brush up on your grammar, spelling, and overall writing skills before you post anything else for us to try to read.

[jp90]

08:41 PM on 08/09/2011

Well then CaptMike65, please step right up into the nearest public school and share your expertise with the masses waiting with baited breath for your teaching excellence. Let us know how it works.

[cew314]

09:42 AM on 08/08/2011

Let's differentiate between school librarians and library workers now: librarians typically have a master's degree in library science and teaching credentials (often making them among the more educated folks in the building). Library workers are typically clerks with a high school diploma as their sole criteria for the job.

As a teacher-librarian, if I were put back into the classroom, I would be fully qualified with my teaching credentials, with the added bonus of being an awesome librarian (not a clerk). If these folks are clerks, boo hiss to Atlanta. If these are truly librarians with teaching credentials, what's the big fuss?

[bealebkk]

05:12 AM on 08/08/2011

in Atlanta a janitor can do a teachers job...

[Stephen Stafford]

09:38 AM on 08/08/2011

I do not know what makes you think you can tell such a lie. In Atlanta, a teacher does a teacher's job and janitors do their assigned tasks as they should, as well.

[bealebkk]

03:51 PM on 08/08/2011

'Sarcasm' I'm sure this word will be difficult for you to understand, but try. I don't lie.
Speaking of Atlanta, I'm sure they have janitors who would not 'cheat' like it seems many of the teachers have done.

[ligligl]

04:29 AM on 08/08/2011

The purpose of schools is to curb independent tghinking and make sure that all kids fit into their little boxes.

[ligligl]

04:26 AM on 08/08/2011

You put the teachers in an impossible situation and then are horrified that some teachers may bend the rules to fulfil your ridiculous standards and save their jobs. Anybody want to bet on how widespread the problem is all across the country??? Let's see if those school librarians can do what your teachers could not. I despair of this nation...

[FINTA]

02:14 AM on 08/08/2011

I thought to teach in public school, one had to be Highly Qualified per NCLB...

I can't imagine librarians have met the criteria...

[Stephen Stafford]

09:40 AM on 08/08/2011

School librarians have specialized training as well as educational credentials. They are used to teaching every grade level at the school.

[cew314]

09:44 AM on 08/08/2011

Do your homework Finta. Most librarians have to start out as fully certified teachers. To become a school librarian (not a clerk), you have to have a master's degree in library science which makes you a Highly Qualified teacher.

[txlib813]

01:24 AM on 08/08/2011

In many states, one cannot become a certified school librarian without some "successful" teaching experience. Some of the finest classroom teachers get advanced degrees so that they can become school librarians. Librarians serve every student and teacher in the school; they need to know about the curriculum for every level they serve. I'm sure there are some lousy librarians out there, just as there are lousy lawyers, bankers, salesmen, politicians. Numerous studies have shown that a high correlation exists between schools with excellent school libraries and schools with high achievement. What bothers me about moving librarians to classrooms is not whether the librarians wil be able to teach (they will), but who will then be providing vital, educationally important services to the students.

[FINTA]

02:15 AM on 08/08/2011

I dont know of a single teacher who gets an advanced degree to become a librarian... they get them to become Administrators...

[txlib813]

08:52 AM on 08/08/2011

In both the states where I worked as a school librarian, a Master's Degree is required on top of teacher certification and at least two years of classroom experience. One of those states is Texas, and it is certainly not known for its educational excellence. The only librarians who lack their MLS degree have at least 18 hours of graduate credits and were "grandfathered" in several years ago.

[cew314]

09:45 AM on 08/08/2011

Come to Missouri... heck go to just about any state. Learn something before you post.

[sactoken]

11:48 PM on 08/07/2011

“In many of my school visits, I go into classrooms where there are Teach For America teachers, and I’m always impressed with them. I think Teach For America is having an impact in more ways than we probably even realize right now.”

Dr. Beverly L. Hall
Superintendent, Atlanta Public Schools

[stmonica]

09:42 PM on 08/07/2011

I'm a retired 8th grade teacher. Some librarians were absolutely wonderful, but just like any other profession (strange how people expect educators to be "exempt" from the rest of the population), some insisted that I stay to discipline my class (some let me have a bathroom break) and were very impatient with students. Their books were more important than the students needing them. All this to say-some will do just fine in the classroom-but some will not. Many have not had the responsibility of a class alone in years, they have not administered tests, nor kept up with classroom methods.