Stupid Moves by a School Board

Cobb County's school board is doing some really boneheaded things. It isn't new - all the incumbents were replaced during the last election because the last superintendent kept trying to push through laptops for every student.

Now, the current board keeps meeting in private (which is a violation of the state's open meeting law). When they get caught (on the front page of the local paper) they insist that they didn't do anything wrong.

Well, a couple of weeks ago, Cobb let 600 teachers go - anyone with 2 years or less teaching. Then they hired back about 500 of them.

They have lost some incredible teachers to the system. I'm not talking about new teachers (and I am not going to get into a debate about who is a better teacher - new enthusiastic teachers or older experienced teachers) but teachers who have 2 years or fewer with Cobb and several years of experience in other systems.

In Georgia, you are "tenured" if you have three years of experience - or two years in the current district and were tenured in another district.

I just learned about an AP teacher who was caught in the sweep - 2 years in Cobb, 20 in another district in Georgia - and, while they have offered her a job in another high school, she will instead be going to another district in the fall.