Tell us what you think about the possible changes to pre-kindergarten. Did your child get a lottery spot in the district? Would you be satisfied with a scaled back pre-kindergarten program?

Has there been discussion of selling off the empty buildings in the county? I can name at least five in this area alone that are empty and unused or underused. I'm pretty sure the property on N. Druid Hills alone could recover the recent 12 million dollar shortfall.

Start by culling <strong>all</strong> the positions between principal and superintendent. Then raise the millage to the maximum allowed. There's no future that includes any public school getting "fully funded". Next, and this is the hard one, start the pay cuts at the top. It's not feasible to do across the board x% because the bottom end is already low enough. Instead, a top-weighted cut structure that reduces the top salaries down to what a 20 year veteran teacher makes.
Cuts are not the better alternative when it deals with schools.The South has a long history of not funding schools well already. It should be obvious from the poll as most responses (58%) only want to cut education funds that there is a serious problem with our community as it views the merits of education. I have heard people who own businesses in DeKalb complaining about having to pay property taxes and in the same breath complaining about how under prepared their workers are out of high school.
It's time to start knocking on every business in DeKalb with hat in hand and say "cough it up for the schools". Asking they pitch in $100 per hourly worker and $500 per salaried worker is a good starting point. If they can't write a check right then, maybe a public radio/TV pledge process where they donate it over the next few months will make it easier. Make sure the churches are on the donation list as well. They don't pay in at all as tax code stands now.

I think it also is time to start knocking on the doors of the non-profits who do not pay property taxes. And, I DO mean churches, too.

Cut the central office to the bare bones, so much so that they rattle around in the palace; cut Fernbank Science Center funding 50% this year and tell them they have one year to find alternative funding or they are shut down; fund pre-k at the state level, but still house in our schools - getting to our children early, education wise, is vital; our politicians must be made to realize that this equalization funding that we as taxpayers of DeKalb provide to other counties must cease until and unless the financial health of DeKalb County ever recovers.

Get rid of that empty property on North Decatur Rd. Surely it could be sold to bring in some income.

My daughter did get in the lottery and I was so happy about the ease on my families budget and that her and my other daughter will be at the same school for a while, though I am a bit wary of cuts to that program. Plus music has been cut from my daughter's school which makes me sad. It is sad to me, I say cut administration as much as possible and sell property.

Cut all salaries over $60,000. The school system handed out high salaries and generous raises during the real-estate bubble. Solving our current crisis should begin with a correction to past overindulgence, not by punishing our students by taking away programs.

Jason, is Patch going to blog the Budget meeting tomorrow?

The county has to start looking outside the typical government inside the box fixes. Obviously those do not work. They need to think of using their assets for revenue. I know that sounds crazy but the government can actually MAKE money instead of spending it. It's all about expanding views instead of shutting them down. IMO, each school should have a self-employed after school program (like Fernbank, Oak Grove, and many others) I also think these after school programs should be extended to the middle schools where the after school activities, such as sports and clubs are provided by private groups, paid for privately by the students who choose to participate. There is currently a successful program like this at East Lake Charter School (of which I have taught after school class at for 5 years as a contracted employee). I know for a fact Fernbank makes a profit from their after school program as well as other schools. This money then goes back into the school so they don't need the county to help with improvements. Maybe we should stop thinking about how to cut resources and how to add them, while making them an asset and not a drain.

MTV used the vacant property on N. Druid Hills to tape their series "Teen Wolf". Do we know how much was money was received from that?

First cut the expense packages of all employees. This is one of the first things that corporations do when tightening budgets. It is time to cut the magnet transportation. I believe we are the only county that provides this. Magnet school ratios need to go higher. Why? I believe the magnet classes since they can pick and choose and have charters have less discipline problems than the have nots.

I also agree with Nigel about the salary cuts. I may adjust to a little higher but not much. Paras, bus drivers, janitorial staff, cafeteria workers are the lowest paid and it just might sink them to below the poverty line.

Offer incentives to those who are maxed out to retire, these are probably some of the higher salaried staff anyway.

We need the commissioners and our schools to work together to make this a viable community or we are all sunk. Come talk to Burrell Ellis tonight at Mountain Creek Pool in Smokerise tonight at 7 p.m.!

Lisa - "Burrell Ellis" ??????? ROFLMAO. I'll be too busy watching paint dry.

Eliminate extraneous personnel from the schools. There are far too many employees that have little to nothing to do with education. From Nurses and psychiatrists who could be completely removed or at least privatized, to librarians who could be easily replaced with computers, the staff is bloated and ineffective. There are many other examples of such positions. Administration is also far overstaffed. These individuals do not add to the educational value of our children's experience and so when times are tough they should be the first to go. Cut down to the people doing the teaching.

Mr. Kinney,
Cutting FSC and allowing it to form private-public partnerships is the first start in saving it for the future. Next year, there will be higher fixed costs and even less revenue. In addition, we must find a way to restore all that has been lost for our teachers and to decrease class sizes. Those must be the priorities for DeKalb schools moving forward. Just yesterday, I heard of two really terrific teachers leaving our neighborhood middle school for another metro county. The hemorrhaging has started. This makes 15 teachers between three schools that are leaving DeKalb. 12 of them will be missed.

DeKalb can no longer do more than Fulton and Cobb, which all have more money that we do and both have a far less challenging population. The advocacy for Fernbank has been impressive and I know that there is tremendous wisdom in that group.

Why isn't the TV station closed and sold?

FWIW, once again this is all smoke and mirrors. The board did NOT vote on a budget. They voted on a list of budget CUTS. They did not SEE or REVIEW a budget whatsoever. They voted on these cuts blindly - without knowing anything about the full budget and department allocations at the time. They never voted on a budget - just on a list of cuts recommended by the superintendent.

Cut the Central Offfice in the Education department. Dekalb has commissioned studies on staffing and they have only implemented the recommendations partially. Do ALL the recommendations! Focus on the kids learning.

And I agree with the concept of outsourcing many functions like psychiatrists and nurses. And there are many more "non-teaching" positions that can be looked at.

Raises taxes is just another way of saying mismanagement is going on.