Richmond County school superintendent Dana Bedden might get a higher base salary at his new job in Irving, Texas, but at a news conference this morning he jokingly admitted that he'll lose at least one fringe benefit by leaving Augusta.
"If anything, I'm losing a perk," he said with a smile when asked if he had received Dallas Cowboy tickets in his contract with a school district in Irving, Texas - home to the Dallas Cowboys.
Bedden said he hadn't been promised tickets, but had been given a Masters ticket as part of his job with the Richmond County school system.
All jokes aside, Bedden said he's excited about his new opportunity as a superintendent in Irving - becoming their first minority leader - and looks forward to learning himself from the district, which has a majority Spanish-speaking student base. Bedden said he's not bilingual but expects to start learning Spanish.
Bedden spoke in a news conference before a room filled with media and some community members - one of which apologized to him for the community not speaking up enough to keep him here.
"Shame on us," said LaFaye Hargrove, a Columbia County resident who ran a program in Richmond County schools for troubled students. "I think it's a sad day in our community today."
Bedden told Hargove he appreciated the comment and lamented on how his move to Irving mostly was the result of there not being a consensus among the Richmond County school board for a contract extension.
Bedden said he's been most proud of how the school system has improved in his tenure despite tough economic times. He said he has no regrets coming to Augusta, but he does have concern that the changes made to the school system in his time will continue to take root.
He said he'll be working with the board in the coming months to determine a most appropriate time for his departure, but he has promised to stay at least through the budget process in the next couple months and through high school graduations.
I would be as well for the BIG INCREASE in SALARY.
Well let's give the lazy school board dunderheads at least a year, and 20 to 30 thousand dollars to find first, then make up their mind on the next Richmond County School Superintendent. Wow, talk about real intelligent decision makers. If you wait until after November, you might be able to hire an out-of-work Democrat.
Dr. Bedden, let's be honest here. You had your name out there to be considered for other jobs via the headhunting agency almost from the time you came to Augusta. You said, yourself, that you were a finalist for a couple of other positions a while back, but you were not selected. Don't blame it on the board being slow to offer you a new contract.
And this is something Richmond County people want to read about? How excited Bedden is to be heading out of town?
Make it about the stupidity of the school board instead.
By the way, LaFaye Hargrove's obsequious, oily, sychophantic remarks were foolish. Such statements were out of place at that venue. The program she ran for "troubled students" has no place in these austere times. The program should be permanently cut.
Why wouldn't he be excited? Texas doesn't have the state cutting the education budget every week or so like GA., plus he's getting a substantial pay raise.
Matter of fact, Texas is drastically cutting their budget for public education. From the Richland Chronicle.com: "In January, the Texas Education Agency urged state education agencies to cut their budgets by 5 percent to offset the $4.3 billion budget gap in the current fiscal year.
The proposed cuts follow an announcement by Governor Rick Perry that he would not participate in the Race to the Top, a federal stimulus-funded program, championed by President Barak Obama, that could have brought as much as $700 million to Texas."
Ms. Hargrove is delusional. Can we just get rid of clown Bedden already. And, we can only hope that most of his idiotic changes DON'T last. We have to get rid of all of those braintrust Board of Ed members first. Vote them ALL out, then vote people in who realize that the super is under them, not the other way around. Spineless nincompoops.
Thank God and TX he is gone!!! Our gain is TX loss. Soon they will realize it was like voting for obamamoron, "pie in the sky"!!
Talk about sour grapes! Y'all want some cheese with your "whine". People go where the money is... grow up. I used to live in Tx and they can be pretty picky folks. They must be impressed by Beden. Most of you were impressed when he took the job with us. Except, the racists, of course. But, you didn't get the "yes man" you wanted, you just threw him under the bus. We treated him like garbage, doubted his abilities and questioned his every move. We want to hire someone to "fix" things but we all want it done our way. Why hire an "expert" if you won't listen to a word they say??????
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