PAGE Talks Professional Association of Georgia Educators

Did you know teachers are more likely to become millionaires than attorneys or doctors? In this episode, PAGE Talks host Craig Harper, PAGE executive director, presents a conversation with Dr. Steve Frandsen about his book “The Millionaire and Me: A Teacher’s Guide to Becoming a Millionaire.” Steve is a career educator and administrator in a metro Atlanta school district. He presents five levers that increase your chances of retiring as a millionaire.
Professional Biography
Dr. Steve Frandsen’s career in education has spanned three decades. Throughout his career, he has held many positions in a large urban school district in Atlanta. He has worked as a high school teacher for Spanish and English as a Second Language (ESOL), an assistant principal at the elementary and middle school levels, and a principal at the elementary and high school levels. He has also worked as an adjunct college professor teaching graduate courses in education for the past 15 years.
Dr. Frandsen holds degrees from Brigham Young University, Brigham Young University-Idaho, Piedmont University, and Nova Southeastern University. He also earned his Leadership Add-On Credentials from the University of Georgia. 
Apart from spending time teaching and learning, he loves spending time with his wife and his five children.
Contact Dr. Frandsen: millionaireandme@gmail.com
Resources
The Millionaire and Me – Buy the book from the website
The Millionaire and Me - Amazon
Are you interested in the millionaire research by Ramsey Solutions? National Study on Millionaires
Production Notes
Music for PAGE Talks is Inspirational Outlook by Scott Holmes
Podcast cover art by Dolly Purvis with PAGE Communications
Episode Notes
(Timestamped notes are summarized from comments and are not intended as a verbatim transcript)
02:10 - For the past 20 years, I've been in the hiring business trying to recruit and retain teachers which led to the book.
02:29 – Recruitment to the profession is an issue because of the belief that as a teacher you're going to be on the short end of the stick when it comes to financial stability and well-being.
02:55 - When considering to be a teacher my mother questioned whether it was a good idea.
03:09 – Received the messages that you're not going to become a millionaire. You're not going to be rich. You're going to teach. You're going to fulfill your passion. You're going to impact the community. You'll sacrifice wealth and riches for the altruistic, wonderful aspects that the profession provides.
03:47 – Noticed that department head and husband had a beautiful home and lifestyle as well as most of retirees recognized by the district at the end of the year.
04:21 - They were relatively young people retiring and going off to this next chapter and they were all doing very well. And I started to think, how is this possible? How are they figuring out how to make this profession pay?
04:42 - I wanted to pass this knowledge on to new hires. They would look at me like “Why are you talking to me about investing? I’m 22. I just started teaching.”
05:15 – Assignment to learn about saving, investing, and compound interest.
05:55 – Encourage teachers to stay in the profession because they are walking away from a lot...

In this episode, PAGE Talks host Craig Harper, PAGE executive director, presents a conversation with 2023 Georgia Teacher of the Year Michael Kobito. Michael is the AP Music Theory teacher and band director at Woodland High School in Bartow County, his alma mater. While attending college at the University of Georgia, he served two years as the drum major for the Redcoat Marching Band.
Professional Biography
PAGE One Magazine Feature
Georgia Teacher of the Year - A program of the Georgia Department of Education. PAGE is an organizational sponsor of the Georgia Teacher of the Year program.
Teacher Burnout in Georgia: Voices from the Classroom - This report commissioned by the Georgia Department of Education, and produced by a teacher task force chaired by 2022 Georgia Teacher of the Year Cherie Goldman, was published in June 2022.
Music for PAGE Talks is Inspirational Outlook by Scott Holmes
Podcast cover art by Dolly Purvis with PAGE Communications
Show Notes
03:12 – Biographical details: Born in Okinawa, Japan; early childhood in England; moved to Cartersville, Georgia, in Bartow County; graduated from the University of Georgia; and returned to alma mater Woodland High School as a band teacher.
04:07 – “Dream Come True” to return to Woodland High School as a band teacher.
04:24 – Learned the involvement and commitment required from educators to offer a successful band program that wasn’t obvious as a student.
05:42 – Stars aligned with former band directors agreeing to take care of the band program to make it possible to serve for one year as Georgia’s Teacher of the Year.
07:06 – Responsibilities of Georgia’s Teacher of the Year include ex-officio member of State Board of Education, service on education-related non-profit boards, keynote speaker and panel participant at education conferences.
09:06 - State Board of Education experience rewarding, and board members are interested in listening to the teacher voice.
10:24 – State Board focus this year is career preparation across the spectrum from college prep to vocational areas. Michael emphasizing the importance of the arts as a way to support that industry as well as helping students in academic work.
12:06 – Teacher pipeline issues are important to the State Board and the Georgia Department of Education. The Teacher Burnout Report – produced through the work of a task force led by 2022 Georgia Teacher of the Year Cherie Goldman – highlights the challenges teachers face and that sometimes lead to their dropping out of the profession.
14:41 – Teachers’ social media posts often refer to the lack of time available to provide core responsibilities for student instruction and preparation for instruction. Bartow County has done a good job of protecting time.
17:32 – Future Georgia Educators conferences are informative and engaging for high school students. Presenting to students provides a different level of excitement...

This episode is all about the design and implementation of benefits-based accountability for schools.
Executive Director Craig Harper hosts this conversation with John Tanner, accountability researcher, author, and founder of bravEd, and Dr. Marc Feuerbach, superintendent of Cartersville City Schools, in Cartersville, Georgia. John is the leading designer of the PAGE initiative that resulted in True Accountability for Georgia Schools (TAGS). Cartersville City Schools is one of the original pilot districts that formed TAGS and is implementing benefits-based accountability throughout the system.
Georgia school leaders interested in learning more about TAGS and how to join the initiative should contact John Tanner at john.tanner@brave-ed.com.
Music for PAGE Talks is Inspirational Outlook by Scott Holmes
Podcast cover art by Dolly Purvis with PAGE Communications
Show Notes
(Timestamped notes are summarized from comments and are not intended as a transcript)
John Tanner
03:45-Over the last five years we've gotten better at thinking about, talking about, and getting benefits-based accountability systems in place.
04:05-We can all collaborate on what accountability ought to look like in schools and figure out the best way to bring benefits-based systems into schools.
04:28-A basic benefits-based system can be in place in a few months in a school.
04:45-In the beginning of this work, it seemed like everyone needed to understand accountability in the same way and at the same depth as I did, and that was a mistake.
05:00-Where we've come in the past few years in terms of the old "Name that Tune," we've gone from naming that tune in 10 notes down to three or four.
Marc Feuerbach
05:35-To be truthful, benefits-based accountability wasn't attractive at first.
05:55-This seemed like a way to find something good to show if test scores weren't good.
06:15-This opened my eyes that this really is about the stakeholder, the community, those involved in our organization ... focusing on all areas we should be accountable for.
06:50-As we dived deeper into this, it's a more holistic approach to what we do in schools and what we're held accountable for.
John Tanner
07:40-My professional background is testing and I knew that world well. However, I was Interested in accountability, not testing and so was never obsessed about testing.
08:15-Testing is designed as a research instrument for narrow and specific purposes and not as a social decision-making tool for judgment.
09:15-Standardized testing instruments are legitimate research tools used for deeply inappropriate judgments.
09:30-There are a limited number of research functions these tests can play, and they play almost none of them. This leads in awkward and bad directions that do not share the whole truth.
10:00-It would be helpful to have better tests, but we could have the best tests in the world, and as long as we have the same accountability environment that we do, it's going to have the same effect as we have at the moment.
Marc Feuerbach
11:00-Pillars of the benefits-based accountability system described: Student Achievement; Student Readiness; Engaged, Well-Rounded Students; Community Engagement & Partnerships; Professional Learning/Quality Staff; Fiscal and Operational Systems; and, Safety and Well-being.
12:00-Only have capacity to do so much and must select areas...

This episode is all about the 2022 session of the General Assembly which begins Jan. 10. PAGE
Executive Director Craig Harper hosts the PAGE legislative staff as they present member-driven legislative priorities, discuss the results of a recent member survey, preview the big issues expected this session, and consider what may happen with the state budget.
Your PAGE Legislative Team
Margaret Ciccarelli, director of legislative services
Josh Stephens, legislative services specialist
Claire Suggs, senior education policy analyst.
Stay Informed
You don’t want to miss PAGE’s daily comprehensive reports on all the activity under the Gold Dome this session.
Sign up for Capitol Reports HERE and visit the PAGE Legislative webpage HERE.

This episode is all about what happened under the Gold Dome during the 2021 session of the Georgia General Assembly. You can access a written wrap-up report of the session as well as many other highlights and analyses on the legislative webpage HERE.
Host Craig Harper, PAGE Executive Director, is joined by Legislative Services staff Margaret Ciccarelli, Josh Stephens, and Claire Suggs.
Topics Discussed
COVID-19 adjustments for the 2021 legislative sessionGov. Brian Kemp's Teacher Pipeline Bill$1,000 educator retention supplement$3,000 educator tax credit for qualifying teachers in high needs and rural schoolsTRS return-to-work bill and why it would not take effect until July 2023Explanation of two-year process for fiscal impact billsPaid parental leave for state employees, including school employeesCharter school funding and expanded educator eligibility for state healthHome school students qualification to participate in public schools sportsExpansion of the special needs voucherFiscal impact of vouchersVoucher bills that did not pass: Educational Savings Accounts and expansion of student scholarshipsPartial budget restoration of austerity reductions and fiscal outlookAdditional federal funding for schools through pandemic spendingAllocation formulas for federal fundingGet to know your legislators now for better advocacy later
"Inspirational Outlook" by scottholmesmusic.com

This episode is all about legal rights related to COVID-19 vaccines. Effective Monday, March 8, all preschool to secondary educators became eligible for vaccination. Most districts are working with their area health departments and other providers to distribute the vaccine as efficiently as possible to those who want it. According to a recent PAGE survey, overall about 66 percent of educators want to take the vaccine with those living in highly populated areas more likely to be vaccinated compared to educators in rural Georgia. The decision to be vaccinated – or not – is very personal. Many members are concerned about their legal and privacy rights regarding that decision.
Host Craig Harper, PAGE Executive Director, is joined by Matthew Pence and Leonard Williams, two of the six PAGE staff attorneys, who answer questions from members related to vaccinations.
Topics Discussed
Will my district know if I'm vaccinated?Can a Georgia school district require its employees to be vaccinated?Are there potential repercussions for not getting vaccinated?Do my students or their parents have a right to know whether I'm vaccinated?What should I do if I believe I've been treated negatively by my district due to my vaccination status?
If you are a PAGE member and would like to speak to a PAGE attorney, call the PAGE office at 800-334-6861 or find additional contact information on our website at www.pageinc.org.
Additional COVID-19 information for educators and PAGE advocacy may also be found on the website.
"Inspirational Outlook" by scottholmesmusic.com