Full Show PT 2: Thursday, July 23 [Vault]

Summary

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The Bert Show – Full Show PT 2: Thursday, July 23 [Vault]

Date: July 23, 2026
Host & Cast: The Bert Show (Bert, Kristin, Abby, Cassie, Tommy, and the team)
Episode Focus: Real-life listener drama, community partnerships, and a lively debate about teacher merit pay in Georgia.

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Episode Overview

This episode balances The Bert Show's signature blend of real talk and humor, with deep dives into listener relationships, important community events, and headline-grabbing education debates. Key segments include a follow-up with a returning listener wrapped in relationship drama, an in-studio interview about breast cancer awareness and the Tour de Pink event, and a robust listener call-in segment about the controversial move to teacher merit pay in Georgia.

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Relationship Drama: "Not So Psycho Sue" Returns

Segment: 00:49 – 08:17

Key Discussion Points

• Listener Follow-up: "Sue" calls back after being spotted in a public argument with her ex ("Tool") at a comedy club, reigniting on-air interest.
• Sue’s Account: She clarifies that she wasn’t with her ex intentionally; he confronted her unexpectedly, threatened self-harm, and pleaded to rekindle their relationship.
• The Dilemma: Sue describes feeling pressured and confused, especially after her ex made alarming threats, noting embarrassment about causing a scene.
• Show’s Perspective: Hosts empathize with being trapped by someone’s threats and discuss the challenges in handling such situations. They also stress setting firm boundaries and offer advice for future encounters.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Sue (01:55): “I was kind of intoxicated so he grabbed my arm. He's like, I need to talk to you…I went outside with him because I didn't want to talk to him in the middle.”
• Cast (03:21): “Her knee jerk reaction is absolutely like…I mean, that’s how you feel. Like, oh my God, I couldn't handle that kind of responsibility.”
• Cast (06:32): “If you end up in the same place that he’s in accidentally, get out. Just go. This is going to be the same drama over and over.”
• Cast (07:31): “This is your dating Antichrist…I wish I had somebody that was telling me while I was dating my Antichrist.”

Memorable Moment

• The group candidly admits that drama like this is embarrassing but ultimately, sometimes that’s what it takes to learn and set better boundaries next time.

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Community Spotlight: Young Survivors Coalition & Tour de Pink Event

Segment: 10:21 – 20:29

Key Discussion Points

• Guest Interview: Courtney Bugler from the Young Survivors Coalition (YSC) discusses the organization’s work and their upcoming “Tour de Pink” fundraising event.
• YSC’s Mission: Supporting young women (40 and under) diagnosed with breast cancer—education, resources, and building a support network.
• Breast Cancer Awareness: Highlights the challenges young women face, including lack of awareness among healthcare providers and how most young patients have no family history.
• Tour de Pink Event: A community bike ride (options from 4 to 100 miles) on October 16th, open to all ages and fitness levels, with all proceeds benefiting Atlanta area programs.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Courtney Bugler (11:58): "If you walk into a support group and you’re the only one who doesn’t have gray hair, we’re the group for you.”
• Courtney Bugler (13:10): “85% of all women have no family history. So it doesn’t really matter…I had no family history.”
• Courtney Bugler (16:24): “We have routes that are 4 miles, 20 miles, 50, and 100. So for those who are hardcore cyclists, we have something for you—but also, most importantly, for families.”
• Cast (18:07): “[We chose you] because the money stays right here.”

Memorable Moment

• The team banters about Bert riding a “big wheel” in the event and the appeal of a community festival with music, food, and vendors.

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Education Controversy: Merit Pay & Teacher Tenure

Segment: 22:11 – 31:40

Key Discussion Points

• The Issue: Georgia is considering moving away from tenure-based job security for teachers toward “merit pay,” tying teacher salaries to student performance and test results.
• Political Background: Georgia’s education laws are shaped heavily by teacher support; recent efforts (like Race to the Top) have pushed for more accountability and performance-based scaling.
• Listener Call-Ins: Several teachers, including special education instructors and administrators, call in to share concerns about the fairness of merit pay, especially for those teaching disadvantaged students or students with learning gaps.
  • Issues with standardized tests as the primary metric—unfair to teachers in challenging classrooms, and ignores individual student growth.
  • Concerns about penalizing teachers for factors out of their control (like student attendance).
  • Debate about pay differences for teachers with advanced degrees if actual teaching is similar.
  • Fear that collaborative teaching and school morale would suffer if pay is pitted in competition.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Connie, President-elect of Cobb Co. Educators (25:54): “The problem is…the stakeholders weren’t invited to the table to develop the measures. We don't have a problem with pay for performance if it is done fair and equal. Right now it’s not.”
• Jessica, Teacher (28:07): “It’s highly based off of [standardized tests] and attendance—as if the teacher has any control over whether her students come to school or not.”
• Susan, Elementary Teacher (28:57): “We shouldn’t base merit pay on one test. It should be based on growth of the individual student.”
• Sarah, 7th Grade Teacher (29:36): “[If] my students are being graded on how I’m doing, then I don’t think teachers are going to work well together.”

Memorable Moment

• Honest, unfiltered teacher perspectives reveal the messy realities behind education reform, giving listeners a behind-the-scenes view often missing from headlines.

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Show Lighter Moments: Cast Updates and Fun Challenges

Segment: 33:40 – 35:55

Key Discussion Points

• Melissa’s Trombone Challenge: Melissa is learning to play trombone with a high school band set to march in the Rose Bowl parade—a personal “bucket list” adventure.
• Banter about who will or won’t listen to her first on-air performance, with much self-deprecating humor about their musical tolerance.

Memorable Moment

• Cast (35:41): “I’ll be here, Melissa, to see you blow on that trombone—tromboner, huh?”
• The cast teases Melissa while jokingly plotting to call in sick for her debut concert.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Sue’s Drama Recap: 00:49 – 08:17
• Young Survivors Coalition Interview: 10:21 – 20:29
• Georgia Teachers & Merit Pay Panel: 22:11 – 31:40
• Melissa’s Trombone Story: 33:40 – 35:55

Note: Ad breaks, intros, and outros are omitted for clarity.

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Episode Takeaways

• Real-life Relationships: The show doesn’t shy from messy topics, offering empathy and blunt advice.
• Community Impact: The Bert Show not only entertains, but uses its platform to drive support for meaningful causes (like breast cancer awareness for young women).
• Open Discussion: The education debate segment spotlights the complexity and passion at the heart of teacher performance reforms, amplifying teacher and community voices.
• Signature Humor: True to form, lighter moments and cast challenges add warmth and authenticity, keeping listeners engaged and invested.

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For participation, event links, or to catch up, visit thebertshow.com.

Transcript

[A]

Hey everybody.

[B]

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[A]

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[D]

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out and enjoy a few minutes for yourself? Let's Chumba. No purchase necessary VGW Group voidware prohibited by law CTs and Cs 21 sponsored by Chumba Casino the Bird Show. All right, so we're gonna get not so Psycho sue back on here. For those of you that don't know the story, that's really too bad. Get the Q100 app summary of that. It would take way too long to try to explain it to you guys. So go online and listen to the story that led us up to this call because we started to get some tweets and some emails earlier this morning from people that said that they were out and they saw sue and tool as at the same bar together and some kind of public argument broke out. We thought this thing over done, you know. And Sue's back on with us. Hey Sue.

[F]

Hey guys.

[C]

Hey, you're back.

[D]

You are so Psycho sue if you are hanging out with this dude.

[F]

I was not hanging out with him. And it's weird that people like know that it was us. I don't know.

[C]

Yeah, it's not like we put you guys pictures up online or anything. So must have been like a friend of a friend of a friend that must have watched this whole thing go down.

[F]

I guess. I don't know. But I wasn't with him. He. I honestly I was kind of drunk so I don't remember everything but I was out with a bunch of friends and we were seeing another friend at a comedy club and he just kind of. I was kind of intoxicated so he grabbed My arm. He's like, I need to talk to you. And I was like, really confused. I was like, okay. And so I went outside with him because I didn't want to talk to him in the middle. And he just kind of was, you know, begging me to come back and told me that if I didn't come back, he would harm him himself and he would take his own life and stuff. And so it kind of freaked me out. And I. There wasn't really yell. I think the only thing that was really yelled was me like telling him to leave me alone and to go away. And then when he said he was gonna, like, you know, hurt himself, I kind of got like, concerned. And so I just was like, don't do that, you know? And then the guy that I actually was with kind of just like came outside and he was like, you need to leave. And I told him, I was like, if you ever need. I was like, if you need me later, just call me. But I didn't.

[C]

You offered to him, like, if you need me, give me a call later.

[F]

No, I said like. Because he was like telling me he was going to kill himself. What was I going to say? So I said, if you really.

[G]

He was telling you that. So you said that or something. Yes.

[F]

I didn't really. It wasn't like we were back together or anything like that. I don't know what people are telling you. I have.

[C]

Okay, let me just stand up for her for just one second though. Okay? Because have you ever been in that situation before?

[G]

Yes.

[C]

You have? When somebody tells you that, like her. But her knee jerk reaction is absolutely like. I mean, that's how you feel. Like, oh my God, I couldn't handle that kind of responsibility. Really. So. Yes. Call me later on.

[G]

That's why they say it.

[C]

Because if, like your thoughts. What if they do?

[A]

Right.

[C]

If you're in it, you can't say,

[A]

oh, you're just saying that. Because then what happens when he gets

[C]

in his car and drives it into

[A]

a tree for the rest of your

[G]

life, but he's not going to.

[D]

Somebody told me once that a threat like that can be illegal.

[C]

Really?

[D]

Yeah, that you could file some sort of police report about that, but I don't know exactly what it is or what it would be called, but if somebody threatens you by taking their own life, there's something, something you can do. I wish I knew more specifically what

[G]

it is that'd be useful. Well, I was so. I'm just still confused on how you were at the same place all the Places in this city of 5 million people. How are y' all at the same comedy club?

[F]

I see. That's the thing. I don't know, because, like, I've even been, like, tweeting. Like, I mean, now I'm gonna give this away. So you do know. But I tweet the opposite of what I'm doing. Like, if I'm going out, I'm like, I'm staying in tonight with my girlfriend. You know, whatever. I don't know how he found out, obviously. I didn't even, like, tell you guys about it. Someone emailed you guys and told you I was there. So I guess this person might have known him. I don't really know how he found out. I haven't talked to him or had anything to do with him. The last time I really talked about it was when I was in the studio with you guys. I just kind of washed my hands of the situation and didn't really want anything else to do with it. I've kind of moved forward and tried to not look back.

[C]

Was he as drunk as you were?

[F]

He wasn't. I don't. He didn't seem drunk, but I don't. I don't. You were drunk. I couldn't tell because I was really drunk. I don't know.

[C]

And as far as you can remember, he was like, I want. I want you back. Or was he saying, come talk to me.

[F]

I want to work this out. Please, let's work this out. And at first I was like, don't you already have a girlfriend? And then he was like, that doesn't matter. I want to work this out. And I remember him saying that over and over again. And then I remember me yelling and being like, leave me alone. I don't want to be with you. With you. Like, I'm not with you. And then he started freaking out because I was there with another guy. And he was just like. He's like, why are you here with someone else? I thought you didn't want a boyfriend. And I was just like, I'm allowed to date other people. And then that's when he was like, well, I'm gonna kill myself if you don't want to be with me.

[D]

And I feel like we're in high school.

[G]

Yeah, it does.

[C]

Doesn't this feel like high school to you, Sue?

[F]

Yes. And so I was just like, okay. And I was like, please don't do that. I was like, it's really not worth it. I was like, our relationship's really not worth that. I was like, it really Wasn't a good relationship. Like, shouldn't kill yourself over someone like me. Like, I'm not worth it. And then he just kept saying he was going to do it. And then that's when the guy I was there with just kind of was like, come on, let's go inside. He was like, we have thing. We're going somewhere else. And. And I was like, I have to go. And he told him, like, you know, don't follow us. You need to, like, go home. And then he was like, I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. And that's when I was like, call me if you need me, because I don't want you to do something like that. And it wasn't like we were there together. I don't know we're not together or not anything. And he never called me.

[C]

So that's good news. Where was Fiji when all this was going on?

[F]

I don't know. I don't talk to her. I don't know anything that's going on in her life.

[G]

I think if you.

[C]

You know what my recommendation for you is? Look, if you end up in the same place that he's in accidentally, get out. Just go. Yeah, you just gotta go. This is gonna be the same drama over and over and over again.

[G]

And if he says, I need to talk to you outside, say no, and then just walk away. I mean, nobody physically can drag you out the bar. I mean, some of the.

[C]

Some of this drama you're creating, like, you could have avoided.

[G]

And you are going to turn off so many guys. No guy is going to want to go out with you if they take you out and there's this drama and he has to go outside and tell this ex boyfriend to get out of the way. Like, you need to move. You really do need to move on. If he says, let's go outside. No, bye, gotta go.

[C]

Because there's nothing more than this guy would want than for you to fall back for him so he could cut it off and hurt you.

[G]

Yes.

[C]

I mean, that's all ego right there, you know?

[F]

Yeah. I mean, I don't want to be with him. I don't know. I was just. I wasn't really thinking and so I just kind of went. I don't know. It's just a bad situation. I don't know. I feel, like, embarrassed that people saw it. It's like, embarrassing more than anything.

[C]

This is your dating Antichrist. I mean, I wish I had somebody that was telling me while I was dating my Antichrist. That this is the guy right here. I just went over the woman right here. They probably were, but you don't hear them.

[A]

You probably had buddies going, oh, my

[C]

God, dude, she's crazy.

[F]

Get out.

[A]

And you don't you block that out.

[C]

I wouldn't have listened.

[A]

You don't hear it.

[C]

Yeah, the sex was just like we're telling you.

[G]

I hate to tell you, sue, that I'm actually glad it was embarrassing for you so that next time you'll handle it different. Even in a drunken stay, you'll be able to say no, you know?

[F]

Yeah, I don't know.

[C]

Well, I'd say keep in touch with us, but you won't have to because the rest of Atlanta will. They'll tell us what's going on every step of the way for some reason. All right, sue, good luck. Good luck.

[D]

Good luck with the new guy.

[F]

All right, bye.

[C]

All right, bye. Bye. Yeah, at some point, Wendy, you got to hear this too. Wendy. Wendy, I know, it's me.

[B]

A couple years ago.

[F]

I know, I'm hearing it.

[C]

Is it Wendy a couple years ago, or is it in a couple of weeks?

[E]

No, I'm hearing it.

[B]

I'm hearing it. The same exact thing happened to me. No, yeah, I'm hearing it. It's not gonna happen.

[C]

All right.

[D]

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[C]

The Bird show we are going to be teaming up with Young Survivors Coalition this year and we're proud to be doing it. And Courtney Bugler, that's me. I got it right.

[G]

Nice job.

[C]

Is here from the Young Survivors Coalition to tell you what they're all about and it'll start to make sense to you why this is an organization that we've decided. You know what? This is one we gotta help out here.

[E]

Well, thank you guys so much for having me. We're really excited to be a part of the Burt show and to be an official friend of the show. Now we're not there yet.

[C]

Don't get carried away. We just started.

[D]

We just like you on Facebook. We're not a fan yet.

[E]

We'll have to keep bringing your presence then. Young Survival Coalition is actually a national organization dedicated specifically to young women with breast cancer and myself as a young survivor who was diagnosed right after I turned 29 years old. It's obviously an organization close to my heart. And I'm the director of the Atlanta affiliate. And so we work here in the metro Atlanta area to provide resources, education, outreach and support to young women so they feel empowered and hopeful during their breast cancer journey as well. We work with the community as a whole to bring awareness to the fact that young women can and do get breast cancer. And we also work to in our community to make sure that young women know their bodies, understand the risk factors and. And perhaps also maybe talk to their families about. About their family history and. And maybe what they can do to get involved with awareness in young women.

[C]

The Young Survivors Coalition, which means what ages are we talking about here?

[E]

Whose basically it is officially those who are diagnosed 40 and younger. But I'll tell you sort of unofficially, it's, you know, 40s. If you're a woman who walks into get your mammogram and everyone else looks like your mother and your grandmother, or if you walk into a support group and you're the only one who doesn't have gray hair, we're the group for you. So if you are a young woman who's diagnosed and needs Us, we are there from the moment of your diagnosis through the rest of your life. If you are a woman who is a little bit older now but was diagnosed, you know, 10, 15, 20 years ago, we want to hear from you too. Because there's nothing more that gives hope to a woman when she's diagnosed than to see a 20 or 30 year survivor.

[C]

Didn't we kind of go through this with producer Tracy a couple of years ago where she found a lump and the doctors were sort of putting her off because she's too young for this? I can't be right.

[B]

Yeah, I was like, I can't remember the age now, but I think it was like 23 maybe when I found something. And everybody just kept ignoring it, saying it was no big deal, until finally. I don't know why I didn't tell them sooner, but I told them my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 29, and that's when they finally took me seriously. Thankfully, it turned out to be nothing. But me and my mother didn't have any prior history. So if nobody listened to her, who knows what would have happened to her.

[C]

Is that a pretty common story you hear?

[E]

It's all too common. And we are finding more and more younger and younger women. For example, in our last monthly networking meeting, we had three women who were diagnosed under the age of 23. Wow. And what most people don't realize with breast cancer, no matter what the age is, 85% of all women have no family history. And so it doesn't really matter. I had no family history. There's no breast cancer, ovarian cancer, any sort of female related genetic cancer in my family for generations and generations. And I guess I was just lucky that way.

[D]

Well, a lot of people don't know their family history. Like you said, it's about asking. But, you know, I mean, would your dad know about, like his mom's mom? Probably not, no.

[E]

And especially what I found when I was diagnosed is all too often because, you know, cancer was, you know, the big C. And for many generations it was something that was not talked about. And especially, you know, girl part cancer and things like that. And so when I would go back in my family history, I realized more and more that there were some things there but nobody really knew. They knew that perhaps they had cancer. They didn't really know what kind. You know, obviously no one had records or anything like that. But the biggest thing that we like to say at YSC is that, you know, young women can and do get breast cancer. It is thankfully, fairly rare, but it does happen. And what we're seeing from our healthcare providers is that it's happening more and more, unfortunately. And so one of our sort of big sort of research agendas is trying to find out nationally, you know, why this is happening and also work to advocate for young women, because unfortunately, we hear still too many stories of women who are told, don't worry about it, you're too young, you know, come back in a year, we'll see you in six months. And unfortunately for some of those women, you know, that's the time that they need to be diagnosed at either an earlier stage or get the treatment that they need. So one of the big things that we do here in the local area is we do a lot of outreach to the medical community. And this year, in fact, part of what Tour de Pink is going to be doing for us is we're going to be doing a lot of outreach to obgyns and primary care doctors and kind of educating them on breast cancer in young women and making them realize that it's not just an older women's disease anymore.

[C]

There's so many messages here. So what is Tour de Pink? That's where we're going today.

[E]

Tour de Pink is exciting. It is Atlanta's only bike ride for breast cancer. And we are excited to have you all as a part of the event. It's October 16th, and what it's gonna be is it's the largest community fighting breast cancer in young women, and there are options to take part. It's a one day event. It's a relatively low fundraising minimum. What is it? It is $125.

[C]

Oh, that is really low.

[E]

And we actually have some really great tools you're gonna be able to, you know, fundraise through your Facebook pages and through Twitter and all of these great tools that you're gonna be able to do online and www. Ysctourtopink.org and you'll be able to register starting today, actually. And what's most important about it is that there's sort of something for everyone. You can ride from 4 miles to 100 miles if you want that day.

[D]

Wow.

[E]

And we have routes that are 4 miles, 20 miles, 50 and 100. So for those of you who are like, you know, hardcore cyclists, we have something for you. But also, most importantly for some of our families as well as our birch show listeners, in our four mile route, we actually have it as a family ride or walk. So if you don't have a bike, if you don't feel like riding a bike. If you want to bring out your couple of kids on their big wheels and their training wheels, you can come on out.

[A]

Bert, you can bring your big wheel.

[E]

That's right. And we'll paint it pink for you and maybe put some tassels.

[C]

And Bert's got the badass one with

[A]

the brakes, so you can do the spins.

[C]

And the one with the clicker on the back. Big green machine. Damn right.

[E]

So that option is open to families, to people who just want to come out, bring their bike, and maybe not do anything too crazy. And then what's really great is we're going to have bands. There's a huge community expo when you come back. So we're going to have some of our partners and some of our sponsors there to help us celebrate survivorship. And you're going to be able to have lunch, hang out, listen to bands. You're going to do some shopping. It's going to be like a Turkish bazaar. There's going to be all this stuff there and sort of something for everyone. And it starts and finishes at Perimeter Mall. So it's local. It's really easy. We had a lot of people last year who were really excited because they just rode their bikes to the mall and then they rode some more and things like that. And one of the greatest things about the event is that there's something for everyone. And it's really a chance for us to not only raise awareness and raise funds for programs for young women with breast cancer. And everything that we raise here stays right here in the metro Atlanta area.

[C]

That was really big for us. One of the reasons why we wanted to hook up with you guys is the money staying right here.

[E]

Exactly. And we have some really wonderful sponsors. Amona, which is a company that works specifically for women after their breast surgeries, and Amgen, one of a large pharmaceutical company, as well as Mini Cooper and the Crowne Plaza. And we have all these great sponsors that are coming together to sort of help. They help pay for the ride.

[A]

You had Bernard Pharmaceutical.

[F]

Yeah, I know.

[A]

Delicious.

[E]

And so what's great is our sponsors are paying for the ride. So it means that every dollar that you're raising is going directly to the mission. And for us, that means that we're able to provide support programs. We're able to provide newly diagnosed resource kits to young women. We're able to do education for our medical providers. We're able to do awareness campaigns throughout the city where we can speak to high school and college kids and hopefully then make sure that you know, a year from now, two years from now, not only is everyone aware of the organization and what we do, and hopefully what that means is young woman who maybe heard us, you know, this year or heard us on the radio, you know, a year from now, two years from now, five years from now, if she finds something, she thinks to herself, wow, you know what? This is something that I should have checked out. And they go to their medical provider and they aren't blown off. So that's kind of the goal of what we're doing. And we're really excited to have you all a part of the event.

[A]

What's the date of the event again?

[E]

The date is October 16, but if you want to.

[C]

So, Bert, you're gonna wanna hurt your leg around September. Little early this year. I don't know, I'm going to have to play in like a soccer marathon on October 10th or 11th. You could just slip on some stairs or something and just hit your knee just right.

[E]

Tonight we're doing our kickoff party, so come on out to the Crowne Plaza in Dunwoody at 7 o'.

[F]

Clock.

[E]

We're providing complimentary food and beverages because we're YSC and that's how we roll. And we're going to give you free registration if you come to the Crowne Plaza tonight so you can enjoy a cocktail. You can learn more about the event, but definitely come tonight at 7 o'. Clock. And you can also see the tour de Pink mini that we're going to be giving away. So you don't want to miss that.

[C]

All right, all the info is linked up from our website over to [e-mail]. Happy to be working with you guys.

[G]

Thanks so much.

[E]

We're great to have you here.

[D]

Super excited. Thanks for coming in.

[C]

And now we're friends now. Now we're officially friends.

[A]

Get it?

[C]

The Bird show

[A]

this episode sponsored by Apollo. Still moving deals forward from your desk with Apollo, you can go to market on the go, find leads, research accounts, and launch outreach right Inside Claude and ChatGPT. You can even make calls or research leads from Gmail, your CRM or company websites. So whether you're at the airport or on a coffee run, Apollo works where you work. No more switching tabs or devices. Grow boldly with Apollo, the revenue engine trusted by over 3 million teams. Visit Apollo IO anywhere and start free today. That's Apollo IO anywhere.

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[C]

You're on the Birch Show. All right. Teachers, teachers, teachers, teachers. You guys, man, we might open up a, just a floodgate of calls here because I think some teachers are kind of freaked out about this whole thing.

[G]

404,741Q100 we're talking about based on, you know, teachers getting paid based on their students performance. Because I moved here in 92, okay. And I was here when Governor Zell Miller was in office. And I, one thing I learned about the state of Georgia, unlike where I came from in Tennessee, is that education makes or breaks. A gubernatorial candidate like Roy Barnes got elected because he had the backing of the teachers. And then, you know, there was this perception that they, he disappointed him. So Governor Perdue got an office because he had the backing of the teachers. I, I didn't notice this during elections in Tennessee. Georgia is, if you don't have the teachers backing, you cannot run this state.

[D]

And apparently Barnes was going to change it to this to get rid of tenure.

[G]

Well, there's been so many, so many education issues. I mean, yes, because, because it has to do with national test scoring. Because you know, now that we have all these test scores and Georgia usually doesn't rank at the top of this,

[C]

that they're, they're not anywhere near the top. That was being very kind.

[G]

So the debate is tenure. If you, if you're a teacher and you have tenure, you don't have to worry about losing your. You know what I mean? Even if you're.

[C]

Explain what tenure is for those that have no idea what that word means,

[G]

I don't know how in Georgia, how long you have to be a teacher? Four years. Okay.

[D]

You have to be, it doesn't matter if it's 4 or 30. That means you have tenure. So if they have to make cuts, typically in the past it's been the last ones in are the first ones to go. So if you are a brand new teacher and maybe you have the highest level of education and you're the most technologically advanced and maybe you're even the best teacher in your entire school, that didn't matter before because the teachers that had been there longer than you four years or more were the ones that were saved and you were the one that got cut. But now that's all changing. It's going to be based on evaluations.

[G]

Right. And there's. Today is the last day of the state legislature and there's a bill before the Senate, the state Senate, that has to do with merit pay. Okay. And this all stems from, I mean, there's such a history. But right now, if you remember, the White House is actually, you know, President Obama wants performance based pay for teachers. And so they started a program called Race to the Top and each state was competing for a grant from the, from the White House. And Georgia did not, did not make the cut. They came in third and missed a $400 million grant. Now the Race to the Top is still, is still in play. So Georgia is still trying to make that, you know, get grant money. But so that's why there is a bill before the Senate now talking about merit pay. So basically, like Jim was saying, instead of it being about you not getting judged as a tenured teacher, it's like you get judged on your student's performance and you get, your pay scale is based on that too. Which is bringing to light the issue of are tenured teachers actually the better teachers?

[C]

404-741-Q100. This is an uneducated opinion right now that I have, but it sure seems like to just at first listen that. Don't you want the teachers there that are giving you the best, your children the best results?

[G]

Yes.

[C]

Wouldn't you?

[D]

That's what I would say. You want the best teachers for kids, not necessarily the ones that have been

[C]

there the longest, because perhaps the ones that have been there the longest maybe get a little lazy because they know they're not going anymore.

[B]

They know they're safe.

[D]

Right.

[C]

That's my initial nature.

[G]

And we're not teachers in here. So if teachers Want to correct if I'm wrong, Then correct me if I'm wrong. But it just seems like this is just all relative to things that have been going on in the state for over a decade.

[C]

Chen Hobby. How do you know so much about this?

[D]

I just happen to know somebody in

[C]

education, just do a lot of reading. Good morning. Connie, you're on Q100. Hi.

[F]

Good morning. Burt Show.

[C]

Hi.

[D]

Good.

[C]

You sound like a teacher.

[F]

This is a very, very important issue. I am president elect of the Cobb county association of Educators and on my way right now to go lobby against the House Bill 21-521, proposing more of an idea towards pay performance.

[G]

Did I get that right? Everything that I. The way I described it. Okay.

[C]

Okay.

[F]

Excellent synopsis. The problem we have with the bill right now is, and the problem with Race to the Top is they didn't invite teachers, they didn't invite the stakeholders to the table to develop the measures. We don't have a problem with pay for performance if it is done fair and equal. Right now it's not. I teach special ed reading at a middle school in Cobb that is, you know, economically disadvantaged, 40% Hispanic, all of that. How are you going to judge me based on my 6th graders who come in at a 1st grade reading level? And you're using a standardized test measure that's for their grade level. I don't want to be graded on that. And I don't want my administrator, who may or may not know me like me or whatever, affecting my pay.

[C]

That's a really good point. Now I'm on your side.

[F]

That's what I love. No, I want to hear what Jeff thinks.

[C]

He's not in here, unfortunately.

[G]

He's not in the room.

[C]

Yeah. You lost him.

[F]

Okay.

[C]

Yeah.

[F]

We could change things.

[B]

If everything's on an equal playing level,

[F]

then I would get it. But it's uneven and that's not really fair either.

[C]

Here's Misha. Good morning, Misha. You're on Q and A. Yeah.

[F]

Hi. Got rid of tenure. So we no longer have that. Yeah. We still have the system of seniority. If you've been in a school longer, you might not get cut, but it's been on evaluation for a long time, especially in my county.

[C]

Which county is that?

[F]

It's Fulton.

[B]

Okay.

[F]

So there's no longer tenure.

[D]

Okay.

[G]

So that's what Jim was referring to, is that Roy Bunch got rid of 10 years.

[D]

Oh, he wanted to. And that's why some people say he wasn't reelected. But she just said, well, in Fulton and Cobb, it's that way.

[G]

Okay.

[D]

As far as my limited knowledge goes.

[G]

Okay.

[C]

Yeah, we're all a little uneducated about this. Good morning, Jessica. You're on the Burke Show.

[F]

Hey, good morning, guys. Hi. I just want to say that the dirty little secret that they're not talent is that it's highly based off of crct, the standardized test and attendance, as if the teacher has any control over whether her students come to school or not. Especially in elementary school, if a parent's not going to bring their kid, they're not going to bring their kid. And that is very out of our control. And the crct, you include special ed and everything. And if that's the case, then how can you tell us that we're responsible for that? That's my problem.

[G]

I'm not a teacher. I'm a daughter of a teacher and I just. The standardized. I'm not comfortable with the standardized test. I think it's so imperson. But I understand though, on a national

[D]

level, how FD measures do they know?

[C]

Hey, Susan. Good Morning. You're on Q100.

[F]

Hi. Good morning, guys. Hello. I teach elementary school. I teach fourth and fifth grade math. And I teach specifically the students who did not meet standard on the last CRCT test. And I don't think we should base merit pay on one test. I think it should be based on the growth of the individual student. So that shows the teacher's performance because it shows how much they progress through the year. But you can't base it on one test because you have test anxiety. You have kids that stay up until 10 o' clock at night and fall asleep during the test. And I don't think that our pay should be based on one test. It should be based on their growth.

[C]

Here is Sarah, who wants to be on the voice discussor. Hey, Sarah. Good morning.

[F]

Hi, how are you? I'm a seventh grade teacher and I feel that it should be based on your pay. I know there's a lot of teachers that have our school district pays on the degree that you have. And I think if you're someone who has a PhD or a specialist degree that you should have to include and incorporate more of your ideas or you should have to apply for different grants if you're going to get paid for that level of your degree.

[D]

So what difference does it make use in pay?

[F]

Like for example, I only. I'm a mom and I only have my bachelor's degree. But somebody at my school who may have their specialist or PhD is at a higher pay level than I am. Even though we may be teaching the same activities, they're technically getting paid more than I am because they have that higher degree.

[D]

And are there students performing better or worse than your students?

[F]

I don't know. I don't have the data from that. But I think we all work together, like for collaborative planning. And I think if it were to come out that if my students are being graded on how I'm doing, then I don't think teachers are going to work well together.

[E]

I don't.

[C]

What are you smirking about, Melissa?

[G]

I'm just like, I think it's ironic that a teacher is. Is discussing the debate on whether a teacher should be more educated than.

[C]

There is some irony there. In there little irony here is Allie. Good morning. You are on the Birch Show.

[F]

Hey, good morning.

[G]

Morning.

[C]

Good morning.

[F]

I teach 11th grade world lit at a Carroll county school and that's the graduation test. I teach both graduation tests for the English department and my students, whether they come in on a second or third grade reading level, are tested right along with everybody else, which I don't have a problem with merit pay. But the students who are in the technical school, the test that they take does not reflect anything that they will have to do when they graduate from high school. There's not a technical portion of it. So whether or not they pass the test is not necessarily measured how successful they are. They may have a computer test that they take that they excel at, but they're measured right along with everyone else.

[C]

Well, this gives you a little taste if you're a parent, on what's going on not so far behind, behind the scenes at your schools here. And there are a lot of different things to take into place before you make an opinion on it.

[G]

And like one of the teachers said, I mean, it is today, like I said, the last day of the state legislature and the name of the bill is the Senate Bill 521. Now, my understanding is that they don't think they're going to have enough votes to pass it. But you'll definitely see probably on the news tonight the protesters out at the Capitol, you know, talking about this.

[C]

Listen, it's the virtue go

[A]

this episode sponsored by Apollo. Still moving deals forward from your desk with Apollo, you can go to market on the go, find leads, research accounts and launch outreach right inside Claude and chat GPT. You can even make calls or research leads from Gmail, your CRM or company websites. So whether you're at the airport or on a coffee run, Apollo works where you work. No more switching tabs or devices grow boldly with Apollo, the revenue engine trusted by over 3 million teams. Visit Apollo IO anywhere and start free today. That's Apollo IO anywhere.

[F]

Hey everybody.

[B]

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[C]

This is the Birch Show. Good morning, Catherine, you're on Q100.

[F]

First of all, let me say that I love you guys. You guys are awesome. Awesome.

[G]

Thank you very much.

[F]

We love you right back. My question is for Melissa. Yes, I'm an alumni from Central High School and I was just wondering how that trombone learning is coming along.

[C]

Oh yeah, we gotta reset this. It's been a while. It's been a while since we talked about this. You gotta reset it.

[G]

That's right.

[F]

Yes.

[G]

I am trying to learn to do the trombone because Central Car High School is going to the Rose bowl parade on New Year's Day. And one of the things in my bucket go to the Rose bowl parade. And they knew that, so they gave me a call and said, hey, you know what, do you, would you like to be an honorary member of our band? And so they. I said, well, that's fine, but you got to tell me what instrument you need me to play in order to march with you. And so trombone was it. And so we are in trombone. Trombone. So we are actually in talks for one of the kids to teach me a song that is going to be performed in the Rose bowl because they had been working on their routine and they had not made those final choices yet. So as soon as the final choices are made, I get to learn how to play one. So we. I have not actually started. I have it. I've got my trombone right there. Ready?

[A]

Katie, Joe.

[G]

So there. I know exactly. And so they. So they are getting it all together on teaching me how to play a song.

[C]

So you haven't picked it up since the last time? No, we had not play for us.

[A]

Okay.

[G]

Yes. Because they had. They have not made their final choices yet on their routine. So they are our final finalizing that we just talked last week.

[F]

Week.

[G]

And I think the rose. The president of the Rose bowl is going to be in town here soon.

[C]

Pressure, pressure.

[G]

So anyway, but thank you so much. Go Lions.

[F]

And you'll have to play some on the radio.

[C]

Oh, yeah.

[D]

You are definitely.

[G]

How could I not share my talent?

[D]

This gift.

[G]

You have my gift with everybody here.

[D]

Can we schedule that? Because I might be out sick that day. Can you just let me know?

[C]

We all may be coming down with the same thing.

[F]

Right?

[B]

Also support you.

[G]

Thanks.

[A]

All right.

[C]

I'll be here, Melissa, to see you blow on that trombone. Tromboner, huh?

[G]

That's what Jeff called.

[C]

Save that, please. That's a little random. Will you say that again? But look me right in the eyes. This is the Birch Show.

[A]

This episode sponsored by Apollo. Still moving deals forward from your desk With Apollo, you can go to market on the go, find leads, research accounts and launch outreach right inside Claude and chatgpt. You can even make calls or research leads from Gmail, your CRM or company websites. So whether you're at the airport or on a coffee run, Apollo works where you work. No more switching tabs or devices. Grow boldly with Apollo, the revenue engine trusted by over 3 million teams. Visit Apollo IO anywhere and start free today. That's Apollo IO anywhere.

[B]

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