The Athens-Clarke County school system will receive its first wave of federal stimulus money – and they’re open to ideas about how to spend it.

Monica Knight, director of student achievement and educational equity for the Clarke County School District, attended the Roosevelt Institution’s Think Local Conference, held on Saturday. Knight facilitated a discussion about the possible ways the school district could use the millions of stimulus dollars it would receive.

“People that bring forward good ideas have the right to voice them,” Knight said. “I would definitely love to hear about this from a different side. I’m all about doing this differently.”

The Think Local Conference brought University students with community leaders and University faculty to discuss policy changes and address problems within the county.

The conference was created to “spark dialogue on important issues facing Athens-Clarke County today and hopefully translate that [dialogue] into policy solutions,” said Kevin Chang, a senior from Norcross and co-chairman of the Roosevelt Institution, the University’s think tank.

Suggestions for the stimulus money include pay performance, which would pay more for teachers whose students improve the most, and school choice, which would give students and their families more options for their educational needs.

“[The community leaders] are so excited about everything we do,” Chang said. “And they’re really sincere about hearing what we have to say.”

Rocky Cole, a sophomore from Kennesaw, also saw the benefits of looking at policy from a local level.

“Working directly with policy gives students a greater opportunity to learn about the policy process,” Cole said. “[On the local level] our ideas are taken more seriously and actually have a chance to affect change.”

“I don’t know that we’re really solving anything,” said Emily Yeager, a senior conference participant from Houston. “But we are discussing solutions and figuring out new directions to move in.”

Yeager, who spends time working with students in the Clarke County School District, said she hoped the conference attendees would learn about local policy.

“[The University] isn’t just a bubble inside the Athens community,” Yeager said. “Sometimes, [the University] is seen as part of the problem, not necessarily part of the solution, and Roosevelt is acting to turn that perception around.”