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January 2005
A UGA booster? Yes! A graduate? No
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Editor’s note: In a weak moment, Patti Ghezzi’s editor gave her a day off today (she helped cover the ice storm). But that doesn’t mean we won’t give readers their daily “Get Schooled” vitamin. This item was filed by assistant education editor Dana Tofig.
There’s little question that newly reappointed Regent Donald Leebern cares about the University of Georgia.
He’s publicly supported UGA’s current president, Michael Adams. He’s donated time and money to the university. And recently, he got in a little tepid water (not quite hot) for distributing bottles of wine with UGA logos all over them, a violation of state policy. Yes, Donald Leebern is a Bulldog.
But he’s a bulldog without a degree.
Late Friday, as most news organizations (including this one) were in a “here-comes-the-ice” frenzy, Gov. Sonny Perdue’s office dropped a press release announcing three appointments to the Board of Regents, which oversees the state’s public colleges and universities.
A brief bio of each appointee was included, including one for Leebern. His bio listed the liquor distribution businesses he owns and the various organizations he belongs to. And it ended with this line: “He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia.”
Almost. But not quite.
Arlethia Perry-Johnson, a spokeswoman for the state Board of Regents, confirmed today that Leebern, who played football at UGA, did not graduate from college. He fell a few credits short. In fact, Leebern does not have a degree at all. Perry-Johnson said her office was unaware that the Governor’s office was putting out a release and therefore had no hand in writing it.
The governor’s office says there was a misunderstanding that led to the error in the press release, and the information has been corrected for future reference.
A question: Should those serving on the Board of Regents be required to have a college degree of some type?
Give Me a Break
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“This book is negative. I read it. I don’t see the academic value in it. Everything presented to the kids should be positive or historical, not negative.”
This Missouri mom is one of several parents calling for the removal of “The Giver,” by Lois Lowry from a school district’s reading list. They say it is too morbid for middle school students. This book is 14th on the American Library Association’s most frequently challenged books. A query I sent out to metro Atlanta public schools suggests schools here steer clear of it, though several private schools do teach the book. “The Giver” is not part of the state curriculum, though guidelines say the state’s list is just a sampling of appropriate books.
If you haven’t read “The Giver,” you should. I finished it a couple of weeks ago, and I’m still thinking about it. It would be too bold a statement to declare it “the best book I ever read,” but it may be the most thought-provoking. (The book is typically taught in seventh or eighth grade, though my nephew who lives in New Jersey read it in sixth.)
The reason this story is making the rounds? The parents’ stance eerily mirrors The Giver’s utopian society.
A bigger issue is this mother’s belief that school’s shouldn’t present anything negative to students. This particular quote may be extreme, but I have heard similar sentiments before from parents who feel like their kids can’t handle anything bad or negative. With this as a directive, how could teachers teach?
Blog Bites Thanks for being a part of Get Schooled, whether as a lurker or a poster. I’m off Monday, but feel free to talk amongst yourselves. A blog is a bore without comments, so please drop a line. I’ll be back Tuesday, announcing the winner of the eduspeak contest.
SAT Prep Frenzy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The rollout of the New SAT, along with buzz about how competitive it has gotten to get into a good college, has sent the frenzy over test preparation into overdrive. I’ve never gotten so many news releases about new ways to study. Have SAT vocab words come across your cell phone or PDA, read a novel infused with SAT vocab words, build your own SAT quizzes. Now the folks at test -prep giant Kaplan bring you a 12-song CD featuring songs laden with SAT words.
Sample lyrics: “At this proximity you are deleterious to my tranquility”… “I am resplendent in the day/Scoff at all that is in my way” … “Why didn’t you tell me about your flagrant style/How can I make you mine for a while … “
The project is a joint effort with a company called Defined Mind, “a unique educational publisher that fuses hip-hop, alternative and other genres of music with advanced vocabulary to teach reading comprehension to students in grades 8 to 12, and to people studying for undergraduate or graduate entrance exams and ESL,” according to Kaplan. The CD, which comes with a study guide, is $25.
Is the test prep industry out of control or simply marketing its product in innovative ways?
AP: It’s About Essays, Not Memorization
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The College Board’s report on AP courses gave me a chance to talk to Trevor Packer, executive director of Advanced Placement. I got to ask two questions that have been bugging me for a long time.
Q: Teachers say they have a hard time covering all the material in an AP course. They fear that as more borderline students are encouraged to take AP courses, they will spend more time on each topic and not be able to cover everything. What’s your response?
A. This is a big misconception. The AP program encourages in-depth knowledge of a subject, not memorization of a bunch of facts. Teachers often feel like they have to touch on every point that might be on the AP exam. But in reality, if you do really well on the in-depth essays, you [can miss a lot] of the multiple choice questions [and still] get a 5 (the highest possible score) on the exam. (In other words, teachers sometimes work too hard to cover every facet of the course, when students would be better served studying fewer facets but with greater depth.)
Q: Is the College Board profit-driven? It’s supposedly a nonprofit organization, but it’s hard to ignore the reality that at $82 per AP exam, the College Board is raking in a lot of cash.
A: We’re a nonprofit association. The College Board’s motives aren’t at all profit-driven. The main reason for the cost of the AP exam is the expensive scoring process. (The essays are graded by educators with advanced degrees who know what college-level work looks like, he explained) We invest all our profits back into the community. (He gave several examples such as training for AP teachers in schools without as many courses.)
Contest I’m accepting entries for the most annoying, bureaucratic eduspeak word. E-mail me your favorites by Friday, and you could win a very cool prize.
When 90,000 Kids Isn’t Enough
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Today I judged a contest sponsored by Communities In Schools Georgia, an organization that helps kids through smaller high schools offering one-on-one guidance, after-school programs, mentoring etc.
Founder Neil Shorthouse noted that as hard as Communities In Schools is working, it’s still not enough. “There are 1.5 million kids in Georgia, and two-thirds of them need our help,” he said. “We’re reaching 90,000 kids in 500 sites.”
Shorthouse estimates that about a third of Georgia kids drop out of school, based on the number of kids who disappear between ninth and 12th grade. Another third manage to graduate but lack the skills necessary to get and keep a good job, according to feedback from business leaders. Shorthouse called on everyone to work harder: parents, teachers and citizens like those who volunteer with Communities in Schools.
You can find out more about this organization here.
Blog Contest Reminder: The competition is heating up, but there is still time to submit your favorite example of bureaucratic, nonsensical eduspeak. Prize is my copy of “Peterson’s Parent’s Guide to the SAT & ACT.” E-mail your submission to me by Friday.
The Bonus Points Conundrum
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Over the weekend, my colleague Laura Diamond wrote about a topic I get calls on all the time: how some districts add more bonus points on advanced class grades than others. For example, if a student takes an Advanced Placement course in Fulton County, she gets 7 points added to her average (An 87 miraculously becomes a 94). But the Gwinnett County student taking the same course gets 10 points added. Her 87 becomes a 97! Parents and students want to know: HOW IS THAT FAIR?
Well, Georgia gives school districts as much autonomy to set policies as possible, and many a battle has been waged over how far so-called local control should go. The state Department of Education has hinted that it might make a run at setting a standardized grading scale. Meanwhile, some colleges say they strip away those bonus points when they get the students’ transcripts anyway and urge parents and kids not to get so worked up over it.
Why the bonus points? Because school officials fear students would opt for the easier courses where getting an A is a given. Also, some say students should be rewarded for the additional time and effort that goes into an Advanced Placement course. (Some districts also weight honors courses leading up to AP courses, International Baccalaureate courses and Joint Enrollment courses taken at local colleges.)
Everyone seems to agree that college admissions should be fair. With competition so intense, admission can depend on a whisker’s difference on the GPA. But getting past local school boards’ desire for “local control” is a toughie in Georgia. What do you think?
Contest Update: I’ve only gotten one entry. It’s a good one, but the race for the darkly humorous “Peterson’s Parent’s Guide to the SAT & ACT” is still wide open. E-mail me your best eduspeak word ASAP. The window for entries closes Friday at 5 p.m. Today, I heard a good one: Vertical Teaming. It’s when teachers of the same subject but for different grades get together and plan so their lessons fit together. Great concept, lousy term IMHO.
School Spending…It’ll Make Your Head Hurt!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Richard asks: Do you know if there is any research that talks about the relationship between spending on education and student/school performance? Is there a positive correlation? It seems to me that we’re spending a lot and not getting the results we expect.
Patti attempts to respond: This question is a doozy that cannot be answered simply. Some points to consider: If you are looking at input vs. output, it’s clear in Georgia we are not getting much output (graduation rates, test scores) in schools that serve poor families. Schools in more affluent neighborhoods typically have high graduation rates and SAT averages even if they spend less. An example of this would be Fayette County, which spends $7,060 per pupil and has a 1060 SAT average. By comparison, DeKalb County, with more low-income students, spends $8,018 per pupil and has a 923 SAT average. And just to show it’s hard to identify a pattern: Clayton County spends $6,612 per pupil and has a dismal 901 SAT average.
Nationally, some states, such as Connecticut, spend on the high end ($9,188) and also get good results (SAT:1030 ). But that trend doesn’t always hold. New Hampshire spends less ($7,571) than the national average of $7,734 and gets results similar to its New England neighbor. (SAT:1043 ) Again, the parents’ income level, which reflects their level of education, tends to be the strong predictor.
Note: I’m sorry to be using SAT scores. The SAT was not designed to make state, district or school comparisons, but it’s a measure people recognize and relate to. I’ve used the most recent figures available, but this should not be used as an official source. I got my info from the Georgia Department of Education, the College Board and Education Week.
Another point to consider, Richard: What is your frame of reference for “spending a lot”? Does Georgia’s average of $7,923 seem like a lot? For context: California spends $6,659; Utah spends the least at $5,132 and New Jersey spends the most at $10,235.
Thoughts, anyone?
Contest: Best eduspeak word. Education has its own language, and it’s hard for a layperson to follow sometimes. I’ll throw out my favorite: Criterion Referenced Competency Test. Why not a simpler name for the state’s most important standardized exam? E-mail me your favorites, with a general definition please. Entries judged on how unlikely it is that an educated parent would know what the heck the principal was talking about. I’m the judge. The prize is a the book, “Peterson’s Parent’s Guide to the SAT & ACT.” Deadline for entries is next Friday, Jan. 28. No more than three entries per person, please.
Thank you for hanging with Get Schooled!
Hoop Hype?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The South Gwinnett High School basketball team, with its All American star Louis Williams, is a road show, traveling the country defeating in televised match-ups top teams like Virginia’s Oak Hill Academy, USA Today’s so-called #1 team. The South Gwinnett team’s success has put the school on the national map, drawing a mention in Sports Illustrated.
But is this what high school is supposed to be about? In basketball in particular, the most talented high school athletes are skipping college and going straight to the pros. A lot of kids might think that could be their ticket up, too, but few will ever get that chance. The same used to be said for college ballplayers. And now some high schools are under the same television hot lights usually reserved for large college programs. Is that something high schools should embrace, or something parents should be worried about?
(My colleague Hyde Post tipped me off to this fascinating issue)
Can Science Instruction Be Saved?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Cobb County school board will appeal a federal judge’s decision that textbook stickers informing students that evolution is “a theory, not a fact” must be removed. Meanwhile, Georgia Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox told the Legislature science instruction across the state is in disrepair. Too many students - especially minorities - are flunking the science portion of the graduation test on the first try. Last year, 60 percent of African Americans and 64 percent of Latino students, failed the first time around.
What’s going on? Cox says her curriculum overhaul will help by spelling out to teachers exactly what they should be teaching. But the new curriculum won’t fully kick in until 2008. Meanwhile, she’s giving students practice questions to help prep for the test.
Teachers, scientists: What can be done to improve science instruction in Georgia? Post your comment!
Answers to Your Questions:
Meagan wanted to know about charter schools. What is the current climate like surrounding school funding in Georgia? Are changes to the system anticipated? Is equity and adequacy perceived to be a problem statewide?
Phil Andrews, head of the Georgia Charter School Association, responds:
“Public school funding in Georgia is so complicated that very few people fully understand how it works. This issue is further muddied by the fact that public schools, including charter schools, receive public funding from three sources, federal funds, state funds, and local funds.
In theory, charter schools receive state and federal funding that is equal to traditional public schools. the systems for determining eligibility are not necessarily designed to deal with the program flexibility afforded to charter schools. Thus, some charter schools are not yet receiving full funding from state and federal sources despite the best efforts of the Georgia Department of Education.
The larger problem comes with local funding. While the Georgia Charter School Act provides a formula for determining the minimum amount of funding that must be provided to charter schools from local revenue, applying that formula is difficult. The funding formula does not provide clear guidance.
Finally, most charter schools receive no public facilities funding. Thus, they are forced to exist in older buildings in need of repair, and to either use some of their operational funding to pay for their facility or else raise private funds for their facility.
The bottom line is that the average start up charter school is receiving no facilities funding and roughly 20 - 25% less operating funding than similar traditional public schools.
The long term solution to the operational funding issues can be best achieved if the Governor’s Task Force on Education Funding is successful in creating a simpler, more transparent system for funding public education in Georgia.
Georgia Charter School Association will be promoting legislation to address these issues during the 2005 session of the Georgia General Assembly.
And Anita asks What has become of the E-rate “scandal” with the Atlanta Public School system?
Reporter Paul Donsky responds: Atlanta Public Schools has hired new leadership for its technology department, brought in auditors to look into its past E-rate spending, and hired consultants to help with this year’s E-rate application, due next month.
The school system hopes to restore the flow of federal E-rate funds -cut off since 2001 - to help pay to maintain the computer network and also to install a high-tech Internet phone system.
But many questions remain. We reported last month that about $5 million in E-rate grants were diverted between 2000 and 2002 to pay for ineligible projects, including plasma TV monitors, cell phone bills and air-conditioning units.
Atlanta school officials say their audit should determine if any money was spent inappropriately.
Watch for the Spin Cycle
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Of all the information school districts report to the public, test scores may be the easiest to spin. School officials can present the scores relative to the state average or relative to district scores in previous years, depending on which puts the numbers in a more favorable light.
A case in point:
Atlanta Public School officials recently trumpeted what they called “significant improvement” on the state’s writing test. Last school year, 88 percent of 11th-grade students passed the test - required for graduation - on their first attempt, compared with 84 percent in 2003. Superintendent Beverly Hall featured the news in her speech during a school board meeting, televised on local public television. She noted that the score was the highest in the 12-year history of the exam.
True, but … in reality, the district has just made up for ground lost the last few years. In 2000, the district had a passing rate of 87 percent, which fell to 84 percent in 2001 and 83 percent in 2002. Since 1997, the passing rate among first-time test takers has remained relatively steady, between 83 and 88 percent.
Not to take away from Atlanta Public Schools and the teachers who work with their students and their writing skills, but success on the state’s writing test is not necessarily something to hold a pep rally over.
Statewide, 94 percent of juniors breezed through the writing test on the first try. In Fulton County, 96 percent passed. In DeKalb County, 91 percent passed. In other words, this test is not exactly a brain twister. It’s designed to determine whether students have the writing skills needed to focus on a topic and develop ideas in a persuasive essay.
Not that writing skills aren’t important. Starting this spring, the SAT will add an essay component.
(Paul Donsky, our Atlanta Public Schools reporter, contributed to this blog entry.)
Do you have a question about education? Ask Get Schooled. We’ll try to track down the answer. Just e-mail me or post your question as a comment.
Coming to a School Marquee Near You
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia Department of Education has named 23 schools state “Schools of Excellence”
The title of “School of Excellence” used to mean little, because many schools that won the state award had low test scores and other undesireable qualities. It’s a shame, because schools that competed for “School of Excellence” worked hard, setting their own goals and documenting their successes with test scores and other things like PTA membership and attendance.
Flash forward to the national obsession with data - hey, I’m one of the obsessed - and the state now has what they say is more objective criteria. In other words, schools are awarded the honor based on their test scores. Those with the highest scores get recognized. Typically these schools are situated in nice neighborhoods with expensive homes and parents who are very involved in their children’s education at home and at school. Additionally, those schools that have improved their test scores, regardless of how high or low the scores are, can get the honor, though they have to meet some other criteria.
What conclusions can you draw from a school with this distinction? Not a whole lot, seeing as so many schools now boast on their marquees that they are “Schools of Excellence,” regardless of how long ago they won. I’d say a recent “Georgia School of Excellence” award signifies a school moving in the right direction - a school that , in general, “works.”
But just like a single test score cannot tell the story of a child, a single award can’t tell you everything you need to know if you are thinking of sending your child to a particular school. To get the full story, you’ll need more information, the kind you can only get from walking the school’s hallways and talking to teachers and parents.
For a list of this year’s “Schools of Excellence,” see the state’s press release
Blog housekeeping: I will try to post every weekday, though breaking news may at times make that impossible. I will not post Monday, because we are off for King Day.
Christoph Guttentag of Duke University alerted me to a correction on his interview. Curriculum, grades and test scores count for 50 percent of Duke’s admissions formula. I corrected the text as soon as he alerted me. I’m sorry for the misunderstanding.
You want more links, and I promise they are coming. I’m still getting the hang of this. Some of you asked about RSS, and my tech guru tells me he’s working on it and hopes to have it in a few weeks. Another poster wants to know how to use the search feature just for Get Schooled, and unfortunately we are not able to offer that service at this time.
Thank you everyone for visiting Get Schooled during our first week in the blogosphere. Please bookmark us and check us regularly. I especially appreciate the story ideas. Keep them coming, and please keep posting. Next week, I’ll announce the first Get Schooled contest as well as the “Ask the AJC” feature.
Evolution: A Sticky Situation in Cobb
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So the evolution decision is in: Evolution disclaimers in Cobb County science textbooks must go, a federal judge said. The judge said the stickers violate the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
We’re covering this story fast and furiously, but we want to hear from our readers.
Let us know what you think by posting a comment!
What’s in Store for ‘05
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With the Legislature back in session, the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education has issued a top ten list of school issues to watch in 2005. The group, headed by former Fulton County Superintendent Stephen Dolinger, says it doesn’t lobby for or against controversial issues like vouchers. Instead the organization pulls together nonpartisan research and national examples of so-called best practices.
- Achievement Gap Goes to College. (Addressing disparities in college completion rates)
- Addressing the B in NCLB - America and Georgia’s Achievement Gap
- Money, Money, and the Lack of Money
- What’s New? Performance Standards and the SAT. (This refers to Georgia’s new curriculum and to the New SAT, which students will take this spring)
- The New IDEA (The federal law requiring schools to education students with disabilities)
- Retention Still Has a Place at the Table (This year, fifth-graders must pass a math and reading test to advance to middle school)
- The Future of School Choice (i.e. Vouchers)
- Early Learning Matters Most
- High School Matters (Nationally, there’s a huge trend toward high school reform)
- Merit Pay for Teachers (Huh? This one surprised me a little, but sure enough there’s already a concept on the table to recognize “master teachers.”)
‘…Not a Referendum on Parenting’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I asked Christoph Guttentag, head of admissions at Duke University, every question I could think of in hopes of demystifying the college admissions process.
Why Duke? It’s an extremely popular college among metro Atlanta students, and it’s very competitive. Just one in five applicants gets accepted. And, Christoph returned my phone call.
PG: What are the factors Duke considers?
CG: Curriculum, grades, test scores, letters of recommendation, activities and the essay. We have a numeric evaluation system.
PG: What is most heavily weighted?
CG: Curriculum, grades and test scores count for 50 percent.
PG: Why is the admissions process such an enigma?
CG: It’s perceived to be a very high-stakes process, unless you are on the inside. Nobody on the outside can see the process. They look at the input and the output, who applied and who got in, and try to understand what happened in the black box.
PG: What do you think about families hiring consultants to help with admission?
CG: This is predominantly a phenomenon of the major metropolitan areas. I worry that families feel if they don’t do it they are missing an opportunity for their child.
PG: Do you know when a consultant has been involved with a student’s application?
CG: Usually, no.
PG: Are there some red flags you look for when reviewing applications?
CG: Sometimes we see overpolished essays that are inconsistent with the rest of the application. If that’s the case, we’ll want to know, why the inconsistency?
PG: Are students from, say, The Westminster Schools, competing with other students from The Westminster Schools? In other words, will you only accept a limited number from one school?
CG: No, every application is judged on its own merit.
PG: Does it help a student’s chances when the high school guidance counselor calls your office?
CG: Not really. Occasionally we will get phone calls from counselors. The gist of the conversation is always helping us understand the student. The counselors know advocacy per se does not work. They say, “These are the things you should know.”
PG: Are kids who do not get as much attention from a college counselor at a disadvantage?
CG: We ask for the counseling load. Those with 50 or 75 [students per counselor] have one set of expectations. With 500 or 600 students [per counselor], we have a different set of expectations. We may call the counselor or give greater weight to letters from teachers.
PG: You got 17,000 applications last year. Does someone in your admissions department read every application? Or are some eliminated up front because their grades are not high enough?
CG: We look at every application from beginning to end. We’re very much trying to understand who these students are.
PG: So you reject students who meet your academic standards?
CG: Yes, definitely. Most students who apply to Duke are very accomplished. We’re making choices among students, any of whom would be great Duke students.
PG: What are the intangible qualities you are looking for? What exactly makes the difference when so many students have similar qualifications?
CG: It’s an individual institution making decisions about creating a student body. The college admissions process is not a referendum on parenting.
PG: High school students often face a dilemma with course selection. They wonder how many honors courses they should take. What’s your advice?
CG: Our philosophy has been that a student should take as challenging a curriculum as he or she can reasonably handle. If a student is so concerned about the strength of the curriculum that it keeps him or her from being a good school community member…There’s a larger problem … There’s a lot of pressure on students to do everything absolutely perfectly.
PG: Do some kids and parents put too much emphasis on getting into a big-name school?
CG: Sure. We’ve all been held captive to the U.S. News & World Report rankings.
PG: Did you graduate from a big-name school?
CG: I’m a graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Victory for Charter School Parents
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Parents at Neighborhood Charter School in Atlanta’s Grant Park have scored a huge victory in gaining approval for a charter middle school. Southeast Atlanta Charter Middle School will open in the fall with 60 sixth-graders, with plans to add a grade a year and eventually serve 200 kids.
This is Champagne-worthy news for the families involved, many of whom have toiled for the past six years to make Neighborhood Charter School a reality. Before some of their kids were out of diapers, parents started formulating a plan for what they wanted in a school. Before they could open, they had to get support from Atlanta Public Schools at a time when the administration was wary of charter schools. When Georgia’s current charter school law was passed in 1998, many educators didn’t even know what they were.
Charter schools are public schools that operate outside the control of the local board, yet they are held accountable to the school district and the state through terms spelled out in a charter. Many wannabe charter school organizers haven’t been able to convince the school board they’re up to the task of running a school.
Statewide, several charter schools haven’t survived and others are on life support. Many charter advocates blame funding, saying the local boards deny them their share. Neighborhood Charter School is a bright spot. It’s a diverse school controlled by a board made up of parents, and it posts high test scores. This in spite of a fire that destroyed the school building in 2003.
Yet the very parents who worked so hard to get Neighborhood Charter off the ground faced a crisis when their kids graduated from fifth grade. Where would they go? Nearby King Middle School has abysmal test scores. Inman Middle School in Virginia-Highland has a good reputation, but slots for students from outside the attendance zone are limited. And private schools, well, tuition hovers at around $10,000 a year, admission is competitive and many parents want their children to have a public-school experience.
Now, students will move on to Southeast Atlanta Charter Middle. For now, the school will hold classes in the old Slaton Elementary building, which is under renovation.
The charter middle school, like Neighborhood Charter, will feature a hands-on, project-oriented curriculum focused on ecology and conservation, with a partnership with nearby Zoo Atlanta. The middle school also will require each student to participate in at least 10 hours of community service each year.
(Note: Education Reporter Paul Donsky, who has covered Neighborhood Charter School since 2001, helped me put together this entry…)
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What about bus drivers?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gov. Sonny Perdue is pitching a 2 percent raise for teachers, a move teacher groups decried as not enough but Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox, a Republican who taught in Fayette County, said is “enough for us to show our appreciation.”
Toni Smith, a teacher at Columbia High School, did not complain that the 2 percent was too stingy. But she did want to know whether support personnel such as bus drivers, school secretaries, cafeteria workers and custodians were included in the governor’s proposal.
The answer, according to the governor’s office, is no. The raise applies to “educators”: teachers, principals and assistant principals, a spokeswoman said Thursday.
Pay for the workers Smith is worried about is established at the local school district, the spokeswoman said. Smith thinks a state mandate would help lift salaries, benefits and working conditions for those Smith considers her partners in keeping schools running smoothly. “It’s certainly unfair to marginalize the work they do,” said Smith, who is recovering from an accident and on medical leave. “We’re part of a team. They are very much on the front lines, too.”
Teacher pay in Georgia averages $45,000 to $46,000 a year, the highest in the Southeast. For bus drivers, the starting pay in DeKalb County is about $14,000 a year for drivers who work about five hours a day.
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Georgia is Not Last in Education
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In 2002 and 2003, Georgia ranked dead last among states in SAT average. This led to many a claim that Georgia is “last in education.” Simply not true. The SAT average is misleading in that some states such as Mississippi and Tennessee favor the rival college admissions test, the ACT. Without them in the mix, Georgia is going to fare poorly by comparison to east coast states that don’t have as many students living in poverty.
Education Week’s annual “Quality Counts” report points this out in listing scores on the National Assessment of Education Progress, a national test given to a sampling of students in fourth and eighth grades. On this measure, Georgia consistently ranks in the bottom third, but never dead last. That dubious honor usually falls to New Mexico or Mississippi.
At the top? Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Minnesota: all states with far fewer poor families than Georgia.
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Georgia Beats National Average
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia isn’t last - or even next to last - when it comes to spending money on school kids. Georgia spends on average $7,923 per child per year, a few hundred bucks more than the national average of $7,734.
This comes from a new report available Wednesday from Education Week. EdWeek’s source is the National Center for Education Statistics. The most recent year for which the data is available is 2001-2002. (This is a huge frustration when writing about education. Often, data is a couple years old.) And a key point is noted at the bottom of EdWeek’s chart: “Adjusted for regional cost differences.”
Who spends the most? Drumroll please. The District of Columbia, which ranks dead last in SATs, spends the most at $11,269. How’s that for irony? Among states, it’s New Jersey atop the list, spending $10,235. New York, Vermont, Wyoming (?!?), and Connecticut follow.
Georgia spends the most of any southern state. Most of our neighbors rank below the national average including Alabama ($6,755), Tennessee ($6,530) and Florida ($6,492). Ranking last is Utah, which spends just $5,132 per student.
What to make of these numbers? They’re interesting, but they should not be pondered in a vaccuum. Per-pupil spending is not a reflection of how good a state’s schools are. There are fine schools in states that spend less, such as Florida, Colorado and, yes, even Georgia. And there are some lousy schools in big-spending states like New Jersey and, yes, even Connecticut.
The report - No Small Change: Targeting Money Toward Student Performance - notes that every state has its own school funding formula. (Try understanding Georgia’s, known as QBE. I dare you.) Lawsuits are pending in at least 10 states, including Georgia.
The annual report includes all kinds of information on test scores and is full of buzzwords like “standards” and “accountability.” Georgia gets an average report card: B+ for “standards and accountability,” C for efforts to improve teacher quality, C for school climate and C for equity in resources. For an edugeek like myself, it’s fascinating reading. I’ll be chipping away at it over the next few days and using it as a reference all year.
More info: www.edweek.org. And you know they’re going to make you register…
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Welcome to Get Schooled
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Welcome to our new blog, Get Schooled, your source of information and conversation about education in Georgia and in the nation. Public schools, private schools, preschool, college, continuing education. We define education broadly around here and encourage you to do the same.
Please check us regularly for updates, insights, news from around the country and the world and answers to your questions.
Our education team has 15 reporters and two editors. We are passionate about the topic we cover and have expertise in various areas such as special education, college admission and Georgia Pre-K. If we can’t answer your question, we’ll find someone who can.
We welcome comments and feedback, but please play nice. I have the power to expel you, and you won’t be entitled to a due process hearing.
Patti Ghezzi Education Reporter
Patti’s 411
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I have been an education reporter at the AJC since 1997. I covered the Gwinnett, Clayton, Henry, DeKalb and Decatur school systems before moving to an at-large post in 2001. Recently, our education reporter in DeKalb resigned, and I was dispatched back to my old position on an interim basis. I love my job. I get to visit classrooms and watch the education process happen (or not, as the case may be).
While growing up in Jackson Mississippi, I went to a small, private Christian academy. My family moved to the Philadelphia area, where I graduated from a large, public high school known for high test scores. I have always been slightly above average on standardized tests. My SAT score was 1180, if memory serves.
I graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a degree in journalism and then taught in Japan for a year. I was a volunteer at Whitefoord Elementary School in southeast Atlanta for ten years, tutoring children on Saturday mornings. I recently earned a masters degree from at Kennesaw State University.
My most frequently asked question: Do you have kids? My husband and I are in the process of adopting two children. People say everything I think about education will change when I actually have kids in school. I know this about education: the more you think you know, the more you realize you need to know more.
AJC’s Education Team: Who Does What?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
EDITORS
Keith Graham, education editor, 404-526-5872, kgraham@ajc.com
Fran Jeffries, assistant education editor, 404-526-5384, fjeffries@ajc.com
REPORTERS
Laura Diamond, Gwinnett County schools reporter, 770-263-3892, ldiamond@ajc.com
Bridget Gutierrez, K-12 issues and trends reporter, 404-526-7257, bgutierrez@ajc.com
Andrea Jones, higher education reporter, 404-526-7217, ajones@ajc.com
Chris Reinolds, Cherokee County schools reporter, 770-373-8708, creinolds@ajc.com
Diane Stepp, Cobb County and Marietta city schools reporter, 770-509-4041, dstepp@ajc.com
Kristina Torres, DeKalb County and Decatur city schools reporter, 404-479-8604, ktorres@ajc.com
Heather Vogell, Clayton County schools reporter, 770-282-8304, hvogell@ajc.com NOTE: Heather is currently on assignment with another team. Please send information on Clayton schools to Assistant Editor Fran Jeffries.
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