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Tuesday, June 13, 2006
“We Are Now Going To War”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Joe Martin, head of the coalition pushing for a new funding formula for Georgia schools, announced today that “the state of Georgia has rebuffed [the organization’s] offer to negotiate a settlement of the lawsuit for adequate school funding and has hired a major law firm…”
The state unsuccessfully tried to get the suit dismissed, and some lawmakers had hinted at the possiblity of a settlement to avoid a drawn-out trial. Gov. Sonny Perdue put together a task force to study school funding, and Martin says his group - the 51-member Consortium for Adequate School Funding in Georgia - was told to let the task force handle the financing issue.
“We tried to avoid this turn of events, but what it means is we are now going to war,” Martin wrote in an e-mail to reporters who might be interested in covering a Friday press conference in Cordele. Knowing reporters are generally food-centered individuals, he promises samples of the watermelon the region is known for. (Who knew?)
Martin’s group mostly represents rural school districts who say they don’t have enough property wealth to fund their schools. School financing in Georgia relies on property taxes. Members say the state doesn’t give their districts enough money to run their schools properly. They want a more fair way of funding education in Georgia, but they have not made specific demands.
Is this cause worth going to battle over?
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Cool Tool for District CRCT Scores
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hi all, other members of our ed team worked overtime to pry district-by-district scores from the state Department of Education. Here’s Mary MacDonald’s story. David Milliron, our database guy who could recite the Georgia open records law if called upon to do so, set up this cool search tool.
Any surprises in your district?
