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Wednesday, January 10, 2007
The Governor’s Education Challenge
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gov. Sonny Perdue gave his annual “Eggs & Issues” address to the Georgia Chamber of Commerce yesterday.
Last year, Perdue used the speech to unveil an attention-grabbing education agenda, which included reducing class sizes and putting “graduation coaches” in every high school.
This year, the governor took a less dramatic tack. Instead of laying out his own education plans, Perdue issued a “call to action,” asking business leaders to provide “real world” experiences for students, such as job shadowing and internships, to help boost the state’s graduation rate.
“Anything to give students a sense of the exciting promises ahead of them,” he said.
Of course, many high school students already are working in the “real world.” Say, for example, as a cashier or cook at the local Chick-fil-A. So what I’d honestly like to know is: Do internships really add to a high school student’s education or are they just a waste of academic time?
UPDATE: The governor touted education as his top priority in his “State of the State” address today. “I’m here to tell you again that my priorities have not changed,” he said, according to a text of the speech. “Education is the single most important factor in the future prosperity of our state.”
Perdue’s new budget, also unveiled today, includes a 3 percent pay raise for teachers as well as a continuation of the $100 gift card for teacher supplies. The governor is using $21 million to expand the graduation coach program to middle schools.
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