A new state center with a mission to improve reading skills of young children by training teachers to teach them officially opened Thursday.

The Georgia Center for Early Language and Literacy at Georgia College in Milledgeville is Gov. Nathan Deal’s initiative. He allocated a total of $5.1 million for the center in the 2017 and 2018 state budgets.

Deal and his wife, Sandra, a former teacher and co-chair of the Georgia Literacy Commission, attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday, after an inaugural summit on early learning and literacy.

The center convenes educational leaders from higher education, early childhood education programs and teacher preparation programs to improve the state’s ability to train teachers to teach young kids to read.

Children who can’t read proficiently by third grade risk falling behind in other subjects in later years, since reading is fundamental to learning.

About the Author

Keep Reading

Views of the exterior of Druid Hills High School in Atlanta shown on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. In the plan approved by the DeKalb County school board on Monday, everything but the main building, pictured here, will be demolished in favor of a new school building. (Natrice Miller/ AJC)

Credit: Natrice Miller

Featured

Jo'wan Bellamy taught in the GNETS program for 17 years and recently transferred to Atlanta’s new behavioral program at Crawford Long Middle School. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com