We are a state that favors easy solutions. That penchant is apparent in Gov. Nathan Deal’s proposal to empower the state to take over failing schools.
The proposal – which Deal intends to pursue with the Legislature this year – is patterned after the recovery school district model in New Orleans.
Here’s the first problem. Georgia is not New Orleans post Katrina.
Credit: Maureen Downey
Credit: Maureen Downey
Underperforming schools in rural Georgia will not see the outpouring of donations New Orleans inspired.
Hundreds of young idealists flocked to New Orleans in response to the searing images of families stranded on roofs, children crying in shelters and schools reduced to rubble.
I'm not sure we can lure similar young, bright idealists to rural Georgia. Even a decimated New Orleans could offer young educators a more exciting social setting than many small Georgia towns.
But the biggest problem with Deal's plan is this: Where is the evidence the “state” can run schools well? Who will run them?
There is no state agency of education superheroes waiting to leap into action. The state Department of Education does not have the staff to run schools. Neither does the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement.
I am always baffled by people – including many on this blog – who selectively cheer an expansion of state power. The state can barely handle its current responsibilities. (Anybody have a teen getting a driver’s license? Metro parents are booking their teens' driving tests in the boonies because of the waits in metro offices.)
I agree with Deal -- children should not be condemned to failing schools. But the state can't assure improved academics simply by taking over schools or handing them to private operators.
Many failing schools are in failing communities with high crime and low employment.
Failing schools should not be accepted as an inevitable consequence of poverty. Much can be done to improve the schools, especially funding them fully.
Georgia is not doing that.
The state has a funding formula – the Quality Basic Education Act – that determines how much money schools earn based on the number of students, class size and teacher salaries. The state has always treated the QBE formula as a suggestion rather than a commitment.
Since 2003, the state austerity cuts to schools equal $7.6 billion. In response to a survey by the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute, 85 percent of districts said they raised class size this year to deal with cuts; 33 percent reduced their school year, and 84 percent employed fewer teachers than they did in 2009.
State cuts to schools exceeded a billion dollars this year. As GBPI senior education budget analyst Claire Suggs explained Friday at a media forum, that translates to a shortfall of $16,000 in a classroom of 25 students.
Suggs noted she had recently visited Cobb's Walton High School. With an enrollment of about 2,700, Walton was down $1.5 million this year due to state cuts, said Suggs.
Many people condemn public schools without considering the larger trends that impede student learning. And one of those trends should be scaring us to death. More and more of Georgia's children are poor.
As Dana Rickman, director of policy and research for the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education, told education reporters Friday, "Not only do we have more children in poverty, we are growing exponentially in terms of the rest of the nation."
In its report on the top 10 education issues in Georgia this year, GPEE noted:
"Between 2003 and 2014, state spending per student fell an inflation-adjusted 9.3 percent while the number of children living in poverty increased nearly 20 percentage points. Students living in poverty frequently need extra supports from the school systems to meet high levels of academic achievement.
Strategies such as longer school days and years, and smaller classrooms can help low income students catch up with their more affluent peers. However, the districts with the highest percentages of low-income students tend to be the least resourced to offer these support programs."
Two years ago, Indiana turned five chronically failing schools over to independent management companies that were supposed to turn them around. All five schools are still failing. And some of the companies running the schools say they can't improve performance without more money.
If you look at the research on successful state takeovers, a critical component was bringing in additional resources and expertise. Even then, the research says that while state takeovers often improve a school district's central office functions, they don't yield strong academic improvement.
After Katrina, the philanthropic dollars and federal aid that flowed into New Orleans boosted per pupil spending to $15,000, said Suggs. On average, Georgia spends $8,900 per student, according to DOE.
"You cannot separate what happened in Louisiana from the money they put into it," said Suggs, "Money is a game changer. It makes things possible. Yes, you have to use it effectively. But the increase in funding is something that should not be overlooked in talking about the recovery district in New Orleans. What would happen if Georgia put $12,000 or $15,000 into every kid in every school?"
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