Rural Georgians, either through geography or ideology, often feel isolated from “metro-urban Georgia,” as well as alienated from the legislative decision-making process. Why? Because there are so few legislators in these areas who are able to make a significant impact on rural-related legislation. Conversely, issues affecting metro areas of the state are usually foreign to the “rest of Georgia.”
The debate surrounding the Opportunity School District is one such issue that, void of real facts, creates a voter conundrum. But through close analysis of the relevant data, it should become perfectly clear that there is a real need for additional state intervention in the 127 chronically failing schools found mostly in rural and inner-city Georgia. Of these schools, more than 95 percent of them are inhabited by minority children.
In metro Atlanta, larger numbers of quality school options are available to parents and their children. However, in rural Georgia counties where there is just one elementary school, one middle school, one high school (sometimes no high school at all), what are the educational options for these children?
Every day, children living in small hamlets of Georgia are bused miles to get to educational facilities. They wake early in the morning, long before their counterparts in urban areas, and return late in the evenings. Many of these children do not have the benefit of extra help (i.e. tutorial services, afterschool care etc.) nor extracurricular activities. Many parents do not have transportation to get them to after-school activities and most districts are too poor to afford much beyond a normal day’s transport. These are low-wealth counties with low property values, some with low property taxes, the revenue stream used by locals to fund public education. Teacher recruitment and retention are also critical issues for rural school districts.
Some of the voting public oppose Amendment 1 because they would like to see more money allocated to schools, without state intervention. However, some school districts with the same demographics have done very well academically by spending less money per pupil, while others spend more and remain stagnant. For example, Georgia has over 20 schools that are 80/80/80 schools, meaning 80 percent minority, 80 percent free-and-reduced lunch, and perform over 80 percent on the state grading system.
For rural Georgians, failing schools are socioeconomic catastrophes. On average, failing high schools in Georgia graduate only about 56 percent of their students. In failing elementary schools, roughly 69 percent of third-graders read below grade level, virtually assuring these children lives of poverty and, for far too many, the lack of a good education leads to incarceration.
A good education is critical to breaking cycles of poverty, which are often generational, by equipping students with the skills necessary to graduate and compete in the job market. If a school continually fails to prepare its students for academic and economic success, those children will suffer. The Opportunity School District will provide additional resources and higher levels of accountability to struggling schools, helping the children trapped in them succeed and pull ahead from behind.
Without an educated workforce, rural communities will continue to lose jobs, along with academic capital. Schools that fail to educate our children will destroy chances for economic growth and development in the area. Without strong educational instruction, alternative academic strategies and collaborative intervention from both local and state stakeholders, our children will remain uneducated, unemployable and unable to provide wholesome futures for themselves.
Rural Georgia sorely needs the Opportunity School District. We need the Opportunity School District in order to ensure that our future workforce has a real chance to succeed in life. Our children cannot wait any longer to get the quality education they deserve, and we have a moral obligation to give them this opportunity before it’s too late. Vote “Yes” on Question 1.
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