Georgia School Boards Association surveys office-seekers on education
The Republican and Democratic candidates for Georgia school superintendent clashed on the national academic standards known as Common Core and joined in a call to adjust the state's education funding formula, in their responses to a survey of statewide office-seekers conducted by the Georgia School Boards Association.
Republican Richard L. Woods repeated his concern that Common Core wasn’t designed by and for Georgians while Democrat Valarie Wilson said she’d move forward with the standards if elected superintendent. Both candidates said the complicated education funding formula, known as the Quality Basic Education formula, should be updated.
“The QBE funding formula has never been fully funded,” Wilson said. “Therefore, I don’t believe we have an adequate funding formula for public education in Georgia.”
Woods said: “Though a big strength with QBE is its recognition that students have different needs and challenges, the cumbersome and bureaucratic nature of the current funding formula has created needless confusion among school districts, policymakers and the general public.”
GSBA’s survey also included the education views of the candidates for governor, Republican Gov. Nathan Deal and state Sen. Jason Carter, D-Decatur; and the candidates for lieutenant governor, Republican Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Connie Stokes, a Democrat who served in the state Senate.
Carter said his first priority “will always be education.”
“Education is economic development,” he said. “It creates opportunity. It attracts businesses to our state, and it prepares our students for the best jobs.”
Deal said he, too, would prioritize education.
“Both of my parents and my wife were teachers, so improving education has been and always will be a top priority for me,” Deal said. “Even through very hard economic times, I have prioritized education spending.”
