Dems vow to keep fighting HOPE, but no chance of a reversal
The Democrats refuse to go down without a fight on HOPE.
Senate Minority Leader Robert Brown said Friday that Democrats plan to introduce legislation to overturn HB 326, the governor’s package to slash costs in the HOPE scholarship program.
As far as Republicans are concerned, Gov. Nathan Deal saved HOPE with his reductions in the amount of the award and his tiered-system of award amounts. The problem is that the highest level of HOPE — the Zell Miller Scholarship — will be nearly impossible for rural and urban students who cannot meet the new SAT component.
Several lawmakers have said that no one from their local schools scored the required 1200. To appease those lawmakers, the Miller money will now also go to each high school’s top two students, regardless of SAT score. So at least rural counties are assured of two recipients of the Miller awards each year.
Does anyone find it is surprising that even the valedictorian and salutatorian in some rural high schools don’t score 1200 on the 1600-scale SAT? It is not unusual in metro Atlanta high schools to find most students in the top 10 percent of their class with scores of 1250 or higher.
The changes are unfair to poor, rural and minority families and will make it hard for some families to afford college, Brown said while standing in front of an Atlanta convenience store that sells lottery tickets. The Georgia Lottery funds HOPE.
The bill would cut the scholarship amount for all but the very brightest students and would force most students and families to pay more for college.
Senate Democrats may have a difficult time getting support to overturn HB 326. Amendments they introduced to allow more students to get the full scholarship were rejected by the Senate. Also, the bill received overwhelming bipartisan support in the House.
The changes to HOPE would allow students who maintain a 3.0 GPA to still get the scholarship, but the amount would be tied to lottery revenue, not tuition, and could vary annually. For this fall, students would receive 90 percent of current tuition rates, meaning it would not cover double-digit hikes expected at some campuses.
Only high school valedictorians and salutatorians, as well as those who graduate with at least a 3.7 GPA and a combined 1200 on the math and verbal sections of the SAT would get a scholarship that fully covers tuition. They would need to maintain a 3.3 in college to keep it. The bill would eliminate money for books and fees and cut the private college award from $4,000 to $3,600.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get schooled blog.
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87 comments Add your comment
Dr. Craig Spinks/ Augusta
March 11th, 2011
4:36 pm
If anyone thinks our state’s SAT V/M total weren’t poor enough, check out SAT V/M totals for some of our local schools and systems as provided on the website for the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement(www.gaosa.org).
The average SAT V/M Total reported for Hancock Central High School in 2009-10 was 775.
The average SAT V/M Total reported for Sumter County in 2009-10 was 889.
By the way, is it coincidental that Hancock County has the highest unemployment rate in our state?
HS Public Teacher
March 11th, 2011
4:39 pm
The sad reality is that students in rural areas do not have the same opportunities as students in urban areas. Thus, the lower scores on standardized tests such as the SAT.
However, when those same student are given equal access to professors and labs and such (such as in college) then they CAN perform. This is why it is important to provide some avenue for these students.
GT Student
March 11th, 2011
4:41 pm
This is very sad, and it really shows that education NEEDS to become a priority for Georgia. How can we expect our state to improve when we don’t invest in our future?
ABC
March 11th, 2011
4:52 pm
You know as much as I hate republicans, I think it’s ridiculous that the dems are trying to ensure that “the poor” go to college, regardless of abilities.
Maureen asks: “Does anyone find it is surprising that even the valedictorian and salutatorian in some rural high schools don’t score 1200 on the 1600-scale SAT? ” Surprising?? I find it APPALLING!!! What the heck are the awarding valedictorians to??? a 1200 in the SATs is no great prize for pete’s sake.
catlady
March 11th, 2011
5:37 pm
I agree with ABC. If the top two students do not have a 1200/1600, NO ONE should get a “Miller Scholarship.” Period. These are kids that are likely to need remedial work at first.
Yes, poor kids have an extra strike against them. In pretty much every area of life, they have it rough. But poor kids of promise (who are underachieving in high school) have little chance in a competitive college. They generally need the support found in 2 year colleges and lots of time to catch up. Give those valedictorians/salutatorians full tuition — to 2 year college.
You see, ATTENDING COLLEGE should not be our focus—FINISHING COLLEGE should be!
catlady
March 11th, 2011
5:43 pm
It would be nice (h3ll, wonderful) if the legislators asked the question, “What SAT seems to correlate with successful college matriculation here in Georgia?” And that would be how they got the 1200. HOWEVER, I fear that the question was, “What SAT will cut out the “right number” of students so that the HOPE funds will stretch?” I suspect THAT is where the 1200/3.7 came from.
another comment
March 11th, 2011
5:55 pm
It is not just in this State. The fact is that if you did not have a parent who graduated from college and went to college you are at a disadvantage. I scored 550 each on Math and Verbal or 1100 on the old SAT in 1977-1978 which would be a 1200 today, because they bumped up the score today. My Mother was a high school drop out in 1942. My father flunked out of college after 1 and lost his football scholarship. We are white. I luckily was accepted in all of the colleges I applied to the Architecture Schools to.
I remember my best friend had been a Principal’s daughter in Conneticut. She could not believe that I had been accepted with my low SAT scores, after all she had a 1475. Then what made her even more upset was the fact that I outperformered her on every test in every subject. I was a superior designer. I became the President of Tau Beta Pi, Engineering Honor Society at the School. I graduated 5th in our class. I believe she did manage to come in 7th. I received a full scholarship to Purdue for Graduate School.
Of course she did better on the SAT, her father was a High School Principal. She was exposed to someone that knew how to prepare their child to take the SAT. I was born into a family where my mother dropped out of high school. When I suggested to my mother when I was in high school, don’t think it would be nice to at least get your GED before your kids graduate from high school, she said I am too old. So she would rather complain that she had to live in a trailer and my father never bought her a house.
another comment
March 11th, 2011
6:08 pm
I see with my friends who have thier kids in Private Schools such as Marist, the kids are encouraged to get private Tutors and repeat taking the SAT. My one friends son first scored 1050 on the SAT but After the parents paid for the Private Tutor, not just the $99 on line quizes his score when up to 1450. All the kids at the Private Schools have 3.9 to 4.0 GPA’s. They don’t even rank their students, since they all have the same GPA.
In public school the kids are barely told to take the SAT. They are given no test taken skills. They certainly aren’t given opportunities to retake it, or steered to tutors who can help them raise their scores 400+ points.
oldtimer
March 11th, 2011
6:23 pm
Her in my adopted town in rural TN..there are 8 Valvictorians…none mad 26 or better on the ACT…4 are teachers kids.
oldtimer
March 11th, 2011
6:23 pm
Here—-not her
Lieutenant Dan Sez:
March 11th, 2011
6:36 pm
Words from a Georgia college freshmen on a HOPE scholarship:
“Six munces ago, aa wuz aa haa schu senor wit aa 10.10 geepeeaa. Now day say aa gotta do remeedals…dem dirty teechers doont lack me. I’ma gonna sick ma diddy on em all…day’ll be sorry”!
ID 10 T Error
March 11th, 2011
6:41 pm
I’m no math teacher, but 1200/1600 = 75%. Not incredibly impressive.
ID 10 T Error
March 11th, 2011
6:46 pm
Besides, IT’S A SCHOLARSHIP, people, not an entitlement. I am all for an SAT component. There needs to be some standard measure if it s a STATE scholarship. The old system promoted grade inflation. You can’t tell me that a kid with a 3.0 coming out of Telfair or Bulloch is as strong as a kid with a 3.0 coming out of Cobb or Gwinnett.
Lynn
March 11th, 2011
6:51 pm
That is what is wrong with Colleges using GPAs as the primary determinant for admission. Students who can’t get into Tech or UGA from the metro area would be the Valedictorians at many of these schools and would score better than a 1200 on the SAT. It’s not just socioeconomic or location that is producing students who can’t make the grade. The curriculum is standardized across the state.
The AJC’s own report a year or so ago showed that at some metro Atlanta High Schools students score very high on the EOCT but receive a lower than expected course grade. For most of the High Schools in the state the reverse was true. Student’s did very poorly on the EOCT but had an A or B grade for the class.
Something needs to be done to balance this.
Another Math Teacher
March 11th, 2011
6:56 pm
“I’m no math teacher, but 1200/1600 = 75%. Not incredibly impressive.”
The scores on the S.A.T. are not percentages. I found the error in your post was caused by a faulty keyboard-chair connector. Get it replaced, throw out the old one, it’s worthless.
ID 10 T Error
March 11th, 2011
6:58 pm
@ another math teacher
That was a good one.
ID 10 T Error
March 11th, 2011
7:16 pm
Still, my other point remains. And for those trying to make it a race/poor/rural thing, check out Cynthia Tuckers op piece from November 2, 2003 called “Make excellence a ‘black thing’”
Here’s a snippet:
“If I were a high school student with lackluster SATs, I’d take no comfort from those who defend my mediocre academic work accomplishment as an unfortunate characteristic of my race. I’d be offended by the fact that the HOPE scholarship controversy has become another forum for repeating the ancient wisdom that black students simply don’t perform well on standardized tests.”
Ms. Tucker wrote about a high school, Washington High I think it was, where most of the students were “Honors Grads” while sporting an average SAT score that was well below the state average when Georgia was 50th out of 50! Not only did many of these students have to go into the devo classes at college, most lost their HOPE scholarship the first year. How does this happen?
Grade Inflation.
It’s the “I’ll give you a ‘pass’ because you tried and 60%+ of your course grade will come from classwork (read: busy work and coloring).” People b!tch about the testing world we live in, but there is really no better way show if you have learned something. Want to be a teacher? Take the GACE. Want to be a lawyer? Pass the bar exam. Want to be a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE)? Pass the certification exam. Summative evaluations are the only way to go when awarding an ACADEMIC scholarship, which the HOPE is. If this new law disproportionately affects anyone, it’s the marginal learner. Sorry. There’s not enough money to pay for those who merely “try”.
Really Amazed
March 11th, 2011
7:38 pm
I am sorry, but not ALL private school students have perfect 4.0. Not the ones that expect much more out of there students. The Walker School is an extremely challenging high school. Good luck to any that walk away with a perfect 4.0. Maybe after accounting for ap’s. Even then, those students TRULY earned them!!!!!!!!! No grade inflation going on over there. Don’t even try to come back and say they do!!!!!!!!!! I am ready to be challenged! Many pull there child out because of the rigiors of classes. They send them back to public to get there grade inflated 4.0.
EnoughAlready
March 11th, 2011
8:11 pm
There are several factors rurual and poor schools systems have in common: (1.) Schools are usually very poor meaning(old warn out textbooks, few computers and very few teachers with masters or above) (2.) Public libraries are few and insufficiently stocked (3.) Very few tutoring opportunities in schools or in the actual community (4.) After school and before school access to teachers is almost impossible; most don’t live within walking distance.
Most people can look down on these communities and place the blame on the students and/or parents, but most of the issues listed above can not be looked over as just excuses; they are very real.
ken
March 11th, 2011
8:33 pm
Wonder what the voucher sister, Chip Rogers, SAT score was? Can Chip Rogers and Eric Johnson just leave Georgia and cause trouble somewhere else?
ken
March 11th, 2011
8:34 pm
Many private schools are breeding ground for stuck up, nose in the air kids.
Really Amazed
March 11th, 2011
8:55 pm
@Ken, This sounds more like the kids on my street that all go to the local public school. They all have ipod, cell phones, ipads, and are very disrepectful! The private school kids I know are the ones that are working hard at everything! Sorry, you got that one very wrong!!!!
JAT
March 11th, 2011
8:59 pm
I’m a staunch democrat all the way, but this full hope scholarship thing is beyond even my wildest……dreams? expectations? I’m sorry, but many of us have had student loans to persue our dreams….this is too much…give it back to the local school districts.
If anything..only give full rides to students who want to be teachers in math, science or Spec. Ed.-critical areas…undergrad or graduate…otherwise…pay for it yourself like the rest of us!
K
March 11th, 2011
9:24 pm
First, the SAT and ACT aren’t good indicators of how well someone will do in college. I’m a college freshman at UGA and I graduated high school with an IB diploma and a 4.0. However, my SAT was 1190. And that was with a prep class. This requirement is not fair to students who don’t perform as well with standard testing. I personally always dreaded them and I’m doing better at Georgia than some of my friends with higher SAT scores than me.
Ashley
March 11th, 2011
10:01 pm
Graduated from high-school in 1976with a 3.87gpa 1200 SAT, 28 ACT. I took algebra in the eighth grade. 4 years of math in high school (geometry thru calculus). English was required every year, history was require for freshman, juniors and seniors. All seniors had to have two-years of science before graduating, if you were going to college it was require every year while in high-school. So you see I was well prepared for the ACT and SAT. I take issue with the fact that some how minority students are viewed as charity cases and they need to be handled with care. That second-class citizen status doesn’t sit well with me. If minority and poor rural student don’t have the grades they shouldn’t be in college anyway. College is about the best and the brightest for those who worked hard for their accomplishments. In my opinion when everything is given, where is the incentive to appreciated it. There is no easy road to success, if there was we would all be on that bandwagon. So instead of feeling sorry for the poor rural students and black student how about looking at them as equals. As a black woman i’m tired of the notion that black kids can’t be intelligent or do not have goals that they aspire to. My aunt use to say I don’t want pity , I want my children educated.
Really amazed
March 11th, 2011
10:07 pm
@Ashley, SOOOOOOOOOOOOO very true!!! Wish everyone had your attitude.
JAT
March 11th, 2011
10:10 pm
@Ken…I totally agree with you on the Chip Rogers thing..he’s not at all interested in what’s best for public education…Mr. Richy Rich is only looking out for other Richy Richs’…..Pleaseeeeeee Cherokee County….wise up!
Ashley
March 11th, 2011
10:31 pm
@Really amazed, thank-you very much. Might I add when I was in high-school an “A” was really an A and anything below 65 was a big fat red encircled F. Teachers were feared and respected back then. I feel like getting an education now is like entering the Twilight Zone. Please somebody bring back the basic steps to getting a good education, and please tell me when the political machine under the Georgia Dome which claims to care about the future of our best and brightest,has left the building.
Really amazed
March 11th, 2011
10:53 pm
@Ashley, Yes, an “A” back then was truly an A worth working towards. My dad taught private and public school for 38 years and he can’t believe what is going on today in education. The DOE is truly a mess! I feel so very sorry for the youth of today, thinking they are all doing so well, just to find out when they get to college how very unprepared they will be. Many of my teacher friends will admit that they will give little johnnie the A just to shut the parents up and give Susie at least the B because they don’t want to be the reason she didn’t receive HOPE. I am not saying all teachers, but many, many are inflating. My friend on my street tell me that all of their children in high school have straight A’s. Something is very wrong. I have a friend who’s child is in elementary school and about 102 out of 160 students all made straight A’s and were placed in the beta club. If I were a parent at this awards ceremony, I would have questioned it, but no, the are all so very proud.
Really amazed
March 11th, 2011
11:00 pm
@Ashley, I forgot to mention that a C is the new F. No one gives out C’s anymore. If a student receives a C, they get a do-over until they get an A. The students that will walk away with an occasional C are the one’s that didn’t take the time to re-do the test or assignment. Then the parent calls and bingo, grade changed!!! It is very frustrating for the students that truly worked hard and studied and got the A the first time. They start to think why even try.
Peter Smagorinsky
March 12th, 2011
5:37 am
For those who pine for the good old days, please consider the following facts:
1940 82.8% of adults in Georgia have not completed high school.
1946 5% of young people in Georgia attend college.
Of the state of Georgia’s 15,000 White teachers, about 6,000 have earned a bachelor’s degree and 9,000 have not.
1950 79.2% of adults in Georgia have not completed high school.
1960 68% of adults in Georgia have not completed high school.
1980 43.6% of adults in Georgia have not completed high school.
1990 29.1% of adults in Georgia have not completed high school.
1993 the HOPE scholarship is instituted in Georgia.
2000 21.4% of adults in Georgia have not completed high school.
RIGHT
March 12th, 2011
6:45 am
Ours school system consists of mostly minority students. We spend in the top 10% of all schools per student. Our schools have all the neat new stuff. We still get bottom 10% results.
A Conservative Voice
March 12th, 2011
8:22 am
I’ve always heard that 50% of something is much preferable to 100% of nothing……quit complaining people and put your hands back in your pockets……you ain’t getting no more. I think we should be concentrating on making our high schools better and graduating more students than “whining” about how much less entitlement you’re gonna get to pay for something you outta be paying for yourself. Be grateful for that handout……
catlady
March 12th, 2011
10:09 am
Just remember, HOPE lite recepients and their parents, when it comes voting time, remember who made these “tough decisions” to welch on your scholarship and add to your loans (which legislators and state “leaders” have friends in the banking business?” I am wondering why there has not been a class-action lawsuit? As the students have been given, year after year, printed information about HOPE which states the rules they would come in under. As for colleges, they have to abide by their catalogues as to requirements for different degrees unless there is some kind of *subject to change clause. So if you enter in 2008, you graduate under the rules of 2008 in 2012, 13, etc. Since the HOPE promulgated years of flyers etc to students about the HOPE promise, how can these students NOT be able to sue if the state does not pay the full amount (unless they added one of those pesky little *)
At any rate, we are looking at 200000+ their parents and family members who will surely remember this! Bring on 2012!
catlady
March 12th, 2011
10:11 am
Maybe the dreaded Roy Barnes would take on a class-action suit, pro bono!
Really Amazed
March 12th, 2011
10:12 am
Yes, the entitlement factor is a little bit much. I believe one should truly have to work and earn one’s way through life. That is when one is truly rewarded and can hold their head up high. The point is that in the old days, easy A’s weren’t handed out. You had to earn them. Maybe that is why there was so many that didn’t graduate. They weren’t just passed like today! Many now, that do graduate and go on to college, DON’T make it to college graduation because the HOPE college scholarship was too easily given.
GNGS
March 12th, 2011
12:10 pm
The poor showing of rural students in SAT is no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention. Rural students and inner city students have more in common than they realize. One of the things they should have tried harder to get in the new law is to include class ranking (say, top 10 percent) as one of the criteria for HOPE-full.
It will be interesting to see how the racists on this blog to explain the terrible SAT scores from rural students.
Maureen Downey
March 12th, 2011
12:20 pm
@GNGS, I just returned from a Saturday morning town hall meeting with three leading Democrats and I had that very thought when they talked about how many rural counties did not have kids who would qualify for the full HOPE. What’s interesting is that rural Republican senators were given the data showing that information and also how few of their students would be affected by a $140,000 income cap — some senators did not have a single student who would have been affected — and they still voted for the governor’s plan. That plan is really helpful to the metro Atlanta suburbs where most of Georgia’s high SAT scoring students live.
Maureen
Ole Guy
March 12th, 2011
12:22 pm
Good stats, Pete…bear in mind, however, these “glowing” numbers refer to a sliver of the American landscape. Those of us who pine for the good ole days remember a period of time unencumbered by the strictures of the pc gods. I remember, as a “yout”, driving through the wilds of Georgia, enroute from one point of civilization to another. The big “industries” appeared to be free dirt, manure, and hubcaps. I believe it was U.S. Highway 17 which served as the 100 mile link between the north and south segments of I-95. Atlanta was the place to go, on Saturday night, if you wanted a whiskey/soda past midnight. Benning School For Boys, along the Upatoi, was cranking out scared kid warriors by the truckloads…I was there.
We pine for those days…not for the social confusion spawned by MLK’s passion, not for the loss of American innocense stemming from the assasination of a young president on a chilly Dallas morn, not for the forgone initiatives of LBJ’s hopes for a Great Society, and MOST-CERTAINLY not for the unpopular war in South East Asia which not only snuffed out any hope of those initiatives but stunned a generation…my generation…with the reality that we were, indeed, not immune to the cruelty of death. We saw 58,000 of our brothers pay the ultimate price.
Yet somehow, the dust settled, we went to college, and we contributed.
What’s all this have to do with pining for the good ole days? THE GOOD OLE DAYS SUCKED! But we knew what DISCIPLINE meant. The institutions which made us who we are and what we are: parents, the schools, even the military…were unencumbered by the ridiculous pc rules which, today, only serve to strangle youth in their quest to grow into responsible adults.
Discipline, like fornication, has become a dirty word. That, Pete, is what we pine for. The pride and discipline of the good ole days has been replaced by the mental and social fornications we see and read of daily.
concerned
March 12th, 2011
12:38 pm
@ catlady I couldn’t agree with you more! I can’t wait for the next election! Of course that will be too late for us since our daughter will have already graduated after losing HOPE-full because of her high school GPA not college GPA but if it helps future generations benefit so be it. Maybe Barnes would consider it. Hmmm an interesting thought.
btw – I wrote letters to my senator, congressman and Governor Deal letting them know of my displeasure. Neither bothered to even respond not that I expected them to.
MB
March 12th, 2011
2:20 pm
A combined (CR+M) SAT of 1200 is 79th percentile nationally (http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/sat-percentile-ranks-composite-cr-m-2010.pdf) and an ACT composite of 26 is 84th percentile (http://www.actstudent.org/scores/norms1.html). As a poster alluded to above in Cynthia Tucker’s article, it’s time for schools to raise expectations if they don’t have students making the scores rather than (once again) lowering standards.
After reading through HB 326, it seems that there will be even more of a two-tiered system in the Zell Miller scholarship. There will be the students who qualify under the 3.7/1200 criteria and the students who qualify by class rank. *This includes private schools and very small high schools.* After a review of private school information, there are schools in Georgia with only one or two 12th graders. Obviously they both will qualify for full tuition as the top two students in their class. How is this equitable?
MB
March 12th, 2011
2:29 pm
@Maureen. Have to disagree on the substantial benefit to many suburban students – especially those graduating this year like my son. Many do have the SAT score (no SAT prep classes – sorry to burst that bubble) but do not have the 3.7 GPA as they selected courses under the old system. Competitive schools (read GT and UGA) demand rigor in the course selection *from high-achieving metro ATL suburban schools* so students took multiple APs and the difficult teachers in honors courses to prepare them for college. When a 3.0 worked for HOPE, that was fine. Now those students qualify for HOPE lite and, if they go to Tech, will likely even lose that.
We say we wait rigor in curriculum in Georgia, but actions speak louder than words. I don’t expect that many of those teachers in North Fulton who have been very stingy with A’s will change their expectations. The northern tier schools’ #1 and #2 students will very likely meet ZM scholar qualifications with GPA/SAT. If schools outside those have many students who qualify with GPA but not SAT is that not compelling evidence of rampant grade inflation in those schools?
Toto: Exposing naked body scanners...
March 12th, 2011
2:31 pm
In light of current events in Japan, I thought Get Schooled readers might find this information timely:
http://www.ki4u.com/illwind.htm
MB
March 12th, 2011
2:58 pm
Say we WANT rigor (above) – slip of the mind… because we are, indeed, WAITing for rigor.
“…HOPE scholars, who will be facing more rigorous high school courses, such as advanced classes in math, science and foreign languages. The increased rigor of the courses, Deal said, will ensure that recipients of the scholarship have a “legitmate 3.0″ grade-point average.” http://www.ajc.com/news/deal-state-on-the-867894.html
But that “rigor” can wait to be expected first from this year’s *8th graders?* Section 13 calls for May, 2015, graduates to have taken two “advanced” classes to qualify for HOPE. Why should not the May, 2012, graduates be expected to have taken at least one “advanced” class to qualify since May, 2011, graduates are being held to changes made in spring, 2011? (And May, 2013, expected to have two courses, etc.?) Does this not go back to the acknowledgment that a 3.0 is not legitimate in many cases now? Why not start rectifying it now – with the first class that still needs to register for classes?
What qualifies as “advanced?” AP and IB courses in core subjects, but also (non-specific) “advanced foreign language” (beyond I?); advanced math, including Math III (when the expectation was that all students would complete Math IV?), Advanced Algebra/Trig; and advanced science, to include Chemistry, Physics, Biology II, etc. It does not specify honors courses, so again the rigor seems to be questionable. (And we won’t even discuss taking AP classes, getting an A in the class and a 1 on the AP exam. Can we ask for some correlation there, please?)
td
March 12th, 2011
3:00 pm
Concerned, Catlady and all the rest of you wanted to send a message. Even if the Dems took back control and could redo the legislation, how are they going to pay for the full scholarship for everyone? If you remove the 7% of over $140,000 income and end all private schools from receiving money, cut bonuses to zero and raise the amount that goes to scholarships you still have that pesky little problem that revenues from the lottery are WILL NOT pay for the expenses. Where does the additional revenue come from or what do you cut or what standards do you implement to balance the books (remember you have to account for future increases in tuition that the legislature or the governor does not control under our state constitution).
MB
March 12th, 2011
3:07 pm
@Enough Already
My best friend teaches high school English in a rural Georgia community which hasn’t made AYP in several years (after teaching for many years in a high-performing metro ATL suburban HS) so I’ll share her experience.
“There are several factors rurual and poor schools systems have in common: (1.) Schools are usually very poor meaning(old warn out textbooks, few computers and very few teachers with masters or above).” **Their textbooks are as up-to-date as ours, they have as many computers, they have MORE access to technology (e.g., LCD projectors mounted in every classroom and working toward interactive white boards in every classroom – whether the teacher knows how to use it or not), LOTS of teachers with masters, EdS, EdD, as that’s the way to increase your salary so the cost-benefit of paying a diploma mill is high.
Sad Dekalbber
March 12th, 2011
3:08 pm
Maureen, how does the 1200/1600 minimum translate to the new SAT 2400 scale? My son took the 2400 test but now we’re not sure if he needs to take it again. Also, anything about whether ACT score can be used instead of SAT score? Thanks.
MB
March 12th, 2011
3:14 pm
@Enough Already
(2.) Public libraries are few and insufficiently stocked -**This is a state-wide problem. Read the op-ed piece by Pat Pickard about DeKalb public library system – with a budget of $300K for all materials for this year – down 85% from 2008…**
(3.) Very few tutoring opportunities in schools or in the actual community **Actually in a school which hasn’t made AYP in a couple of years, they typically can’t spend the money they get for tutoring because students don’t take advantage of it. We are talking about millions of dollars available but they have to all but beg students to come to be tutored.**
(4.) After school and before school access to teachers is almost impossible; most don’t live within walking distance. **Again, NI schools have more money than they can spend and will have sweep buses for students staying after school for tutoring. Other access to teachers before/after school may be more problematic as they’ve cut support staff (i.e., parapros) so teachers have more morning and afternoon duties to cover. However, most teachers WILL work with students to find a time for help – IF the student makes the effort AND shows up.
MB
March 12th, 2011
3:16 pm
Sad, It’s the sum of Critical Reading and Math scores. ACT minimum is 26.
Page 6 of http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20112012/112820.pdf
Sad Dekalbber
March 12th, 2011
4:00 pm
Thanks, MB. Having the bill is a big help to us. Appreciate it.