Equalization grants: Are poor systems driving Pintos while Gwinnett cruises in a Lamborghini?
Catlady, a longtime poster to this blog, has been asking the AJC to look at the strange calculus of Georgia school equalization grants through which Gwinnett out earns many poor Georgia counties.
The equalization grant program forces wealthier school districts to share money with lower wealth districts. While similar grants have been controversial in other parts of the country, the program has not roused widespread opposition here.
I am happy to report that AJC reporters James Salzer and Nancy Badertscher examined this year’s $436 million grant program and found some odd stuff.
Among their points: Somehow, Cobb and DeKalb don’t qualify for equalization grants, but Gwinnett and Henry do.
As Quitman County’s school chief Allen Fort said about the formula: “What we have is a Ford Pinto. What Fulton and Cobb have are a Cadillac and Ferrari. What Gwinnett has is a Lamborghini. When their Lamborghini has a flat tire, they get an equalization grant. When our Pinto has a flat, we get nothing.”
One of the systems the AJC reporters highlight is Calhoun County, which they describe as “a two-school system of about 600 students from a no-stoplight town 80 miles south of Columbus. Vast fields of peanuts, cotton and corn spread out across much of Calhoun County. The population is slightly less than 6,700, about one-fifth of which resides in the local state prison. The non-prison population is about half of what it was a century ago.”
The piece juxtaposes Calhoun with Gwinnett: (This is an excerpt. Please read the full AJC.com story.)
The “equalization” fund’s biggest check this fall will go to Gwinnett County — Georgia’s largest school district — followed by Clayton, Paulding and Henry county schools. At the same time, many rural districts in desperate financial condition will receive smaller grants than last year, and some will receive no help at all.
Here in impoverished Calhoun County, the grant of $150,000 for the coming school year represents a 50 percent cut from last year. Gwinnett will receive $43 million, an increase over last year and enough to cover Calhoun’s entire school budget for six or seven years.
“We don’t have art, we don’t have music, we don’t have JROTC,” said Calhoun County Superintendent Danny Ellis. “We don’t have the luxury of offering summer school. … We are cutting to the bone and there is no meat. It is literally a situation where you just wonder what can we do to stay open.”
The system is so strapped that teachers will get seven days of furloughs; Calhoun also cut a bus route and all three instructional coaches to save money. It offers only one AP class, in history. By comparison, Collins Hill High School in Gwinnett offers 21 AP courses. Calhoun’s high school has a total of 12 teachers; Collins Hill has 21 in the English department alone. Teachers in Gwinnett face two furlough days next year, five fewer than teachers in Calhoun County.
The equalization fund, set up in 1985, is supposed to provide greater equity in school funding for systems with lower property tax bases. But the collapse of the real estate market in metro Atlanta has changed this landscape, too, and the largest grants go to districts that are neither rural nor comparatively poor.
In the final hours of their 2012 session, state legislators passed a bill intended to slow the growth of the equalization fund and get more money to poor rural districts. And, in fact, this upcoming school year’s grant to Gwinnett is $13 million lower than it would have been under the old rules.
“It’s a lot fairer now than it was,” said Senate Education Chairman Fran Millar, R-Atlanta.
But the Legislature’s last-minute fix didn’t result in windfalls for many of the state’s poorest districts, and communities left out in the cold are mystified by lawmakers’ interpretation of “equalization.”
“What can we do to get some?” asked Dennis Holsey, whose son attends Hancock (County) Central High School. “We need money. We don’t have too many jobs in our area. Poverty is high. It’s not fair that our kids don’t have the same opportunities.”
Hancock County’s system, with the second-lowest household income in the state in 2010, gets no money from the equalization fund because, under the formula used for doling out the money, Hancock is too property-wealthy for its number of students.
“Our [tax digest] has declined much faster than the rest of the state,” said Rick Cost, chief financial officer for Gwinnett schools. “At the same time, we’ve also been growing faster in student population — the double whammy.”
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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121 comments Add your comment
Dunwoody Mom
June 19th, 2012
9:55 am
That’s why the equalization grants are critical to low-property-wealth (on a per-pupil basis) school systems like Henry — they simply can’t raise any more local revenue
Then just run your school system on the funds generated by your own county – just as DeKalb and others have to do. It’s insane that my tax money is going to run your schools and my children’s school has to decide which programs stay and which go.
Aquagirl
June 19th, 2012
9:58 am
I teach in Calhoun County. The ratio is closer to 24:1. We have 15 teachers plus 2 coaches for the middle and high school combined.
I’ll certainly take your word over wiki or the National Center for Ed. Statistics. But still, 24:1 is lower than other school systems that provide subsidies to Calhoun.
And if the coaches are paid through the school system and aren’t teaching, they’re fluff.
Solutions
June 19th, 2012
9:58 am
One simple way to reduce costs and improve the system is to reduce the number of years required for a degree. Do we really need 14 years to learn to read and write? From PreK to 12th grade, there is much that can be cut. I suggest we limit the free public education to a total of 10 years, starting at age 8 for first grade. Do not require the smart students to stay for all 10 years, let them test out at any point for their high school degree, based on reading, writing, and math. The warehousing of the young is getting very expensive, and the returns are minimal, hence a rethinking of the whole process is in order.
former Calhoun Teacher
June 19th, 2012
9:58 am
Yes, small rural districts in Southwest Georgia often have two schools, the public one and the private one that popped up in the 1970s. That often means that most of the white students go to the private school while most of the black students go to the public school. Apathy tends to runs amok in the public school, while the parents who want the best for their kids often send them to the private school, or more recently, the charter school that has opened in the area. Even without the support of a lot of funding, teachers and students can achieve huge successes if everyone is working hard to accomplish it. Throwing money at a school won’t help a school unless the teachers, students, parents, and administrators are willing to put the effort in to be successful.
GeeMac
June 19th, 2012
10:04 am
@Aquagirl, the coaches teach health and pe, so I should have included them in the total number. Bottomline is we are not able to offer the same levels and variety of coursework that larger systems like Gwinett do, which puts our students at a disadvantage.
Nikole
June 19th, 2012
10:09 am
The main point here, is that metro Atlanta counties like Gwinnett and Henry SHOULD NOT even qualify extra funds. It has nothing to do with writing a grant, they have been labeled rural. That was the qualifier and that is wrong.
GeeMac
June 19th, 2012
10:10 am
And the ratios fluctuate from year to year. Last year’s 9th grade class had 42 students, the upcoming class has 60, so I will have 30 students per class as opposed to 21. I really wanted to be able to have an honor’s 9th lit this year because we have a number of really bright students in this group who would benefit enormously from more challenging instruction, but I was informed that we simply cannot afford to have a class with only 15 students.
zeke
June 19th, 2012
10:15 am
If you want to fund all equally, YOU REMOVE THE PROPERTY TAX AS THE MAIN BASIS OF FUNDING! IT IS CRIMINAL TO CHARGE A COBB OR GWINNETT COUNTY HOME OWNER A RIDICULOUSLY HIGH TAX THEN DISTRIBUTE IT TO ANOTHER COUNTY! The idea of a property tax should be in fact not in compliance with the USA Constitution because it violates private property rights and ownership!
Cobb Taxpayer
June 19th, 2012
10:19 am
The concept of “equalization grants” or redistribution of wealth is a badly broken concept and practice – It needs to be repealed ! The Gwinnett and Calhoun example is rather tppical around Gerogia. Time to revamp and let locals tend to educating their local kids. The rich rural land barons need to step up and lead the charge in their communities to fund their neighborhood schools. The taxpayers of Cobb and other counties are paying more than their fair share.
Aquagirl
June 19th, 2012
10:21 am
we are not able to offer the same levels and variety of coursework that larger systems like Gwinett do, which puts our students at a disadvantage.
Well, we agree there. But what I’m pointing out repeatedly is that merging school systems makes sense, not living out in quiet rural areas and demanding the subsidized perks of big suburban/urban schools, plus coaches who teach a couple of classes.
Sorry, but Calhoun students have the advantage of small schools where they’re not lost in the crowd. Wanting that, plus sports, plus AP classes, plus all the other things they would have if they were in a school of 3000 is like wanting to have your cake and eat it too.
I’m not opposed to some equalization but maybe if the rural reps would exercise their power appropriately you’d get fair treatment. Right now Gwinnett is screwing everyone to the tune of $43 million. My school system is subsidizing EVERYONE while cutting back. If your little system is barely afloat, maybe it’s time to get off your duffs and come up with some solutions.
Tuesday
June 19th, 2012
10:24 am
@Bernie – Living in mommy’s basement and having to use her Internet connection must certainly be frustrating for you.
Consider getting a job and paying taxes. It will please your mother and wonderously improve your understanding of issues.
Ernest
June 19th, 2012
10:26 am
Calvin, you may have legitimate disagreements with Joe Martin but his rationale is correct. When QBE was passed in 1985, it included a clause that authorized the sitting Governor to appoint a task force every three years to review the algorithm and recommend necessary changes to the weights, i.e. book allowance. This has not been done. As a result, the book allowance established in 1985 does not reflect an inflation adjusted allowance today. Everyone knows how much books have increase in price since that time. As a result, the state share to local school districts have decreased while local shares have increased over time. The equalization grants were supposed to provide some relief to poor school districts however that algorithm has not changed over time either.
So much for the state constitution requiring an ‘adequate’ education for its residents. Where do residents feel investments should be made?
Lanier
June 19th, 2012
10:26 am
Let’s look at the school system as a whole and the students that attend the schools. Our students and the schools are our future. Forget the grants for a minute. Unfortunately, for example, the housing crash is the primary cause of the nation’s deep recession and this city’s lag with unemployment and why tax millage income is down. They are directly corelated. To undetstand this, one must look at the metro dynamics when considering growth and schools. For example consider an area in town like Oak Grove near Toco Hills or Fernbank where there is very, very little foreclosure rate. An area like Lakeside High school near Oak Grove has very little foreclosure and subsequent SAT scores at LHS are extremely high for the state. Then compare, for example, to Columbia High School in South Dekalb where foreclosure rates are highest in the city, state, and in the nation, where SAT scores are very very low. Why is this? What is the distinction? Georgia is a national leader in foreclosures. The citizens, after all, created the foreclosures and millage shortage at the inception before the recession even began. We must honestly see this trend for what it is and study to understand why this occured in Atlanta and cities like south Chicago — to be honest with ourselves, so we can see what the real problem is with the metro area schools, our city’s economic slump and lack of employment opportunities here.It begins with the student’s parents. We needs to knows why dis is dee way it diz. Den wees can make tings equals for evrybody.
catlady
June 19th, 2012
10:46 am
Thank you for posting this, Ms. Downey. Here is what I posted (inappropriately on annother topic’s thread.
“I’m glad to see the AJC do an article on “equalization grants.” It would be instructive to also include info on how much each system contributes to the fund, the school millage rate, and the % free lunch. Perhaps also the % of citizens receiving “transfer income” which I understand to be welfare, SS, food stamps, etc. Perhaps also the percent of land privately held–important for those of us with much land as national forest. Could the database gurus work this up into a searchable database for us? I think it would expose quite a few “inconsistencies” that should be re-thought. And, yes, Mr. Millar, we base much of our school money on property taxes, but the state, which also contributes to our educational system, runs largely off income taxes.”
For example, I don’t think my county should be receiving any equalization money because our tax for schools is only about 18 mils. But I sure think, with the number of very poor residents (dependent on federal transfer payments), our dab of money we collect should not go to Gwinnett county! Unless the local system is willing to tax the max, they should be excluded.
I think the grants should take the personal wealth of the community into consideration. For some folks, paying $5000 in property tax is no big deal; where I live, my share of the school property tax is under $400 and for many of the people, living on SS, disability, and other forms of federal income, it is very difficult to come up with even that modest amount. In a county with one big exmployer (besides the school system) the money for parents to put into the schools through fund-raising just isn’t there. Believe me, I made comparisons of our award winning band program when I went to competitions and saw the wonderful extras the Brookwood supporters had provided for their band program!
In my opinion, the equalization grants need to take into account the students being served (SES, parental education, percent sped, %free lunch), the total “county wealth” such as the average per person income, % on transfer payments, industry, AND whether the county/system has been willing to tax itself fully to provide for its children. The money should NOT be taken from struggling systems to give to places like Gwinnett and Henry!
GeeMac
June 19th, 2012
10:50 am
2 PE teachers for 310 students is not a couple of classes. And it’s more like Oliver Twist’s plaintive plea than Marie Antoinette. Why should our students not have access to honor’s and AP classes just because they had the misfortune to be born in a rural community? As for sports, they are largely funded through ticket sales and concessions, which the teachers are required to staff, without compensation. And as our superintendent explained, we have cut the reading, math, and graduation coaches, as well as summer school. So please don’t sit up on high telling me to “get off” my duff. Down here, we work our duffs off every day to do the best we can for our students with the limited resources we have.
Understanding Atlanta
June 19th, 2012
10:53 am
I’ll agree that combining school systems should be an option. There are still several counties in rural GA that have combined school systems. Granted I’m looking at this through my metro Atlanta lens and couldn’t fathom having to drive 30 – 40 miles to get to school but that’s what happens in some area when we start attempting to build true economies of scale for rural areas. It could work, logistically it would be difficult…or rather inconvenient especially for after school activities.
The amount a system spends per student is a false idea of what signifies a poor system. Why? Economies of scale. Gwinnett or even DeKalb can group students of like ability together in a single grade, because there are enough students to justify it. While smaller systems with maybe 300 students total can’t. Even combining 3-4 systems to create a 2500 – 3000 student system doesn’t truly give you the numbers to justify as many options for students a 90,000 – 100,000 student system does.
Metro Atlanta does have a different lens when it comes to looking at the rest of the state, I’m guilty of it too, but merging school systems isn’t always the best answer. Being efficient in smaller school systems means cutting teachers or at worst a single building for k-12 to cut down on the cost of facilities. Let’s not even get started on aging facilities in need of maintenance but can’t be replaced because of cost. It’s too many factors in play.
LCMum
June 19th, 2012
10:54 am
Economies of scale. If county tax rate were one mill, a Gwinnett receives $156/student, while Calhoun students get $329/student. I don’t know what the total mill rate is for these counties, but that allows Calhoun to charge a much lower rate and still achieve the same $/student. The real issue is economies of scale. It’s much more efficient to educate 900 students in one school than 350, and clearly the equalization grant does not factor in those efficiencies.
Tax paying Educator
June 19th, 2012
10:56 am
I live in Fulton county (South) and I am being taxed through the nose. I cannot imagine why 2/3rds of my property taxes are being paid to support Fulton county schools. We can’t even get street lights in unincorporated Fulton county. Can we get some form of entertainment on lower South Fulton Parkway besides that Wolf Trapp thing a ma gig. I don’t even know how to get there anyway. Nearby Union City has no name brand restaurants and the quaint little city of Fairburn only has Pizza and Jamaican Food unless you go out on the highway toward Peachtree City. I love going to Serenbe but my cell phone goes out on the way. And it is just too isolated when you get past that last light down the road. I consider this rural extreme! Pesky animals too!
Joe
June 19th, 2012
11:00 am
The grants are not the problem. Taxes? Millage? Counties? The parents are the primary root of the poor student performance. You can install an all new school at Columbia high school in South Deklab with all new then let Lakeside in North Dekalb fall apart and Columbia SATs will never come close to Lakeside’s. What is the destinction? It begins with the parents. Get the parents to come on board and the grants are actually much, much less important.
Dr. Monica Henson
June 19th, 2012
11:03 am
This happens in other Southern states with regard to property taxes & local school finance impact on poor rural districts. I spoke at long length this summer with a superintendent of a rural SC district with a majority minority enrollment that has negligible local tax revenue. Nearly 90% of the minority male voters of age are ineligible to vote due to felony convictions (drugs) and are not homeowners. Retiree voters own property, are overwhelmingly white, and vote against every school bond issue and millage increase.
The public school district is therefore starved of local funds and must depend on state and federal aid to failing schools, which must be used for strictly prescribed expenditures, and those don’t include administrator salaries.
The administrator salaries are pitifully low, so they can’t attract top-quality, experienced principals and assistant principals, leading to almost annual turnover in most of the leadership positions. As a result of the lack of building-level leadership, faculty and staff apathy is overwhelming, school performance is perennially terrible academically in all but one of the schools (which is lucky enough to have a great principal who has been there for several years), and the district has little luck attracting and retaining excellent new teachers. Most of the new teachers and administrators accept positions there because they can’t find one in a “better” district, and they leave as soon as they can get out.
This district maintains enough support staff (custodians, maintenance, cafeteria, teacher aides, etc.) for nearly 1,500 students and keeps six schools open and operating, each with its own administration, faculty, & support staff, even though enrollment over the last decade has declined greatly, and the state has denied any more facilities repair or upgrade funds until they close the excess square footage and operate 3 buildings instead. The BOE refuses to do that, borrowing the money instead, so they are mortgaged to the hilt and couldn’t borrow the money to fix a boiler if the heat goes out now. They won’t lay off the excess employees, several of whom are related to BOE members by blood or by marriage, and they fire every superintendent who tries to get them to do so, leading to district leadership turnover on a par with that experienced in the school buildings. New superintendents coming in have no assistant superintendent and only a couple of directors, so they don’t have a leadership infrastructure to do the kind of hard work that is needed to create and manage systemic change.
This district has been taken over once before by the state, but as soon as the state superintendent of schools lost the re-election bid, the state returned control to the local BOE.
The district high school does have championship athletic teams and the stands are always full for football & basketball games…
Janet
June 19th, 2012
11:03 am
@ Misty Fyed — “Every child is entitled to the best education his/her community can provide…not someone elses community”. Good Point!!
Aquagirl
June 19th, 2012
11:09 am
Why should our students not have access to honor’s and AP classes just because they had the misfortune to be born in a rural community?
Their misfortune was being born in a community where politicians are unwilling to give up power. The article quite accurately points out Calhoun’s population has dropped by HALF in the last century. Simply put, you’re trying to maintain a system without an adequate base. This is why your moaning over no AP classes and other programs falls flat. Try the boo-hoo treatment on someone who graduated under NCLB, maybe they’ll swallow the guilt trip.
I’m sorry your sports program treats teachers as unpaid ticket and concessionaire operators. But why is that my problem? Sounds like your community likes sports more than learning. That’s not unusual and it’s not cause to pick anyone else’s pocket.
And if you don’t like people sitting up on high telling you anything, quit taking my money. In case you hadn’t noticed, there are lots of people everywhere working their duffs off while politicians and other folks get their perks. You’re the one who stands to lose the most if equalization ends, so vent all you like on this blog. But if the ax falls, your county has a lot more neck on the block. So I’d advise you to address your basic problems and quit treating other areas as a piggybank.
Whining about the ‘po students goes farther when you acknowledge the role of YOUR politicians and administration.
Joe
June 19th, 2012
11:10 am
Taxpaying educator — You could move to North Fulton where the students (not the schools, teachers or brick & mortor) are better. Why is South Fulton school performance so much weaker than in North Futon? It is certainly not the grant system. Why is the real estate so weak in South Futon and so much stronger in North Fulton? Not because of the grant system. It begins with the type of parents.
William Casey
June 19th, 2012
11:14 am
Funding inequality is a dificult problem. If it weren’t, it would have been solved by now. At the root of the problem is basing school funding on the property tax. A child’s “educational fate” depends on how efficiently the land around where he/she lives is used for economic purposes. Does this make sense? The problems with fair valuation of property is another complication.
That being said, another fundamental problem is the simple fact that Georgia has 159 counties. Look at a map of the United States with county borders drawn in. Georgia stands out like a sore thumb. This inefficiency has implications for government services other than schools as well. The reason for this is also simple: too many people have a vested interest in the maintenance of their little political fiefdoms. There are advantages to” local control.” There is also a price to be paid. The obvious solution is to reduce the number of counties from 159 to about 50.
There is another solution. Abolish property taxes and base all government funding on a progressive state consumption tax (sales tax.) Take all the money collected in the state and distribute it on a per capita basis to all government entities. A nice thing about consumption taxes is that they are easy to collect.
William Casey
June 19th, 2012
11:20 am
DR. HENSON’s 11:03 post sums it up quite well.
Allen
June 19th, 2012
11:21 am
I’m with Lanier and Joe on this. There are very detailed and complex comments in this discussion, but I think the problems are actaully very simple and not complicated at all. Money is a facade to the real problems with good versus poor school and student performance. I came from a very basic school compared to newer schools today and I succeeded very well in the top few percentage of income earners. My parents were very very strict when it came to school work and compliance.Look at South Atlanta City – Fulton. They had to cheat to get their students to pass and they got caught.
Solutions
June 19th, 2012
11:25 am
Ah yes, I hear the plaintive cry of the socialist “more money for my pet project.” Learn to work with what you have, reduce free public education to 10 years max, and take your hand OFF MY WALLET!
GeeMac
June 19th, 2012
11:28 am
@William Casey, your idea about the consumption tax certainly has merit; however, you would have to factor in that some students are more expensive to educate (special needs, gifted, ESL, low SES) than others and adjust accordingly.
@Aquagirl, under your argument, then anyone who pays taxes (property, incomes, sales) but does not have children in public schools is having their pocket picked?
Lanier
June 19th, 2012
11:30 am
Look at Abe Lincoln. He didn’t recieve any grants. He walked to school and studied by fire light. This is not sarcasim. Have a smart type parent and a smart type child and you have success.
Solutions
June 19th, 2012
11:30 am
Students at Columbia high school score lower on the SAT than the students at Lakeside because the Columbia students have lower IQ’s than the students at Lakeside. The SAT is a proxy test for a general IQ test, as our government frowns on using IQ tests to screen people for jobs and placement. A score of 1300 on the combined verbal and math sections translates to an IQ of roughly 130 (average being 100) and is higher than 98 out of 100 scores (IQ’s).
Ron F.
June 19th, 2012
11:40 am
aquagirl: the problem with combining school systems, which some counties have done, is geography. In those sparsely populated areas, farming in the business, and you could easily be 40 miles or more from the nearest town. The cost of transportation, combined with amount of time spent on the bus, makes it challenging to move kids back and forth. In my own rural county, we have kids on buses as early as 6:15 in the morning because of the distance, number of stops, and speeds allowed on rural backroads for buses between one end of the county and the schools. It can be about an hour trip by bus, and that’s just within our county. To combine with one of our neighboring counties could add 30 minutes or more to that time. Geographical distance may not seem like that much, but it is in terms of time on the bus with their speed and number of stops along the way. While I agree that some systems may have no choice but to combine to keep any kind of school open, we do have to consider the distance and time as a factor.
GeeMac
June 19th, 2012
11:43 am
Perhaps we can agree that the funding formulas for public schools in this state are broken. The state constitution mandates that the state provide an “adequate” education for all students, regardless of where they live in the state, what their abilities or disabilities are, or how involved or uninvolved their parents are. So how do we define “adequate” and how do we fund all schools adequately?
Lanier
June 19th, 2012
11:47 am
Solutions, I agree, it is obvious.(1300 = 130. I didn’t know this, I learn something everyday). Hard work by parents, discipline and commitment would improve things greatly though.I am not with a real high IQ but my parents were tough on me when it came to school work..
Aquagirl
June 19th, 2012
11:52 am
then anyone who pays taxes (property, incomes, sales) but does not have children in public schools is having their pocket picked?
No, I believe public education is of interest to everyone, because educated citizens are necessary in our modern world. I’m not part of the voucher crowd whining about MAH WALLET. The school taxes you pay are a public obligation, not tuition for your individual precious snowflakes.
That doesn’t give rural systems the right to run inefficient systems and cry about inequality though. Look at the schools mentioned in the story….Collins Hill has 21 AP classes for about 3400 students 9-12. Calhoun Middle/HS has one for maybe 200 students. If you do some quick math, Calhoun students have about as much available proportionally. The problem, like another poster said, is economy of scale.
I have no problem subsidizing rural districts to a point, because unless kids are bussed 120 miles every day, you won’t be able to create the same conditions. But there has to be some good faith on both sides. And when rural districts are clinging to their little counties and fiefdoms, that’s not gonna fly with me. Talk about ditching some of your coaches. No, 300 students do not need 2 exclusive PE/health teachers. You don’t need 24 students in a PE class, we had 60-80 kids in my suburban HS classes. It’s not brain surgery. Talk about consolidating some of your schools. Do something besides look at other taxpayers as piggybanks for things THEY can’t afford.
Solutions
June 19th, 2012
11:56 am
An “adequate” education can be obtain in 10 or fewer years of free public education, anything else is excessive and a waste. The top performers can go on for further education, at their own expense, while the rest can go to work, and better themselves by reading and using some of the free online education tooks, such as the KhanAcademy dot org. As most of you know, SAT scores have declined by about 40 points on average over the last 30 odd years. What is not widely known is that the decline is concentrated in the top scorers, with the middle improving some, and the bottom staying the same. This means our education system is failing to challenge and educate to their full potential the top 5% of students, the ones who will be the high achievers of tomorrow. We had better rethink our education system, because that top 5% will be the innovators, job creators, and leaders of tomorrow. As they fail to reach their full potential, so shall our society fail in many important ways.
Teacher Reader
June 19th, 2012
12:03 pm
@ AquaGirl, I feel that my pockets are picked every time I send my tax check to DeKalb. I can’t send my son to DCSD, if I want him to be educated, even at our “good” public neighborhood school. I wouldn’t mind sending my tax money or even more, if the kids were getting educated and the money was being spent in a prudent way. I have a problem with so much waste throughout the district, and such a poor education for most kids in DeKalb. Sorry, but I can’t afford to spend my money the way DeKalb does and I am very angry that my money isn’t spent in a better more prudent way.
Goergia and education not compatible
June 19th, 2012
12:25 pm
@ Hamilton 9:49 I always welcome another voice that brings out the Georgia constitution
@ Lanier 10:26 thanks for reminding people of why we’re in this mess
@ William Casey 11:14 Progressive state consumption tax you know I email my state representatives frequently with suggestions like these and I get crickets from them, however, according to Alecia Morgan, they will “create” a tax that will fund charter schools once that bill passes…quite interesting
Solutions
June 19th, 2012
12:41 pm
Oh great, another tax, this one to fund the charter school scam! Stop with spending other people’s money! Reduce education spending, do not increase it! A maximum of 10 years free public education is more than generous, stop adding bells and whistles, just teach the children to read, write, and compute. All else is fluff.
Dr. Monica Henson
June 19th, 2012
1:03 pm
Ron F. makes an excellent point about the geography of rural school consolidation, although William Casey’s point about the 159 counties (and resulting inefficiencies) is well taken. Putting rural children on a school bus for hours a day is not good for their learning, especially those who will not be able to eat breakfast until they arrive at school. There have been several dissertation studies over the years by rural administrators looking at the deleterious effects of inordinately long bus rides on children.
It’s really a pickle. There are more than 200 school districts in Georgia, each with its own administrative structure and the resulting expenses. Consolidation of schools is not a panacea.
Dr. Monica Henson
June 19th, 2012
1:05 pm
(I’m counting independent charter schools in that 200+ district number, as each of them is its own LEA.)
Maureen Downey
June 19th, 2012
1:15 pm
@To all, A smart academic sent me this note on equalization grants, which I thought was worth sharing as he brings up two critical considerations:
Clarence
June 19th, 2012
1:17 pm
You can consolidate districts without consolidating schools. Saves on admin, and could potentially help with more advanced courses (think two rural schools sharing an AP teacher…).
Solutions
June 19th, 2012
1:25 pm
If students are capable of doing AP work in high school, then they shouldn’t be in high school, they have met the “adequate basic education test” and should be immediately graduated. They can pay their own way to college.
Dunwoody Mom
June 19th, 2012
1:26 pm
The amounts are staggering but you need to account for student population. The per-pupil numbers are what are most important, not the total amount, IMO
The total amount is not important? Oh, please…..Gwinnett gets $43 million from school systems that are raising class sizes, cutting teachers, furlough days and cutting academic programs and we’re not supposed to look at the “total amount”. Let’s see that again Gwinnett County Schools will receive $43 MILLION DOLLARS in FY 13 from financially struggling school districts. There is no world in which that is fair.
Dr. Monica Henson
June 19th, 2012
2:03 pm
Another way to look at consolidation is consolidating administrative functions. Many creative options could be applied. There is no reason why a consortium of three or four small districts couldn’t share a single financial officer, for example. In New England, it is not uncommon to find small K-8 districts that hire a part-time superintendent who is retired.
William Casey
June 19th, 2012
2:12 pm
@SOLUTIONS: This should make your “they’re stealing my $ through taxation” day. My son earned 27 semester hours of college credit through AP. This is enabling him to get two degrees in four years.
William Casey
June 19th, 2012
2:18 pm
Dr. Henson, your point about long bus rides is well taken. However, it’s the TIME rather than DISTANCE that’s important. I’d bet that a bus can travel twice as far in rural Georgia than it can in congested North Fulton in the same amount of time.
Lee
June 19th, 2012
2:47 pm
Count me in with the folks who think there are a lot of SUPPORT functions that could be consolidated at a regional level. Payroll, human resources, IT, purchasing, fleet operations, maintenance, janitorial, engineering/construction management, and accounting/financial to name a few.
Ron F.
June 19th, 2012
2:58 pm
William: a bus can travel faster in less congested areas, but also keep in mind the number of dirt roads and speed limits. A lot of rural counties still have a good number of local roads that are dirt/gravel, and that adds time also. I like the idea several have posted of combining administrative level functions. That would save quite a bit of money for the smaller, rural districts and keep schools a little closer to population areas in each county.
Solutions
June 19th, 2012
3:35 pm
Casey, both my children graduated for Georgia Tech, and earn well into the six figures: if you want to play war by proxy, then I match you and double. Both have “Senior” in front of their titles and work for Fortune 500 companies. I suspect your children are elementary school teachers, with one aspiring to be a lawyer, a foolish aspiration in today’s America, where lawyers are a dime a dozen, and the price is falling.