This week’s Courier Herald column: Legislators from across the state reconvened in Atlanta this week for the 2020 session of the Georgia General Assembly. Tensions remain higher than average among Georgia’s leaders as tight budgets force competition among everyone’s priorities. They’ll have to work harder than normal to present a unified front for the majority’s
On the eve of the Democratic debate in Atlanta, State Representative Valencia Stovall, a Democrat from Forest Park (only a couple of miles down I-75 from Tyler Perry Studios), has sent over the following press release: ATLANTA – State Representative Valencia Stovall (D-Forest Park) today announced her support of charter schools by participating in the
What a sad week for knowledge and learning in Georgia. We’ve managed to make regional and national news twice for actions surrounding our treatment of books in education settings, and neither has shone a positive light on us. First, the county where I went to high school and where my parents still live caught our
This week’s Courier Herald column: There’s a question we really have to stop asking our high school students. “Where are you going to college?” isn’t a good way to start a conversation with someone a generation or three younger than you. Seniors that just graduated are mostly glad that the question has an answer, even
This week’s Courier Herald column: Several years ago, I had the opportunity to tag along on a trip with a handful of Georgia legislators, education officials, and Governor Deal. We visited New Orleans, and talked to a variety of educators and community leaders who were all stakeholders in re-creating the local school system in the
This week’s Courier Herald column: Last week, members of the legislature’s appropriations committees held budget hearings with those that head state agencies, going over requests for new money and justifications for existing expenses. It’s the annual signal that the pageantry portion of opening a session of the General Assembly has ended and the hard work
The Center for Education Reform has released its “Parent Power Index”, ranking states according to options for family driven education options. Georgia ranks 8th in the nation, but still receives a grade of “C”. Georgia receives it’s highest marks for Transparency (95%) and teacher quality (82%). Lower marks are received for access to Charter Schools
Do you know what Spelman College, Tennessee State University, and Florida A & M have in common? Each school is award winning. Each school has graduated an esteemed cadre of graduates. Each of these schools are a Historically Black College and University (HBCU)[i] whose alumni are pictured in this photo. Stacey Abrams a Spelman graduate,
This week’s Courier Herald column: The issue at hand that most directly led to the matchup at the top of Georgia’s ballot next week is education. Specifically, it is the funding through tax credits of Georgia’s Student Scholarship Organizations (SSOs) and two former candidates’ actions. Clay Tippins, a political newcomer who ran
This week’s Courier Herald column: The single largest line item in Georgia’s annual budget is for K-12 education. This year, Georgians will invest ten billion dollars in our public schools. That represents roughly forty cents of every dollar the state will spend. This represents “full funding” of Georgia’s Quality Basic Education formula passed under Governor
