I ended the last post with the phrase “the coming LEAN years.” Nothing further from the truth. The last couple of years were lean. This year will brutal, especially for the next State Superintendent of Schools.
Our General Assembly and Governor have passed yet another budget that does not take into account any possibility for a lack of growth, or worse, a continued decline in revenues. According to the good people over at the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, next year could very well be worse than this one. Factor in that education makes approximately 55% of the budget, and that is not the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s a train.
So let me make this as crystal clear as I possibly can, in 6 months from now, there will be more furlough days, and in 9-10 months, more teachers will lose their job for no other reason than they were the last one in the door. Class sizes will increase, yet again. More school systems will push towards shortening the school year (saving money because teachers are paid annually per day worked according to their contract).
Meanwhile, in Washington, sits a President who is actually more Republican than George Bush when it comes to public education. He will still be pushing massive Race-to-the-Top dollars linking teacher pay to test performance. [I still haven’t figured out how you are going to give real merit pay when you can’t afford base salaries or accurately measure performance]. But the pressure and power of the purse will be on more and more of Georgia to conform to these game changing standards.
At home, parents of children who will be rising seniors will be getting their SATs back. This is the real kicker. Those kids will be the first large batch to take the SATs while being taught under the new Georgia Performance Standards curriculum. For those of you unaware, this system is still, after several years, a work in progress. The teachers, used to specializing in one subject, i.e. Geometry, now have to teach all on a continuum. For students, many are left in the dust as the concepts are all over the place and all coming to them at once. I liken it to learning to drive, how to maintain your car, and the rules of NASCAR, all while driving the Daytona 500. My bets are on the small population of gifted students blowing the doors off the test, but an overwhelming majority of average, or just not mathematically inclined, students under-performing. When these parents get the less than desirable results, all hell will break loose.
There is going to be a knee-jerk reaction, a cataclysm, a public come to Jesus moment regarding education in Georgia within the next year or so. We are going to need a captain that can communicate with all parties and steer the ship. As a Democrat, in the coming election, we are going to need someone who has not come to the table late and halfheartedly (Martin) or put all their eggs in one basket (Westlake with GAE… wow).
All of these reasons are why I am voting for Dr. Beth Farokhi for State Superintendent of Schools. It’s Beth’s experience and ability to approach this impending situation by bringing all parties to the table that impresses me the most. Parents, students, teachers, even the General Assembly and Washington are going to want to have a say… and justifiably so.
Ask yourself this: When the dust settles and all is said and done, who do you think can sculpt public education in Georgia into something that works for all of us?
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