Education
Columbia County Schools take unusual step to remove best-selling novel
A Georgia-born author of a 2017 New York Times bestseller says Columbia County Schools are doing students a disservice by removing her book and two others from a supplemental reading list. “Dear Martin” by Nic Stone is one of three novels removed from a list of 17 books proposed by teachers and a selection committee […]
Mental health aid for Georgia school kids might be spared budget ax
A north Georgia school superintendent lamented at an August gathering of lawmakers in Jasper that some of his 3,600 students often arrive for classes with mental health needs that outstrip the capacity of the part-time counselor’s ability to help. “It’s a struggle,” Dawson County Superintendent Damon Gibbs said by phone recently. “It’s not something that’s […]
University system’s rural programs on Board of Regents cut list today
Agricultural, medical and library programs run by Georgia’s state-funded universities are poised for budget cuts in response to the statewide belt tightening Gov. Brian Kemp ordered last month. In all, the University System of Georgia plans to shave around $11 million off its roughly $2.6 billion budget through next June, and another $16.5 million the […]
State education board considers modest cuts at Wednesday meeting
Members of Georgia’s Board of Education Wednesday mulled the governor’s recent order to cut fat in spending plans for this year and next. The department oversees public school funding and has a $10.6 billion budget, or more than a third of all state spending. Still, much of that is non-discretionary and Gov. Brian Kemp says […]
Grant to Georgia College nursing program a remedy for rural health ills
A newborn might be in one room, a great grandmother in the next and an injured farmer in still another room. For Dr. Sallie Coke, this would just be any other day at the small-town clinic where she works in rural Lamar County, which is home to 18,000 people in middle Georgia. “It’s wonderful. You […]
School achievement measures miss mark on student performance
As Georgia school districts kicked off the new school year this month, educators, parents and stakeholders are rejoicing over the recently-released Milestones scores. A press release from the Georgia Department of Education announced the results with a celebratory tone: “Students record strongest-ever overall gains on Georgia Milestones assessments.” Test improvements are worth celebrating, but unfortunately […]
Teachers get only part of promised raises this school year
By the end of this week, the vast majority of Georgia’s schoolchildren will be back in the classroom and their teachers will have more reason to look forward to payday than when they took a break for the summer. Teachers are quick to say they don’t get into the profession to get rich, but they […]