Thursday, November 20, 2008
Quick Poll
How much do you plan to spend on Christmas presents this year compared to last?
- Less: 166
- More: 7
- Same: 36
Total Votes:
Published Sunday, August 17, 2008 in Opinion
Our state does a poor job of taking care of its people
Editorial
Editor's note: Today's guest editorial is from The Macon Telegraph.
There is a clear disconnect in Georgia between what our elected representatives say about education and what they do. As taxpayers, Georgians get confused, too, between rhetoric and reality. The tired, old rhetoric talks about our love for education. While it should be, it clearly isn't.
According to the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, our state ranks well in a number of areas. Out of 50 states our population was the fifth fastest growing. Some now say we are the fourth fastest growing state in the Union. Only seven states have less of a tax burden, as a percentage of income, than Georgia. We have a great business climate, the state ranked in the top five best states to do business by CNBC and the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity.
But when it comes to taking care of its people, Georgia doesn't rank so highly. In 2005 42 states were ranked higher than Georgia. We ranked no lower than 41 in all of the health categories, save one.
According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, 43 states do a better job taking care of its children than Georgia. Thirty-six percent of our children live in poverty, 48 percent of our teenagers drop out of high school. Our teacher pupil ratio ranks 27th; teacher pay 18th, and our per-pupil expenditures rank is 21, according to the National Education Association.
Politicians will tout adding more money to the education budget but forget to say the additional money is due to more students.
The state's 180 school systems have been the first to bear the brunt of cutbacks, more than $1.5 billion to date. Now there is another 2 percent cut because of the state's falling tax revenues. Our college and university system is trying to deal with a 3.5 percent to 5 percent cut. Our technical and adult education system will also be hit hard. And while college and university presidents openly rail against the cuts, the state k-12 school superintendent Kathy Cox has been almost silent. The state's school superintendents want a strong advocate for public education, not someone afraid to buck the party line. Education is too important to be left to politics and politicians.