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Representative Ron Forster |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Challenging EducationOr Educationally Challenged?April 16, 2004 -- Georgia faces increasing challenges in educating its students. To me, it points to a daunting task, and one for which our current system and curriculum may need further adjustment. I'm proud of the job our Catoosa and Whitfield school boards, principals, teachers and parents are doing with their public schools. The achievement scores and many satisfied parents attest to their excellence. For example: In comparison with 20 similar school systems in Georgia Catoosa county schools post the 6th highest SAT average, and; In comparison with 6 similar school systems, Whitfield county schools post the 2nd highest SAT average. Students who take the SAT include those in both the college preparatory and technical/career programs of study - this success with more than 80 percent of the students taking the test and over 90 percent graduating. Although many students that graduate go on to some type of post-secondary study, the school systems in this region strive to boost the graduation rates above the state average. I'm convinced that a concerted effort between school, home, and business can help them do better if the state laws would allow them to. The following comments pertain to the state as a whole. WHAT'S AHEAD FOR GEORGIA'S SCHOOL-AGE POPULATION OVER THE NEXT 15 YEARS? A rising population to educate The task of educating Georgia's children will widen because of an increasing population, and one that is growing younger. Today's growth in population is being driven by all the children of those baby boomers (in addition to an influx moving to Georgia). Georgia's school age population will rise each year until 2018. Georgia is third among states with the greatest projected percentage growth of school age children. Only Nevada and Arizona will have higher percentage increases. An increasingly minority population Not only will there be more students, the student population will become more diverse. - Georgia's school age population will become increasingly minority. Minorities represent 39 percent of Georgia's children today. By 2014, 55 percent of Georgia's children will be minority groups. Most of this growth is projected to come from the Hispanic population. - Georgia's school age population will become increasingly less proficient in English. Today, seven percent of Georgia students speak English as a second language. - Newer immigrants (legal and illegal) statistically have lower incomes and greater educational needs. In other words, the demands are increased on public schools that have a larger pool of recent immigrants. Note, though, that after a generation or two, the income and achievement levels have historically evened out as newer immigrants assimilate. Through the 1980s and 1990s, America accepted more than a million legal immigrants annually. For each of the past 20 years, the U.S. has accepted more legal immigrants than all other nations of the world combined, along with a huge influx of illegals. Eleven percent of the U.S. population is foreign-born, the highest proportion since the 1930s. Immigrants, on average, start at the bottom of the income and education bell curve. An achievement gap Perhaps the greatest challenge facing Georgia is the widening achievement gap between white/Asian students and black/Hispanic students. On average in the U.S., black students are academically four years behind whites and Asians by the 12th grade. And Hispanics aren't faring much better. But this doesn't mean that all black and Hispanic youngsters are failing. It means too many are not succeeding. Success within some schools with high minority, high poverty populations shows that success can be had regardless of the challenges. The achievement gap exists nationally even when you take into account poverty rates, lack of integration, disparate school spending and class size. For example, within identical income brackets, black students have much lower scores on average. In fact, black students with parents that make $80,000 to $100,000 have lower average SAT scores than white students from families in the $20,000 to $30,000 range. On average, black and Hispanic children enter school behind and stay behind. Changing societal dynamics - More children are born today to single mothers, over 30 percent in Georgia. Of those born to a single mother, 20 percent don't even list a father on the birth certificate. These children face increased odds of poverty and a lack of support and supervision at home. - Since the 1960s, the out-of-wedlock child-bearing rate has grown from 7 percent to 32 percent. That, as well as a growth in divorce, is a huge contributing factor to poverty. Women who give birth out-of-wedlock, in general, are poorly educated themselves. Children who are raised in single-parent families are more likely to fail in school and are more likely to drop out. - Today, 44 percent of Georgia's children in public education receive free or reduced lunch prices, an indicator of family income. Two-thirds of all poor families with children are single-parent families. FINALLY The challenges are great, and increasing. But I'm optimistic we can meet each and every one if we're willing to face up to the reality. I agree with President Bush and most of the underlying presumptions and commitments of No Child Left Behind - children can learn regardless of background and barriers. Our educational system's primary mission must be to offer that opportunity to those that will take it. Georgia (and the U.S.) has faced far greater challenges before and succeeded. Consider that in the 1920s, half of all Americans were poor. Many were newly immigrated. But it didn't reduce their cognitive abilities; it didn't erode their work ethic; and it didn't make them more likely to be engaged in crime. Our American culture has changed since then in ways that don't complement academic achievement; so have our expectations and families; but Georgia's children need solid skills more than ever to succeed. It's our job to see that education is offered in such a way that today's children obtain the skills they need to become tomorrow's productive Georgians. I believe we all need to be informed about how our elected officials are representing us. I am getting an inside view that I want to share with everyone. I can be reached by phone in the Atlanta office: 404-656-0265; or through my website: http://www.gasrd3.org.
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