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What kind of education students get in Georgia can vary from county to county, as the numbers show.
Historically, Georgia students who hit the books and did their best in school could count on getting a good education. But these days, the classroom is not what it used to be. Depending on the geography, students who want to be ready for college sometimes find the deck stacked against them. For them, competing with their peers can be a gamble. School systems in Georgia vary widely from district to district. The state requires each school system to meet a series of criteria designed to measure how well schools are achieving the goal of ensuring students are learning. These annual state “report cards” focus on reading, English/Language Arts, Mathematics, Social Studies and Science. School systems are rated on how well each one scored on Adequate Yearly Progress reports. AYP is one of the cornerstones of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. It is a measure of year-to-year student achievement on statewide assessments. The numbers show great disparity. According to figures published by the Georgia Department of Education, some school systems are excelling while others are lagging behind. During the 2006-2007 academic year, 100 % of Fayette County and Decatur and Cartersville schools, 94.4 % of Rockdale County schools, 91.1 % of Gwinnett County schools, 87.9 % of Cobb County schools, 84.2 % of Henry County schools, 83.5% of Atlanta schools, and 79.1 % of DeKalb County schools met AYP goals. By comparison, only 76.7% of Douglas County schools, 71.4 % of Carroll County schools, 67.8 % of Clayton County schools, 66.7 % of Atkinson County schools, 62.5 % of Bibb County schools, 50 % of Bacon County schools, and 16.7 % of Baldwin County schools met Adequate Yearly Progress goals. Also, 86.7 % of Fulton County schools made the grade, but the numbers can be misleading. Fulton County as a district did not meet AYP standards. Splitting Fulton County in half shows that on the average, North Fulton schools perform better than South Fulton schools, although there is always the exception. Comparing three elementary schools, one middle school and one high school at random shows the statistics can be skewed. For example, on the north side Hembree Springs and Heards Ferry elementary schools, Dunwoody Springs Charter School and Alpharetta High School all met 2006-2007 AYP standards, but Holcomb Bridge Middle School did not. On the south side, Palmetto, College Park and Bethune elementary schools, Paul D. West Middle School and Tri-Cities High School all met AYP standards. According to John Tippens, an Education Administration Specialist for the state Board of Education, the reasons behind the large discrepancy in AYP scores can be attribute to several reasons. Tippens said some school districts, for example the city of Dalton, did not meet AYP standards because large numbers of students are from families of migrant farm workers. Although 87.5 % of Dalton schools made AYP, the school system itself did not. Neither did rural school systems in Murray, Whitfield, Hart, Franklin, Charlton, Brantley, Seminole, Thomas and Grady counties. Schools that do not make Adequate Yearly Progress are usually those with large numbers of low-income, disadvantaged, minority or non-English speaking students, or mentally handicapped students. “You’ve got some kids that come in (to school) very well prepared, and some that don’t,” he said. As far as North Fulton schools performing better on standardized tests than South Fulton schools, Tippens said students from lower-income families are more likely to struggle in school than those from higher-income families. “That’s a very controversial approach, but according to the numbers, that’s correct,” he said. Tippens explained that Holcomb Bridge Middle School has a significant number of Hispanic students, which may have contributed to the low AYP scores. That school already has plans in place to improve AYP scores for the future, he added. Tippens said low scores are not due to the teachers. Often they will work with minority and handicapped students to help them succeed in school, he said. “I will assure you they are doing everything they can with the staff they have,” he said.
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