Graduates Are Good For Business
Have you seen the news lately? You probably know by now that graduation rates have been inflated statewide for years and have now been adjusted to just 67.4 percent. Sadly, Gwinnett schools fall right within that average at 67.6 percent. Fulton County, by contrast, fared better with similar challenges. Its four-year graduation rate is 70.1 percent. Several Fulton high schools have landed among the state’s Top 10 highest scoring campuses on the SAT for years.
We don’t need the Gwinnett Board of Education spending $900,000 to fund positions for the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce. We need to focus on ensuring that our children graduate from high school.
Even if you don’t have kids, this affects you.
The reporting changes were part of a federal effort to standardize reporting so that apples to apples comparisons could be made. So, by contrast, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported two weeks ago that “With the new formula, two cities that frequently compete against Atlanta for business look better: Charlotte's school system graduated 73.5 percent of its high school students and Dallas 77.3 percent.” So companies considering moving to the Atlanta area and more specifically Gwinnett County may ultimately choose to relocate their business to Texas or North Carolina.
Even if your kids are honor students this affects you.
This graduation rate is now reported as part of the profile on Gwinnett County Schools to Ivy League universities and liberal arts colleges across the nation. It will define our kids when they apply for entry. They will be judged against peers across the world for the education they received, the classes offered and how well they mastered the concepts.
We need real leadership.
Because of the embarrassing graduation rate, Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks and the Gwinnett Board of Education have launched a community task force to begin looking at ways to save struggling students. Now that they are under scrutiny from the media they want to help students who are at risk of dropping out because they have been pushed out of their local schools by administrators too overwhelmed in overcrowded schools to help them succeed.
I have already been working for years to save scores of students who face the likelihood of becoming dropouts in our schools. My opponent has criticized me for being so vocal about saving those kids.
At some point, Gwinnett will also realize the value of supporting innovative models that give economically disadvantaged children a real chance to succeed in college by closing the academic achievement gap through early intervention. I wish they had seen the value of Ivy Prep when it was initially proposed. It could have saved the county and state millions of dollars in needless litigation. The school is now one of the top performing schools in the county. Educating all children is good business.
I have a record of finding solutions that are moral and make good business sense. Can we say the same about our current school board?
Sabrina Smith
9:53 am on Wednesday, August 29, 2012
It is an educational crisis to have ONE THIRD of Gwinnett County students dropping out of school. Instead of addressing this, the school board thinks diverting education funds from the classroom to the Gwinnett Chamber is more important. It's no wonder they will not answer questions about using education money to fund chamber salaries. It is indefensible. Learn more at this website:
www.GwinnettPetition.com
PTC Concerns
9:21 am on Thursday, August 30, 2012
GC schools are cutting right and left due to budget issues so I do not expect these numbers to change (one number that will change will be the value of your home). The problem is not the schools or the teachers or the quality of the textbooks. GC for the most part has dedicated teachers and administration. The reason 1/3 of students don't graduate is because people are expecting the government to do the job of parents. Some gwinnett schools have 30 kids in an elementary classroom. At a recent parents night, there were still empty chairs and the halls weren't crowded. A teacher can't manage all those kids and be expected to pay special attention to the undisciplined and unparented. If the child doesn't want to graduate and the parents doesn't care, why should anyone else? If you want to point fingers about education problems point also at the GC Government who signed off on all the development (read two many low income apts) and didn't add enough schools and charge enough in taxes to support the growing student population. The reason Ivy Prep works is because they force the parents to be involved, the have smaller classes and a right sized school. If every school in GC were that way we would lead the nation in quality education.Until Gwinnett County injects more money and correctly spends it I don't see the education problems in Gwinnett going away. Oh - and make some changes on the school board.
Jerry Fuchs
1:13 pm on Saturday, September 1, 2012
I think the only question that should really be asked is "How can we help the kids?"
I have two children in the public school system in Gwinnett.
My daughter started kindergarten this year. She loves school. Now. She loves the challenges, and learning. Now. But as a parent, we can only help her when she is at home. We work with her numbers, writing, etc.
I hope she continues to love to learn as she continues through school, but I also think about the roughly 30% who will never graduate. They must have started school with just as much excitement as my kid. When did their excitement turn to disdain? When did the prospect of a sketchy future with spotty employment at the bottom rungs of the economy look more desirable than getting their high school diploma?
When does the alarm go off? Third grade when the assignments aren't being handed in on time? Sixth grade when absenteeism increases? Junior year when it's suddenly discovered that not enough credits have been fulfilled?
If a ship leaves the dock with a steady hand, course corrections are easily made, and it will reach its destination.
But, if the ship leaves, already a few degrees off course, and no one is keeping an eye on the heading, corrections become harder to make, and the ship may be heading for unavoidable disaster.