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ATLANTA, GA—Today, Georgia’s Education Reform Commission issued recommendations for new policies the state should adopt to improve education outcomes. These recommendations are crucial in addressing the state’s needs for a student-based funding formula, recruitment and retention of quality teachers, increased charter accountability and more.
StudentsFirst Georgia State Director Michael O’Sullivan released the following statement about today’s activities:
The recommendations passed today by the Education Reform Commission are a positive step forward for Georgia. Over the past 10 months, the commission has worked to analyze and develop research-based reforms aimed at providing students with access to better schools and high quality teachers.
It is especially encouraging to see the Commission make such a strong endorsement in favor of adopting a new student-centric education funding. Education funding should be based on students and their individual needs. This new formula also provides districts with increased flexibility, allowing them to strategically and more effectively address their student, school and district priorities.
These recommendations also put other important issues on the agenda for lawmakers, including increased charter school accountability, increased transparency in the current student scholarship tax credits, teacher recruitment incentives and competency-based learning. These reforms will help Georgia move our educational system into the 21st century.
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GeorgiaCAN: The Georgia Campaign for Achievement Now, formerly StudentsFirst Georgia, has been active in Georgia since 2011. We are a nonprofit education organization that advocates for all students across the state to have access to high-quality schools. Our goal is to ensure that students across Georgia have the opportunity to attend great schools and receive a great education that prepares them for future academic and professional success. We work to advance policies and programs that prioritize positive impacts for students statewide—especially those with the greatest needs.