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Georgia PTA urges you
to:
- Support
public K-12 schools with adequate
state funding, reflective of the actual costs of providing the
state defined services. Support
equitable distribution of state funding to K-12 schools,
currently calculated on property tax wealth in each school system.
- Support
using public funds for public schools only. Oppose
any effort to use public funding for private or sectarian schools.
- Support efforts
to increase the graduation rate in Georgia through mandatory attendance
until graduation or age 18, early identification of potential
dropouts, improved instructional programs for at-risk students,
expanded counseling and guidance services, job placement and work
experience programs, immediate follow-up of why individual students
drop out.
- Support
using multiple criteria to determine promotion and retention,
and not rely upon the results of a single test score.
- Support
policies that increase meaningful parental involvement in decisions
regarding school policies, curriculum, and academic growth for
children, and increase opportunities for the development of parenting
skills and school support.
- Support
the right of local boards of education to manage and control local
public schools as they seek to improve the quality of education
for all students and are sensitive to differences in educational
needs in their respective communities.
- Support
the local property tax and the educational SPLOST sources of tax
revenues for local school district spending priorities.
Priorities form the basis of Georgia PTA's efforts with the Georgia
General Assembly and Congress. Georgia PTA monitors all legislation
and policy issues affecting children and youth, including K-12 education,
postsecondary education, Pre-K, child health and safety, gun safety,
teen driving and underage drinking. Our priorities receive most
of our attention; however, Georgia PTA responds to any legislation
covered by our position statements.
Public
education funding. One of the most essential roles of state
government is to provide a quality education to its citizens in
order to maintain an educated citizenry capable of participating
in a democracy. As globalization of the world economy continues,
it is evident that Georgia's economic development and prosperity
depends on developing an educated workforce.
A
quality education requires consistent and adequate state funding.
Georgia PTA continues to ask for restoration of more than $1.4 billion
in cumulative Quality Basic Education (QBE) funding cuts that have
shifted state obligations to local taxpayers, causing many Georgia
school systems to exhaust reserves, cut programs, lay off employees
and/or raise property taxes. Full funding of mandated programs and
reforms at the time they are enacted is a state responsibility.
Otherwise, even more local systems will become financially burdened
trying to implement state mandates. If not addressed, the funding
gap between high and low wealth systems regarding the equality and
adequacy of education funding will widen.
Also
vital to Georgia's economic development is the improvement of its
graduation rates. Georgia law requires school attendance until age
16, at which time a student may legally withdraw from school. Georgia
PTA supports requiring attendance in school until a high school
diploma is earned or a student has reached the age of 18, whichever
occurs first.
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