Statement on Georgia's Public Education

"Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire."
William Yeats

Over 90% of Georgia's children attend public schools. It is important that our educational system provides a top notch learning environment for our citizens. Georgia's future depends on it.

Why aren't we providing a safe, academically challenging, and healthy environment where teachers are supported, students are engaged, and the community is strengthened?

The answer to this question lies in the ways that we address or fail to address three major areas: curriculum, teachers, testing.

We should:

•  Create a balanced curriculum for the whole child.

•  Focus on resources and support for teachers.

•  Reduce the number of state-wide tests.

Curriculum : We must create a balanced curriculum which focuses on the whole child-the physical, the intellectual, the emotional, and the creative. The current curriculum should be scrutinized to ensure Georgia's students are enabled to become productive global citizens. The best schools in the United States embrace excellence in all disciplines and we must ensure Georgia does the same.

Our schools must adequately help our children become competent, knowledgeable, and critical thinkers, prepared to compete in a global marketplace. We must fulfill our responsibility to educate our children for the world in which they will live. We must invest in human potential. To do this we must target our attention and reevaluation on:

•  Early childhood education and reading and writing emphasis across all grades

•  Science and Math Curriculum based on the highest international standards

•  Foreign Language Programs for K-12 including English as a Second Language Programs as needed

•  Art and Music Programs as integral parts of the learning environment

•  Health emphasis on physical movement and nutrition

•  Career and technical education opportunities

•  Strong policies and their implementation to deter bullying and harassment to ensure a safe learning environment

•  Training and support of effective quality teachers, support staff, and administrators

Teachers : As Georgians interested in improving our educational system, we must understand the uniqueness of a public school system and its many constituencies. At the core of this system are our education professionals.

We must provide qualified, effective teachers in every school. Our school system often fails to provide classroom teachers with the resources they need to reach a level of excellence for our children.

Recruitment and retention are imperative. Teachers need resources and support to inspire and engage our children. Administrators need the skills and confidence to lead effectively. Community resources are needed to support strong schools. We need to provide the resources that teachers need – resources that do not just focus on teachers' salaries, but also focus on increasing respect for educators, providing more time to focus on teaching, and a greater acknowledgement of their expertise. Professional educators know what works.

Testing : The pressures of excessive and often unnecessary testing overburdens Georgia's students, teachers, administrators, parents, and communities. Instead of one test used for accountability, a method focused on accumulative evaluation is needed. Our kids are only learning how to bubble in answers and are no longer engaged in the joy of learning and our teachers are restricted in creative, teachable moments.

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We have tremendous resources in Georgia that can provide the educational excellence needed. We have top-notch, dedicated teachers and administrators trained at some of the nation's best public and private colleges and universities here in Georgia. We have involved parents across the state. We have students who come to school eager to learn. We, also, have community businesses and organizations dedicated to helping our youth. There is no reason we cannot use this wealth of resources to give our teachers the support they need and to develop a curriculum that embraces excellence so that Georgia provides one of the best public education systems in the country.

As Superintendent of the State I will be an advocate for our children, our parents, and our teachers. I will provide leadership and vision so that every member of the education community, teachers, administrators, students, and parents will have the confidence in the path our public schools take.

“Our schools are more than test scores, buildings, and partisan politics; they
are our teachers, our school personnel, our children, and our community.”

Dr. Beth Farokhi