Seeking the best solutions for the region's education system
View Bill Bolen’s Regional Education Comparison presentation, given at the Dec. 2 committee meeting.
Education is the root of all economic development. We must have good schools producing a home-grown workforce. Students enrolled in the 15 school systems in the metro area make up nearly 45 percent of the state’s public school students, so the work we do here has a ripple effect across the state.
History of Chamber Leadership
For 27 years, the Chamber has been the door the business community walks through to get involved in improving education. In the last decade, we’ve extended our focus beyond just Atlanta Public Schools to the 15 school systems surrounding Atlanta.
Superintendents have asked for our help in four areas:
- teacher recruitment and retention
Georgia has a teacher shortage. Roughly 15,000 new teachers are needed each year but only 3,500 are newly certified through the state’s colleges and universities. Corporate human resources officers are working with the region’s school systems to identify best practices in recruiting and retaining teachers.
- high school graduation
The Chamber created a community coach program that pairs business and community leaders with graduation coaches in the high schools. The Chamber prepared the first-ever high school graduation strategic plan for the state.
- career preparation
The Chamber is conducting a survey of employers to determine the gap between what students are learning in school and the skills they need to get good jobs. This information will be communicated to policy makers and educators.
2009 Call to Action
Georgia’s SAT scores are 47th in the nation, Georgia is bottom third with high school graduation rates (78.9 percent) and a school system in Georgia has become just the second school system in the nation to lose its accreditation in nearly 40 years.
We support:
- legislation to reform school boards in Georgia, including Commission for School Board Excellence recommendations for training, accountability, ethics and a code of conduct, clarity in board members’ roles, additional qualifications, changes in board elections and temporary state intervention when school systems are in trouble
- recruiting and retaining the best teachers, especially in math and science
- conducting a survey of workforce skills that companies need and using the results to advocate education changes that would strengthen metro Atlanta’s homegrown workforce
For more information, contact Joy Hawkins at 404.586.1917