Author Blog Claire Suggs K-12 Education Living the Numbers: Climbing Class Sizes are Hurting Students November 20, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Claire Suggs I traveled to communities around Georgia the past few months to share findings from our recent reports on education funding, The Schoolhouse Squeeze 2014 and Cutting Class to Make Ends Meet 2014. My part is easy. I explain the numbers: how much state funding has been cut, how much local funding has fallen and how […] Read more » K-12
Author Blog Claire Suggs K-12 Education The New Normal Does Not Work for Georgia’s Students November 5, 2014 / January 17, 2020 by Claire Suggs | 1 Comment on The New Normal Does Not Work for Georgia’s Students The responses we got from our annual survey of Georgia educators this summer are troubling, the stress often pouring off the pages. Here is an example from Coffee County Schools: “[The greatest impact of the QBE austerity cuts have been] class size increases, elimination of teachers, para-professionals, secretarial and administration positions, furlough days, classified employees’ […] Read more » K-12
Author Blog Claire Suggs Featured K-12 Education New GBPI Survey: Students Still Feel Budget Cuts’ Sting October 16, 2014 / January 17, 2020 by Claire Suggs Here is a status report on the state of education in Georgia, from someone who knows: “Delayed instructional initiatives, depleted reserves, increased class sizes, frozen wages, deferred maintenance and negligible bus replacement. It doesn’t take great imagination to envision what could have been done over the last five years with $12.8 million in lost QBE […] Read more » K-12
Author Claire Suggs K-12 Education Library Policy Areas Reports Cutting Class to Make Ends Meet 2014 October 16, 2014 / January 17, 2020 by Claire Suggs Schools across Georgia continue to scramble to meet students’ needs as they cope with years of deep cuts in state funding. A new Georgia Budget and Policy Institute survey of school systems finds districts raised class sizes and cut instructional programs in response to state cuts. A modest increase of $314 million in state funding […] Read more » K-12
Author Blog Claire Suggs Featured K-12 Education How Squeezed is Your District? September 8, 2014 / January 17, 2020 by Claire Suggs The Schoolhouse Squeeze 2014 compiles the latest numbers to show how cuts at the state level and lost local property values combine to create financial stress for school districts. This year’s update to the original 2013 report features a searchable database so you can easily access information about your district, or any of Georgia’s 179 […] Read more » K-12
Author Claire Suggs K-12 Education Library Policy Areas Reports The Schoolhouse Squeeze 2014 September 4, 2014 / January 17, 2020 by Claire Suggs State Cuts, Lost Property Values Still Pinch School Districts Georgia’s 180 school districts continue to face enormous financial pressures. The Georgia Legislature cut more than $8.4 billion in funding for public schools in recent years. At the same time, local funding for schools slipped precipitously following the plunge in property values triggered by the Great […] Read more » K-12
Author Blog Claire Suggs K-12 Education Teaching Pre-K Children Shouldn’t Require a Vow of Poverty July 9, 2014 / March 18, 2021 by Claire Suggs | 2 Comments on Teaching Pre-K Children Shouldn’t Require a Vow of Poverty Pre-Kindergarten teachers are the reason children of all backgrounds across Georgia are better prepared to start school and begin the journey to postsecondary study and the workforce. You wouldn’t guess the critical role they play if you peeked at their paystubs. They earn less than teachers who work in elementary and secondary schools, often far […] Read more »
Author Blog Claire Suggs K-12 Education Georgia College Graduates Start Life with Big Debt Burden June 12, 2014 / January 16, 2020 by Claire Suggs Student loan debt in Georgia is a growing burden for its college students, but state policymakers are not taking steps to slow the worrisome trend. Most Georgia students graduate from college with loans and their debt burdens are increasing. Existing financial aid programs fall far short of covering the cost of higher education in Georgia. […] Read more »
Author Blog Claire Suggs K-12 Education State Shortchanges Public Schools Again May 22, 2014 / January 16, 2020 by Claire Suggs | 3 Comments on State Shortchanges Public Schools Again Georgia is underfunding public schools by $747 million in the 2015 fiscal year that starts July 1, continuing a pattern of ignoring its own funding formula to provide a quality education. The General Assembly underfunded public schools every year since 2002, as calculated by the state’s Quality Basic Education formula. The cuts now total more […] Read more » K-12
Author Blog Claire Suggs K-12 Education Rising Tuition and Shrinking HOPE Squeeze College Students May 2, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Claire Suggs Georgia is home to the seventh largest tuition increase in the nation between 2008 and 2014, according to a new report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Average tuition at four-year public colleges and universities in the state increased by $3,125 in inflation-adjusted dollars, the report says. Big cuts in state funding are […] Read more »
