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 Cash and Safety Net K-12 Education Taifa Smith Butler Starbucks’ Venti Plan to Advance Educational Opportunities June 20, 2014 / January 16, 2020 by Taifa Smith Butler | 1 Comment on Starbucks’ Venti Plan to Advance Educational Opportunities This week Starbucks gave me new appreciation for corporations that value employees and show it in meaningful ways. Starbucks made headlines with its announcement that it will provide free college tuition for all its employees through a partnership with Arizona State University’s online program. To obtain financial support for a bachelor’s degree, employees don’t have […] 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 »
Author Claire Suggs Fact Sheets Featured K-12 Education Library Policy Areas HOPE Scholars Pick Up Increasing Share of College Costs May 1, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Claire Suggs Students from low- or moderate-income families must clear ever-higher financial hurdles to complete a postsecondary program in Georgia. The HOPE Scholarship will cover 59 percent of tuition and mandatory fees at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the next school year and 62 percent at the University of Georgia. This is well below what it […] Read more »
Author Blog Claire Suggs K-12 Education Georgia’s Disinvestment in Higher Education is at Expense of State’s Economic Future April 17, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Claire Suggs | 1 Comment on Georgia’s Disinvestment in Higher Education is at Expense of State’s Economic Future The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia raised next year’s tuition at Georgia Tech 9 percent on Tuesday, the same day that Home Depot’s director of talent acquisition told members of the governor’s High Demand Career Initiative the company cannot find enough software developers here. So Home Depot opened new technology centers […] Read more »
Author Blog Claire Suggs K-12 Education Legislature’s Education Spending Plan Better, but Still Earns a “Needs Improvement” April 3, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Claire Suggs | 2 Comments on Legislature’s Education Spending Plan Better, but Still Earns a “Needs Improvement” The governor and state legislators made education funding a major talking point during the 2014 legislative session. Lawmakers made a less severe cut to public school funding than in recent years. The recurring $1 billion annual shortfall Georgia’s public schools suffered through since the recession is trimmed to about $750 million next year. Still, districts […] Read more » K-12
