Educational findings in metro Atlanta show much room for improvement

The just-released annual State of Education in Metro Atlanta report showed disappointing results in third-grade literacy and postsecondary enrollment and completion.

But the report, conducted by the unique nonprofit Learn4Life, spotlighted programs that are having success.

Learn4Life is a one-of-a-kind nonprofit that is a collaboration of the big four entities that have a regional mandate. The CEOs of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, the United Way of Greater Atlanta, the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta and Atlanta Regional Commission all serve on Learn4Life’s executive committee. 

At the 2025 annual meeting, Learn4Life released its latest findings, which show metro Atlanta school systems are having a tough time recovering from the impact of the COVID pandemic.

Learn4Life analyzes the metrics of the eight school systems in the core five Atlanta counties – Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, Clayton and Gwinnett as well as the public schools in the cities of Atlanta, Marietta and Decatur. The findings lump all eight school districts together.

“We are here to find out what is working,” said Ken Zeff, executive director of Learn4Life. “We need to be clear-eyed that we are working with kids who are under-resourced and underserved. At the end of the day, we still are not successful in preparing enough kids for success.”

The annual meeting was held at the Metro Atlanta Chamber with a welcome from its president and CEO, Katie Kirkpatrick.

“Education is not just a school issue,” Kirkpatrick said. “It is an economic competitiveness issue.”

One of the goals is to prepare metro Atlanta’s future workforce, she said, before adding that “hiring Ken Zeff was the best thing we ever did.”

Learn4Life was founded in 2016, so it will celebrate its 10th anniversary next year. The 2025 report was the ninth annual State of Education study.

One of the low points in the report was third-grade proficiency in English Language Arts. Only 38 percent of third graders were proficient in English in 2025 compared to 40 percent in 2015. 

“The high point was 44 percent in 2019,” said Rebecca Parshall, Learn4Life’s director of strategy and development, who moderated a panel about early learning and English proficiency. “In early literacy, we see equity gaps persist. This is not an indictment on the kids.”

The panel showcased efforts showing promise. Marietta City Schools saw an 11 percent increase in the number of students reading at or above grade level, thanks partly to its program Literacy and Justice for All. 

The Rollins Center for Language and Literacy, part of the Cox Campus, collaborates with Learn4Life and Kennesaw State University to support literacy development on this initiative.

Another bright spot is the Atlanta Vision Project, which will help supply 47,000 students with free glasses by 2028.

“Vision is essential for literacy. Screening is not enough,” said Parshall, who added that it needs to be followed up with a free exam and glasses. The Atlanta Vision Project will screen 165,000 students over the next three years.

Malcolm Mitchell, founder of Share the Magic Foundation, who is better known for being a football star at the University of Georgia and for the New England Patriots, spoke of the negative consequences for students who read below grade level. That’s why he started his foundation.

“We know the goal is not less than 34 percent or 50 percent,” Mitchell said. “We have to show up in those communities — go to the schools and go to the libraries.”

Clayton County has made literacy its purpose, according to Douglas Hendrix, senior deputy superintendent in Clayton County.

“It’s really tough to be a child in Clayton County and other areas,” Hendrix said. “There are many homes where there are no books; homes where they don’t read to children.”

Then he added that Clayton County envisions “a time very soon where every child can read by Grade 1. We are taking literacy seriously.”

Julianna Cagle, president of the Goizueta Foundation, agreed. “Literacy could be the single factor that changes the student’s life,” she said.

Another disappointing finding is post-secondary education. Only 68 percent of high school graduates enrolled in a post-secondary institution in 2022 compared to 75 percent in 2015.

And only 27 percent of high school graduates earned a degree or credential within five years in 2023 compared to 31 percent in 2015.

Tenicia Winston, Learn4Life’s project manager, said it’s a troubling statistic. It’s expected that in 2031, 85 percent of good jobs will go to workers with some form of post-secondary education.

“By 2032, the number of retirees exiting the workforce will outpace those entering the workforce,” Winston said, adding that the goal is to help students cross the finish line.

Taylor Ramsey, executive director of OneGoal Metro Atlanta, said Georgia does make investments in higher education through the HOPE scholarship. But only 44 percent of the students in higher education receive a HOPE scholarship, and 40 percent of those lose their scholarship during their studies. The HOPE scholarship is a merit-based program rather than a needs-based scholarship.

“Georgia is second in the country in student loan debt,” Ramsey said. Most scholarships in the state are currently based on academic performance, but state legislators recently advanced proposals to change that. She challenged those attending the Learn4Life annual meeting on Dec. 3 to urge their legislators to support more needs-based programs.

Learn4Life, however, is careful to not be an advocacy or policy driven nonprofit.

“There are other organizations that are better positioned to lead that charge,” Zeff said. “There’s enough good work programmatically that we don’t want policy differences to get in the way of those opportunities.”

Instead, Learn4Life looks for programs that are working.

“There are pockets of excellence throughout the region, but we are systematically not educating enough kids to meet the region’s needs,” Zeff said in an interview. “We can’t fix generations of neglect in communities, but there are bright spots. There are interventions that are having success. That’s our model.”

Zeff is also careful not to blame COVID for the region’s lack of educational progress, saying, “We weren’t doing so great before COVID.”

Learn4Life has managed to be resilient. Three of its four partners have had leadership changes since 2016. Also, numerous regional school superintendents have come and gone over the years.

“Everyone needs to see this as their collective responsibility. The leaders of the four core organizations do see this as their responsibility. Every year they have led this work,” said Zeff, who is also an elected member of the Atlanta Board of Education.

Having a common scorecard in the region is one reason Learn4Life has been successful.“I’m proud that all the metro school districts have continued to be engaged in this work,” Zeff said. “We have the resources. We have kids in front of us, and it’s our responsibility to make a difference.”