By Angelou C. Ezeilo, founder and CEO of the Atlanta-based Greening Youth Foundation
High school students from inner city neighborhoods all over Atlanta headed to Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site, with sleeping bags and pillows in tow to experience a night out in nature at an urban camp out.
By Guest Columnist DANA RICKMAN, PhD, the director for policy and research at the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education
Successful schools and school systems need strong leaders. Research has shown that leadership influences student learning, and among all school-related factors that contribute to what students learn at school, leadership is second only to classroom instruction. In schools and systems that have more challenges, leadership is even more impactful. Turning around troubled schools demands the intervention of a powerful leader.
Emory University is ramping up its efforts to inform Georgia’s congressional members of the harm it says the current version of the House tax plan could cause to colleges and universities, which includes undermining funding for research, academic programs and student finances.
By Guest Columnist MERIA CARSTARPHEN, superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools
Atlanta – as the birthplace of a King, the crucible of the Civil Rights Movement and the international gateway to the Southeastern United States – is a city of innovation and spirit. Yet it is also a city entrenched in inequities that prevent children from living the choice-filled lives they deserve.
By Lesley Grady, senior vice president, community, Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta In 2016, the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta launched Impact Areas with measurable objectives as a way to focus our financial, partnership and advocacy investments in the Atlanta region, backed by a dashboard that captures baseline values and reveals those, transparently, to our […]
By Guest Columnist DAVID SUITTS, founder of Unite For Kids Atlanta
When people ask why I care about early childhood development, I think back to when I first thought I could maybe teach.
There’s a Youtube video of that summer: I’m filming and talking at three girls, none whom could be older than 6 years.
Mercedes-Benz USA has received approval from the U.S. departments of labor and veterans affairs to offer a registered apprenticeship program. Graduates are all but guaranteed a job at virtually any Mercedes Benz dealership in the country.
Gov. Nathan Deal has appointed Gwinnett County schools CEO/Superintendent Alvin Wilbanks to chair of a statewide committee to evaluate a proposed leadership academy for top educators. The committee is part of Deal’s ongoing efforts to have the state intervene in chronically failing schools.
By Guest Columnist GLENN DELK, an Atlanta attorney who is a longtime school choice advocate and co-founder of 21st Century STEM Academy set to open in August in Decatur
Members of Georgia’s public school establishment consistently oppose funding for charter and private schools on the grounds they are not “accountable.”
However, as evidenced by the recent report, State of Education in Metro Atlanta: Baseline Report 2017, issued with great fanfare by Learn4Life – a collaborative initiative of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, the Atlanta Regional Commission, the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, the United Way of Greater Atlanta and eight public school district partners –the reality is that traditional districts are the ones who are unaccountable.
The price of homes in the city of Atlanta rise according to their proximity to a start-up charter school, according to a new report by Georgia State University. Home prices in suburban areas, exhibit a similar trend, but the price increase is about half that of Atlanta.
By Guest Columnist DANA RICKMAN, PhD, the director for policy and research at the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education
Last November, Georgia voters rejected a constitutional amendment to establish an Opportunity School District (OSD) that would have created a new state-run district with the authority to step in and manage “chronically failing” schools. At that time, 127 schools were on “the list.” These were schools that received a failing score on the state’s accountability report card three years in a row.
Georgia Tech’s dean of engineering, Gary May, has been tapped as the next chancellor of the University of California, Davis. If approved by California’s Board of Regents on Thursday, May would start work Aug. 1. Tech intends to name an interim dean to serve while a national search is conducted for a successor.
By Guest Columnist FRANK BROWN, CEO of Communities in Schools of Atlanta
As the headlines come and go about our current political climate and the state of our international relations, our students are dying. Several weeks ago, two metro Atlanta students were killed by senseless gun violence. Violence in communities where we live and work is on the rise. Teachers and administrators are trained in self-defense tactics to ensure their safety as they work in communities plagued by the violence that poverty makes more likely.
Each in its own way, the three major construction projects Gov. Nathan Deal has proposed in Downtown Atlanta will increase the vitality of its surroundings and promote greater connectivity to people who have activities in the buildings.
By TAIFA SMITH BUTLER, executive director of the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute
This is the week state lawmakers will really get down to the business of running Georgia, now that they’ve had time to dig into the governor’s spending plan and department heads wrapped up budget presentations to legislative committees.
Georgia’s youth birdwatching contest scheduled in April is a real challenge – birders will try to identify more than 170 species in 24 hours, the record set in 2015 and matched in 2016.
By Guest Columnist COURTNEY ENGLISH, chairman of the Atlanta Board of Education
Atlanta works best when it works for everyone. For far too long, my beloved Atlanta, has been a tale of two cities.
Recent studies have placed Atlanta near the top of list in job creation while at the same time, one of the country’s leaders in income inequality and child poverty. The negative effects of this kind of disparity is felt first and hardest in our school system. 76 percent of our kids are on free or reduced lunch.
Atlanta is fortunate to have a concentration of colleges and universities along with thousands of students who come to our city for school and never leave.
Among those schools there is one of the largest clusters of Historically Black Colleges and University, including Spelman College, the top-ranked HBCU, and Morehouse College, ranked No. 4 among HBCUs.
Two charter schools in Atlanta have received a total of almost $600,000 in state grants to further creative ways to advance student achievement. The two schools are the Atlanta Neighborhood Charter School and the Charles R. Drew Charter School.
By Guest Columnist EMILY PELTON, executive director of Voices for Georgia’s Children, which seeks to ensure the well-being of all children in Georgia
Last week, Georgians all over the state united for a great cause. In the midst of our supercharged and occasionally exhausting pre-election environment, hundreds of leaders found one thing to agree on: quality early education is important for Georgia’s kids.
