Teaching to the Souls of Children
Georgia RESA Summit Takes Square Aim at Student Poverty By Meg Thornton, PAGE Publications Manager
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his year’s annual conference of the Georgia Regional Education Service Agencies took aim at the crippling epidemic of student poverty in our state. It also provided educators with strategies on breaking through to the hearts and minds of impoverished students. “The growing incidence of poverty among our public school students has profoundly changed the scope of services that RESAs are asked to provide in support to our schools. Unfortunately, these demands for enhanced services for our neediest students come at a time when resources are greatly diminished,” stated the conference program. Taking a holistic approach, the 2015 Georgia RESA Summit, subtitled “Beacons of Hope,” provided attendees with strong data detailing the alarming increase of childhood poverty in Georgia, as well as its devastating impact on student achievement. For inspiration, the program also highlighted some K-12
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schools that, having applied the principles expounded in PAGE professional learning academies, have developed a disciplined framework for designing student work and have made impressive strides in student engagement. Keynote presentations by executives of the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute and the Southern Education Foundation highlighted the massive state budget cuts incurred by Georgia public schools in recent years, as well as the alarming growth of poverty. Since 2002, state funding per student has declined 12 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars. Furthermore, between 2008 and 2013 in Georgia: • The tax digest fell in nearly 90 percent of school districts by an average of 21.7 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars. • 135 districts raised millage rates. • Local revenues fell in 89 districts by an average of 20 percent; these districts enroll nearly 80 percent of all students.
At the same time, poverty rates in the state have soared. Georgia ranks sixth in the nation in childhood poverty, according to 2013 U.S. Census Bureau data. Nearly two out of three of Georgia’s 1.68 million public school students — 62 percent — are low income, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. THE ‘HIDDEN RULES’
In a session titled “Teaching Teachers about Children in Generational Poverty,” Maggie Glennon of Middle Georgia RESA, spoke on the juxtaposition of the “hidden rules” of impoverished families vs. those of the middle class. Schools and workplaces operate according to middle class values. To be successful in school and beyond, one must follow middle class rules. However, “people in poverty live their lives much differently than middle class people,” said Glennon. For disadvantaged children to be successful, adults, such as teachers, must explicitly
August/September 2015
