From the Executive

From The Executive Director

The Election is Nearing. Choose Wisely and Vote!

The Nov. 4 general election is critically important to education because we will choose a new state school superintendent and governor. This issue of PAGE One is heavily devoted to that topic.

There is no greater responsibility for educators than voting. It is not just a civic responsibility; it is a professional obligation, and one that will affect your job, your students, your school and even your entire career.

If the past decade has taught us anything, it is that educators must not brush aside their civic and professional obligation to vote. To our sorrow, we know that we can no longer depend on automatic support from governors and legislators. We must hold them accountable for their support of public schools. Our votes count.

PAGE has been strongly urging educators to become more knowledgeable about and more active in the political process. We work hard throughout each legislative session in support of teachers, students and schools; but we must work with the officeholders who are elected. Voters, during the past decade, have seen fit to elect state legislators and governors who look beyond the public schools for solutions to educating Georgia’s children. It does not seem to have dawned on many of these policymakers that the vast majority of our students (about 94 percent) are in our public schools.

Yet the voters—and the non-voters— have rewarded them with virtually automatic returns to office. This process needs to stop. It needs to be replaced with a thoughtful and informed process by which educators take the lead in learning about, supporting and staying in communication with a new generation of policymakers who support our public schools.

To that end, our cover story (which we encourage you to share widely) features a grid briefly outlining where the candidates stand on key issues. We also include candidate responses to questions posed by PAGE, as well as a report on the candidate forum held by the PAGE Foundation in September. You also have access via the PAGE website to the video of this forum.

As I travel the state, I continuously hear concerns about the status and direction of public education in Georgia. The budget cuts, dramatic increase in students of poverty, continuing federal mandates and growing anger about over-testing and the over-interpretation of test results are all combining to bring things to a fever pitch in system after system.

We can begin to do something about this, and that time is now. I urge you to inform yourself and as many others as possible before you vote in this election. Take our magazine along if you need reminders of where candidates are on the issues that matter most to you and your students.

And by all means VOTE! Dr. Allene Magill

Voters during the past decade have seen fit to elect state legislators and governors who look beyond the public schools for solutions to educating Georgia’s children. It does not seem to have dawned on many of these policymakers that the vast majority of our students (about 94 percent) are in our public schools.

Election 2014: Candidate Positions on Education

eginning in mid October, Georgia residents will vote for the state’s next governor and school superintendent. As an educator, casting your vote is essential. “No election

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year in Georgia has ever been more important than 2014 when it comes to public education,” states PAGE Executive Director Dr. Allene Magill.

In counties throughout Georgia, you can vote early from mid to late October. Just visit the Georgia secretary of state website (search “early voting Georgia”) for a list of locations. Then mark your calendar and vote. If you miss voting early, go to the polls on Nov. 4.

To help you make thoughtful decisions, the following pages present simple grids highlighting candidate stances on key education issues. We also report on the PAGE candidate forum and present a Q&A with participating gubernatorial and superintendent candidates.

Governor’s Race

Candidate Positions at a Glance

This information was gleaned from interviews with the 2014 Georgia gubernatorial candidates. Sources are listed below.

Nathan DealJason Carter

Charter Schools

State Charter Commission Amendment

Common Core (CC) Asked legislators to study creating a state-wide charter school district to take over failing schools 1

As Governor, signed HR 1162, the legislation creating the charter school amendment, on May 3, 2012

Has not declared support for or opposition to CC. Ordered the State Board of Ed to review CC, and that review is ongoing Supports 2

As State Senator, voted no on HR 1162

Has not declared support for or opposition to CC. Says that constantly changing standards is problematic for teachers 3

School Funding

Standardized Testing

Race to the Top (RT3)

Teacher Keys Evaluation System (TKES)

Vouchers

National Board Certification Supports recalculating the Quality Basic Education (QBE) formula to increase education funding without requiring huge investments 4

Believes assessing student performance is a critical need to ensure student success in global workforce 6

Originally opposed RT3 prior to Georgia’s receipt of the grant. Later switched his position to support the initiative 7

Supports higher accountability embedded in TKES as long as support is offered to teachers to meet higher accountability standards. Signed HB 244, legislation placing the new evaluation system in Georgia code, on May 7, 2013 8

Supports vouchers as long as they do not undermine public school funding and recipients of vouchers are held accountable 9

Did not include funding in the 2014 budget 11 Supports creation of a separate education budget and significantly increasing education funding by cutting other wasteful state spending 5

Supports diagnostic testing. Opposes linking educator pay to test scores

Supports an evaluation system that is not used solely as a punitive tool, but as a mechanism for providing educators with constructive criticism. Voted yes on HB 244

Opposes vouchers and tax credits 10

Supports 12

1 ajc.com/news/news/state-regional/gov-dealsnew-plan-to-expand-charter-schools/nhKT3/

2 thesoutherneronline.com/frontpage/?p=8758 3 thesoutherneronline.com/frontpage/?p=8758 4 myajc.com/news/news/state-regionalgovt-politics/a-fight-over-educationfunding-in-georgias-governo/ ng3pk/#d4708d47.257099.735463 5 PAGE Questionnaire 6 gadoe.org/External-Affairs-and-Policy/ communications/Pages/PressReleaseDetails. aspx?PressView=default&pid=123 7 blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-blog/2010/08/24/ with-our-400-million-race-to-the-top-grantnathan-deal-comes-full-circle-now-the-grant-is-avictory-for-georgia/ 8 gov.georgia.gov/issues-0#education 9 PAGE One Magazine September/October 2010 10 thesoutherneronline.com/frontpage/?p=8758 11 washingtontimes.com/news/2014/feb/2/ certified-ga-teachers-feel-slighted-by-budget/ 12 carterforgovernor.com/issues/

The Governor’s Race

Candidate Responses to PAGE Questions about Important Education Issues

n Nov. 4, Georgia voters will choose a governor. The decision will deeply impact Georgia schools, which continue to struggle with state budget cuts and the implementation of ambitious new state

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and federal initiatives.

As an independent, nonunion, professional association, PAGE does not endorse political candidates. However, we believe it imperative that our nearly 85,000 members hear from candidates regarding their positions on key education issues. Georgia’s current governor, Nathan Deal, a Republican, declined to respond to questions posed by PAGE, despite repeated contacts to his office and deadline extensions. The responses of gubernatorial candidate Jason Carter, a Democrat and state senator representing DeKalb County, are presented below.

Should educators receive compensation on the state salary schedule for their advanced degrees? Should educator pay be linked to student standardized test scores?

CARTER: We have to use every tool in our arsenal to get qualified teachers in the classroom and to encourage teaching as a lifelong profession. Teachers have gone without base salary costof-living increases for five years, roughly 80 percent of school districts furloughed teachers in the 2013–2014 school year, and the majority of districts have slashed funding for professional development. The chronic underfunding of public education in our state has hit teachers particularly hard. Our focus has to be on providing appropriate incentives to recruit and retain the best possible teaching workforce for our kids.

As governor, I will restore funding for bonuses for the nearly 2,600 teachers who have gone above and beyond for our kids and our classrooms by completing the rigorous requirements to hold a certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. They were promised a bonus for the life of their certificate, and beginning in 2009, the state went back on its promise. The results of defunding the bonus have been devastating. In 2013, only one Georgia teacher was nationally certified, and Georgia was tied for dead last nationwide in the number of newly certified teachers.

I would also reinstate the pay differential for training and experience for Pre-K teachers and reinstate the HOPE Scholarship programs for teachers that were eliminated in 2011. These programs offer forgivable loans to incentivize college students, recent graduates and paraprofessionals to pursue teaching as their career.

With respect to linking educator pay to test scores, the increased emphasis on standardized test scores isn’t good for students, educators or families. Tests have to first be diagnostic tools that ultimately help students learn. I am not opposed to having a meaningful evaluation system for teachers that is linked to pay—in fact, I believe that assessment is a

Jason Carter

critical part of both teaching and learning. But it is only one part. Our evaluation system must treat educators like the professionals that they are and must not be used solely as a punitive tool, but as a mechanism for giving constructive feedback as a part of an ongoing process of evaluation, growth and improvement that benefits our teachers and positively impacts our kids’ educations.

How will you add more educator input in decisions related to governance of the State Health Benefit Plan, Georgia’s public employee health insurance program?

CARTER: The most important thing that we can do to improve educational outcomes is to truly support our teacher workforce—that means mechanisms to recruit and retain teachers to become excellent teachers for the life of their career. The current administration’s poor treatment of teachers, as evidenced by the massive changes to the State Health Benefit Plan made without any input from educators, undermines our state’s ability to recruit and retain the teachers we want and hurts the morale of the teachers we have. That lack of leadership is holding our entire educational system back.

Educators must be afforded a stronger voice in decision making to improve public education in our state. My wife and I are on the State Health Benefit Plan, so I understand the changes many teachers faced. I was proud to support legislation in the Georgia Senate to require that a beneficiary of the State Health Benefit Plan be added to the state board that oversees it. As governor, I will utilize an Education Advisory Council, which is comprised of the educators, officials and advocates who are in our schools and classrooms every day, to give meaningful input on policy, working conditions and the culture of public education in our state before decisions are made. That input will help us avoid unnecessary and complicated changes with respect to policy, benefits and other issues impacting the profession, as well as provide me with feedback from those who really understand what is happening on the ground with respect to our education system.

What is your position on Georgia’s use of the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards?

CARTER: In the time that I have served in the state legislature, substantive debate on education policy has been supplanted by partisan posturing on curriculum, testing and certification. This past year, I voted against abandoning Common Core because our state has been creating education policy by sound bite instead of creating sound policy. The focus has to be on having an honest, non-politicized conversation about how we can work together to move our education system forward.

The real issue is the complete lack of vision at the state level with respect to education. Lack of vision has prevented us from allowing education standards to actually succeed or fail on their merits and keeps us lurching from one “shiny object” to the next with no real sense of how we move forward. For example, I have had constituents report that their high school children have been taught under three or four different math curricula since kindergarten. Children in the same family will graduate under different standards. The constant change isn’t fair to students, it isn’t fair to teachers, and it isn’t fair to parents.

Every change in teaching standards costs our state money and requires additional training and professional development for our teachers to learn the curriculum. But we’ve dramatically reduced the resources available for professional development at the state level. We are asking teachers to do more than ever, but we aren’t giving them the resources they need to succeed. The lack of vision is bad for students, it is bad for educators, and ultimately it is bad for our state.

As governor, how would you improve student outcomes and public education in Georgia?

CARTER: As governor, my first priority will always be education. Education is economic development. It creates opportunity, it attracts businesses to our state and it prepares our students for the best jobs.

First, we have to end the shell game that has plagued education funding for too long. As governor, I will propose a separate education budget—a trust fund that will keep the politicians in Atlanta from raiding the education fund to pay for other things.

Second, we have to end the visionless leadership that has forced our schools to confront change after change, year after year. I believe we must have a longterm, coherent focus on the crucial factor that drives educational success: our teacher workforce. I’ll focus every day on recruiting, retaining and supporting the best possible teachers for our students. My wife Kate is a public school teacher, and I know our teachers are tired of being treated like they’re the only problem instead of part of the solution.

Finally, we will restore the promise of HOPE by making sure we maximize the number of students who can afford college and technical school. That’s an investment that will pay off for those students and for the entire state as we reap the benefits of a highly skilled workforce.

Do you think that the State of Georgia adequately funds public education? If elected, how would you reform Quality Basic Education?

CARTER: The single biggest failure of Georgia’s current leadership—and the biggest drain on our economy—is the dismantling of our education system. Nowhere is that more clear than in the massive disinvestment we have seen in education funding.

On average, Gov. Deal has underfunded K–12 education by more than $1 billion per year since taking office. In this election year, he made his first attempt at closing Georgia’s education funding gap, but still missed the target by threequarters of a billion dollars.

The result? More than two-thirds of Georgia school districts have not taught the standard 180-day school year since Gov. Deal took office, with some districts cutting 30 or more instructional days. Since 2009, we have lost more than 9,000 classroom teachers and more than 95 percent of Georgia school districts have had to increase class sizes.

I support revising QBE, but that cannot be used as an excuse for shortchanging our education system. We have to commit to funding education at an appropriate level. Period. In order to address whether or not the funding formula should be revised, we have to first end the shell game and have an honest and transparent discussion about what resources our schools need.

I’ve proposed a separate education budget—essentially a trust fund for education that will keep the politicians from raiding it to pay for other things. A separate education fund will make our investment in education the state’s top priority every year.

What is your position on potential Teachers Retirement System (TRS) transformations, such as conversion from a defined benefit to a defined contribution plan and allowing TRS to be invested in venture capital?

CARTER: Great educators certainly don’t come to this profession of public service with an expectation of high salaries; but there has historically been a culture and tradition of offering a strong package of benefits for educators as an incentive for great teachers to remain in teaching for the life of their career. As governor, I will commit to making sure that the state upholds its end of the bargain with respect to teachers’ benefits.

Certainly, we must always be good stewards of state resources and responsive to economic trends, but any legislative consideration involving shifting TRS from a defined benefit to a defined contribution plan must give educators a meaningful voice in those conversations. And again, the focus must be on providing the appropriate incentives to recruit and retain the best possible teaching workforce for our kids. I am not opposed to allowing TRS to be invested in a variety of investments so long as we have appropriate controls to ensure that the state can manage the risk.

What is your position on school vouchers? Will you seek to expand Georgia’s tuition tax credit program? Do you agree that private schools and student scholarship organizations receiving funding under Georgia’s voucher and tuition tax credit programs should be subject to the same fiscal transparency and academic accountability measures as public schools?

CARTER: The Georgia Constitution requires that “the provision of an adequate public education for the citizens shall be a primary obligation of the State of Georgia.” It is critical that we devote our education dollars to improving public education statewide so that students receive the very best education possible. In 2013, I co-sponsored Senate Bill 243 to tighten the eligibility and accountability standards and cap the disbursements of the existing tax credit for private school students, and Senate Bill 77 to require that information about the private schools and eligible students receiving the tax assistance would be subject to open records law.

State leaders have historically underfunded Georgia’s QBE funding formula, our state’s public school funding mechanism. The current fiscal year budget underfunds QBE by approximately $746 million, forcing schools to increase class sizes, decrease the length of the school year and cut staff and student programs. As governor, what will you do to decrease class sizes, restore the school year and end painful cuts? How will you pay for these priorities?

CARTER: We must first end the shell game that has plagued education funding at the state level for far too long. As governor, I will propose a separate education budget—essentially a trust fund for education that will keep the politicians in Atlanta from raiding the education fund to pay for other things. Every year, the legislature would be forced to consider the state budget in two parts. The first part would be our budget for education. Once the education budget has been approved, we move on to funding the rest of government. Each year, the budget would be balanced as is currently required.

I will also require that the Georgia Department of Education and Governor’s Office of Budget and Planning calculate and publish widely, no later than the first day of the legislative session, information regarding the amount of state funds that will be provided to each school district statewide compared to the amounts provided in the previous three fiscal years. Taking these steps will increase transparency in the process, create political accountability for funding education at the state capitol and begin the process of restoring trust with educators, school leaders and families statewide.

We have to make education funding our state’s priority. To achieve savings throughout the rest of the state budget, I propose reining in waste in state government and fixing the inefficiencies that plague our state government, growing our state’s economy and collecting the money we’re owed from would-be tax cheats. I have supported legislative measures time and again to increase accountability in the way we spend our state dollars through implementing zerobased budgeting, periodic review of state agencies to determine their effectiveness, efficiency and need. It has been decades since we’ve conducted a top-to-bottom review of state government to be sure the programs we have are doing what they are intended to do in the most efficient and effective way possible. I pledge to start that review on day one as governor.

The best thing for our state economy is a middle class with money in their pockets to spend in our state. We have to focus on getting families back to work and boosting our recovery. State revenues are now above pre-recession levels, yet still are $3.6 billion below 2007 levels on a per-capita, inflation-adjusted basis.

Finally, according to the Department of Audits January 2014 report, we have an outstanding tax balance of $2.5 billion. That is money that is owed the state and is collectible today.

PAGE Foundation Candidate Forum: Deal and Carter Voice Sharp Differences

n their first face-off of the election season, Gov. Nathan Deal and State Sen.

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Jason Carter (D-Decatur) expressed sharp differences in their approaches to improving K-12 education in Georgia. The two gubernatorial candidates squared off at a candidate forum hosted by the Professional Association of Georgia Educators on Sept. 15.

Deal says that the recession hit Georgia harder than “virtually any other state,” and that his work to create jobs by such measures as reducing manufacturing taxes has enabled increased education spending.

Carter says that Deal presided over the state’s “worst contraction” to education funding, resulting in larger classes, reduced school days, teacher furloughs and the need for counties to raise local property taxes. “Every educator that I know and most of the parents I know would be shocked to hear that they have been spared cuts,” says Carter, who plans to create a separate education budget.

“You’re going to have to cut something of what we spend money on now, or you’re going to have to have a new revenue source,” Deal says. “Money alone is not the solution to all the problems in education.”

The two also sparred over Deal’s push to study charter school expansion. Carter says that he supports the charters’ ability to innovate, but that “We’ve become distracted by charter schools.”

“We owe it to the children in the state” to consider such ideas, says Deal. “If you’ve got better ideas,” he told the audience, “my ears are going to be open.”

View candidate responses to education forum questions at www.pageinc.org

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1. Jason Carter (left) and Nathan Deal (right) square off at the PAGE candidate forum moderated by Charles Richardson, editorial page editor for The Telegraph (Macon) and a PAGE Foundation trustee. 2. Georgia Power’s Henry Kelly, a PAGE Foundation trustee, poses a question to the candidates. 3. State Sen. Jason Carter 4. Gov. Nathan Deal 5. High school teacher Kate Carter (foreground), wife of Jason Carter.

Photos by Robert Matta

State School Superintendent

Candidate Positions at a Glance

This chart was developed from comments made by the candidates at the Aug. 19 Critical Issues Forum held by the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education, as well as from candidate answers to the PAGE questionnaire on following pages.

Charter Schools

Common Core (CC)

Standardized Testing

Race to the Top (RT3)

Teacher Keys Evaluation System (TKES)

Vouchers

Richard WoodsValarie Wilson

Supports Supports public charter schools, but opposes for-profit charter schools and privatization of public schools

Opposed implementation of CC standards. Now that GA has adopted the standards, thinks teachers should have input

Supports

Proposes a moratorium of Georgia Milestones, claiming it is not a diagnostic testing method

Concerned that taxpayers and local school systems will be on the hook for the long-term costs of sustaining RT3 reforms once one-time grant money expires

Concerned about linking test scores with teacher evaluations

Believes Georgia’s primary obligation is to provide a quality public education for children, with a priority to fully fund public schools. Other options can be explored once this commitment is met Believes current testing forces teachers to train students to pass tests rather than encouraging classroom innovation

Supports federal initiatives as long as initiatives address equity and support; encourage state-led education improvements; and foster quality research and best practices

Concerned about linking student achievement with teacher compensation. Supports the teacher effectiveness evaluation system, but sees room for improvement

Opposes vouchers and tax credits

The Race for State School Superintendent

Candidates Weigh in on Critical Education Issues

arlier this year, a crowded field of candidates for state school superintendent was narrowed down to Democratic nominee Valarie Wilson and Republican nominee Richard Woods. Voters will decide on Nov. 4

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who will replace outgoing State School Superintendent Dr. John Barge.

PAGE, an independent, nonunion, professional association of nearly 85,000 Georgia educators, does not endorse political candidates. However, we solicit candidate views on important education issues. Below (in alphabetical order by name), Wilson, a former City Schools of Decatur school board member, and Richard Woods, a former Georgia educator and school administrator, respond to questions posed by PAGE.

Do you support Georgia’s current use of mandated standardized tests? Should student test scores be used to evaluate educator performance? Please state your position on Georgia’s new statewide educator evaluation program.

WILSON: No, I am concerned that Georgia’s use of current mandated standardized tests are harmful not only to our students, but also to our educators. I believe that these tests stifle the teaching and learning process, creating an environment that forces educators to teach to the test and does not encourage students to tap into critical thinking and problem-solving skills. While I believe a student’s performance should be a factor in the evaluation process, I am greatly concerned that a large percentage of the current teacher evaluation tool is too heavily weighted on this one factor and will not give an accurate assessment of the educator’s work and performance. As the next state school superintendent, I will closely monitor the evaluation program and engage a panel of educators, administrators and parents to review and make recommendations to update the program. WOODS: Recently, I called for a twoyear moratorium on the use of test scores for teacher evaluation calculations in order to conduct a top-down review of the new testing and evaluation components. Since then, we have already begun to see positive steps from U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and the State Board of Education. I agree that changes need to be made in the way we evaluate our teachers and educational leaders, but I feel that the TKES/ LKES model is continuing us down the wrong path. I have not seen the type of paradigm shift that is needed with our testing system (one that is diagnostic) to make the new teacher evaluation model effective.

Even with the new Milestones, the assessment will still be given at the end of the year— too late to make course corrections in instruction, or to be used as an instrument to measure real growth. Though “growth” has been a popular buzzword, the plan under TKES is to use the score from one end-of-the-year exam to project what a student should make on their next end-of-the-year exam. I have concerns about the validity/reliability of this.

As a former high school teacher, I also see

Valarie Wilson

Richard Woods

pitfalls with student scores from more general middle school subjects being used to predict the scores of vastly more specific high school subjects. The TKES model doesn’t take into account a teacher’s class size or number of preps. Local support and resources differ greatly from district to district—a fact that is also missing from the TKES calculation.

Overall, I feel there is an overemphasis on test scores and the unnecessary amount of paperwork/data collecting that is being placed on our teachers. As a school administrator, I understand the negative impact of placing additional time requirements on our state’s administrators. Some systems are being forced to hire full-time evaluators, which results in another unfunded mandate.

We must have an accountability system that treats our teachers as professionals. Any accountability measures that are utilized must be centered on the clarity and validity of data that is collected so that parent- and teacher-driven school improvement can be effectively pursued.

If elected, how would you seek to improve student outcomes and public education in Georgia?

WILSON: If elected, I will focus on three priorities that will improve student outcomes and public education in Georgia. Teachers are the most important factor in the school environment for a student’s success and these priorities will enhance their work and directly impact their ability to do their jobs.

First, I will work to not only restore the $7 billion that has been lost to public education over the past 10 years, but I will also work to bring the budget current with today’s cost of doing business. This is especially important because it will allow us to alleviate furloughs, decrease class sizes, return to a full calendar year, fully fund professional development, provide critical support staff such as counselors and school psychologist and reinstate additional key programming for students.

Second, I will work to oppose any measures that move funding away from public education, creating additional barriers for the 1.6 million students who attend public schools in Georgia. Each year the state of Georgia diverts more than $1 billion to private schools and charters through vouchers and tax credits with little to no oversight.

Finally, I will work to empower teachers by including their voices in the development of the policies and programs for Georgia’s public education system by bringing them to the table as real partners. I’ll also bring parents and guardians to the table in a substantive manner that allows and encourages them to be involved in the process of educating their children. It will take a true collaboration between educators, parents, students and community stakeholders to move our public education system forward.

WOODS: In order to improve student outcomes, we must ensure that we are effectively measuring outcomes. A diagnostic approach to standardized testing would move us away from a punitive testing model and put in place a tool that would provide real feedback to students, parents and teachers. This model would increase parental involvement, personalize education and enhance instruction.

With the Pre-K through 12th-grade experience that I bring to this position, I can see the larger picture. In the early grades, we must focus on the basics and ensure that our students develop a solid foundation for their academic success. On the high school level, we must provide multiple paths to graduation, coupled with a more flexible curriculum—for example, counting a journalism course as English credit or accounting course as math credit. This would increase relevance and expand opportunities for our students to succeed. I am committed to working with other state agencies and nonprofits to strengthen partnerships between our K–12 education system and local business and colleges and universities.

What is your position on school vouchers? Do you support Georgia’s tuition tax credit program? Should private schools and student scholarship organizations receiving funding under Georgia’s voucher and tuition tax credit programs be subject to the same fiscal transparency and academic accountability measures as public schools?

WILSON: I do not support school vouchers or Georgia’s tuition tax credit program. These programs move muchneeded funding away from the public education system, which serves more than 95 percent of the state’s children. Additionally, there is no accountability for these programs and no evidence that they have brought about the outcomes projected. To date, Georgia has diverted more than $75 million to the tax credit program with no transparency or oversight. These organizations should be subject to the same accountability measures as public schools.

WOODS: Though I believe that parents have a right to home school their children or allow them to attend a private school, Georgia’s Constitution is clear that the primary obligation of the state is to provide a quality public education for our children. Our first priority should be to fully fund our public schools. Other options can be explored once that commitment is met.

I have been consistent in raising caution about private entities accepting public money and have made protecting the autonomy and independence of private and homeschooling a central plank of my campaign platform. Accepting these monies could potentially mean accepting the government mandates that go with them—testing, admission, transportation requirements, etc.

As state school superintendent, I will focus on maximizing opportunities for our students within the public education system.

Do you support allowing recently incorporated metro Atlanta cities to create their own school districts?

WILSON: I do not. Expanding the number of school districts will erode the operating budgets of existing school systems and create additional funding requirements for a state budget that cannot support the existing systems.

WOODS: One of the major factors contributing to the success of any school system is the level of involvement and cohesion of

the community it serves. Any decision to create additional school districts should not be taken lightly. We must ensure that the integrity of the process and community participation is protected. Common sense guidelines must catch up with the idea in order to ensure that students and communities are not left behind or left out.

As we continue to see state policies that support school-level decision making, we must work to ensure that these policies enshrine the input and feedback of parents and teachers. I believe that as parents and educators are empowered to turn their schools intro true “community schools,” the efforts to create separate systems will ease. Ultimately, my main focus will be to ensure that every school district in our state is a high-performing school district.

Do you think that the State of Georgia adequately funds public education? If elected, how would you work to reform QBE?

WILSON: I do not. The QBE formula was developed more than 25 years ago and was never adequately funded from the beginning. It does not meet the needs of our systems and does not accurately reflect today’s cost for educating a student. If elected, I will bring together a group of teachers, administrators and parents to develop and recommend a funding formula that meets the diverse needs of urban and rural districts.

WOODS: The state’s primary responsibility to provide adequate funding for our schools is enshrined in Georgia’s Constitution. Our state’s future depends on the quality of the education that is provided to our children and grandchildren. As a state, we must continue to focus our efforts on attracting and retaining quality teachers, providing them with resources and professional development and giving them the freedom to teach in an environment conducive to learning.

Though well-intended, the Quality Basic Education funding formula needs to be updated. One big strength with QBE is its recognition that students have different needs and challenges. However, the cumbersome and bureaucratic nature of the current funding formula has created needless confusion among school districts, policymakers and the general public. I support streamlining the funding formula while protecting the integrity of the constitutional commitment to adequately fund a quality education for every child.

With 47 percent of staff positions at the Georgia Department of Education being funded by the federal government, what is the appropriate role of the federal government in Georgia public education? What is your position on Georgia’s use of the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards?

WILSON: While education is primarily a state function, the federal government has

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an interest and responsibility to educate all children and support school improvement for states. Additionally, many states rely on federal involvement to support initiatives that address equity, support and encourage state-led education improvements and foster quality research and best practices. This is especially important for Georgia because the federal government provides more than $1 billion to the Georgia Department of Education for K–12 programs and helps us address the varied needs of the more than 25 percent of students who live in poverty in this state. I support Georgia’s use of Common Core Georgia Performance Standards because it provides a roadmap to success for our teachers and students. Georgia has already implemented similar standards, and this is an enhancement of those standards. My concern, however, is that we have appropriate professional development for implementation, strong curriculum developed in partnership with professionals in the districts, an appropriate assessment tool and an evaluation system that accurately reflects the work that students and teachers are doing.

WOODS: I have vowed to conduct a complete financial and personnel audit of the Georgia Department of Education in order to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of the department. The primary role of the DOE will be to serve local schools.

I believe in the local control of public education and that the best decisions are made by those of who are closest to our children—our teachers, parents and local communities. The federal government’s role should be to support those local decisions, not make them. What we have witnessed with No Child Left Behind, and now with Race to the Top, is that the federal government is micromanaging local decision making.

In 2010, I raised concerns about the Common Core Performance Standards and other reforms that were a part of accepting Race to the Top federal funding. My biggest concern was Georgia taxpayers and local school systems being on the hook for the long-term costs of sustaining these reforms once the one-time grant money ran out. I knew that arbitrary deadlines for implementation and over-prescribed requirements—i.e. 50 percent of a teacher’s evaluation be linked to test scores—would cause harm to our educational system with Georgia’s students paying the price.

Even my opponent has softened her full support of Common Core and other Race to the Top initiatives by promising a review of the standards and other policies. The word “review” is just another word for being willing to make necessary changes—a position that I have held since the onset. In contrast, I bring a proactive approach to these issues. My educational experience makes me cautious to the possible pitfalls of these and other reforms without the see-as-we-go mentality of my opponent.

Since 2010, I have been articulating the need for a diagnostic approach to standardized testing, a fair method for evaluating teachers and standards that are developed with the input and feedback of Georgia teachers and parents. With so many complex and intertwined issues facing education within our nation and state, it is clear that classroom experience and wisdom are critical for the state school superintendent position. The people of Georgia need and deserve a state superintendent who has the frame of reference for policy decisions and one who does not need a crash course in classroom experience.

If elected, how would you work with the legislature and governor to increase public school funding? How would you prioritize restoring a full school year, decreasing class sizes and ending other painful student and staff cuts?

WILSON: If elected, I will enlist the support of education organizations, school districts and parents to inform the legislature and governor regarding the funding needs of Georgia’s public education system. I will work with teachers, administrators, parents and key stakeholders to develop and recommend an updated funding formula for their consideration. My priority is restoring and fully funding public education after years of cuts that have devastated systems throughout the state. WOODS: My background in education and personal experiences in a rural school district would be effective tools in working with the legislature and the Governor on the funding issue. I have received numerous endorsements from state senators and representatives from all corners of the state. I plan to leverage these relationships and others formed by my extensive campaign by organizing community listening sessions throughout the state. I believe that inviting local legislative delegations to participate in these forums and allowing parents, teachers and other community members to voice their concerns and ideas as it relates to education will prove to be highly effective in creating positive change for our teachers and students.

As one who has worked as a teacher and administrator, I understand the importance of ensuring that our schools are providing a full 180 days of instruction and that class sizes are as small as possible. Additional funding must be targeted to the classroom, where our teachers teach, students learn and education takes place.

Even though the legislature and governor control state funding levels for public education, I plan to create a voluntary purchasing consortium that would allow school districts to pool purchasing power and lower costs. Approaching vendors as a large consortium would save districts money on purchases like buses, textbooks and technology. Looking at methods to reduce the paperwork and data collecting demands that are being placed on our teachers must also be a priority. This would free our teachers up to do what they do best— teach.

At the onset of this campaign, I made a pledge to Georgia teachers and have focused on providing a solutions-based plan that supports the profession and our students. I am the only candidate with classroom experience. I am the only candidate providing a detailed plan of action to address the concerns of teachers. To all of my fellow educators, I deeply appreciate your dedication and service to public education. Without you, we could not have weathered the challenges and changes that we have faced over the years. I look forward to serving you and Georgia as our next State Superintendent of Schools.

PAGE Foundation Candidate Forum: Wilson and Woods Differ on Common Core, Agree on Over-Testing

tate school superintendent candidates Richard Woods and Valarie Wilson, in addressing PAGE members on Sept. 15, voiced differing views on the common

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core standards, but both say testing is excessive.

Woods opposes the implementation of the common core standards, saying they overlap with the Georgia Performance Standards. Wilson supports them, but says that educators need more support in implementation. Teachers generally are eager to use them, she says, but “what they are saying is, ‘Please allow us the opportunity to be successful with these standards.’”

Wilson also wants the state to hold off this year on the toughened teacher-evaluation measures so that teachers can get a firm handle on student testing mandated by common core.

Woods has called for a two-year moratorium on some of the teacher evaluation tests. “We must personalize, not standardize, our children’s education,” he adds. “When you try to attach teacher evaluations to one end-of-year test, you are not looking at their class size” or student attributes, he says.

Valarie Wilson

Richard Woods

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The Atlanta Opera – Ma Nov. 13, 2014 | 10:30AM

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2014 Mock Election: Ignite Your Students’ Interest in Voting

On Thursday, Oct. 30, before the rest of the nation goes to the polls, students and parents in Georgia and across the nation will cast their votes in the 2014 National Student/Parent Mock Election (NSPME). The non-partisan program provides young Americans with a voice in the electoral process. “In the classrooms of today are our future presidents, members of Congress, governors and judges— but most importantly, these young people are the voters of tomorrow,” says NSPME President Gloria Kirshner. “Through participation in the mock election, [students] learn many valuable lessons, foremost of which is what they can hope to contribute to our

democracy by voting.” Educating students about the importance of each person’s vote combats the sense of powerlessness that discourages many Americans from voting. PAGE encourages all educators, from classroom teachers to administrators, to participate in this year’s mock election.

AUTHENTIC PROJECT-BASED LEARNING

To help educators implement curriculum covering the electoral process, the NSPME website provides easy-to-use tools that encourage deep learning. Teachers can deliver complete units, present individual lessons or just offer students the opportunity to vote in the mock election. “The mock election takes young people out of the classroom and into the real world; it is project-based learning in its most authentic form,” says Steve Mashburn, the NSPME Georgia coordinator. “What could be more important to our country than developing active participation in our democratic process?”

The Georgia connection to the event runs deep. Former U.S. President and Georgia resident Jimmy Carter is the honorary chair of the National Mock Election, and he has supported the program since 1980, the year in which he first ran for president. Since then, more than 50 million students and parents have participated in the event.

NSPME receives support from more than 60 organizations, including the National Parent Teacher Association, National School Boards Association, National Council for the Social Studies, American Association of School Administrators, National Association of Elementary School Principals, National Association of Secondary School Principals, Kaplan Foundation and USA Today.

For more information, contact Mashburn at steveallenmashburn@gmail.com or visit the NSPME website at nationalmockelection.org.

Georgia Educators: The Time to Vote is ... Now!

In Georgia counties, early voting is mid through late October. The General Primary is Nov. 4

“No election year in Georgia has ever been more important than 2014 when it comes to public education.” —Dr. Allene Magill, Executive Director, Professional Association of Georgia Educators