GEORGIA PARTNERSHIP ANNOUNCES 2008 TOP 10 EDUCATION ISSUES LIST

The Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education has released its annual “Top Ten (Education) Issues to Watch” for 2008. The official release of the report came at the organization’s second annual Media Symposium held at GPB on January 23.

This year’s list covers a variety of topics:

• Poverty, Diversity, and the Reality of Georgia’s Demographic Changes
• Zero to Five: Critical Needs for Critical Years
• Georgia’s Still Unfinished Business in Teacher Quality
• Charter Schools and Vouchers: Weighing Georgia’s “Options”
• The Turbulent Debate Over School Funding in Georgia
• No Child Left Behind:The Federal Landscape and Georgia’s Lingering Achievement Gaps
• Great Expectations: Increasing the Rigor of High School Education
• The Crisis of High School Dropouts and Unskilled Graduates
• Measuring What Matters:Building a Better Information System
• Replacing Random Acts with a Deliberate Educational Plan

Each subject area is broken down into three sections – an issue overview, the political context of the issue, and what’s next for Georgia.

“As well as presenting the topic,” explains Susan Walker, the Partnership’s Policy and Research director and the author of the report, “we present analysis based upon our thorough research which makes the report even more valuable to education stakeholders across Georgia.”

This is the fourth year for the report that continues to grow in popularity. Georgia Partnership President Dr. Steve Dolinger says, “The Top Ten Issues to Watch in 2008 provides a unique and compact look at areas of focus that Georgia’s educational, business, and community leaders as well as citizens are addressing or will address in the coming months.”

The report is available on the Partnership website at www.gpee.org. Hard copies are available by e-mail request to bmaddox@gpee.org or by calling 404-223-2280.