Thinking about running for office in Ga.? B. Shipp is experienced in providing platform issues. - Quality education in Ga.: Going, going, gone . . . ?

Public education may be a lost cause in Georgia

By Bill Shipp

Has improving education joined the ranks of preventing acid rain, extending rail-passenger service, cleansing the air and toughening consumer protection? Has public education become just another dead-horse issue, fun to discuss but impossible to engage?

To be sure, politicians of all stripes dwell on improving public schools. Gov. Sonny Perdue has promised to stop cutting the education budget and to provide teachers with additional raises.

His Democratic rival, Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor, cries out for smaller class sizes and further protection for HOPE scholarships. A long string of Georgia governors, from George Busbee through Roy Barnes, referred to themselves as "education governors."

Little real progress has been recorded, except in a few, mostly affluent areas. Evidence mounts that many Georgians have lost interest in tackling the tough challenges that public schooling presents.

Georgia schools remain at the bottom of the national list of SAT scores. A slight movement from 50th to 49th and even 48th among the states is a cause for celebration among school officials, who interpret a statistical wiggle as substantive improvement.

A new study reveals the graduation rates at Georgia colleges are among the worst in the nation, further suggesting public high schools are not providing adequate preparation for post-high school work.

Of course, the University of Georgia, where admission rules have become increasingly severe as its tuition rises, did not fit the "worst in nation" pattern. In fact, its graduation rate of 71.3 percent is pretty good nationally and leads the state.

We asked UGA officials this question: "Does the university excel in its graduation rate because its crème-de-la-crème freshmen classes come mostly from the well-to-do, with many graduating from private rather than public schools?"

The answer: Relatively few entering freshmen are private-school graduates. But, yes, indeed, many freshmen come from well-off backgrounds and top-rated public schools.

For the past five years, UGA's average SAT scores have been above 1,200, while Georgia high schools' SAT averages stayed in the bottom-feeding 980s. Talk about growing elitism and class distinctions.

The truth is, many Georgia schools, outside the mostly white suburbs and exurbs, are so overburdened by myriad problems they are no longer reliable launching pads for college.

Overcrowding, staff cutbacks, an increase in disciplinary problems and several upticks in the number of non-English-speaking students contribute to the handicaps of public schooling.

No matter what the politicians promise or how sincere their wish to help, upgrading many public schools is an all but impossible task.

This is not a putdown of public education. Until recent years, public schools served as the backbone of the republic. Public schoolteachers should rank near the top of any list of heroes.

In too many cases, however, public schools do not have the wherewithal or parental and political support to get the job done. Anecdotal evidence indicates the public may be losing interest.

Georgia has elected two successive state school superintendents who were not up to the job. The first, Linda Schrenko, is under indictment for stealing more than $600,000. Her successor made the state a national laughingstock for trying to change "evolution" to "changes over time" in high school science courses. To his credit, Gov. Perdue stepped in and set her back on a more sensible course.

The legislature has refused for years to address a needed constitutional reorganization of the education department that would authorize an elected or appointed board to hire a qualified superintendent.

Unfortunately, some of the better school systems contribute to the perception of public apathy.

For instance, the Cobb County school district, the state's third largest and considered one of its best, voted to paste in textbooks labels expressing doubt about the theory of evolution. When a federal district court ordered the labels removed, the board announced grandly it would appeal the ruling, thus keeping Georgia and Cobb on Comedy Central for at least two more weeks.

That no general outcry occurred either against or in favor of the board's label-pasting project tells us something: The people do not care. Public education is becoming a lost cause in the minds of many, or a cause pursued by single-issue zealots whose main motives may not even be centered on education.

Home schools are multiplying exponentially. Private schools, even second- and third-tier ones, are flourishing as never before. Educators privately admit that in several parts of Georgia (particularly in rural areas), public schools have become the last-resort purveyor of education - available to those who simply cannot afford another alternative.

Meanwhile, politicians continue to promise vast improvements and, of course, more "local control." The issue is as safe as promoting apple pie, even if the pledges turn out to be empty and the task of making real improvements nearly impossible.