Georgia

priorities and pressing state issues affecting p–12/higher education 1 As reported by the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute (GBPI), pressing issues impacting the financial condition of Georgia’s K-12 and higher education systems involve the outdated funding formula (i.e. Quality Basic Education (QBE)) designed 32 years ago. Ultimately, GBPI indicates that the outdated scale does not address the growing needs of students, particularly the high academic achievement goals and the increased number of low-income students. In addition, GBPI reports that Georgia is currently investing $1,965 less per student than the national average. Although, the General Assembly added $160 million to the budget in the area of teacher salaries, assuming to avoid issues of teacher strikes (i.e., Oklahoma, West Virginia, Arizona) and excessive turnover (i.e., South Carolina) seen in both Unionized and Right-to-Work states, progress toward reversing the cuts in the state’s formula for public schools has stymied. Since 2003, over $9.2 billion has been collectively cut from public education. Considering inflation and the growing needs of schools in this era of high accountability, schools struggle to provide the necessary support and learning conditions to meet academic goals. Other pressing issues remain in the area of student teacher ratios in Georgia’s Pre-K program; whereby, student to teacher ratios exceed the quality standard of one-to-twenty. Although the general assembly increased funding to GA PreK in the area of teacher salaries, there still remains a high need for resources; for instance in the area of start-up costs for new Pre-K programs to address the number of students on waitlists because of capacity issues. In terms of higher education, although Georgia’s education lottery system is revered for its tuition assistance for students, over the last 10 years there has been a shift in appropriations in which students at large are paying more in tuition and fees, even those who qualify for education lottery scholarship funds.