May 20, 2008 - So how's this for an education-related dichotomy?
May 20, 2008
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On the same day that Georgia school leaders were floored by horrible scores on state math and
social studies tests, the Atlanta Regional Council for Higher Education said metro Atlanta ranked
seventh in enrolled college students among the 50 largest American cities.
I guess this means that all of these college students hanging out in Atlanta got their primary education elsewhere?
The "Higher Education in America's Metropolitan Areas" report shows metro Atlanta has 176,171 full-time students, is seventh in degrees earned with 35,802 at the bachelor's level or higher and is fifth in research with $1.01 billion in higher education spending. The area is also third in black students with 47,548.
Higher education here is also responsible for $6 billion in direct spending, comparable to a Fortune 500 company.
At the same time, Kathy Cox – who's spent so much of her time as state school superintendent touting all of her and Gov. Sonny Perdue's educational initiatives – was so surprised by some disgraceful test scores that her office sent out a press release (which we didn't get) preparing everyone for the bad news.
Only 20-30 percent of Georgia's sixth- and seventh-graders passed the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests state social studies exam. In math, about 40 percent of eighth-graders could be held back because they failed the test.
The state requires eighth-graders to pass the reading and math exams to move to high school.
Naturally, Cox offered a rationale for the low scores, saying test scores dropped because students took harder tests to match the state's tougher curriculum.
Uh-huh.
This upcoming gubernatorial election is tailor-made for someone like Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, who has made education a cornerstone of his administration (when he isn't stooping to House Speaker Glenn Richardson's childlike level). And it's a particularly crucial issue in which Atlanta's corporate community has gotten involved, as we've covered in our pages before, and will continue to, again.
Related Content:
- Caray, Bowers, and now Van Wieren
- Taxes may rise no matter who wins in November
- This governor is truly 'out to lunch'
- Touchdown Club of Atlanta begins its 70th year today
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