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Three political events will have a dramatic impact on the efficacy and success of the 2017 General Assembly.  The decisive defeat of Amendment 1, the Opportunity School District, will loom large over the Gold Dome

The State Board of Education adopted two new courses at its meeting on December 8 that certainly are worthy of your consideration.  The Board adopted standards for Technical College Readiness English and Technical College Readiness Mathematics.  The proposal for the courses came from Hall County and they will pilot the courses beginning in January 2017.

By now you are very much aware that the Opportunity School District amendment failed with over 60% of Georgians telling Governor Deal NO to school take overs.  But now we must deal with a wounded elephant in Governor Deal. 

A recently released poll show 41% of Georgians OPPOSE the OSD amendment and 39% favor the amendment.  The undecided 20% will significantly impact the outcome for the amendment. 

The opposition to the Governor’s Opportunity School District is mounting but still has a long way to go.  This week a law suit was filed challenging the wording on the ballot—it does not take a rocket scientist to determine that the wording is not reflective of the intent or purpose of the amendment but is the end product of a political convenience.

The Georgia Association of School Public Relations Administrators (GASPRA) maintains an active, valuable network for school public relations officers.  Earlier this week they sent an important announcement that may be applicable to many of you.  A number of school systems have contracted their custodial services in recent years.  Many schools call on their custodians to do routine maintenance tasks including pesticide applications. 

Bullying has been a sore spot for every school administrator since Adam and Eve were in school.  It is most certainly a thorny issue that few of us feel that we under control.  State Law 20-2-751.4 puts bullying in a new light for school administrators.

The Georgia Department of Education and State School Superintendent Richard Woods are urging anyone interested in the future of Georgia’s public education system to attend one of eight public feedback sessions on the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

 ESSA is the replacement for the law commonly known as No Child Left Behind, and offers an enormous opportunity for Georgia’s students, teachers, parents and communities because it replaces the top-down federal approach required by NCLB. The new law allows states and local schools/districts to make education decisions that are best for their students, and requires states to develop plans that address standards/assessments, school and district accountability, and special help for struggling schools and students.

It really is only a matter of days until the November election and one of the most crucial votes for Georgians will be on the Opportunity School District amendment

Almost everyone is underway with the new school year and all certainly will be by the end of the week.  One of the things that I continue to read that vital to the success of any school in any year is that each individual school has a goal for the year