Georgia has the sixth-largest public school system in the United States, but for the last two decades, our public education system has been consistently underfunded. In failing to fully fund Quality Basic Education (QBE) over the last decade, the state legislature has cut $10.2 billion in funding for our state’s children, including more than $600 million in Cobb County alone. This equates to more than $6,000 for every student currently in the educational system. This discrepancy is felt most in districts in rural Georgia and communities with higher levels of poverty. Yet, many lawmakers who passed SB 233 cited “failing schools” as the justification for the legislation, conveniently omitting their role in underfunding these schools.
Our state constitution mandates quality public education for every Georgia student. Unfortunately, children face not only classroom bigotry but also disparities in educational experiences, notably in funding allocations. Instead of solely using federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to balance next year’s budget, we should allocate these funds to address poverty as a barrier to academic success, closing the gaps created by years of underfunding districts statewide. This entails fully funding the state’s sparsity and equalization grants, providing additional funding to districts with higher rates of poverty, and incorporating a poverty weight into our Quality Basic Education (QBE) funding formula.
We must also provide our teachers with the best environment in which to teach our children, acknowledging the mental health of our students and educators. That includes reducing class sizes, ensuring we have adequate counselor and mental health supports, and rolling back restrictions on the ability of educators to create a curriculum that meets the needs of their individual classrooms.