Report: More than half of the south's public school children

[channonc 466]

Report: Poor the majority in South's public schools

By S.A. REID

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 10/31/07

The number of low-income students in the South's public schools grew to 54 percent in the past school year, creating a "crisis of the first order of magnitude," an Atlanta-based education foundation says.

The percentage in the 15-state Southern region rose slightly from previous years and is the nation's highest, ahead of the West at 47 percent and the Midwest and Northeast at 36 percent each, according to the Southern Education Foundation's report issued Tuesday.

The report defines low-income students as those who qualify for free or reduced-cost public school meals and looks at the percentage they represent of total enrollment.

The findings highlight a steady increase in low-income student enrollment in Southern public schools since 1989, when the figure was 34 percent.

It reached 50 percent in 2004 and has continued to rise, a phenomenon researchers contribute to demographic changes, the economy and the South's history as a region with higher poverty rates.

Georgia, the report says, is among four Southern states where an increase in Latino children and a high birth rate among African-Americans has played a role.

Steve Suitts, SEF program coordinator, said the study is intended to identify for policy-makers, educators and the public the challenges facing the region in developing an education system that "supports the kind of lifestyle that we want."

"We understood from our general monitoring of trends there had been an increase," he said. "But we had not expected as rapid an increase as there had been in the last two decades."

In Georgia, 52 percent of public school students were low income for the 2006-07 academic year, the report says. Dana Tofig, a state Department of Education spokesman, put the statewide figure at 50 percent.

Baker, Clay, Quitman and Warren counties lead the list with 94 percent each, according to the SEF report, and most of the state's 159 counties have at least 50 percent.

Fayette County is at the bottom with 19 percent, according to the report. The state's figures put the Fayette number at 14 percent, Tofig said. Among metro Atlanta counties, Clayton County had the highest figure at 74 percent. DeKalb, Fulton, Hall and Newton counties also had low-income enrollments of more than 50 percent, according to the report.

Suitts called the figures "quite astonishing."

"There's been talk of two Georgias," he said. "Our data ... is that there is one Georgia of low-income students."

The report suggests schooling the new majority is "the most important challenge the region and perhaps the nation will face in the 21st century."

Tofig said the state hasn't reviewed the report but agrees the numbers are high, especially in rural Georgia. The state's growth, he added, depends on finding ways to educate all students.

"We realize that creates a challenge for our schools," Tofig said. "The good news is our school systems are doing everything in their power to help those students."

Do you think this is a product of more middle class families choosing private schools?

[Auburn85 432]

I think it has a good deal to do with it.

I wonder what the article's income figure tops out at for being considered low-income.

I know poverty/poor would be a family of 4 making at or less than 20k, just wonder cause they only used percentages.

[channonc 466]

The report defines low-income students as those who qualify for free or reduced-cost public school meals and looks at the percentage they represent of total enrollment.

My guess is that this would vary from school district to school district.

[TitanTiger 20,511]

Do you think this is a product of more middle class families choosing private schools?

I can tell you that's the case in Montgomery. When I was in high school in the late 80s, I only knew a handful of families that sent their kids to private school. Jeff Davis High School was probably about 65-70% white. The school zone for JD drew from some areas of West Montgomery (lower income, black) but also from large swaths of East Montgomery (upper income, white). Lee High School, though it didn't draw from as many affluent areas was also in that 65-70% white range. The other two high schools, Lanier and Carver both were overwhelmingly black and tended to be lower income. I think Lanier ran around 92-95% black and Carver was 99%.

Now, even though the population of the city of Montgomery is about 49% black and 48% white, and the population has grown since the 80s, the numbers are striking. Lanier is 99% black and Carver is 100%. Lee is now 64% black and Jeff Davis is 99% black. The demographics of the neighborhood around JD is totally different and what used to be a nice middle class area isn't any longer. The east side of town has exploded and is predominantly white, which you would think would result in JD having more white kids there. But it's not happening. Meanwhile, the major private schools in town: Trinity, Montgomery Academy, Alabama Christian Academy and St. James are expanding like crazy. Some have multiple campuses now as they've built a separate campus just for the high school, apart from K thru 8th grade. And that doesn't count all the small private schools that didn't exist when I was in school such as ones started by local churches.

Now I threw a bunch of racial demographics out there and while there is some correlation to the income levels, I think the racial angle only partly to blame. I think the reasons there are less middle and upper class kids in public schools are:

* Reasons to do with race (mostly middle and upper class white parents concerned with the school becoming predominantly black).

* Concerns about school violence and a lack of discipline in the public schools.

* Religious reasons. More parents are preferring that their kids get some kind of religious instruction at school, or at least attend a school that they feel isn't hostile to their religious beliefs.

* The cost of private schools is more affordable. I think people's incomes are higher in relation to tuition costs for the established private schools like St. James, Trinity, etc. plus, the numerous options among private church schools that are often much, much less than the established ones make private school affordable to people who couldn't have considered it before.

Even I have to admit, the sad state of the schools here in Montgomery make it such that once my kids get to junior high age, we'll either be putting them in private school, homeschooling or moving outside Montgomery to Wetumpka or Prattville where the schools are better and have less problems. We're zoned for an excellent elementary school that is right down the street so I (hopefully) won't have to think about that for another 7 years or so, but there's no way I'd send my kid to the junior high she's zoned for these days. Place is falling apart and they're always having trouble. It wasn't like that when I was in jr. high, but it's a terrible school now.

That's my take on it. Where you have good public schools, I think people are more than willing to participate and send their kids. But no one that can afford to do otherwise is going to let their kid be a guinea pig or just try to make some social statement if the schools suck.

[channonc 466]

Well, you are lucky that private schools in Montgomery are pretty affordable. We live in MD, just across the DC line. Most people send their kids to private schools and they have become so competitive. The elementary school my husband attended is now $6,000/year and that's if you are in parrish-- if you are out of parrish the price goes to $9,000/year. The high school my husband graduated from (in DC) is $12,600/year, and believe it or not, that isn't even close to being one of the more expensive ones.

I totally believe in public education, and I am ok with sending your children to private schools for the reasons you stated about (particularly the religious reasons), however, I am seeing many parents going into major debt, especially for elementary school.

This growing trend scares me, as I feel it will only increase the already severe divide between the classes in this country.

[CCTAU 3,350]

The school systems here in Atlanta spend more per student than I would for private school and still cannot get a decent education. The teacher's union and most dims want to keep throwing money at a problem that could be fixed by cutting administration and relegating many students to trade schools. But they would rather spend more money to let little Raquim, the gang banger, feel he is not getting discriminated against. In the meantime, those who want to learn get screwed.

The Atlanta Public School system spends $11,563 per student.

DeKalb County $9,294

Clayton County $8,509

Let me use that money to spend on my child as I see fit. Let the lower income families have that money to spend on private schools and I guarantee you'll see private schools popping up all over the place. Turn the public schools into trade schools. It has nothing to do with income. It has everything to do with librul government taking the power away from schools and trying to compensate by hiring more administration.

LINK to numbers

[channonc 466]

The school systems here in Atlanta spend more per student than I would for private school and still cannot get a decent education. The teacher's union and most dims want to keep throwing money at a problem that could be fixed by cutting administration and relegating many students to trade schools. But they would rather spend more money to let little Raquim, the gang banger, feel he is not getting discriminated against. In the meantime, those who want to learn get screwed.

The Atlanta Public School system spends $11,563 per student.

DeKalb County $9,294

Clayton County $8,509

Let me use that money to spend on my child as I see fit. Let the lower income families have that money to spend on private schools and I guarantee you'll see private schools popping up all over the place. Turn the public schools into trade schools. It has nothing to do with income. It has everything to do with librul government taking the power away from schools and trying to compensate by hiring more administration.

LINK to numbers

How much do you spend personally on school tuition? Just curious.

[Bottomfeeder 244]

The school systems here in Atlanta spend more per student than I would for private school and still cannot get a decent education. The teacher's union and most dims want to keep throwing money at a problem that could be fixed by cutting administration and relegating many students to trade schools. But they would rather spend more money to let little Raquim, the gang banger, feel he is not getting discriminated against. In the meantime, those who want to learn get screwed.

The Atlanta Public School system spends $11,563 per student.

DeKalb County $9,294

Clayton County $8,509

Let me use that money to spend on my child as I see fit. Let the lower income families have that money to spend on private schools and I guarantee you'll see private schools popping up all over the place. Turn the public schools into trade schools. It has nothing to do with income. It has everything to do with librul government taking the power away from schools and trying to compensate by hiring more administration.

LINK to numbers

How much do you spend personally on school tuition? Just curious.

Obviously zero by the average ACT scores I see locally.

[AFTiger 282]

Did the report comment on the slow devolution of public education and the massive importation of poverty via illegal immigration?

[CCTAU 3,350]

The school systems here in Atlanta spend more per student than I would for private school and still cannot get a decent education. The teacher's union and most dims want to keep throwing money at a problem that could be fixed by cutting administration and relegating many students to trade schools. But they would rather spend more money to let little Raquim, the gang banger, feel he is not getting discriminated against. In the meantime, those who want to learn get screwed.

The Atlanta Public School system spends $11,563 per student.

DeKalb County $9,294

Clayton County $8,509

Let me use that money to spend on my child as I see fit. Let the lower income families have that money to spend on private schools and I guarantee you'll see private schools popping up all over the place. Turn the public schools into trade schools. It has nothing to do with income. It has everything to do with librul government taking the power away from schools and trying to compensate by hiring more administration.

LINK to numbers

How much do you spend personally on school tuition? Just curious.

At this point in time, I do not have to. I still have at least one more year of quality education. Then it goes to $hit in junior high. Right now, the trailer trash is in the same school as my 11 yr old for the first time. When he hits 7th grade, we will have to make a decision. That's when the trailer trash thugs figure out they can do what they want and not get hammered for it. That's when they should be shipped to trade school.

A few years ago, I was spending about $5,000 (now about $6,000, not bad for what you get) a year for my oldest to attend a private Christian school. Great education and atmosphere. Unfortunately he turned out to have as much ambition as the trailer trash thugs. There, however, was a case where the school could ask him to leave. And as a result, he ended up getting a GED and joining the Army. The school system did not fail him, he failed it. But if I had been black, hispanic, etc., I could have blamed the school system and kept him in just to keep others from getting an education. If they had the trade school option, he would be laying bricks right now. The education system in this country has failed students in that they think every one of them deserve to go to college. That's horsecrap. Every one of them deserves a chance to show that they care about school. If they do not, then they should learn a trade. The hispanic population is growing so fast here that they try to create mexican speaking classrooms. Why? If they want to learn, they need to learn English. Then they try and stick our kids in with them. So let's just repeat the failed lesson from integration over again. Let's not bring the new guys up to our sad level, let's take everyone else down to their even sadder level. We are blessed. We live in an area where parents are very involved. Up until jr. high, it allows our children to get a great education and get some of the highest test scores in Georgia.

Most private schools around here are between $6,000 and $14,000 a year. but I guarantee if we got what the government spends on our child for education and applied that to private education, we would have some of the best educated children in the world. And like always, you will continue to have children "left behind" due to their own choices and their own lack of caring. But why hold back all of society for those few.

[Auburn85 432]

Public school's only competition is private schools and home school.

Alot of people don't have that as a choice.

That's the problem with out public school system, there's no amount of funding that could satisfy them and there is no incentive to get better.

If it's all about the kids as many education big shots say it is, then why not back it up and give kids more options like vouchers or big tax deductions if your kid goes to private school.

State education funding in Alabama has increased by about 50% in the last 5-6 years. My gripe is why the dollars saved aren't showing for every parent that not only pays state taxes directly funding education, then, pays for their own kids education. These parents are basically paying for education twice.

Who here thinks if Trinity, St. James, Alabama Christian, Catholic, Montgomery Academy, St. Jude, Taylor Road Academy, etc shut down, do you think the Montgomery County Public School system could susatain all of these students?

And for the picker of knits out there, I'm well aware that not EVERY student in these schools live in the Montgomery County School system zone.

And I know this basically throws the subject off topic, but how many of you back in your high school days had to pay for a permit to park your car? or pay a fee to use a locker?

One of the high school's in my area never charged a fee for a parking permit or to use a locker. Now it does. Yet, 30-35 years ago, this wasn't the case with all of these fees and the funding for Alabama public schools was a joke compared to today.

AEA anyone?