Skip to content
Gov-Deal_5074

Deal’s takeover plan is already failing students and teachers

Deal’s takeover plan is already failing students and teachers. Despite Georgians voting ‘no’ to his school takeover, he snuck in his takeover policy through legislation called The First Priority Act.

Deal has drained public schools of their resources, he has cut $9.2 billion in funding since 2003. It’s no wonder schools are struggling. It’s clear what Deal’s plan is. He starves our public schools and labels them “failing,” so he can take them over and hand them off to his friends at for-profit, out-of-state corporations.

Providing students with a good education prepares them to graduate high school and enter college or the workforce, which prepares them to have a financially secure future. If kids don’t get a good education, it increases the chance of future incarceration or a life dependent on government assistance. Every kid deserves the same chance at a happy, successful life, so why are we depriving kids living in poverty of a decent education?

New research from the GBPI shows what teachers, parents and a coalition of education activists knew all along: The more a Georgia school struggles with poverty, the higher chance they’ll be labeled “failing” by Gov. Deal.

Georgia schools are funded by the property taxes paid by the families and businesses surrounding the schools. Schools that are surrounded by businesses and high home values have more money to spend on students than schools surrounded by impoverished communities.

Rather than working to correct these great inequalities by giving these schools the resources they need to serve their students, Deal would rather label them as “failing” and turn them over to private corporations.

Education is supposed to be an equalizer. It’s supposed to give kids who live in poverty a chance at overcoming it. The solution is not to just to turn all failing schools over to private corporations. We have to show these kids that they matter by investing in their schools, their teachers and them.

Share this post