A Vision for Public Education in Georgia

The Georgia School Boards Association and the Georgia School Superintendents Association, entered into a partnership two years ago for the purpose of creating a new vision for public education in Georgia. Local boards of education and superintendents through this partnership have an opportunity to engage stakeholders in the important work of creating a vision for the future of public education in our state that will focus on the intellectual development of all students; that will prepare them to be contributing members of our society; that will embrace work-class standards; that will develop 21st Century skills; that will gain the support of state and local policy makers; and that will be enthusiastically supported by the citizens of our state.

The first phase of the Vision for Public Education in Georgia project was aimed at developing transformation principles and recommendations for moving forward. The planning team which was composed of 30 local superintendents and board of education members, worked over 18 months to develop some 45 recommendations that we believe have the potential of transforming public education in our state. The recommendations address such areas as the goals of education; educational experiences for young children from birth to age five; curriculum, student assessment, and classroom instruction; educational delivery models; use of technology; teacher and leader preparation programs, evaluation, and pay for performance; the governance of education at the state and local levels; accountability (to whom, by whom, and for what purpose); the culture and climate within our state, community, and schools; and the funding of public education.

The second phase of the Vision for Public Education in Georgia project is to ensure that all stakeholders are aware of the work done, are provided opportunities to improve on the work, are encouraged to support the initiative, and to begin implementation of the recommendations proposed.

The regional meetings have three purposes:

• To provide an overview of the work completed to date;
• To share the documents that have been produced; and
• To encourage local school systems to take certain actions in support of the Vision for Public Education.

To find out more about the Vision for Public Education in Georgia click here.