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Education
Social
Problems Georgia's
Economy Governance-
How We Are Governed
Educator Compensation
For years prior to the '90's, educators screamed for
"comparability" in compensation. Governor Zell Miller responded.
But, comparability was not his goal. He wanted Georgia's schools to
be staffed with the best teachers money could buy. The string of
consecutive 6-8% annual pay raises achieved that goal. Georgia's
educators, who already had one of the best fringe benefit and
retirement packages in the country, became the best compensated in
the South and among the best compensated in the country.
One
circumstance and one circumstance alone allowed Governor Miller to
fund his pay raises for educators. Georgia's economy was in the
middle of a 15-year boom of unprecedented growth. Year in and year
out, revenues greatly exceeded needs. There was a lot of flexibility
to do bold, visionary, and innovative things. And, he did.
Unfortunately, his actions created an expectation and changed the
perception of what is "comparable" and what is "normal".
Then, 9/11 happened. Georgia's economy suffered
disproportionately more than the economies of other states in the
country. Theirs have recovered. Georgia's has not. There has been
anticipation that our economy will return to the era of high growth
rates of the 15-year period leading up to 9/11. That hasn't
happened and it isn't going to happen! Those rates were
unsustainable. And like Georgia's educators, Georgia's leaders are
guilty of adopting those high growth rates as a new definition of
"normal".
I am firmly convinced they are wrong. Georgia is
writing a new definition of normal. Therefore, we must learn to
adjust to the present reality. We must recognize where we truly are,
regroup, solve some long-standing problems and aggressively pursue a
new set of initiatives that will re-ignite Georgia's economy. So?
What is the affect of this new reality?
Here is the
situation. Good quality jobs in Georgia are no longer expanding. As
of this writing in Sep 05, they are contracting and the threat of
many more job losses is real. Jobs are the primary source of
Georgia's state revenues. (See Georgia:
Where Are We Now- The Economy)
Jobs may not be expanding,
but the population is. Unfortunately, it is growing at the lower end
of the socio-economic spectrum, which is the segment of the
population that receives government assistance.
Education
consumes 35% of the state budget and up to 90% of local property
taxes. Government assistance programs consume 25% of the budget. Out
of necessity (the population is growing rapidly), the education
budget must go up simply due to demand for more classrooms- AT
EXISTING student to teacher ratios. Government assistance programs
are already financially unmanageable, yet they are the fastest
growing segment of the budget. Of the remaining 25% of the budget,
8% is required to fund social problems associated with crime, drugs,
gangs, jails, prisons, court system and law enforcement- products of
the same segment of the population that consumes 25% of the budget
in government assistance programs. (Georgia has the largest combined
prisoner/parolee/probationer population in the country. We need 6
new prisons, more judges and more law enforcement officers.)
After 7% of the budget is used to pay interest payments on
Georgia's record high level of $10 billion dollars of debt, there
remains 25% of total revenues to fund all other services and
expectations of Georgians.
You see, there are many "needs".
Educators are screaming for more money. Government assistance
programs are screaming for more money. Law enforcement, prisons and
paroles and our court system are screaming for more money. Something
has to give. Choices have to made. Here they are.
Do we put
more money in education doing the same things we've been doing? If
we do, we will get more of the same results.
Do we put more
money "feeding the needy more"? Doing so will do nothing to decrease
their need, reduce their numbers, or slow their rate of
growth.
Do we build more jails? Do we hire more law
enforcement officers to catch more perpetrators of crime? Do we
establish more courts? Those measures will do nothing to decrease
the incidence of crime and make our communities safer.
Do we
simply take the easy route: raise taxes and throw more money at all
of the above? If we take this course of action, we are only buying
time. None of the problems will be solved. They will worsen and the
solutions will be more expensive. You cannot spend your way out of
deeply rooted problems.
There is another option. We can
invest available resources to solve the "root cause" problems. But,
that is going to cost. It may cost all of our revenue
growth.
What does this have to do with educators? Plenty.
Since education consumes 35% of the budget and most of that is for
compensation and benefit packages, a 5% raise costs the state $400
million dollars. To do what we need to do to solve our problems and
re-position ourselves for sustained growth, we may need to divert
some, or all of that money. In that regard, funds may not be
sufficient to meet educator's compensation expectations. In other
words, educators may be asked to sacrifice until we can sort out the
specific action plan and get these stressed times behind us.
That is why I intentionally elected to address teacher
compensation as the last item of my vision for education. It is the
most sensitive issue to many educators. I wanted educators to see
the big picture before drawing drastic conclusions. I wanted to
avoid "education" in this campaign boiling down to a one issue
litmus test: if John is not for more money for education, John is
against education.
If you've taken the time to examine
everything I've addressed on every issue under the umbrella of
education, you know that isn't true.
The other issue is your
level of confidence in me. Is he shooting straight with us? Is he up
to speed on education issues? Does he really have a grasp? Will he
ask everyone else to sacrifice, too? (You can count on it!) Where is
his heart? Is his motivation truly what is best for Georgia? Can we
trust him to do what he says he'll do? Can he get it
done?
Teachers, let me end this with a few closing comments.
You are an integral component of my overall game plan to solve the
pressing problems confronting Georgia. If I can rally your support,
we can solve the problems surrounding poverty. We can solve the
problems affecting our economy. It won't happen overnight. It will
take some time. But, time is a relative thing. If it takes 5 years,
starting now will solve the problems in 5 years. If we wait 5 years
to begin, it will take 10 years or longer and it will cost much more
and be much more painful for everyone.
So? What does all that
boil down to regarding educator compensation? I will make this
commitment. Everything regarding compensation will be on the table.
I want to investigate merit pay. I'd like to examine a Cost of
Living Allowance (COLA) to offset the high cost of living in the
greater Atlanta area. I would like to look at options for providing
good quality teachers to our remote and rural areas. (Among other
ideas is the HOPE PLUS expansion of the HOPE Scholarship program to
provide an incentive for new teachers, equipped with advanced
degrees in education, to accept assignments in rural and inner city
school systems.) I would like to investigate a bonus system that is
meaningful for systems, schools and teachers that meet performance
expectations defined by the state. (I have a problem paying
under-performers the same as high achievers.) I previously stated my
willingness to endorse or even initiate tax increases with "Sunset"
provisions, but not to do the same things we're doing now. I favor
the "mixed" approach to taxation. Everyone has to bear a fair share
of the burden.
But, no matter how badly I need your support,
I am not going to attempt to buy it with false promises or
commitments that I know will hurt the Georgia that I love. I don't
view you as the political parties do: a powerful voting block. I
view you as Georgians that happen to be educators. As such you are
an integral part of the solution. If you love Georgia as I do, you
will at least take a close and serious look at my entire vision. If
you'll do that, I trust my fate to your conclusions and
judgment.
Every component part of my vision reflects one
basic tenet- we need to invest, not spend, and we need to lead, not
manage, our way to another sustained period of economic prosperity!
Conclusion of "Vision" for Education in Georgia
My vision for education in Georgia is quite simple. Assemble the
best minds; the most talent; take a pause from the present course;
put everything on the table; throw all preconceptions, political,
special interest and individual agendas aside; create a new
educational model; and, rally the support of all stakeholders to
meet the educational needs of Georgia in the most logical and cost
effective manner possible.
It will not be easy. It is a
complex task. But, it can be done. It must and will be done. It can
be a result of choice, or it will be forced. The opportunity of
choice is still an option, but that window of opportunity is closing
quickly.
Georgians, throw politics out the window and choose
wisely. Georgia's future is greatly dependent on you to do
so.
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