A new form of education funding is being tossed around the state. It is called Poverty Concentration, and the details have not been completely hashed out. The Madison County Superintendent says he is worried about these changes. Dr. McCannon says there are problems with the current education funding, but he is worried about the new option, also.
The current system is called equalization, and it funds schools through property tax revenues and the percentage of students who go to school in that county out of the entire state of Georgia. In which case, McCannon says counties like Gwinnett get more funding than counties like Madison county. He says he knows they will never have as much as those large counties, but he says the county needs that money produced by equalization. He is afraid the new plan will lower the already low amount of funding.
Reporter Ellen Rittiner has more on the story and how this new system could affect local schools.
10:29 PM: Reporter Ellen called Tom Jackson’s office looking for the contact information of former UGA President Dr. Charles Knapp. Knapp is the heading the Poverty Concentration Commission.
12:42 PM: UGA Student Rachel White graduated from McIntosh in Fayette County, and she told Reporter Ellen she would not have had such a positive high school experience if her school did not have the resources that it did.