The Compass

Media Credit: Special

March 4 was a chilly but "sonny" day in Atlanta, as Gov. Perdue spoke to the press about the budget cuts Gainesville State College and other University System of Georgia schools are facing. Perdue's face was beet red and his voice at times cracking as he stood before the press ensuring that $300 million in draconian cuts were "not going to happen on my watch."

Given the tolls education in Georgia has taken under Perdue's watch, I have to question just how good his sight is. The public school system in Georgia has taken the most drastic hits in its history over his two terms as governor. This may come as a shock to many as teachers played a significant role in Perdue's election in 2002, after unpopular education policies were implemented by then Gov. Roy Barnes.

Under Perdue's watch, teachers have faced furloughs and layoffs. Public school teachers now have to pay for paper and other supplies, due to lack of funding by the state. For two years, Perdue gave $100 gift cards per se (Sonny Money) for educators to use on workbooks, posters and other materials a classroom needs. Unfortunately that minimal amount of help is no longer given.

As recently as last month, Gov. Perdue supported paying teachers based on the performance of their students, as opposed to their education. Being a product of public schooling, I can tell you this is not fair for the teachers. First you have the flawed standardized testing, which is about the only way the state can judge a student's performance. Basing whether or not a teacher gets a raise on a test result essentially turns into the educator teaching to the test instead of creating a learning environment. Is that really something we want in our schools?

There's also the fact that teachers cannot force children to learn, and trip after trip to the principal's office rarely changes a student's behavior. College makes many forget that when we are now paying for our education. In many of the schools which we graduated from, teachers are now taking the role of babysitters, not educators.

Why should I or any other student suddenly think our governor is going to save higher education? Gov. Perdue is in his last year, and I'm sure the elections in November cannot come soon enough for him. January 2011 will be sending Perdue back to Warner Robins, and our problem will become another leader's talking point.

With all this said, I simply do not believe that Gov. Perdue will do anything to help us face the budget cuts. I believe he is playing politics, and does not want to be remembered as being the governor when education was killed. The last thing on Gov. Perdue's mind is Georgia and its future in higher education; he only wants to get out before it happens.

Then again, who can blame him? Having the fall of the K-12 schools on your resume is bad enough.

Wil Petty is the News Editor for The Voice, the student newspaper of Gainesville State College, Oconee.

Got an opinion about the budget cuts? Send it to us! compass@gsc.edu

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