Historical public education information in Georgia, 2011-2013

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Education policy in the U.S.

Public education in the U.S.

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Charter schools in the U.S.

Higher education in the U.S.

Glossary of education terms

Education statistics

This page contains archived information on Georgia's public education system, primarily from 2011-2012, but also from other years due to the availability of data at the time it was written. For more recent information, view Georgia's public education page.

The Georgia public school system (prekindergarten through grade 12) operates within districts governed by locally elected school boards and superintendents. In 2012 Georgia had 1,685,016 students enrolled in a total of 2,388 schools in 216 school districts. While the national ratio of teachers to students was 1:16, in Georgia there were 111,133 teachers in the public schools, or roughly one teacher for every 15 students. There was roughly one administrator for every 275 students, compared to the national average of one administrator for every 295 students. On average Georgia spent $9,253 per pupil in 2011, which ranked it 35th in the nation. The state's graduation rate was 70 percent in 2012. This was the Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate reported to the United States Department of Education for all students in 2011-2012.

State agencies

See also: Georgia Department of Education

The Georgia Department of Education oversees public education across the state by ensuring education laws and regulations are followed, monitoring state and federal money is allocated correctly to local school districts and providing information about Georgia's schools to parents, students, government officials and the media. The Georgia Department of Education is led by the State Superintendent of Schools. Under the State Superintendent of Schools, there are two branches: Business Operations and Academic Affairs. The Business Operations branch houses the offices of Policy and Charter Schools, Finance and Business Operations, Legal Services and Technology Services. The Academic Affairs branch houses the offices of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment, Race to the Top and School Improvement.

The Georgia State Board of Education has 15 members, one from each congressional district and one Chief Executive Officer.

Regional comparison

See also: General comparison table for education statistics in the 50 states and Education spending per pupil in all 50 states

The following chart shows how Georgia compared to three neighboring states in school year 2011-2012 with respect to number of students, schools, the number of teachers per pupil, and the number of administrators per pupil. Further comparisons between these states with respect to performance and financial information are given in other sections of this page.

Regional comparison, 2011-2012
State	Schools	Districts	Students	Teachers	Teacher/pupil ratio	Administrator/pupil ratio	Per pupil spending
Georgia	2,388	216	1,685,016	111,133	1:15.2	1:274.9	$9,253
Alabama	1,618	170	744,621	47,723	1:15.6	1:293.5	$8,813
Florida	4,212	76	2,668,156	175,006	1:15.2	1:325.8	$8,887
South Carolina	1,223	105	727,186	46,782	1:15.5	1:281.1	$8,986
United States	98,328	17,992	49,521,669	3,103,263	1:16	1:295.2	$10,994
Sources: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "State Nonfiscal Public Elementary/Secondary Education Survey", 2011-12 v.1a. National Center for Education Statistics, Table 2. Number of operating public schools and districts, state enrollment, teacher and pupil/teacher ratio by state: School year 2011–12 U.S. Census Bureau, "Public Education Finances: 2011,Governments Division Reports," issued May 2013

Demographics

See also: Demographic information for all students in all 50 states

The following table displays the ethnic distribution of students in Georgia as reported in the National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data for 2011-2012.

Demographic information for Georgia's K-12 public school system
Ethnicity	Students	State percentage	United States percentage**
American Indian	3,732	0.22%	1.10%
Asian	57,165	3.39%	4.68%
African American	623,601	37.01%	15.68%
Hawaiian Nat./Pacific Isl.	1,803	0.11%	0.42%
Hispanic	205,317	12.18%	24.37%
White	743,258	44.11%	51.21%
Two or More	50,140	2.98%	2.54%
**Note: This is the percentage of all students in the United States that are reported to be of this ethnicity.

Enrollments by region type

See also: Student distribution by region type in the United States

During the 2011-2012 school year most students in Georgia attended suburban or rural schools, with 38 percent of students attending each. Both Florida and South Carolina had similar region demographics, but students in Alabama were more likely to attend city schools than suburban schools.

Student distribution by region type, 2011-2012 (as percents)
State	City schools	Suburban schools	Town schools	Rural Schools
Georgia	14.0%	38.0%	9.9%	38.0%
Alabama	20.6%	16.9%	14.4%	48.0%
Florida	24.3%	50.3%	5.0%	20.5%
South Carolina	17.4%	24.3%	14.3%	44%
U.S. average	28.9%	34%	11.6%	25.4%
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD)

Academic performance

Education terms
For more information on education policy terms, see this article.
School board elections portal Glossary of education terms School choice on the ballot Education on the ballot

NAEP scores

See also: NAEP scores by state

The National Center for Education Statistics provides state-by-state data on student achievement levels in mathematics and reading in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Georgia's scores were either below or equal to the national average in the 2012-2013 school year.

Percent of students scoring at or above proficient, 2012-2013
	Math - Grade 4	Math - Grade 8	Reading - Grade 4	Reading - Grade 8
Georgia	39%	29%	34%	32%
Alabama	30%	20%	31%	25%
Florida	41%	31%	39%	33%
South Carolina	35%	31%	28%	29%
U.S. average	41%	34%	34%	34%
Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables," accessed May 13, 2014

Graduation, ACT and SAT scores

See also: Graduation rates by groups in state and ACT and SAT scores in the U.S.

The following table shows the graduation rates and average composite ACT and SAT scores for Georgia and surrounding states during 2012 and 2013.

Comparison table for graduation rates and test scores*
State	Graduation rate, 2012		Average ACT composite, 2012		Average SAT composite, 2013
	Percent	Quintile ranking**	Score	Participation rate	Score	Participation rate
Georgia	70%	Fifth	20.7	52%	1452	75%
Alabama	75%	Fourth	20.3	86%	1608	7%
Florida	75%	Fourth	19.8	70%	1457	67%
South Carolina	75%	Fourth	20.2	57%	1436	64%
U.S. average	80%		21.1		1498
*Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Rate (except for Idaho, Kentucky, Oklahoma, which did not report “Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate,” but instead used their own method of calculation). **Graduation rates for states in the first quintile ranked in the top 20 percent nationally. Similarly, graduation rates for states in the fifth quintile ranked in the bottom 20 percent nationally. Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express

Dropout rate

See also: Public high school dropout rates by state for a full comparison of dropout rates by group in all states

The high school event dropout rate indicates the proportion of students who were enrolled at some time during the school year and were expected to be enrolled in grades 9–12 in the following school year but were not enrolled by October 1 of the following school year. Students who have graduated, transferred to another school, died, moved to another country, or who are out of school due to illness are not considered dropouts. The average public high school event dropout rate for the United States remained constant at 3.3 percent for both school year 2010–2011 and school year 2011–2012. The event dropout rate for Georgia was higher than the national average at 3.9 percent in the 2010-2011 school year, and 3.9 percent in the 2011-2012 school year.

Educational choice options

See also: School choice in Georgia

As of June 2015, school choice options in Georgia included: charter schools, homeschooling, online learning, private schools and inter-district and intra-district public school open enrollment policies.

Education funding and expenditures

See also: Georgia state budget and finances

Breakdown of expenditures by function in fiscal year 2012
Source: National Association of State Budget Officers

According to the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO), Georgia spent approximately 24 percent of its fiscal year 2012 budget on elementary and secondary education. This was down 3.7 percentage points, a 13.4 percent decrease in the share of the budget from fiscal year 2008, when the state spent 27.7 percent of its budget on elementary and secondary education. Georgia's education funding derives mainly from state and local resources in roughly equal amounts, with just over 12 percent of funding coming from the federal government.

Comparison of financial figures for school systems
State	Percent of budget (2012)	Per pupil spending (2011)	Revenue sources (2011)
			Percent federal funds	Percent state funds	Percent local funds
Georgia	24%	$9,253	12.57%	41.58%	45.85%
Alabama	20.9%	$8,813	14.6%	53.77%	31.63%
Florida	18.8%	$8,887	17.81%	34.29%	47.9%
South Carolina	15.9%	$8,986	13.4%	43.45%	43.15%
Sources: NASBO, "State Expenditure Report," Table 8: Elementary and Secondary Education Expenditures As a Percent of Total Expenditures U.S. Census Bureau, "Public Education Finances: 2011,Governments Division Reports," issued May 2013

Revenue breakdowns

See also: Public school system revenues in the U.S.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, public school system revenues in Georgia totaled approximately $18 billion in fiscal year 2011. The table below presents further detail, including revenue sources, for Georgia and surrounding states.

Revenues by source, fiscal year 2011 (amounts in thousands)
	Federal revenue	State revenue	Local revenue	Total revenue
Georgia	$2,267,612	$7,499,327	$8,268,366	$18,035,305
Alabama	$1,077,070	$3,965,614	$2,332,472	$7,375,156
Florida	$4,710,376	$9,069,119	$12,666,978	$26,446,473
South Carolina	$1,051,679	$3,408,719	$3,385,398	$7,845,796
U.S. total	$74,943,767	$267,762,416	$264,550,594	$607,256,777
Source: National Center for Education Statistics

Expenditure breakdowns

See also: Public school system expenditures in the U.S.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, public school system expenditures in Georgia totaled approximately $17.1 billion in fiscal year 2011. The table below presents further detail, including expenditure types, for Georgia and surrounding states.

Expenditures by type, fiscal year 2011 (amounts in thousands)
	General expenditures**	Capital outlay	Other***	Total expenditures
Georgia	$15,465,308	$1,368,403	$291,801	$17,125,512
Alabama	$6,582,496	$564,183	$255,905	$7,402,584
Florida	$23,428,499	$2,217,069	$1,346,378	$26,991,946
South Carolina	$6,455,918	$1,018,769	$455,360	$7,930,047
U.S. total	$520,577,893	$52,984,139	$29,581,293	$603,143,325
**Funds spent operating local public schools and local education agencies, including such expenses as salaries for school personnel, student transportation, school books and materials, and energy costs, but excluding capital outlay, interest on school debt, payments to private schools, and payments to public charter schools. ***Includes payments to state and local governments, payments to private schools, interest on school system indebtedness, and nonelementary-secondary expenditures, such as adult education and community services expenditures. Source: National Center for Education Statistics

Personnel salaries

See also: Public school teacher salaries in the United States

Note: Salaries given are averages for the state. Salaries may vary between a state's urban, suburban, and rural districts and should be adjusted for cost of living. For example, a MacIver Institute study of average teacher salaries in 60 metropolitan areas found that salaries in New York City were the third-highest in absolute figures but 59th-highest when adjusted for the cost of living.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average national salary for classroom teachers in public elementary and secondary schools declined by 1.3 percent from the 1999-2000 school year to the 2012-2013 school year. During the same period in Georgia, the average salary decreased by 5.7 percent.

Estimated average salaries for teachers (in constant dollars**)
	1999-2000	2009-2010	2011-2012	2012-2013	Percent difference
Georgia	$56,062	$56,694	$53,819	$52,880	-5.7%
Alabama	$50,139	$50,779	$48,802	$47,949	-4.4%
Florida	$50,184	$49,858	$47,253	$46,944	-6.5%
South Carolina	$49,308	$50,712	$48,217	$47,924	-2.8%
U.S. average	$57,133	$58,925	$56,340	$56,383	-1.3%
**"Constant dollars based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, adjusted to a school-year basis. The CPI does not account for differences in inflation rates from state to state."

Organizations

Unions

In 2012, the Fordham Institute and Education Reform Now assessed the power and influence of state teacher unions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Their rankings were based on 37 different variables in five broad areas, including: resources and membership, involvement in politics, scope of bargaining, state policies and perceived influence. Georgia ranked 45th overall, or weakest, which was in the fifth tier of five.

The largest union in the state related to the Georgia school system is the Georgia Association of Educators (GAE), an affiliate of the National Education Association (NEA). The second largest union is the Georgia Federation of Teachers (GFT), an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers.

List of local Georgia school unions:

• Georgia Association of Educators
• Georgia Federation of Teachers
• Atlanta Federation Of Teachers
• AFT Savannah

Government sector lobbying

See also: Georgia government sector lobbying

The main education government sector lobbying organization in the state is the Georgia School Boards Association. Another government sector lobbying organization is the Georgia Association of School Personnel Administrators.

Transparency

The state of Georgia's official spending transparency database, mandated by the Transparency in Government Act of May 2008, was launched in January 2009. The site is available here. However, for education spending the Georgia Public Policy Foundation launched the website Georgia Report Card for Parents. The site was first created in 1996. It allows citizens to compare schools in every county in the state on a wealth of factors, including rankings and spending.

Studies and reports

State Budget Solutions education study

See also: State spending on education v. academic performance (2012)

State Budget Solutions examined national trends in education from 2009 to 2011, including state-by-state analysis of education spending, graduation rates and average ACT scores. The study showed that the states that spent the most did not have the highest average ACT test scores, nor did they have the highest average graduation rates. A summary of the study is available here. The full report can be accessed here.

See also

• Public education in Georgia
• Georgia
• Education Policy in the U.S.