But no matter how good the teacher, how small the class, how focused on quality education the school may be, none of this matters is we ignore the individual needs of our students. In fact, in 252 of the state's more than 1,800 public schools, less than half of the students met basic standards. On SAT scores, Georgia ranks 50th out of 50 states. Now, I don't tell you this to condemn public education, but so you can see the urgency in reform. If we are going to give our children the opportunity to achieve their true potential and at the same time ensure Georgia's future economic security, we must act boldly.
Nobody wants to have to hold a child back in school.
We must insist that no student be promoted to the next grade until he is proficient in the subject matter he was supposed to learn that year. A number of miscellaneous additions and subtractions were recommended by that body beyond those originally submitted by Gov. Roy Barnes . We have no 'wiggle room' here, and we must pull out all of the stops to let the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker, and House and Senate members know the far-reaching impact such a cut would have on the System. Those funds, also will allow System officials to maintain required reserves for the Board of Regents' health benefit program. It's been a rough ride during the past year with the rise in medical claims and costs, and this program is vital to the System's ability to attract and retain the best employees.