For Immediate Release
June 1, 2020
ATLANTA -- The president of the Georgia Association of Educators (GAE), Charlotte Booker, released the following comments in response to the Georgia Department of Education’s newly issued “Georgia’s Path to Recovery for K-12 Schools,” released this morning.
"We greatly appreciate the DOE providing this initial guidance on how to reopen our public schools. The department’s guidance should also have included warnings to local districts to not increase class sizes as a means to achieving expected budget cuts. We are aware of at least three school districts in Georgia that have discussed plans to increase the number of students in its classrooms. Not only is this bad education policy and a hindrance to learning, but it is also bad health policy at a time when the coronavirus is still active.
Also, numerical or other guidance on what substantial versus minimal/moderate and low spreads mean and where will the data come from to make those definitive calculations.
Finally, and this is critical, any local plans and implementation of such recommendations must include the input of classroom teachers, Education Support Professionals (ESPs) and parents.”
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