Governor Perdue Briefs Nation's Governors on Graduation Coach Program

WASHINGTON, DC – Governor Sonny Perdue presented Georgia's Graduation Coach program to his fellow governors today at a meeting of the National Governors Association (NGA) Education, Early Childhood and Workforce Committee.

"Our high school graduation coaches are leading the nation in identifying students at risk of dropping out of school before they earn their diplomas," said Governor Perdue.  "Unfortunately, some of our students are already off-track before they get to high school, which is why we are expanding the program to our middle schools to ensure every Georgia student has every opportunity to graduate."

In his presentation, Governor Perdue noted that Georgia's graduation rate has risen 7.5 percent since he took office in 2003. While pleased with the increase to 70.8 percent, the Governor committed that Georgia would continue to strive toward graduating 100 percent of its students.  His presentation noted the importance of earning at least a high school diploma to a student's future earning potential and for the state's economy.

With the assistance of the Georgia Department of Education and Communities in Schools, Georgia's high school graduation coaches have served nearly 200,000 students since the program began last fall.  Nearly 32,000 students have created personal graduation plans, 20,000 have taken part in credit recovery programs, and more than 12,000 students have received individualized tutoring.

Georgia is home to 25,655 over-age 9th graders and more than 2,000 students who dropped out before they made it to 9th grade.  At a cost of $21.3 million, middle school Graduation Coaches will help meet the needs of these students and make sure they are prepared to succeed in high school.

Governor Perdue also highlighted other initiatives that are helping to improve Georgia's education system:

• Establishing the Georgia Virtual School so that all students in Georgia have access to advanced classes including Advanced Placement courses, high level foreign language courses and other courses that may not be cost effective to offer in small schools
• Led by School Superintendent Kathy Cox and the State Board of Education, creating a new standards-based curriculum that has been ranked in the top five state curriculums in the nation by Fordham Foundation
• Revoking a student's drivers' license if they are suspended for behavior issues, have more than 10 unexcused absences or drop out of school.