New Hope For ALL Georgian Students With Special Needs

by Corey Burres | Jan 29, 2021

New Hope For ALL Georgian Students With Special Needs

New legislation is being introduced that could help expand support for parents of special needs students.

For the past 14 years Georgia’s Special Needs Scholarship Program (SB 10) has provided support to parents with special needs. This support allowed parents access to state-allocated funds to help find educational services for their child.

Now the state of Georgia is considering updating and reforming the program to expand accessibility.

Specifically mentioned in the legislation is the impact of the pandemic on educational access. The COVID-10 pandemic has highlighted the need for widespread educational reform, as parents with limited resources or special considerations seek to get adequate education services for their children.

In fall 2020, GCO highlighted one story of a parent struggling to find services and support to help her special needs child during the pandemic.

What the legislation plans to do

The bill currently is in its early stages but is intended to reduce the hoops parents have to jump through to access these funds. This would help reduce much of the red tape and limitations originally placed on the funds over the last fourteen years.

The bill also would expand availability to families who need the support during this crisis but were not eligible prior to.

More specifics will be released in the coming days and we will continue to update families on the measures being taken.

Overall more Georgia families deserve the same access to quality education that is enjoyed by the most privileged. Our desire is to ensure that this happens.

Welcoming Dr. Cayanna Good to the Georgia Center for Opportunity board of directors

by David Bass | Jan 26, 2021

Welcoming Dr. Cayanna Good to the Georgia Center for Opportunity board of directors

The Georgia Center for Opportunity team is thrilled to announce that Dr. Cayanna Good, assistant commissioner of adult education for the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG), has joined our board of directors as its newest member.

Dr. Good comes to the board with a passion for using education reform to help impoverished Georgians break the cycle and thrive. She has over two decades of experience in the world of education—both as a teacher and a leader in education policy and reform.

She shares that she had an eye-opening experience while working as a teacher in a high-poverty school through Teach for America, and then as an elementary school teacher in a wealthier district: “Those experiences taught me that there was something broken in our education system, and I wanted to be part of the solution.”

Her career journey has included serving in education policy positions in Gov. Nathan Deal’s administration, including as executive director of the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement, and in senior-level leadership positions within the Georgia Department of Education.

Dr. Good’s current role is head of the Office of Adult Education for TCSG. She notes that adult literacy is crucial to ending generational poverty. “If you’re not addressing the root cause, the family, you’re always playing catch up. Working with adult literacy means we are working to eliminate generational poverty,” Dr. Good notes.

As for joining the GCO board, Dr. Good says that she jumped at the opportunity. Her biggest goal as a new board member will be to ensure that GCO’s impact and reach go even further.

“I don’t want GCO to be the best kept secret for people who are deeply engaged in this work,” she says. “GCO does so many amazing things. They are known in so many circles, but they aren’t known in all the circles. I’m excited about helping the organization participate in new opportunities, connect with advocacy groups, and help change mindsets around what’s possible in education.

Infrastructure investment essential to economic mobility | THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE

by Corey Burres | Jan 25, 2021

Infrastructure investment essential to economic mobility | THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE

Georgians believe strong political leadership on transportation issues is a critical component of our economic success. According to polling from the Georgia Transportation Alliance, 93% of Georgians use automobiles as their primary source of transportation, 43% believe our road network is our greatest asset, 49% believe the state has primary responsibility for transportation infrastructure investment, and 51% are more likely to reelect a politician who votes to increase transportation funding…

The Georgia Center for Opportunity recently noted that there are 250,000 working-age men not working or looking for work in Georgia. By 2027, 87 Georgia counties will have lost jobs and, by 2030, 74 counties will see population loss. There is still a significant gap between where our planning and funding are today and where it must be to protect our future economy and quality of life. In 2014, Georgia had 1,600 deficient bridges. In 2019, Georgia still had 1,600 deficient bridges.

Read the full article here

A true second chance | THE LAGRANGE DAILY NEWS

by Corey Burres | Jan 20, 2021

A true second chance | THE LAGRANGE DAILY NEWS

In July 2020, I wrote a column about Senate Bill 288 (SB 288). At the time, the governor ended up signing the bill that can help many Georgians remove the stigma of having a criminal conviction…

More than 4 million Georgia residents had a criminal record in 2016, according to the Georgia Center for Opportunity (GCO)

“It is vital that we continue to reform Georgia’s criminal justice system so that reformation and reintegration is the goal, and not just punishment,” said Corey Burres, GCO’s vice president of communicaitons. “With SB 288, we are making real efforts to help past offenders access opportunities that may not be available to them due to their criminal record.”

Read the full article here

Agency puts families first in new effort to build resilience | AJC

by Corey Burres | Jan 20, 2021

Agency puts families first in new effort to build resilience | AJC

Just before the COVID-19 pandemic would come to bear down upon us, DePriest Waddy was sitting in his office at Families First when a mother and father stopped in with their two young sons in tow.

There’s no polite way to put this, but they were a mess…

They won’t do this work alone. Using the data they collect, Families First will collaborate with dozens of local nonprofits, including WorkSource Atlanta, the Westside Future Fund, Georgia Center for Opportunity, and Good Samaritan. Together they will provide the support a family needs, when they need it.

Read the full article here