Viewpoint
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State's schools bracing for the bump Georgia schools already struggling to shed negative labels of "needs improvement" and not making "adequate yearly progress" are in an even deeper hole this year as basic proficiency standards get tougher. The percentage of students required to pass basic-skills tests for a school to make adequate progress, or AYP as it is commonly known, jumps this year for the first time since 2005 in elementary and middle schools and 2006 in high schools. Here's a brief glance at the changes, which come as part of the federal No Child Left Behind Act's requirement that ... 
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On a mission: Church youth helps deaf school What started out with a mile-long line at the Delta check-in area, ended up as being one of the most life-changing weeks in my life. We arrived at the airport around 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 5 to begin our weeklong trip to Montego Bay, Jamaica. We were going to the Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf to stay on the school's campus to take part in a mission trip. Saturday was a very stressful day. When we arrived at the airport, we were almost immediately split up, and one of the chaperones didn't even make ... 
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Getting HELP: Special court designed to help mentally ill It took an armed standoff with police to finally get Ron the help he needed for his depression. Suicidal and waving a loaded .357 Magnum in a public place, the bankrupt 46-year-old was certain he would be shot by officers. "I had lost my faith," he said, after losing his home and watching his marriage slide toward failure. "I saw everything disintegrating around me." Police did not shoot Ron, though he says he "fully expected" to be shot. They talked him into putting the gun down, handcuffed him, and took him ...
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THE TEENAGERS: Teens say they have easy access to drugs, medicines The subject is a parents' biggest enemy, and some teenagers' biggest curiosity. But teenagers say they don't have to go far to find out what drugs and alcohol are all about. In addition to the typical teenage stressors such as making friends and grades, excelling in athletics and deciding how to spend their future, today's teenagers are forced to make decisions about drugs and alcohol as early as middle school. A 2003 survey conducted by the National Drug Intelligence Center revealed that 40 percent of high-schoolers have used marijuana at least once, and 10 percent tried marijuana before age 13. ...
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THE PARENTS: Steering children through teen years a challenge Launching a child into adulthood means sending them through the teenage years, an unavoidable and thorny path that parents remember with scars of their own. And among the most worrisome distractions for parents are drugs and alcohol. Gainesville resident Dixie Lee Wojeck said the lesson to her children was "you make your choices and in making choices, you are also choosing consequences." "And what you do affects everybody around you, and it affects you forever." She said she believes that rule applies to all decisions people make but especially drug use. "You have the destruction of the person taking the ...
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The 2008 session: Good or bad? Over a week after adjournment of the 2008 session of the Georgia General Assembly, political observers are still talking about the session that long will be remembered for the deep rift that developed between Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and House Speaker Glenn Richardson. Left undone was any compromise on tax relief from differing ideas floated by Cagle and Richardson. Also undone was any long-term solution for trauma care and transportation. But some special interest groups managed to get their way and are touting this as one of the best. Business leaders got a major concession on a gun bill, giving ... |
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Million dollar babies: High-end real estate is selling One million dollars. It was once the plateau that was as far away as the moon. A generation ago, a worker might work an entire career and never earn a million dollars. But a real estate executive that monitors trends says that homes with a price tag of $1 million and up are among the bright spots in the real estate market. Frank Norton Jr., president of the Norton Agency and author of an annual report called "Native Intelligence," said that expensive homes aren't exactly selling like hotcakes, but there is encouraging news. |
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A real fixer-upper Gainesville's loan review committee now has the authority to lend more money to those needing assistance with housing rehabilitation. But the authority to lend more does not necessarily mean that there is more money to offer. The Gainesville City Council recently approved changes to the policies and procedures of the city's housing rehabilitation loan program that raise the maximum amount that can be lent to those who need financial assistance to bring their homes up to fire and life safety standards. The changes also give the applicants longer periods to pay back their larger ...
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Getting schooled on traffic jams GAINESVILLE - Seventy-five minutes before the final bell rings, the first cars start showing up in the student pick-up lane at the entrance to Davis Middle School in South Hall. By the time students start pouring out the school, the pick-up lane has evolved into a string of cars backing down the long driveway and spilling out in both directions on what soon becomes the bus-and-car-clogged Atlanta Highway. Got a suggestion for easing the traffic? Principal Eddie Millwood wants to hear from you. "I'm really not sure what our options are," he said. "We ...
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