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The Fulton

County Board of Education has outlined an ambitious agenda for next

month's General Assembly session.

During November's

board meeting, the board approved a lengthy wish list to better support

the Fulton County School System.

Last year,

Gov. Roy Barnes focused on education and passed the A-plus Education

Reform Act. This year, local educators are hoping the legislature will

give support to some more programs that they believe are underfunded.

Some of the

priorities include:

Addressing

significant state education program underfunding, substantial increases

in appropriations to maintain competitive salaries for all local school

system employees identified in the QBE funding formula, including full

state funding for increasing fixed costs associated with employee salaries.

Providing

for a mid-term adjustment for training and experience (T&E) calculations

to reflect actual training and experience of personnel employed during

the year being funded.

Providing

for training and experience funding for teachers working in the HB 1187

instructional extension program.

Funding

facility maintenance and operation at a level to account for higher

costs incurred by local school systems.

Funding

instructional materials needs at a level to enable local systems to

meet state student achievement improvement goals.

Increasing

funding of school counselors at ratios allowing provision of quality

program services to students (at least 1:400); and, at levels to allow

earnings by students in all programs, including special education, ESOL,

and remedial programs.

Providing

for funding of required related services to students with disabilities,

including but not limited to services for occupational and physical

therapy, nursing, and orientation and mobility.

Funding

the planning period required for high school accreditation.

Funding

improvements in middle school programming, including provision of adequate

funds for remediation, counseling, teacher planning and physical education

and fine arts programs.

Funding

substitute teachers at a level reflecting increasingly higher local

system costs.

Providing

for adequate funding for middle and high school media personnel.

Increasing

staff development funding to help local systems meet student achievement

improvement goals and satisfy accountability requirements.

Adequately

funding school social workers and psychologists.

Supporting

more flexible use of paraprofessionals, especially in the first grade.

Providing

for the employment of art, music and physical education teachers (K-8)

at a staffing ratio allowing elementary school teacher planning period.

Funding

additional administrative support personnel (secretaries, bookkeepers,

etc.) at local schools; fund central office administration at level

adequate to ensure support for student academic improvement and implementation

of accountability measures.

Supporting

full funding of state capital outlay programs. Provide additional funding

for facilities to accommodate instructional needs resulting from state-required

lower pupil-teacher ratios, and at a level that will allow construction

of classrooms for all unhoused students by the 2003-04 school year.

Increasing

state funding and support for alternative programs for habitually disruptive

students K-12 and violence prevention and conflict resolution programs.

Increasing

the discretion of school officials in reporting possession of household

items that could be classified as weapons.