State Schools Superintendent Kathy Cox of Peachtree City is drawing fire

from rural corners of the state for a proposal to restructure agriculture

education in high schools.

Last week, Cox announced formation of a task force to examine the current

career, technical and agriculture curriculum areas to make sure they conform

with the new Georgia Performance Standards, especially science.

"For many years, Georgia's career-based programs were seen as

separate from the core areas of science, mathematics, English/language arts,

and social sudies," Cox said. "However, today's focus on helping

all children receive an excellent education has educational leaders considering

ways in which all courses can support overall academic success."

Among the more dramatic changes Cox is proposing for agriculture education

is a reduction in the support staff at the state level.

Currently, ag education in the state is divided into three regions (north,

central and south) with three separate teams to support ag teachers.

The proposal suggests consolidating the three regions into one, eliminating

two area coordinators, two secretaries and 10 area teacher positions (three

of which are currently vacant).

According to Cox, one consolidated team to service the whole state is the

same structure used for other subject areas like math, science and social

studies.

Cox has proposed realigning the administrative structure of agricultural

education, which will become part of the newly enhanced Department of Career,

Technical, and Agricultural Education.

The changes will redirect about $2 million in funding that now goes exclusively

to ag education.

There will be no reductions at the local or school level, she said, or to

programs like Future Farmers of America.

Still, the changes have riled some rural lawmakers who say they plan to

fight the proposal in the General Assembly next year.

Donald Gilman, an agriculture teacher at Worth County Middle School in South

Georgia, told WALB-TV in Albany that he feared the cuts would eventually

trickle down to the classroom.

"And we won't be getting the resources that we need as teachers to

educate the students who are in our classes," said Gilman.

He also said research from the University of Georgia shows agriculture students

are already scoring higher on science portions of standardized tests.

But Cox disagreed, saying science education must be a top priority in order

to raise performance levels and reduce drop-out rates.

"For far too long, failure rates in science have remained unchecked,

and Georgia's students have borne the harsh consequences of a system

that has failed to adequately equip them," Cox said. �"Now, we

must bring resources to bear on the situation at hand, if we are to truly

improve student achievement in the state."