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A Message from |
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A Message from Our Board of Education |
As chairman of the Board of Education for 2003, I am pleased to present this report to the public. 2003 was a tremendous year of achievement for the Cobb County School District in many ways. In the classroom, students and teachers sustained Cobb County's reputation as a high-achieving public school system. Schools made strides forward on the CRCT, a standardized test that determines how well we comply with state and federal education reforms, including the still-new No Child Left Behind Act. Education reforms have forced public schools throughout the nation to take new approaches to teaching children, and to place a high value on standardized tests that can determine whether a school is labeled a success or a failure. I am pleased to report that Cobb County's schools are meeting the challenge. High school students did their part by lifting the District's average SAT score to 1038, easily surpassing both the state and national averages. And Walton High School's SAT-takers led the state with an 1141 average score! As always, you, the public, played a significant role in the success of our schools. PTA support is strong throughout the District, and school councils are helping to localize school oversight. But most importantly, the community showed its support for its schools by overwhelmingly supporting an extension of the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST). The Board of Education is extremely proud of the first five years of the SPLOST program when we were able to deliver 12 new schools and more than 1,200 construction and renovation projects on time and under budget. The last of those new facilities, Pitner and Bullard elementary schools, opened in August 2003, and one month later the community approved a five-year extension of SPLOST with 79 percent of the vote in favor. That's impressive support even for a community that's known for the value it places on education. And, truly, Cobb County residents know that the quality of life they enjoy today is due in large part to the quality of the schools in their neighborhoods. As Cobb continues to grow, nine more schools will open over the next five years to help accommodate thousands of new students. And we can say with confidence that those new schools will carry on the tradition of excellence in education we've known throughout the Cobb County School District for so many years. Please use the information in this report to get to know your school system. I am proud of it, and I think you will be, too. From the entire Board of Education, we thank you for your strong support.
Johnny M. Johnson |
 Lindsey Tippins Post 1
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