State Schools Superintendent Woods Talks 2020 Legislative Priorities

The Georgia Department of Education said it has four main legislative priorities for the 2020 session. They are: Responsible and Aligned Accountability, Strengthening the Teacher Pipeline, Expanding Opportunities for Students, and Funding Public Education. The department said many of the priorities were issues raised by educators across the state.

WABE spoke with state schools superintendent Richard Woods about each of the four priorities. Woods referred to the state’s current accountability system, the College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI). The system takes a number of factors into account, including test scores, graduation rates, and school attendance. Then, it gives schools and districts a numerical score. The Governor’s Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) then converts the scores into an A-F letter grade.

Woods said he wants to make sure the system is fair, and that it’s not used as “a hammer and a boot,” but to help schools improve their performance.