Newspaper Page Text
4 - The Savannah Tribune • Wednesday, August 12, 2009
SOCIAL AND COMMUNITY NEWS
Financial Health of New Georgia
Charter Schools Falters
Charter schools in
Georgia, the majority of
which are in metro Atlanta,
may be outscoring their pub
lic school peers on testing but
many are not making the
grade when it comes to finan
cial health, according to a
new Georgia State University
study.
Andrew Young School
of Policy Studies Professor
Cynthia S. Searcy, co-author
of the study, said that more
than 40 percent of start-up
charter schools in Georgia
operated with deficits or in
the red during the 2006-2007
school year, the latest dates
the data was available at the
time of the study. During the
New Ijjeal Office
r .coking lor hardworking,
scif-siuniiiji ;nni dependable
people Mli>L he IK years or
older and pass hacktirumul
check I'lcj'.e funic le Lhc
Department of tjbor, >520
Whin- mill! Pel Monday
timeframe of the study, two
charter schools closed,
including one for financial
difficulties.
“If we don’t know how
these start-ups are faring
financially, how can we
detect financial stress early to
help keep their doors open,”
Searcy said. “Given the
budget crisis all schools are
facing, we need to have more
conversations on how to help
charter schools reduce costs
or enhance revenues if we
expect to use them as vehi
cles for educational innova
tion.”
Among the other find
ings: few opportunities exist
for economies of size for
these small, independent
schools and size directly cor
relates to charter school
financial health.
“Small enrollments can
put schools at risk of closure
because they have less per-
pupil revenue to spread over
their fixed costs,” Searcy
said. “Since charter start-ups
spend $1 of every $8 on man
agement and administration
stah representative
(Since ip} 1 daajjs cadiJ,( you. i have JiataJ ibe
following uiiiniiHUKni fer ytjiojcveikiiEe;
Affinila
J32 Stale CapiJoS
] efltiktive Office [Jiuidjnp
Rik'iii
AtbuiU.GA 30334
Phone: £4tH)d«Jl29B
f ,ikpJ
RO Bax 7436
Garden C%GA314|&
1 Ionic Pi™sL‘:(9i’)%F252fi
| Cen:(912) 6394122
( ommittees: Ways and Mean;. 1
■ftamportation, Economic
Development & Ibunan, State
Enstiiuiioiii & Brupaty :md
Subcommittee on Trade
costs, they might benefit
from shared services with
their local school district or
other charter schools.”
Additionally, because
there are no uniform practices
of reporting financial infor
mation or specific deadlines,
it closes the opportunity to
develop any meaningful
financial indicator system to
detect financial stress early in
a school’s operation, the
study found.
Searcy, along with the
study’s co-author William D.
Duncombe, a professor at
Syracuse University, studied
audited financial statements
from 25 Georgia start-up
schools in the 2006-2007
school year. Since 1998, 34
start-up charter schools have
opened and dozens of others
have been authorized. Up to
2007, a total of five had
closed.
Recent legislation
authorized the creation of
entire charter school districts
and a total of 115 charter
schools are or will be open
this school year.
“Georgia is on the cusp
of expanding the number of
charter schools,” Searcy said.
“Understanding their finan
cial health is more important
than ever.”
For a complete copy of
the study, please go to
http://aysps.gsu.edu/frc/3007
.html.
Nursing
Students
Excel at
Licensure
Exam
THE SAVANNAH TRIBUNE
1805 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
Savannah, Georgia 31401
Ph. (912) 233-6128 Fax (912) 233-6140
www.savannahtribune.com
Published By
Savannah Tribune, Inc.
Tanya Y. Milton
Vice President/Advertising Director
tanya@savannahtribune.com
Marius L. Davis
Managing Editor
sharon@savannahtribune.com
Horacio J. Allen
Graphic Designer
A. Camille James Rachelle J. Gregory
Education Editor Staff Writer
Zyon D. Smiley Frederick D.Gregory
Staff Writer Staff Writer
Walter Moore
Sports Writer
Deadlines for news releases and advertisements:
Fridays 4pm
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
One Year. $55.00
Mail your check or money order today!
The opinions expressed in this publication are
not necessarily those of the publisher.
Third class postage paid at Savannah, Georgia
Member:
National Newspaper Publishers Association
NNPA - Washington, D.C.
All rights are reserved. No part of this work may be repro
duced or copied in any form or by any means, graphic, elec
tronic or mechanical including photography, without writ
ten permission of the publisher.
Savannah Technical
College nursing students
earned a 96.6% pass rate on
the National Council
Licensure Examination for
Practical Nurses during cal
endar year 2008.
Fifty-seven of fifty-nine
first-time exam takers passed
the exam, as notified by the
Georgia board of Examiners
of Licensed Practical Nurses.
“We are very proud of
our record of success ,” said
College President Kathy S.
Love. “Nursing is a very
demanding curriculum and
this speaks to the quality of
our instruction.”
Licensed Practical
Nursing is one of the col
lege’s most popular programs
and is offered at Savannah
and Liberty Campuses. Asha
Anumolu is the department
head.
Savannah Technical
College, the region’s leading
provider of market-driven,
quality technical and adult
education, has been meeting
the needs of its community
for more than three-quarters
of a century.
Building on a tradition
of partnership, pride and
service, the college serves
4,000 students each quarter in
Bryan, Chatham, Effingham
and Liberty Counties, offer
ing more than 50 certificate,
diploma and associate degree
programs in fields ranging
from automotive technology
to surgical technology and
from marketing to computer
information systems to culi
nary arts and beyond.
Deen Pledges Funds to
SDRA Campaign, Foster Joins
Sponsorship Team
Paula Deen
Restaurant owner,
cookbook author and award
winning TV chef Paula Deen
recently pledged funds in
support of the Downtown
Savannah Brand and
Marketing Campaign, to be
officially launched by the
Savannah Development and
Renewal Authority (SDRA)
on August 14th.
The campaign’s goal is
to create greater awareness
among city residents and
potential investors of down
town Savannah’s attributes
in order to foster economic
growth for all of Chatham
County.
“Savannah’s success
story and Paula’s success
story are directly tied togeth
er,” said Zezza. “Paula has
grown with Savannah and
Savannah with Paula. It only
makes sense that she would
be motivated to help
Savannah reach its poten
tial,” said SDRA
Sponsorship Chair Ralph
Zezza .
Brian Foster
Deen’s humble entry
into the local Savannah busi
ness foray is legendary. An
initial $200 investment later
amassed into a culinary
empire, which now includes
two restaurants, eight cook
books, a memoir, a magazine
“Cooking with Paula Deen”
and various product lines.
She is also the Emmy Award
winning television host of
Paula's Home Cooking and
Paula's Party for Food
Network.
Deen’s contribution,
paired with $ 170,000 that the
SDRA and the City of
Savannah have already com
mitted, as well as other dona
tions, will assist in financing
further marketing and public
relations efforts as the cam
paign continues its momen
tum.
Brian R. Foster,
Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of First
Chatham Bank, has also
signed on as an official
Sponsorship Team Member.
His role will be to assist in
the solicitation of corporate
and agency financial sup
port.
Foster’s committment
to work with the SDRA on
the Downtown Savannah
Brand and Marketing
Campaign is representative
of his continued efforts on
behalf of downtown
Savannah’s success, as he
was the SDRA’s first
Chairman of the Board of
Directors from 1992 to 1996.
Instrumental in the develop
ment of Broughton Street,
Foster noted that “we
don’t want to ever see 60
percent vacancy in store
fronts like Broughton had
then. We need to maintain
the values and increase the
sales downtown to support
existing businesses in this
recession. The investments
by private business and the
City need to be supported
before looking elsewhere or
going after new business.”
The first phase of the
campaign, which includes
two television commercials
and print ads based around
the tag line, “Downtown
Savannah. It Never Gets
Old.” will be unveiled at an
exclusive sponsorship event
to be held on August 14th at
the Inn at Ellis Square.
For further information,
please contact Lise Sundrla
or Paul Featheringill at the
SDRA at 912.651.6973 or
visit www.sdra.net.
VISIT OR CALL
OUR OFFICE FOR DETAILS
1805 M. L. King, Jr, Blvd.
Savannah, GA
912-236-7563
RENTALS AVAILABLE
508 W. 34 th St. (3 Bedrooms) $550
505 W. 34 ,h St. (2 Bedrooms) $485
515 W. 33 rd St, (3 Bedrooms)...,,.,,.,,. $550
508 W. 33 rd St. (3 Bedrooms)..., $550
520 W. 33 rd St. (3 Bedrooms) $550
520 W. 34 1h St. (3 Bedrooms) $550
415 W. 33 rd St. (3 Bedrooms) $550
414 W. 34 ,h St. (3 Bedrooms) $550
518 W. 34 Ih St. (3 Bedrooms) $550
402 W. 33 jd St, (2 bedrooms)... $485
1 29 3Vlilien St. (2 Bedrooms) $400
27 i/2 Wright St. (2 Bedrooms) $350
27 1/2 Wright St. (2 Bedrooms) $350