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.