Friday, May 2, 2003

Fulton schools are "What Parents Want"

The Fulton County School System is again "What Parents Want," according to a national educational consulting and research firm.

This is the 12th consecutive year that the system has received the "What Parents Want" Award from SchoolMatch, a research organization that helps corporate employee families find schools that match the needs of their children.

Fewer than 15 percent of the nation's 15,576 public school systems were awarded the 2003 award, which was determined based on criteria derived from the results of more than 95,000 SchoolMatch parent surveys.

In the surveys, parents identified competitive test scores and academically challenging curricula, national recognition for academic excellence, competitive teacher salaries, above average expenditures on instruction and library/media services, and small class size as significant factors in school choice.

SchoolMatch developed the "What Parents Want" awards program 12 years ago to recognize school systems that meet the needs of their parents and to provide benchmarks for others focusing on goals for improvement.