Fulton
schools "What Parents Want"
The Fulton County School System
is again "What Parents Want," according to a national educational consulting
and research firm.ÊThis is
the 13th 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.
Only 16 percent of the nation's 15,573 public school systems were
awarded the 2004 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
solid and challenging programs, national recognition for academic excellence,
competitive teacher salaries, above average expenditures on instruction
and library/media services, and small class sizes as significant factors
in school choice.
An additional factor considered was the school systems' accreditation
status. Earlier in the month, Fulton made national headlines for becoming
the first school system in the nation to earn district-wide accreditation
by its accrediting organization, the Southern Association of Colleges
and Schools (SACS).
SchoolMatch developed the "What Parents Want" awards program
13 years ago to recognize school systems that meet the needs of their
parents and to provide benchmarks for others focusing on goals for improvement. |
