What a crock Sui generis! Based on the number of schools in Georgia, 15th is pretty dang good. Statistically speaking of course.
The real citizens fo Fayette County know that our schools are not the BEST in the state, but we know they are better than average and we want to keep them that way. Those standardized tests are not the best measurement of how a school system performs. Are our public schools there strictly as a means to educate children to pass standardized tests? No. The real measurement would be the quality of lives these students have once they enter real life. I think most parents in Fayette county will agree that we want more than just a bunch of eggheads running around. We want well rounded individuals that can be good citizens who keep Fayette county a great place to live!

Let me begin by stating that I have a child in the Fayette County School System and selected Fayette County to live over other areas when I moved here a few years ago so I'm not knocking Fayette County. When I was looking for a place to live, most people I spoke to (realtors, co-workers) stated that Fayette County was a great place to live (and it is) and that the schools were "tops" in the state. All evidence back then (2000) supported those comments.
I have never commented that I thought Fayette County school were horrible or not "top shelf". I simply wanted to get a blog/debate going on how we "perceive" the schools to be and the statistics to back it up. Your argument is right, that to be ranked in the top 15 statewide does attest to the quality of the schools here. But the truth is, colleges do look at standardized tests for admission and students are often judged by or more emphasis is placed on their score on a test rather that the person as a whole. Also, the President's NCLB Initiative has placed a greater emphasis on performance which translates to test scores.
I just wanted other people to see that there are other counties that some consider "less-than-desirable" places to live apparently have students/parents that care about education as well. I do apologize for my intermittent "diatribe" on racism, but if you read all of the thread/comments on this page, you'll understand my frustration.

That was a good explanation of your position.

I spent a good part of my morning writing a diatribe on what is--and is not--racism, but decided at the end not to post it. I am very interested in dialog (and, perhaps, debate) on the issue for the purpose of getting clear on my own thinking.

Meanwhile, though I seem to be at the "epicenter" of the area that, according to some, is about to be overrun by hordes of Clayton Countians (I'm not far from the corner of Kenwood and New Hope) , I/we have decided to stick around.

"Every time I'm in Georgia I eat a peach for peace."
--Duane Allman

Sui Generis--- lot of babble and no response. Fayette schools are declining. To answer the post, I think that the Fayette will have the same problems that Get Real's wife experiences between 5-10 years. At their peak Fayette schools were very good for Georgia and slightly above average nationally. They will shortly be good and then they will be incacapable of producing anything more educated than lawdawga or some such nonsense. Looks like all of y’all worried about having a majority in everything at any cost, would want just a little bit of diversity, especially when none of the valedictorians at any high school in Clayton County were black. But I’m sure there is something or someone else to blame.

The info seems to be different from what you list. It seems to agree with Basamati, and his info. Fayette Schools are top shelf, overall when ranked on their own merits vs the other schools in the State.

http://www.gppf.org/pub/Education/reportcard05/Hsrc2005state.pdf

Well written post.

You aren't kidding that crime is up! Just the other day my son's car was horribly vandalized with shaving cream. The hooligans sprayed "Seniors 2006" all over it!

Naturally I called the police. They wanted to know if I had any idea who might have done such a thing and of course I mentioned that a retired black couple had moved in down the street a few weeks ago. The cops just looked at me funny and that's when I realized that "political correctness" had infected the local police as well.

Also, there was a time not so long ago when dry cleaners gave you a discount to clean your Klan robes. Today? Forget about it! Most of them charge you EXTRA to do your robes nowadays, and don't even get me started on the surcharges they hit you up with to remove a little blood!!

Time was, the blacks knew their place in Fayette County. If they got out of line, a little burning cross in their front yard would serve as a quick and efficient reminder. But that was back in the days when gas was less than a buck a gallon. At $2.78 a gallon, and five gallons to properly soak a cross, it's just not cost-effective anymore.

Have a good day, DWP33, and I'll see you, Christi and yaught at the Klavern meeting on Wednesday.

Ok, I've got a cold and my head is a little bit fuzzy but I'm going to try to attempt a reply to this stupid post of yours. What makes you think I would go to a Klan meeting? The fact that I pointed out two very real, factual observations? You really need to get the wool off of your eyes. Wake up and face what's going on around you. It doesn't take a Klansman to see reality. That horrible picture in your post tells me volumes about you as it is. This post just nailed it down.

much you are joking, when you and your family is robbed or held up at gunpoint by 3 thugs from riverdale. It doesn't take a Klan memeber to see whats going on with the world. I don't see you taking up for the taliban or people in the middle east. Crime is crime no matter where it is. Not my fault that the fingers point a certain way or stats point a certain way. Im far from a klan member, but im far from being naive as well. HAVE A GOOD DAY!

Why all this talk of gloom and doom? Do you really think that an influx of "the wrong kind of people" is what's ruining Fayette County? The lack of structure and parental ambivelence towards our children is what will ruin and degrade any household/community. This is not the exclusive domain of any one race, it affects all people of all incomes. Good people of Fayette County, you keep doing what you've always done, support your kids and our schools and all will be well.

You are, of course, right that the problem cannot be reducible to changes in demographics.

As I have posted before, I have excellent next door neighbors in this racially mixed neighborhood.

The worry, I think, is that a part of the "influx" may involve people who fit your description of "lack of structure and ambivalence towards our children."

I don't care what race my good neighbors are, so long as they continue to be good neighbors.

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"Every time I'm in Georgia I eat a peach for peace."
--Duane Allman

I just find this hard to believe. Would someone really appear in a T-shirt that said this? What would motivate it? Who would create it? What sort of weird attitude would the wearer have to have?

Should the people responsible for the gentrification of some of the neighborhoods in Atlanta wear a similar shirt? "We took Grant Park. East Point is next."

Too weird to be believable.

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"Every time I'm in Georgia I eat a peach for peace."
--Duane Allman

I heard about it last summer and I saw one this spring.

Here you go....

The T-shirt that you saw was an advertising ploy from some BUSINESS.

It's a, um, a, um, ROOFING COMPANY. The claim is that they developed a clientele in Clayton, and now they are working on Fayette. Or maybe it's a bank. Say, Clayton Savings and Loan or Clayton Merchants Consolidated Credit Union. They are about toi open up a branch in Fayette....

Hmmm...

As the song says, "Dream on, dream on......"

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"Every time I'm in Georgia I eat a peach for peace."
--Duane Allman

Good God.

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"Every time I'm in Georgia I eat a peach for peace."
--Duane Allman

There are 360 high schools in Georgia. How do Fayette County high schools stack up?

Starr's Mill High ranked 11th.

Fayette County High ranked 15th.

McIntosh High ranked 20th.

Sandy Creek High ranked 22nd.

Every single high school in Fayette county was ranked in the top 25.
This is all the more impressive when you consider that six high schools on the list ranking higher than Fayette schools were those gimmicky magnet and/or charter schools designed to prevent "white flight" in underachieving school systems.

Fayette county has extraordinarily strong high schools.

Compare their SAT scores against other school systems in Georgia.

Compare the number of students who pass the competency tests on the first try to other school systems.

Look at the incredible number of "pass plus" scores at Fayette county schools ("Pass Plus" is the designation given to kids that don't just meet, they vastly exceed the minimum state graduation requirements).

Even with all the wailing of the Board Bigot Bunch about "illegal students" (which is code for "black students we THINK live in Clayton County"), Fayette county schools as a whole absolutely smoke the competition.

I want to hear more on this.

The report that another poster cites includes only one or two Fayette schools in the top 1000, and they are in the bottom 800s. Are we looking at different and competing criteria of assessment?

SAT scores would be my first criterion of assessment. Can you offer some documentation--a link, maybe?

With all of the talk of Fayette County going the way of surrounding areas, news that the schools are still flourishing would be promising.

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"Every time I'm in Georgia I eat a peach for peace."
--Duane Allman

if you had the raw data before you and enough data to do the analysis properly you would find that children from two parent households did much better on SAT scores than those from single parent households. And there would be a direct correlation between the interest the parents had in the child's education and his/her performance.

I suggest that black students from single parent households outnumber whites from similar households by a considerable margin, depending on what area the schools and the students are situated. That disparity has a definite impact on collective SAT scores, which is the manner schools report the scores.

The quality of education delivered by the Fayette County system is superior to any in the southeast, perhaps on a par with the best in the country.

I read the same report that sui generis cites. It isn't altogether promising for our schools as he/she indicates. (And he/she mysteriously links such observations with comments on racism, etc. I have yet to sort out why.) I still am not sure what to think about the quality of Fayette schools.

My own kids are well out of high school. My grandkids are a long way from enrolling in any schools, public or private. Aside from a generic and benevolent interest in thinking that children in general are getting a good education where I live, my concern is largely with the health of the schools as an indicator of the health of the area. So long as the schools perform well (I think) the area will remain attractive and property values will be stable.

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"Every time I'm in Georgia I eat a peach for peace."
--Duane Allman

Check out page 2 of the PDF Doc below.

http://www.gppf.org/pub/Education/reportcard05/Hsrc2005state.pdf

OK. Fayette is all over the place at the top of these rankings.

I guess I lack the wherewithal to interpret all of this and reconcile it with the (apparently) contradictory stats that indicate a downhill slide.

PLease help me to understand.

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"Every time I'm in Georgia I eat a peach for peace."
--Duane Allman

The Use this link

As far as the discrepancies with the national polls go, the main factor that seems to drag Georgia down in the naitonal rankings is Georgia's failure to offer the International Baccalaureate program. The IB program truly does produce some elite well-rounded students, but Georgia as a state focuses more on lower achieving students than high achievers.

Both overall achievement and SAT scores look pretty good. According to my *extensive research* (i.e., I just did a Google), the national average SAT score is 1026. Fayette High averages at 1034 and is ranked #15 in the state on overall criteria. That's nearly 200 points above Riverdale High School, for instance, at 841. Between Fayette High and Riverdale High the difference in expenditure per student is FCHS: $7056 and RHS: $6835--just over $200. You get what you pay for, I guess.

Maybe this is why the county's schools are so highly "vaulted" as sui generis has said more than once. (I believe he wants "vaunted," though I've not been inside some of the buildings: perhaps they are indeed highly vaulted in the entry ways or the like.)

I feel better now. The strength of the school system is an important vital sign for the area.

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"Every time I'm in Georgia I eat a peach for peace."
--Duane Allman

As long as the FCBOE is serious about fixing the illegal students issue, I think our public schools will still be considered one of the best in the state. After all, they should be considering how much we're taxed for them.

I think the biggest concern I have is traffic congestion and the driving violations that I see escalating today. People, in general, in this county seem to have a blatent disrespect and disregard for driving laws. It's absurd. I thought Fayette was supposed to be this friendly bedroom community? If you look at the angry faces driving to and from work during rush hour as aggressive drivers cut others off while flipping them the bird, you'd never know it. Here's the funny part. You stop at the next traffic light down the road and pull up along side the very person that just cut you off and flipped you off and it's either a 40 something Starbucks drinking soccer mom talking on her phone and in a hurry, or it's a silver haired grandmother with her "I'm a good Christian" fish symbol on her car. What's up with that?

All kidding aside, I think traffic is a major concern. Poor / antiquated roadway designs will hamper future growth if something isn't done soon. It will definately be a reason NOT to consider moving your family in Fayette County if you're considering it.

Seen Eddie Murphey's impression of Buckwheat?

"Memember me?"

"Otay!"

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"Every time I'm in Georgia I eat a peach for peace."
--Duane Allman

That is a tough one.

Things are definitely changing. But the outcome is hard to see yet since there is a struggle going on between the vision of what PTC is and will be.

One extreme wants PTC to be as much a bedroom community as possible. Keep out Big Boxes and industry. The other extreme wants it all here everywhere.

Personally, I believe with good planning we can have both bedroom and business. But I emphasis good plannning.

We are seeing a lot of bad planning.

54 between PTC and Fayetteville is heading toward being one long stip shopping. Not good in my book.

West Village is already and mess. Not going to be good any way it turnes out now.

So, the future is blurry. And as long as we have Good Ole Boy, Ivory Tower, tell the peasants what they need to know, it will not go well. Not well at all.

My opinion.

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Keeping it real and to the core of the issue, not the peripherals.