Recently, the Henry County Board of Education met to approve school taxes for next year. They had held three public hearings previously, as required by statute. They approved the millage rate to remain as it was, although due to an increase in property values that may mean a small increase for some homeowners. Was this action reasonable or should there have been a millage increase or a rollback?
I’m a numbers guy who has been in government planning and budgeting on the local and state level, as well as with corporations. A fiscal conservative, and former Chair of the Tax Committee for the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia, I don’t like to see our tax money wasted. So, I set out to evaluate how Henry schools fare in relation to others in Georgia.
Using an accepted user friendly website, I found that the Henry County School District has an average rankings in the state, a B- ranking, in the middle of the 182 Georgia city and county school districts (www.niche.com/k12/ d/henry-county-schools-ga/).
Underlying source material for this site is gleaned from US DOE data, standardized test scores, and 60 million reviews/survey responses. Here are specifics, comparing Henry to the three best school districts in the state, Buford, Oconee, and Forsythe (note: ranking criteria were broader than just testing scores):
• SAT/ACT: Average Henry test scores on the SAT and ACT were 1080/22, which was good. However, Buford (1170/26), Forsyth (1140/24) and Oconee (1210/28) were considerably better. In other words, based on objective tests, Henry County’s students are not doing as well as top performing districts in our state.
• Percent of funds spent on direct instruction: Henry spends 65% of its budget on direct instruction. Of the top three, Forsythe spends more (69%) on direct instruction, the others being comparable. In other words, county tax money is being spent appropriately for directly teaching your kids rather than being spent on overhead.
• Dollars spent per student: Henry spends $11,594 per student, a little more than Oconee ($10,421) and Forsyth ($11,461), but less than Buford ($14,134). Expenditures per student, therefore, appear to be in line with others.
• Average teacher salary: average teacher salaries range from $62,865 in Buford to $57,257 in Oconee. Henry is significantly less at $56,238.
Note: I confirmed the above finding through a second source, (www.schooldigger.com/go/GA/districtrank.aspx) which ranked Henry as the 114th best district in the state (of 192), indicating that its performance was better than 40% of the other districts in Georgia. For comparative purposes, I examined other South Metro districts. Both Fayette and Coweta rank considerably higher (and had better teacher pay) according to both sources above. Others, such as Clayton, rank lower overall.
So, what have we learned? The Henry County school district is solidly in the middle of Georgia school districts. Its overhead is in line with the top districts, as are expenditures per student, but teacher salaries are much lower than the best districts.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average mean wage (salary) in the state is $49,620, which includes earning of many people with under a college level education. Therefore, it is obvious that our well-educated Georgia public school teachers are relatively underpaid, including Henry’s and many other districts. If we want our children to have a better educational experience, it starts with getting top notch teachers. Pay is part of the equation.
Furthermore, I can state with 100 percent certainty that the commercial and industrial sectors pay a large share of local property taxes in Henry and many Georgia counties. Having taken UGA Vinson Institute courses on this topic, education is a top criterion for business relocation. To continue to attract small business and industry, Henry County must become a top county educationally.
In conclusion, from the facts given above, it’s clear that reasonable Henry County school tax increases (i.e. Millage increases) are warranted in order to continue to make progress. If teacher salaries remain low, the quality of education for Henry students is bound to suffer.
Your statistics are very misleading. SAT/ACT test are only provided to 11th/12th grade students while you give a statistic on dollars spent on every student K-12. Although you provide an average teacher salary, what is the median salary for each of the counties you chose to compare. Lastly, “education is a top criterion for business relocation”. I’m interested in what businesses are looking at high school educations to relocate? I looked at Forsyth Co and their top 4 busineses are 1) Northside Hospital 3100 employees (Henry has a hospital) 2) Koch Industries 1200 employees 3) Tyson foods 1100 employees. I’m not certain but I don’t believe Henry County has any chicken farms in the area for these 2 businesses to relocate 4) Scientific Games 1110 employees and this business produces lottery tickets. To further dispute your claim of business relocation, 3 of the top 4 in Forsyth Co are manufacturing jobs paying $13 per hour.
SAT/ACT scores are a good measure; we don’t have “Regents” tests here like in NY. The Vinson Institute has listed criterion for business relocation based on studies. Educational level is among them.
Mike makes some excellent points. You are also leaving out the cost of living, demographics, and other factors in areas with top schools. Their teachers make more money because the cost of living in areas like Forsyth is significantly higher than Henry County. Jobs pay more in those areas. The higher cost of living and higher earning taxpayers means better schools. Parents are also invested in their children’s education.
Henry County use to have top schools in the State which brought in home owners who took pride in their neighborhoods. That brought in business. In addition to the changing demographic and political base, every home that sells becomes a rental. Businesses invest in areas based on demographics, and household income levels.
I don’t believe that high school test scores or teacher salaries is one the list of criteria for potential business investors.. No businesses, especially high end retailers are moving to Henry County due to the demographics and household income levels. In addition to those things, business investors look at political and business climate, transportation corridors, culture, and available workforce. Henry County fails miserably at all those things. Empty buildings, horrible traffic, political chaos don’t draw business or taxpayers to Henry County. Taxpayers also need to realize that political tax rhetoric of “not raising the milage rate” while increasing property values in Henry County equates to just as much or more taxes for homeowners. Property values increase, but Henry County decreases in quality of life daily. That doesn’t add up for homeowners; which is another reason they are leaving.
Teachers who provide middle of the pack test scores and declining graduation rates shouldn’t be getting paid the same salaries as teachers in neighborhoods with higher living costs and top schools. As a taxpayer I’m sick of the school milage rate being at the maximum every year, and the quality of education in Henry County continues to decline. It’s embarrassing. If teachers want better pay, they need to earn it by statistically improving education scores and rankings in Henry County. Due to the changing demographics in Henry County and declining education system, Henry County could end up in the same boat as Clayton County (Democratic County Government) when they lost their accreditation. Many students in the HC system are out of county and it’s not being addressed. When the school milage rate is as high as it can be, Henry County tax payers definitely aren’t getting their money’s worth regardless of what your “statistics” show.
Sadly, there’s no hope for change in Henry County given the present political climate. It’ll continue to disintegrate and melt into Clayton, Fulton, and Dekalb Counties.