Sunday Reads – Dec. 12, 2021
This weekend several thousand college students graduated in winter ceremonies throughout Coastal Georgia. While they’ll take away advanced degrees, new skills and lifelong friends, more than half will also be carrying about $40,000 in debt into their new lives. Graduation days, student economics and the ongoing debate over tenure for professors bring a focus on higher education this week and the expectations citizens may have for the public systems. And, we throw in a little unrelated good news of our own.
Students and money
This week the Georgia Board of Education said it would start requiring high school students to take a basic personal finance class as part of their economics curriculum starting in 2022. In the class, students will learn about managing budgets, building credit, protecting against identity theft and understanding tax forms, student loan applications and pay stubs. This comes as we learn that 1 in 3 student loans through a state-run program is in default. Student debt often affects buying and life decisions for adults for 10 years or more after they leave school. According to federal data, 1.6 million Georgians have student load debt of some type, owing nearly $66 billion overall and an average of $40,000 each. The average loan amount for all undergrads at the University of Georgia is $6,252 a year and 30% need the loan. In Coastal Georgia, that number at Savannah State University is $6,896 and 82% of incoming students require a loan. The numbers at Georgia Southern are $6,336 and 51%; and at the College of Coastal Georgia, the numbers are $5,616 and 44%.
It’s beginning to look a lot like…legislation time
We took a quick look this week at the pre-filed bills in the Georgia legislature. Granted, there are plenty left over from last spring’s session that are still seeking air after last year’s focus on election process, but more have popped in over the last few weeks. On Friday, one arrived to revise the dropbox provision in the controversial voting law. A few highlights:
- HB855: Provide workers’ compensation coverage for first responders for post-traumatic stress disorder from their employment.
- HB857: Quality Basic Education Act, to prescribe sex education and AIDS prevention instruction.
- SB325: Amends the recent voter law and “Remove provisions to absentee ballot drop boxes and the requirements therfor,” which appears to allow more boxes in more buildings for voter access.
- …And this one is guaranteed to take on a life of its own, SB323: Complete repeal of state income taxes. It is an election year, after all.
Want to hold your legislators accountable? Pay attention early to what they are filing and check in on the ongoing live and video discussions of committees weighing out what’s next. It won’t be long until the session starts in January.
We have news, too!
We’ve had a nice week here at The Current – we’ve met donors and new supporters from throughout Coastal Georgia this week and the Loud Hound Partner Fund let us know about an amazing fundraising opportunity to match up to $20,000 from our annual NewsMatch effort that’s going on now. And there’s this great announcement:
The Current has been selected as a Report for America host newsroom partner. That means we’ll be able to expand our staff to grow our coverage of issues involving criminal justice, public safety and accountability for Coastal Georgia.
We’ll join an expanding network of some 270 newsrooms benefiting from the support of this nonprofit program and what that means for you is this: We’ll be hiring another experienced journalist next year. (Journalists interested in this position can apply here, by Jan. 31, 2022.)
Report for America is a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities. An initiative of The GroundTruth Project, a nonprofit media organization, it is structured to harness the skills and idealism of an emerging group of journalists plus the creative spirit of local news organizations — like ours.
Report for America is a two-year program (with an option for three) that delivers a wide-range of benefits to its corps members. Beyond paying up to half of the journalists’ salaries, it provides ongoing training and mentorship by leading journalists, peer networking, and memberships to select professional organizations.
We look forward to welcoming our new team member in June 2022. Please consider supporting this vital mission to preserve local news by donating today to The Current’s work to expand the in-depth journalism ecosystem in Coastal Georgia — your donation will be doubled, thanks to NewsMatch and Loud Hound.
If you believe credible information empowers a community, then our goal is to be the best investment you can make for Coastal Georgia.
Your second cup: Academic freedom
At the risk of picking on our neighbors to the south, a lawsuit and an investigation at the University of Florida have ignited a conversation on higher education, free speech and academic freedoms. Recently, three professors there were told they could not testify as experts in a voting rights lawsuit that challenged recently enacted state law. One is a political science scholar, one a national expert on elections and the other studies minority voter behavior. (The order was eventually rescinded.) And this week, a UF department is under investigation for allegedly destroying Covid research data amid political pressure after a Faculty Senate report released some details.
Now, while we’d like to think this discussion ends at the state line, it doesn’t. This week the American Association of University Professors slammed the University System of Georgia for the regents’ October decision to rework its rules for tenured professors. The report says it will recommend censure for the state’s public university system. The new rules effectively abolish the safe haven of tenure for professors, subjecting them to post-tenure evaluations and dismissal without due process of a hearing to demonstrate cause. The report also says the regents should have allowed the faculty and others to work with them on any changes. Many university system staff and faculty members were already alarmed at their perceived lack of physical protection from Covid transmission as the recent semester continued without USG mask mandates for students, staff or faculty.
So all of this brings up a prickly question: When is academic freedom and freedom of speech applicable and when is a faculty member an employee of the system? Can they be both? A legal scholar at the University of Florida weighs in on the topic and the questions to be considered. Do we want researchers to have the freedom to invent and research and discuss thoroughly all the possibilities of an idea to find new solutions? Or do we just want them to consider only what governing bodies allow? And if the governing bodies are appointed through a public process, do they accurately represent the people’s will? It’s a winding road, but one we need to ponder in a state that prides itself on the maintaining the quality of its higher education system.
Enjoy.
Georgia to expand personal finance education for high school students
Students will learn more about managing budgets, building credit, protecting against identity theft and understanding tax forms, student loan applications and pay stubs.
State audit finds high default rate on need-based student loan program
About 31% of borrowers participating in the Student Access Loan program default within 3 years of entering repayment, the Georgia Department of Audits & Accounts concluded in a report issued late last month.
Professors’ free speech rights can clash with public universities’ interest in managing their employees
Charges at University of Florida pit protections for free inquiry, debate against an institution’s desire to manage their operations.
Petitioners aim to force a vote on Spaceport Camden
Some residents don’t want the county saddled with the risk that accompanies the polluted site proposed for the spaceport.
Perdue claims he would not have signed off on 2020 election results
Kemp disputes former senator’s claim about requesting a special session and says he followed state laws on elections.
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