May 24, 2013
It’s Friday!
Have you shared the Friday Facts with your friends and colleagues yet? Invite them to sign up on our home page for their own copy!
Quotes of Note
“We cannot continue to bombard the people in Washington, telling them they need to cut spending, they need to reduce the burden on taxpayers in this country by reducing their expenditures, and then when something like sequestration occurs, be the first to complain we’re not receiving as much federal money.” – Nathan Deal, Georgia governor
“The story of America’s quest for freedom is inscribed on her history in the blood of her patriots.” – Randy Vader
Events
June 6: Michael B. Horn, co-founder and executive director of the education practice at the Clayton Christensen Institute, keynotes the Foundation’s June 6 Leadership Breakfast, “Customize The Class.” 8 a.m. at Cobb County’s Georgian Club. Horn will share how innovation can disrupt the factory-based education system and transform learning into a student-centric approach where all students can achieve their full potential. ($25.) Register at http://tinyurl.com/7ldaqnk.
July 11: Education expert Jay Greene will be the keynote speaker at the Foundation’s annual Friedman Legacy for Freedom Day, which will be marked with a noon Policy Briefing Luncheon at the Athens Country Club. ($30.) Find out more at http://tinyurl.com/nz9at52; register at http://tinyurl.com/ojcs5fp.
Opportunity
Got students? The Foundation’s Student Outreach Scholarship (SOS) Program uses supporters’ tax-deductible contributions to cover the charge for qualified students to attend events, giving them an opportunity to hear national speakers on free-market ideas and to network with Georgia’s business, community and political leaders. Find out how to apply to attend events or to contribute to the Program at https://live-gppf.pantheonsite.io/?p=9167.
Education
By the numbers:
$10,821: Georgia’s K-12 education revenues per student for Fiscal Year 2011, 37th highest among the states and higher than all our neighbors except South Carolina.
10th: Georgia’s rank among the states for K-12 education revenues as a percentage of personal income, which does a better job of adjusting for cost of living differences among the states. Source: U.S. Census Bureau
There are two basic types of innovations: those that sustain the status quo and those that disrupt it. But “hybrids” often emerge as a prelude to pure disruption in the category of a sustaining innovation, the Clayton Christensen Institute notes in a new study. Using a combination of both old and new technologies, hybrids are evident in a number of industries: cars that use both electric power and gasoline; banks with branches and online services; and retail stores with Web sites. Hybrids are also apparent in K–12 blended learning, and the new study classifies the models of blended learning and outlines the implications for education leaders. (Study co-author Michael Horn is the Foundation’s June 6 Leadership Breakfast keynote speaker.)
“The kind of disruption that the higher education industry has been expecting” and “a sonic boom rattling the windows in the offices of college administrators across the country” is how Forbes magazine describes Georgia Tech’s announcement of a $7,000 online graduate degree in computer science, a degree that would normally cost approximately $40,000.
Economy
When is a stimulus not a stimulus? In 2009, the federal government’s $831 billion stimulus package was put into place to stimulate the economy and increase spending in the economy. Economics Professor Andrew T. Young, argues, however that each dollar of stimulus increases total spending in the economy by less than one dollar, which means that the economic benefit associated with the stimulus is less than the stimulus itself. Source: Cato Institute
Georgia ranks eighth in the American Legislative Exchange Council’s sixth annual economic competitiveness index, “Rich States, Poor States,” ahead of all other states in the Southeast.
By the numbers:
81,405 pages added to the Federal Register in 2010, a record amount.
78,961 pages added in 2012.
$14,768: estimated cost of regulations per household, which would be the second largest item in the typical family budget after housing. Source: Wall Street Journal
Social media
The Foundation’s Facebook page has more than 2,050 “likes” at facebook.com/GeorgiaPolicy and 970 Twitter followers at twitter.com/gppf. There’s a new Facebook page to like: The Foundation’s SOS Scholarship Page at facebook.com/GeorgiaPolicySOSProgram.
YouTube: Governor Nathan Deal’s policy staff met with community representatives this week in Atlanta. Go to the Foundation’s YouTube channel to view videos about Medicaid the state’s anti-obesity campaign for children; the school-to-prison pipeline focus in justice reform and online access to student academic records for teachers and families. Matchbook Learning’s CEO and founder, Sajan George, was the keynote speaker this week at the Leadership Breakfast. George, an Atlanta resident, shared Matchbook’s school turnaround successes;. view his speech on the YouTube channel. Kelly McCutchen discusses education innovation and announced upcoming events. Subscribe to the channel to make the best use of our resources: http://tinyurl.com/agkm5h5.
This Week in The Forum: Georgia, ranked eighth in ALEC’s “Rich States, Poor States” report, has not improved in five years. The report’s co-authors, Stephen Moore and Jonathan Williams, share their views with Foundation Editor Mike Klein on what the state could do to improve its competitiveness. In “Checking Up on Health,” Benita Dodd’s roundup focuses on higher premiums for young adults, the activist backlash against small businesses, a lawsuit alleging the IRS overstepped its boundaries, how ObamaCare is penalizing part-time professors, and more. Find these and other posts in The Forum, the Foundation’s blog, at georgiapolicy.org/category/the-forum/.
Visit www.georgiapolicy.org to read our latest commentary, “School Year Report Card: Room for Improvement,” by Eric Wearne.
Have a great Memorial Day weekend.
Kelly McCutchen and Benita Dodd
FRIDAY FACTS is made possible by the generosity of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation’s donors. If you enjoy the FRIDAY FACTS, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to help advance our important mission by clicking here. Visit our Web site at www.georgiapolicy.org. Join The Forum at http://forum.georgiapolicy.org/. Become a fan of the Foundation on Facebook and follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/gppf.