ATLANTA - The Southern Regional Education Board will partner with the
Southern Governors' Association (SGA) to undertake a regional effort to help
more Southern students complete high school ready for college and work.
The SGA received a $978,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to
support the work. SREB's Go Alliance will work with SGA to assist
Southern states prepare for and launch media outreach campaigns that motivate
all students to complete school at high levels of achievement. SREB established
the Go Alliance to help states share expensive media materials and run
more effective campaigns. The Go Alliance is supported by its member
states and is sponsored by the College Board and ACT Inc.
“Media outreach campaigns are an important way to attract the attention of
students and parents, inform them about high school graduation requirements and
the resources available to help them do what's necessary to graduate from high
school well-prepared for further education and work,” said SREB President Dave
Spence. “The SREB's Go Alliance has begun some of this critical work, and
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's support will allow us to add a new
dimension to these efforts.”
The project, called “Education in the South — A Passport to Opportunity,”
will help nine Southern states develop public education and media outreach
campaigns to motivate young people and their families to take the steps needed
to complete high school prepared for college, postsecondary training or work.
SGA and SREB will work together to select the grantee states. Incoming SGA
Chairman and SREB Chair Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco will spearhead the
project.
“Communication outreach efforts are critical to ensure that students and their
families know how to access state resources that make high school completion and
achievement a feasible objective,” said Governor Blanco. “We are thrilled that
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation recognizes the value of this program, and I
am happy to be able to bring the resources of the SGA, the SREB and its Go
Alliance program together to maximize our investments in improving educational
outcomes in the South.”
Nationally, according to the Manhattan Institute, one-third of all ninth-graders
and half of all minority youth do not graduate from high school. A 2005 report
prepared by SREB, called Getting Serious About High School Graduation, shows
that 11 of 16 SREB states have high school completion rates below the national
average.
“Through these public education campaigns, we can reach families with a critical
message — the economic and civic health of the region, and the nation, depends
on our ability to help all young people graduate from high school prepared for
the demands of college and work,” said Tom Vander Ark, executive director of
education for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “Governors in the South
clearly have the will to execute this critical effort, and now they will have
the tools to communicate this goal to the entire region.”
SGA's outgoing chairman, Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, commended Governor
Blanco for choosing student achievement as the focus of her chairmanship.
“Education is the cornerstone of a strong workforce and economy,” said Governor
Perdue. “Southern states must increase student achievement to remain global
competitors in the future.”
This new investment builds on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's overall
strategy to help improve high school graduation and college readiness rates
nationally. To date, the foundation has invested about $1 billion on efforts to
improve the nation's high school system, including supporting the creation of
more than 1,500 high-quality high schools in 40 states and the District of
Columbia.
The Southern Governors' Association is the oldest and traditionally the largest
of the regional governors associations. Its mission is to provide a bipartisan
forum to help shape and implement national policy and find solutions to state
and regional problems. In addition, the association promotes innovative programs
and practices, and provides policy information on pressing issues to its
members. SGA's membership covers Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto
Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia and West
Virginia.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (www.gatesfoundation.org) works to promote
greater equity in four areas: global health, education, public libraries, and
support for at-risk families in Washington state and Oregon. The Seattle-based
foundation joins local, national and international partners to ensure that
advances in these areas reach those who need them most. The foundation is led by
Bill Gates' father, William H. Gates Sr., and Patty Stonesifer.
The Southern Regional Education Board, headquartered in Atlanta, was created in
1948 by Southern governors and legislatures to help leaders in education and
government work cooperatively to advance education and improve the social and
economic life of the region. The SREB has 16 member states: Alabama, Arkansas,
Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North
Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West
Virginia. Each state is represented by its governor and four gubernatorial
appointees.
