Rep. Porter Fails SAT Response Test

Democrats’ reaction shows lack of belief in Georgia’s students

ATLANTA – Today Governor Sonny Perdue issued the following response to House Minority Leader DuBose Porter’s statement yesterday regarding Georgia’s SAT scores:

“For more than 130 years, Democrats like DuBose Porter and his pessimistic friends presided over an educational system that was failing our students. Our graduation rates were dismal and our rankings on tests like the SAT were dead last.

“Representative Porter’s comments yesterday were disrespectful and insulting to Georgia teachers, administrators, parents, and most of all, our high school students, who have worked hard to improve their SAT scores over the last four years.  Specifically, his comment ‘I’m not surprised. This is exactly the result I was expecting…’ is indicative of his bigotry of low expectations and a culture of negativity among Democrats.  His reference to a ‘massive public relations campaign’ minimizes the hours, weeks and months of hard work and effort that Georgia teachers, students and parents have put forth to result in closing the gap with the national average.

“Today, four and a half years after I was elected, Georgia is steadily closing the gap on the SAT national average.  Since 2003 the gap between Georgia and the national average has shrunk by one-third, from a 42 point gap to only 28 points.  Georgia’s minority students are even outpacing their counterparts around the nation with higher scores in most areas of the test.

 “In terms of participation rates, Georgia public schools beat the national average by 20 percentage points.  Approximately 66 percent of public school students in Georgia take the SAT while an average of only 42 percent of public school students nationwide take the SAT. 

“Thanks to our high school and middle school graduation coaches, our graduation rates have increased by almost eight points.  Georgia teachers continue to be the highest paid in the Southeast.

“As I said yesterday, despite all our gains, I will not be satisfied with Georgia’s SAT scores or ranking until these indicators become a true reflection of the quality of education that is being provided to students in our state every day.”