Articles

Cherokee Puts Brakes On Driver Ed

Kathy Wagstaff, AJC Staff
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
June 16, 2002

One of the last school-sponsored driver education programs in metro Atlanta appears about to end.

Cherokee County schools already has transferred its driver-training teachers to other positions. The last step in killing the $400,000 program will come when the county school board approves its budget in August. It is not funded in the budget draft that will be presented to the school board June 26.

"It's one of the worst things Cherokee County has ever done," said Sherrie Robbins, whose two teenage boys took the school-sponsored classes. "I understand about the budget cuts. But it shouldn't be driver's ed. It ought to be offered in every school. What do we have the lottery for?"

The proposed cut, recommended by Superintendent Frank Petruzielo, comes as the school board struggles to avoid a tax millage increase in a budget that is likely to be higher than this year's $268 million.

"We didn't lay off any teachers," said Petruzielo. "This was just one of several cuts to make up for lost state revenues."

His budget proposal also eliminates permanent substitute teachers and aides in kindergarten classrooms.

But cutting driver ed probably will draw the greatest ire.

"It's ridiculous," said Cristen Smith, a 16-year-old Etowah High School student who passed her driving test last week. "Don't they realize taking it away is going to cause more wrecks?"

Last year, Cherokee County recorded five teenage deaths in automobile accidents, the fifth-highest number in the state. Gwinnett County was highest, with 11.

The school-sponsored programs are being cut as the Legislature is requiring more training for new drivers. Teens now must take 20 hours of professional training or document 40 hours of instruction from a parent or guardian.

Four teachers and five paraprofessionals taught driver education to about 600 students annually at Cherokee's four high schools, said instructor Bryan Fore, who in August will begin teaching health at Sequoyah High.

"If Mississippi and Alabama can support driver's education programs, I don't see why Georgia can't," said Fore, who is teaching his last classes in the district's summer school program.

The state used to provide discretionary funds that many districts used for driver education. But as budgets tightened in the early '90s, much of that money dried up.

Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor, who backed the teen driving bill that stiffened training requirements, said he hopes to see state funds for teen driving programs in the future.

"Hopefully state support will return," said Taylor. "Hopefully, school-sponsored programs will return."

Georgia does offer a $150 state tax credit for professional driving instruction courses.

DeKalb County, among metro districts, is the only school system that retains a conventional district-funded driver ed program. Some districts, such as Hall, use driving simulators. Other districts charge tuition for the classes offered in community schools programs.

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