Georgia governor approves $468 million for new classrooms

When Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes stepped out of the Pine Ridge Elementary School building and into the adjoining trailer city, he knew he was in the right place to sign his bill that allocates $468 million for new public school classrooms. He walked between neatly divided rows of portable classrooms and into a crowded trailer that is far enough away from the main building to cause students to lose valuable class time when they go to lunch or the bathroom. most of the $468 million is slated to pay for the more than 6,000 classrooms needed because of reforms that mandate lower teacher-pupil ratios. Only about $100 million of the $468 million will be available to schools like Pine Ridge to pay for growth, although the General Assembly allocated another $200 million in next year's budget for construction needs.