Georgia’s schoolchildren need to be on a path to education that leads to good jobs, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle told the Seven Hills Rotary Club today during their luncheon at the Coosa Country Club after a ribbon cutting ceremony that officially opened the new Floyd County College and Career Academy today.
Cagle, along with Floyd County schools superintendent Lynn Plunkett and Pete McDonald, opened the academy after two years of work and $3.2 million in funds received from the state to help with its construction.
“The (Floyd County College and) Career Academy affords that opportunity,” Cagle said.
According to Cagle, other career academies in the state have a 98 percent graduation rate and a 100 percent job placement rate after graduation.
“In Georgia, we lead the nation in workforce development.”
Schools weren’t the only thing on Cagle’s agenda during his speech to the Seven Hills Rotary. Another priority for Georgia that also helps create jobs, as well as sustain our existence, is water, Cagle told the Rotarians. He said that contrary to some opinion, Georgia’s water problems did not stem from unbridled growth. Citing Georgia’s annual rainfall (in non-drought years), Cagle said, “That’s 50 trillion gallons that fall from the sky. We use 1.2 trillion gallons.
“We need to capture more of it and use it responsibly to take care of our needs.”
He called concern for protecting endangered species instead of human needs “inexcusable.”
The first priority for the rainfall that falls on the state is Georgia, Cagle said, and the second priority is downstream users. That could change today after a judge ruled that he will be taking up the issue on whether the federally-owned Lake Lanier can continue to be used as a large source of Atlanta’s drinking water.
Cagle also addressed health care concerns in the state, citing the 1.7 million uninsured Georgians, and the additional $1,000 per family in health-insurance premium costs.
The uninsured often go to emergency rooms for health care, where, Cagle said, it costs $1,400 to treat a cold, compared to perhaps $100 for a visit to a personal physician.
“We need a safety-net clinic and triage them out of high-cost care,” he said.
Traffic congestion in Atlanta is the second worst in the nation, and that has a negative economic impact on the state, Cagle said.
The state Department of Transportation needs to be more efficient, he said. “They’ve got good people there, but it’s inefficient.” Georgia needs a statewide plan that includes not only new roads, but rail alternatives.
He said Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and the Port of Savannah make Georgia the most attractive state in the region to foreign companies looking to do business here.
Cagle talked about spending cuts forced by the state’s projected $1.6 billion revenue shortfall. “It’s going to be painful, but it’s no different from what the private sector faces every day.”
But he said he’s opposed to freezing the homeowner tax relief grant, which equates to $4.6 million for Rome and Floyd County government and schools.
Click here for a story about the groundbreaking of the Floyd County College and Career Academy.
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