ATLANTA --- Parents and young companies would get help from the state under two initiatives Gov. Sonny Perdue unveiled Tuesday.
To improve attendance, the 550 schools with the highest truancy rates would get extra staff to urge parents to get pupils to class.
The staffers, dubbed Very Important Parent recruiters, would help parents deal with school paperwork, stay connected with teachers and develop parenting skills.
Taxpayers would pay $14.25 million for the program.
"Focusing on critical involvement by parents and guardians is the next step in ensuring student success," Mr. Perdue told 2,000 executives at the annual Eggs and Issues breakfast.
Mr. Perdue also announced a Web site where the public can gauge pupil performance.
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and House Speaker Glenn Richardson also spoke at the Georgia Chamber of Commerce event, both touching on Monday's House overrides of 12 bills that Mr. Perdue vetoed last year.
Mr. Cagle urged legislators in the audience to keep their egos and politics from driving disputes between themselves and Mr. Perdue.
Mr. Richardson praised Mr. Perdue for sound management of the budget but said disagreement was a part of governing.
Mindful that he was speaking to a business audience, Mr. Perdue pulled the wraps off a state/private venture capital fund to invest in beginning companies that start in Georgia.
Taxpayers would put in $10 million to match $30 million in private funds, with the aim to keep promising startups from leaving the state to find investors.
Reach Walter Jones at (404) 589-8424 or walter.jones@morris.com.
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