State lags in bioscience education, report finds

By Walter C. Jones

Morris News Service

ATLANTA --- Georgia got a black eye on its first day holding a large biotechnology convention in which it hoped to make a good enough impression to attract some employers.

On Monday, the trade association holding the BIO 2009 convention, Biotechnology Industry Organization, released a report ranking every state's biology and general science education. It ranked Georgia and most other states from the Deep South as "lagging performance."

"The world isn't going to wait 20 years for states to catch up," said the report's principle author, Mitch Horowitz. "You have to catch up at lightning speed."

Though Georgia ranked below the national average in student performance on the standardized tests used in the analysis, the state did rank above average in some educational-resource categories. It received good marks for its 2006 update in statewide science curriculum and for seeking input from scientists in drafting it, and it was well above average in the percentage of science teachers who are certified in the subject.

The students graduating this month are the first from Georgia required to take biology, and more of them than the national average took Advanced Placement exams in the subject, even though a smaller percentage of them than the national average scored well on it.

Dana Tofig, the spokesman for Georgia Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox, said the student-performance grades were already known to the state's policymakers.

"We're aware. That's one of the reasons we changed the curriculum," he said. "It takes time for it to take hold."

Georgia's Department of Economic Development is holding receptions, exhibiting in a pavilion at the trade show and holding dozens of individual meetings during the convention. But Gov. Sonny Perdue is just one of eight governors, premiers of three Canadian provinces and ambassadors from five countries attending to compete for the high-paying jobs in the biotech field.

"Companies go, and companies grow, where there is a talented work force," said Tom Wiggans, the CEO of Peplin Inc. and one of the association's founders. He said among the first concerns of an executive deciding where to local a biotech company is the quality of the schools.

If Georgia has lagged in its K-12 education, it has tried to capitalize on its star universities. Mr. Perdue used the convention to announce the creation of what he called the country's first free, research database (georgiabiosciences.com/iResearch) combining the resources of eight public and private universities, including the University of Georgia, the Medical College of Georgia, Emory University, Morehouse School of Medicine and Georgia Tech.

Called iResearchGeorgia, the database is portrayed as a tool companies can use to grow if they locate in Georgia.