Georgia education officials traveled abroad | www.myajc.com

Georgia Superintendent John Barge and his staff have traveled far and wide to cement exchange programs and get tips on how to implement the new career pathways program.

Barge said the trips have had tangible results — nearly 400 Georgia students have traveled to France and Germany over the past three years and about 650 students from Europe and Asia have come here to study. The pathways program has been implemented, with Georgia students choosing a career track they can follow throughout high school.

Barge said international experiences will help Georgia students be more competitive in an increasingly global job market.

“If our children are to be prepared for a global marketplace, we need to get them as experienced for that as we can,” Barge said.

Georgia taxpayers spent nearly $21,000 on overseas trips taken by Barge and members of his staff at the Georgia Department of Education over the past three years.

That figure does not include the cost for top Barge staffers to travel to France in late 2012, which The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in September. The newspaper then submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for records of all international travel undertaken so far by Barge and his staff during the three years he has served as superintendent.

Barge’s stewardship of the Georgia Department of Education is under increasing scrutiny now that he is running for governor.

Nancy Jester, the former DeKalb County School Board member who is running to succeed Barge as superintendent, said he should travel to locations closer to home.

“The taxpayers of Georgia would be better served if Dr. Barge and his staff took trips to Tennessee and Texas,” she said. “He should inquire about how those states have managed to produce graduation rates almost 20 points higher than Georgia’s while spending less per pupil.”

Tom Willis, who is managing the re-election campaign of Gov. Nathan Deal, said, “Voters will get the chance to give their opinions on whether Superintendent Barge’s international trips are a better use of tax dollars than students and classrooms.”

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