That's a wrap on The Randle Report for today. Feel free to use the sort buttons above or the search window to find your favorite stories from today, last week, last month or in the last year. If you are looking for more information on economic development in the South, click on the headline above to read Southern Business & Development magazine. If you want to keep up with the South's growing automotive industry, go to www.SouthernAutoCorridor.com.
Submitted 31 days ago

The Texas A&M fanbase is buzzing with excitement about the Aggies' upcoming debut in the Southeastern Conference. But in all the excitement, one enterprising Aggie fan appears to have overlooked a few key details about the SEC. Texas A&M fan apparel dealer Aggieland Outfitters created a t-shirt celebrating the school's move to the SEC displaying the line "We may be new to the conference but we aren't new to the game." Underneath the sentence, a map of what is intended to be the home states of the current SEC schools is displayed, with one inexplicable addition: North Carolina. EDITOR'S NOTE: This summer The Randle Report launches Randle Sports Report. The Birmingham News
Submitted 31 days ago

Monday marked the five-year anniversary of the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting that left 32 victims and the gunman dead. This year is the first time the school will not suspend classes in remembrance of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Provost Mark McNamee told the Associated Press that the return to classes reflects the lives of those killed. “Their passion for education, their desire to do good in the world, their commitment to their disciplines come through so strongly that we felt being in classes was one special way of remembering them onward,” McNamee said. Survivors and parents of students killed were afraid the memory of the massacre would fade over time, and so chose symbolic ways of remembering the tragedy. Time.com
Submitted 31 days ago

Many parents worry about how they’re going to pay for their children’s education even when their kids plan to attend public colleges. It doesn’t look like the struggle is going to get any easier. Reporting from today’s Georgia Board of Regents meeting, the AJC says Georgia college students would pay between $31 and $218 more per semester in tuition next fall under a proposal just approved. In addition, special fees that were due to sunset will continue. The Regents issued a preemptive press release already today that the tuition hike represents “the smallest tuition increase in a decade – 2.5 percent.” Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Submitted 31 days ago

After Kari Zimmer applied to Georgia Tech last year, she worried how she would pay for it. Zimmer has worked part-time jobs since she was 15 and knew her mother wouldn't be able to help with college. She assumed she'd take out loans and graduate tens of thousands of dollars in debt. Instead, she will graduate debt free. Atlanta Journal Constitution
Submitted 31 days ago

TALLAHASSEE - Only one thing is clear about what will happen Tuesday when Gov. Rick Scott signs the budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1: An increase in state funding for education will stand. The event at Cunningham Creek Elementary School in St. Johns marks the second time the governor has confronted the annual spending plan, which this time weighs in at a shade over $70 billion. It also comes after a much-touted overhaul of Scott's public image and relations with lawmakers in the wake of a rocky first session. The News-Press
Submitted 31 days ago

ATLANTA — At a time when legislators have been fretting over tight budgets, the state’s public colleges have engaged in a $3.6 billion building boom through a financing arrangement that skirts the usual safeguards in state government. The 20 projects begun in the last fiscal year alone added $566 million, and more are in the pipeline. The Board of Regents that oversees the 35 public colleges in the University System of Georgia has another project on its agenda for approval this week, the $21 million replacement of Bolton Dining Commons at the University of Georgia. Augusta Chronicle
Submitted 31 days ago

It’s a solution many school districts across the nation may turn to… implementing staff reductions in order to help reduce a budget deficit. Recently Cobb County announced that more than 3-hundred teachers could be laid off and a new redistricting plan could put some Atlanta teachers out of work. WABE’s Rose Scott reports on how these educators could find new jobs. Dr. Cindy Stephens says her department is being proactive in trying to help Georgia educators find jobs. “We’re going out, we’re identifying these folks whether they’re veteran teachers whether they are new teacher, we’re bringing them in to targeted job fairs and information sessions and we’re doing a lot of electronic work” says Stephens. PBA
Submitted 31 days ago

To meet 21st century business demands, Georgia must get more students into colleges, universities and technical schools, and make sure they graduate with skills that will help them, their families, and the state secure a prosperous future. This policy report examines lottery sales and HOPE benefits across Georgia’s 159 counties. The disparities between who spends the most on Georgia Lottery games and who benefits the most from HOPE are clear. GPBI
Submitted 31 days ago

FAYETTEVILLE — Some of the details surrounding the final week of Bobby Petrino’s tenure at Arkansas became a little clearer Thursday, when text messages still available on the coach’s university-issued cell phone were obtained through a Freedom of Information request. The exchanges with athletic director Jeff Long and others provided a peek at the coach’s apologies and concern while his job status was being reviewed. Most of the messages — which included only those sent to and from other athletic department employees — were between his motorcycle accident and firing on April 10. “Hey Jeff I’m just sitting around wondering what I should be doing??” Petrino said in one text message to Long on April 7, while he was on paid administrative leave. “I just want you to no (sic) how sorry I am that this all happened!!” Petrino revealed to Long on April 5 he had Jessica Dorrell, who he hired for a position in the football program, on the back of his motorcycle when he crashed. It was a detail he did not disclose when the accident occurred. Arkansas News Bureau. EDITOR'S NOTE: In July, The Randle Report will launch Randle Sports Report.
Submitted 32 days ago