At Tuesday's Eggs and Issues Breakfast held by the Chamber of Commerce, the Governor announced the release of the "Education Scoreboard" website by the Office of Student Achievement. The website will track student achievement and provide comparisons to the nation as a whole and the Southeast.

Arguably, the most important event this week was the announcement of the Governor's Budget Reports for the fiscal year 2009 budget and the fiscal year 2008 amended budget. Governor Perdue highlighted portions of his proposed budget during the annual State of the State address on Wednesday. Some items of interest to the afterschool community include: $14 million for afterschool care through the Department of Human Resources (level funding from last fiscal year); a new $14.25 million allocation for VIP (Very Important Parent) Recruiters in high-truancy schools across the state to engage parents in their children's education and help keep them in school; an additional $14.5 million allotment for graduation coaches in new middle and high schools; and an increased allocation of $6.4 million in lottery funds for Georgia's prek program for a total of 79,000 slots. The next stop for the budget is the House, with appropriations hearings scheduled for next week.