2016 looks good, but there are concerns

Friday, the economic gods climbed down from on high to give their predictions for the state's economic outlook for 2016. These gods had names: Benjamin C. Ayers, dean of the University of Georgia's Terry School of Business; and Antonio Saravia, director of the BB&T Center for Undergraduate Research in Public Policy and Capitalism at Mercer University.

For the most part, their forecasts looked good. The percentage increase of personal income should be higher than the national average increase, and job growth is rising with several companies moving to the Peach State or expanding their businesses here. Housing starts -- with that industry's ancillary benefits -- are climbing, and the housing market is recovering. While people aren't moving to the state in the numbers seen in the 1990s and early 2000s, the net migration is on its way back up after a period when the state lost population.

But all is not peaches and cream. Federal spending is going to be down as Fort Benning and Fort Stewart shed 4,400 active duty soldiers and an unknown number of civilian personnel. The Federal Reserve also has decided to start increasing short-term interest rates and according to the economists, Georgia is more sensitive to the Fed's move than other states.

However, the hurdle that could keep the state from moving forward in 2016 and beyond is K-12 education. Ayers quoted data from the National Center for Education Statistics which placed Georgia eighth-graders 40th in the nation in math, 34th in reading and 28th in science. "Ultimately," Ayers said, "any failure in educating our children will have an impact on the relative standard of living in our state."

It is that thought that lawmakers should keep in mind when they try to slice and dice the K-12 education budget. If they cut funding for education, they do so at their own peril and that of the future of the great state of Georgia.

This story was originally published January 16, 2016 at 9:43 PM with the headline "2016 looks good, but there are concerns ."