Secret Service investigating threats against Obama

The US Secret Service is investigating reports that high school students in western Georgia posted threatening entries against President-Elect Barack Obama.

The Facebook group is called Not My President. Some of its nearly 400 members attend Columbus High School.

A number of them allegedly made racist and possibly threatening comments against Obama.

Valarie Fuller of The Muscogee County School District:

"There's one thing to have freedom of speech. But there's a whole other thing when you start making threats against president elect – or against anybody. And I think that has to be taken seriously, and under no circumstance will that be tolerated in the school district per se, as far as making threats on anybody here. But like I said, when you have the Secret Service investigating – that's a pretty serious matter."

Fuller says that the school district and the police also investigate such reports.

The principal of Columbus High School refused to comment on the report or the ongoing investigation.

Click here for more GPB News coverage about Barack Obama.

Muscogee Co. schools win state awards

Four schools in the Muscogee County School District recently received honors from the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement as Single Statewide Accountability System (SSAS) institutions. They are:

• Britt David Elementary Magnet Academy - Platinum
• Columbus High School - Platinum
• Mathews Elementary - Bronze
• Gentian Elementary - silver: "Greatest Gain Winner."
  

Awards are presented to schools that show excellence in student achievement and/or progress in student achievement, according to a release by the school district. More information is available here: http://www.gaosa.org/

Click here for more GPB coverage of educational affairs.

Columbus school tops state list

Georgia's No. 1 elementary school is Britt David Magnet Academy, according to the 2007 Report Card for parents, published by the Georgia Public Policy Foundation.

Britt David topped a list of 1,176 grade schools statewide, while Columbus High School came in third place out of 369 public high schools. Columbus's Midland Middle School came in at 89th place, the report says.

Many Columbus schools rated below median levels, according to report, which appears in the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer.