We are pleased to offer this Annual Report, including the final data for the nineteen nineties, to the citizens of Georgia. We have worked hard to deliver results and feel this report reflects the continuing accomplishments of our business units. Technical colleges have set a new enrollment record every quarter for more than 35 consecutive quarters—with a total of almost 235,000 enrolled this fiscal year. More and more people are enrolling in English literacy programs—a 27 percent growth this fiscal year alone for the Office of Adult Literacy. Economic Development Programs served Georgia with record-breaking numbers and Quick Start trained more than 35,000 trainees in a record 279 projects. The Office of Public Libraries was transferred from this agency to the Board of Regents for FY 2001; while with DTAE, a number of technology initiatives and upgrades were added to the public library services and total holdings reached more than 15.7 million.

As a result of mandates included in Governor Barnes’ A+ Education Reform Act of 2000 (HB 1187), Georgia’s technical schools will take on an even more significant role in the future. One of the provisions that benefits DTAE is the change of the names of Georgia’s technical schools from technical institutes to technical colleges. Although the name changes began just after the close of Fiscal Year 2000 and continued for several months thereafter, the schools are referred to by their new names throughout this Fiscal Year 2000 Annual Report.