CHICKAMAUGA -- Georgia legislators will concentrate on nurturing the state’s future while cinching its budget belt when the General Assembly convenes next week, Gov. Sonny Perdue told a crowd Wednesday at Gordon Lee High School.

Perdue emphasized education, planting seeds for job growth, and state fiscal responsibility as the touchstones of his agenda for the 2004 legislative session.

Perdue stopped in Chickamauga on a 14-city tour through the state to kick off the session. Perdue said he wants residents to understand his agenda and to encourage them to share their issues with legislators.

He spoke to crowd of about 500, including students, area leaders and state dignitaries, in the school’s gymnasium.

Georgia ranks No. 2 in the nation in job creations, but prosperity does not trickle evenly across the state. Perdue said he wants all Georgia to share in that prosperity.

“Your future depends on how well we succeed at staying ahead of the pack” creating well-paying jobs and investing in cutting-edge technology, Perdue said.

He said he believes education will be crucial to help the state to develop a solid and competitive 21st-century economy.

“My number one priority are children and young people,” said Perdue, a grandfather of four.

The governor said he plans to launch legislation protecting children from those who prey on them and increasing teacher salaries by 2 percent, in addition to the 3-percent step increase.

Although Perdue asked state agencies to pare their budgets 2.5 percent, he has omitted education, children’s services and health care from some of those cuts as the state wrestles with increasing demands on a budget that remains “flat.”

“We’ve got to do more with less (money),” he said.

In an effort to help taxpayers get the best value, Perdue proposes amending the state constitution to bring it in line with the U.S. Constitution to open the state to a broader array of social services from faith-based providers, he said