With additional reporting Allie McCullen, Special to Atlanta Progressive News (APN) ATLANTA — In 2016, Georgia voters will be asked whether to amend the state constitution “to allow the state to intervene in chronically failing public schools in order to improve student performance.” That’s the ballot language codified by SR 287, one of two pieces of legislation that […]
Read more
(APN) ATLANTA — The House Education Committee will soon decide whether to advance Gov. Nathan Deal’s controversial proposal to allow the state to take over and privatize struggling schools. At a hearing on Wednesday March 18, 2015, State Representatives and members of the public expressed both deep concern and some enthusiasm over the proposal, which, as Atlanta Progressive News […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — At the Monday, November 03, 2014 meeting of the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education, the Board voted nearly unanimously to recommend to the State of Georgia that the Atlanta Independent School System become a charter system. As previously reported by Atlanta Progressive News, becoming a charter system does not mean all APS schools would become charter […]
Read moreBy A. Scott Walton, Special to the Atlanta Progressive News (November 02, 2014) (APN) ATLANTA — The Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education (APS BOE) is set to on Monday, November 03, 2014, on whether to transition to a “charter system.” APS’s School System Operating Models and Flexibility Options Advisory Committee considered several options available to APS, and issued a […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — Former State Rep. Yasmin Neal (D-Jonesboro), who represented District 75 from 2011 to 2012, is currently running for State House District 74, a seat currently held by State Rep. Valencia Stovall (D-Ellenwood). Rep. Neal lost the District 75 seat in the 2012 election to erstwhile former State Rep. Mike Glanton (D-Jonesboro), who had previously served […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — In our continuing coverage of Georgia’s 2014 Primary Elections, Atlanta Progressive News interviewed Valarie Wilson, candidate for the Democratic nomination for State School Superintendent. Wilson brings to her candidacy over two decades of experience, both in the school system and in local municipalities. Wilson has worked over twenty years in public service, advocating for families and […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — Monday, March 03, 2014, was Crossover Day for the Georgia Legislature. This is the day by which any bills had to have passed either the State House or State Senate in order to still be alive for consideration in the other respective chamber this year. The following is a summary of the current status of […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — The fifth Georgia Moral Monday Movement Day at the Georgia State Capitol exposed what they described as the robbing of public education in Georgia. Over 7.6 billion dollars has been cut from the education budget over the last ten years. The cuts in Quality Basic Education (QBE) started in 2003 and have continued for thirteen years. […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — After Georgia voters in November 2012 approved of Amendment One, the ballot initiative to authorize the re-creation of the Georgia Charter Schools Commission (GCSC), members have now been appointed to the Commission and it has now re-commenced its work. An analysis of the newly appointed members of the GSCS by Atlanta Progressive News shows that […]
Read moreThis article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/02/alec-backed-laws-promote-controversial-charter-schools/ ATLANTA, Georgia, Feb 27 2013 (IPS) – The right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and private education management firms are pushing for new “parent trigger” laws in states across the U.S. by lobbying many Republican and some Democratic legislators to make it easier to convert more traditional public […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — HB 123, the Parent and Teacher Empowerment Act, also known as the Parent Trigger Act, is the latest effort by some, mostly Republican, legislators, to promote charter schools in Georgia and continue to undermine the public education system and public schools. The Act was introduced on January 28, 2013 by State Reps. Edward Lindsey (R-Atlanta), Brooks Coleman […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — A controversial ballot measure that would create a new State agency to approve of charter schools that are rejected by their local school boards and by the State Board of Education, was approved by Georgia voters during Tuesday’s General Election, with 58.57 percent in favor. However, as Atlanta Progressive News reported numerous times in depth, the ballot […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — Out-of-state corporate interests have spent millions of dollars to fund the campaign in favor of the constitutional amendment referendum related to charter schools that appears on the November 06, 2012 General Election ballot. Overall, some of the groups that have been in support of the amendment include Families for Better Public Schools, Georgia Parent Advocacy Network, Georgia […]
Read moreWith additional reporting by Matthew Charles Cardinale. (APN) ATLANTA — Georgia voters are currently being faced with a referendum on a possible constitutional amendment which claims as its goal to provide “for improving student achievement” by allowing a state-run commission to by-pass local school board decisions and State Board of Education decisions to approve charter schools that are not approved […]
Read moreWith additional reporting by Matthew Charles Cardinale. (APN) ATLANTA — During the November 06, 2012 General Election, Georgia voters will be presented with a referendum over whether to allow a Georgia Charter School Commission (GCSC) to override the decisions of local school boards to approve and create charter schools in Georgia. If approved, the Commission–which was found unconstitutional in a […]
Read more