(APN) ATLANTA — Brian Westlake, a high school teacher who ran in 2010 for the Democratic nomination for Georgia School Superintendent, is challenging State Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur) for the House District 82 seat. Westlake, who is an advocate for public education, takes issue with State Rep. Oliver’s support of Gov. Nathan Deal’s proposed Opportunity School District (OSD), […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — Teachers, students, parents, and community members packed the Atlanta Public School Board of Education (APS BOE) meeting on Monday, February 01, 2016 to voice opposition to Superintendent Meria Carstarphen’s recently announced school turnaround strategy. The strategy aims to improve schools that Gov. Nathan Deal has deemed “failing,” so that they would not be subject to state […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — Merit pay for teachers, contract workers, minimum wage, and sick leave are all issues that labor groups will be working on during 2016 while the legislature is in session. Mayor of Clarkston Ted Terry, who also serves as the State Campaign Director of Georgia chapter of the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), spoke […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — With controversial changes to public education coming down Georgia’s legislative pipeline, parents and teachers are ramping up their organizing efforts, among them three Atlanta women who recently launched a new group called Public Education Matters Georgia (PEMG). Former Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education Member Cecily Harsch-Kinnane (District 3), Janet Kishbaugh, and Carolyn Wood have been […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — Georgia State Senator Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta) has announced new legislation to prevent unethical arrangements like Erin Hames’s recent deal with Atlanta Public Schools. As Atlanta Progressive News previously reported, Hames was Gov. Nathan Deal’s education policy advisor until she left her post to work as a consultant for schools that face the possibility of state takeover […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — On August 28, 2014 Georgia Stand Up hosted an education town hall attended by some members of the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education, including Leslie Grant (District 1), Byron Amos (District 2), Matt Westmoreland (District 3), and Chairman Courtney English (Seat 7-at-large). The public pressed Board Members to take a clear stance on Gov. Nathan […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — On Monday, August 10, 2015, the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education (APS BOE) voted to hire Gov. Nathan Deal’s soon-to-depart policy advisor, Erin Hames, as a consultant to help prevent a state takeover of schools in the district, a likelihood presented by the legislation of which Hames herself was an architect. In crafting legislation that […]
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With additional reporting by Anna Simonton and Matthew Charles Cardinale. Photograph by Steve Eberhardt. (APN) ATLANTA — The Georgia General Assembly wrapped up the 2015 legislative session on Thursday, April 02, 2015. There were a few progressive highlights in the majority-Republican Legislature, including a solar power lease agreement bill; a limited medical cannabis bill; and more flexibility for MARTA […]
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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 […]
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(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 […]
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With additional reporting by Matthew Charles Cardinale (APN) ATLANTA — On Thursday, March 05, 2015, the full State Senate voted to engross SB 129, the controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Bill, in a vote of 38 yeas to 17 nays. The bill passed the Senate in a vote of 37 to 15. Engrossment means that the bill cannot be changed; […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — One week after Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, a Republican, unveiled a proposal to enable state takeovers and privatization of struggling schools, State Senate Democrats have put forth an alternative plan they say addresses the root causes of failure in the education system. At a press conference on February 17, 2014, the Senate Democratic Caucus introduced the […]
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