(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 — 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 — 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 — 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 — 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 more(APN) ATLANTA — On various occasions over the last few weeks, key political players at the local and state levels have been nudging Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education Chairman Khaatim El towards resignation; and a Board vote on a new Chairperson might be drawing close, Atlanta Progressive News has learned. According to one Board Member who attended a closed-door […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — The City Council of Atlanta voted Monday, May 02, 2011, to express their opposition to SB 79, which Republican Governor Nathan Deal has signed, and which gives Deal the power to recommend removal of the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education members. The resolution states that the Council is not supportive of the law and asks the […]
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