Education
Ga. lawmakers ponder adding poverty as factor in overhaul of state school funding formula
Mason Goodwin, a recent graduate of Atlanta Public Schools, told a Senate committee Friday that securing his diploma seemed to be more of a challenge for him than some of his classmates who live in different ZIP codes. Goodwin said he comes from a lower-income, single-parent family, and he was one of several Georgia Youth […]
Georgia state school superintendent candidates lay out visions for teacher retention, funding
The two candidates vying to lead Georgia’s public schools shared a stage Thursday to sound off on the top issues facing teachers and students at a forum sponsored by the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education. Incumbent Republican Superintendent Richard Woods listed his achievements over his eight years in office and pledged to build on […]
Rising costs deliver extra pain for back-to-school shoppers this year
Nearly all of Georgia’s public school students are back at their desks this week as the bell rings on a new school year. But dressing those kids and filling their desks with school supplies is putting more of a pinch on parents’ wallets than normal as inflation creeps into every aspect of American life, especially […]
Powerful state lawmakers to recalculate Georgia’s politically fraught school funding math
When Georgia lawmakers created the formula to pay for its public schools, President Ronald Reagan was celebrating the start of his second term, Purple Rain cassettes were flying off of the shelves, and children were monopolizing family TVs with their state-of-the-art Nintendo Entertainment Systems. The White House has changed occupants six times since then, and […]
Kemp grants more federal COVID relief cash for Georgia teachers to shop for supplies
MCDONOUGH – Georgia teachers will soon be heading back to their classrooms with some extra cash for supplies. Gov. Brian Kemp visited Ola High School in Henry County Friday to announce a $125 grant using his office’s share of COVID-19 federal relief funds for full-time public school teachers and staff members who provide instructional and […]
Democrats in Congress press Biden to extend pause on student loans
WASHINGTON — More than 100 congressional Democrats are urging the White House to extend the pause on student loan repayment beyond the Aug. 31 deadline. In a Thursday letter to President Joe Biden and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, U.S. Senate and House Democrats argue that due to inflation and an ongoing coronavirus pandemic, student loan borrowers […]
First Lady visits Athens summer learning program, plugs Biden administration COVID relief aid
ATHENS – First Lady Jill Biden came to Athens Thursday to promote a key educational piece of her husband’s American Rescue Plan. The first lady’s visit came hours after the White House announced President Joe Biden has contracted COVID-19. Jill Biden did not mention her husband’s diagnosis during her brief remarks, but at a previous […]
‘It’s not a religious service’: Are prayers after football games harmless?
The headlines blared and the news was treated as a thunderbolt, something cataclysmic. A ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court backed a Washington state high school football coach who had been fired for participating in a prayer with his team on the field at a public school. The Supreme Court’s conservative wing ruled the coach […]
Georgia teacher raises, anti-CRT law, needs-based college aid take effect in July
The calendar for 2022 is officially halfway complete, but for state officials, a new year is just beginning. July 1 starts a new fiscal year for the state of Georgia, bringing in a new budget and the effective date of laws passed earlier in the year, including many that will affect how Georgia public school […]
Shootings hot topic in Columbus during state’s school safety conference
COLUMBUS – The 2022 Georgia School Safety and Homeland Security Conference started like a normal work conference with handshakes and backslaps as more than 700 law enforcement officers and others who work in school safety gathered in a Columbus ballroom. But the mood quickly turned somber when two large screens at the front of the […]
This week’s primaries continued skid for GOP’s anti-CRT school board candidates
Voters in Cherokee and Coweta counties rejected three school board candidates backed by a right-wing federal PAC Tuesday, following similar losses in last month’s primary. It’s uncommon for political action committees to weigh in on local races, so voters were surprised to open up their mailboxes and find flyers from the 1776 Project PAC endorsing […]
Georgia teacher task force finds burnout from pandemic fatigue, micromanagement
Teachers across Georgia have been polishing up their resumes and hitting up job hunting sites. A survey from the Professional Association of Georgia Educators found about 31% of them said they are unlikely or highly unlikely to remain in the profession for another five years. Georgia is not the only state with a teacher retention […]