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Opinion: Georgia won’t improve its schools until it stops teacher blame game
Tim Mullen has taught seventh grade life science in Gwinnett County Public Schools for 24 years and is the author of the book, “Stop Blaming and Start Talking: Developing a Dialogue for Getting Public...
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A kinder, gentler Opportunity School District? Maybe, but it’s still...
After the stinging defeat of the Opportunity School District in November, lawmakers are now attempting to achieve with legislation what voters would not allow through the ballot. House Bill 338 could...
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Lawmakers depict campuses as dangerous and in need of guns. Crime reports...
I continue to be amazed by the exaggeration of crime on our public colleges and universities by state lawmakers trying once again to overrule common sense and University System policy by forcing guns...
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Student survivor of sexual assault: Legislators dismiss and demean us. But we...
A survivor of sexual assault explains why she opposes House Bill 51 and why all Georgians should join her. In this video, law student Grace Starling shares her experience and her reasons for fighting...
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Governor applauds House for passing milder version of his Opportunity School...
The House passed House Bill 338 this morning, a milder version of the Opportunity School District in which struggling schools are more akin to partners in state takeover rather than victims of it....
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House Bill 425: Should Georgia parents decide which tests their kids take and...
Short and simple, House Bill 425 seems straightforward, but it could create complex problems for school districts with its opt-out protections and its push for pencil and paper testing alternatives....
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Betsy DeVos says vouchers offer opportunity. But would Georgia students see...
A month into the job, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos continues to push the school choice agenda to which she has long devoted her time and fortune. Last week, she attempted to portray...
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Army Generals: Child care should be priority for Georgia, as it is for military
Two retired U.S. Army generals from Atlanta and Fayetteville write today on the importance of early care and education for our future national security. The Defense Department recently called its child...
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Opinion: Legislature targets failing schools when it should focus on...
In this column, Mark Elgart says the Georgia Legislature misses the mark with House Bill 338, which focuses its attention at the school level rather than the student level. And the disagreements about...
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Lawmakers shoot down option of electing school superintendents to slow...
The House Education Committee rebuffed a Senate-led initiative Thursday to give Georgia counties the option to elect their local school superintendents who are now appointed by school boards. Senate...
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How often has campus carry staved off attacks in states that allow guns on...
I have two high school seniors likely to end up at public campuses in Georgia next year, one at the University of Georgia and one at Georgia Tech. Despite polls showing the majority of Georgians oppose...
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Opportunity School District Lite bill: Is it about governor saving face or...
House Bill 338 creates a new, high-level education leader — a chief turnaround officer or CTO — tasked with improving Georgia’s lowest performing schools. Unlike Gov. Nathan Deal’s Opportunity School...
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Opinion: Time is running out in Legislature for fairer funding of charter...
Matthew L. Evans serves as the manager of advocacy & community engagement for KIPP Metro Atlanta Schools. In this guest column, he maintains charter school funding falls short in Georgia and urges...
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Legislature advances OSD-lite bill and more tax credits for private school...
In its countdown mode, the Legislature advanced several education bills Monday, although few will likely engender meaningful reform. The General Assembly’s machinations tend to tweak at the edges,...
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Opinion: Three bills in Legislature endanger Georgia’s colleges and universities
UPDATE: The Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously late Thursday to table HB 51, the campus rape bill referenced in this essay. In this column, state Rep. David Dreyer, D-Atlanta, says three...
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Why is Georgia Legislature so intent on arming college students with guns?
Why does the Legislature keep pushing guns on Georgia college campuses? Polls repeatedly show students, parents and university officials don’t want armed 21-year-olds on the state’s public campuses. To...
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Opinion: Senate listened to student survivors of sexual assault; House mocked...
Sexual assault survivor and law student Grace Starling helped lead the fight against state Rep. Earl Ehrhart’s campus rape bill, which passed the House but failed to advance in a wary Senate. Starling...
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Legislation allowing guns on campus passes Senate. Could a veto be looming if...
The Georgia Senate passed the campus carry bill today, keeping the controversial measure alive in these last days of the Legislature. House Bill 280 permits anyone with a concealed weapons permit to...
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Back from the dead and in new form, campus rape bill lives another day....
The Legislature produces its own version of “The Walking Dead,” legislation that appears lifeless yet manages to climb out of its coffin amid horrifying screams, “It’s alive! It’s alive!” The...
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DeVos contends giving students choice is solution. How about giving them...
In her first eight weeks as U.S. secretary of education, Betsy DeVos has aggressively preached the gospel of school choice, commending vouchers, tax credit scholarships and charter schools at every...
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