AJC Get Schooled

10/13/2026

The AJC has a new investigation that has found flaws in how the state of Georgia rates day care centers. The reporting determined the state allowed 350 daycares to keep their star ratings after they were cited for seriously harming children or putting them at risk in the past decade. Check it out: https://www.ajc.com/news/2026/10/georgia-daycare-rating-system-failures/

10/02/2026

NEW: Former Southern Co. CEO Thomas Fanning has been selected to become the University System of Georgia's next chancellor, succeeding Sonny Perdue.

09/17/2026

Patreece Hutcherson, the District 6 representative on the Atlanta Board of Education, writes about transparency in Atlanta’s tax allocation district extension discussions:

As an elected official, my main goal is to have transparency for our school district and constituents. We are losing our traditional schools, especially in our most underserved areas, because of false promises. People need to know that over $300 million per year is being spent on non-traditional schools that are not performing as well as, or in many cases, worse than our traditional public schools. The false promise that these alternatives are a better option in our underserved communities was a failed experiment. We do not need to pay non-traditional contracts to educate our children. Traditional educators are more than capable of educating our children. We do not need to pay other contractors to do a job that we are already doing ourselves.

What do you think? Tell us in the comments. ⬇️

09/17/2026

DeKalb County School District administrators are exploring options to deal with the district's student capacity issues.

It could take a more conservative approach by limiting attendance boundary changes, or take a more aggressive or innovative approach with solutions like converting a high school to a sixth-through-12th-grade campus. District officials are asking the community to continue weighing in as they work out the best way forward.

What do you think is the right approach? Tell us in the comments.

09/10/2026

OPINION: "The world changed when the first plane hit the twin towers. How do you explain that to a classroom of fourth graders?"

"As I look back and try to remember the details of that day, many of them are fuzzy," admits AJC education reporter Martha Dalton, who at the time was a fourth grade teacher. "But one thing that does stand out is that we all gave each other grace."

Read this full piece at the link in the comments. 👇

09/10/2026

Hi, everyone. Martha Dalton here. Long before I dove into the world of education reporting, I was an elementary school teacher. So, this year, as the 25th anniversary of 9/11 approaches, I wrote a first-person essay for the AJC about what it was like to teach on that day. Trying to process the information we knew (which wasn't much) and explain it to fourth graders was tricky. You're not sure you're getting it right, but we did the best we could.

Here's a gift link to the piece:

09/08/2026

Private schools that target aid for minority students could lose their tax-exempt status, according to new rules proposed by the U.S. Treasury Department last week.

“Schools rebranding race-based preferences as equitable, inclusive, or diversity-enhancing does not change their discriminatory nature,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

The rules would apply to admissions policies and financial aid. Federal law grants tax-exempt status to organizations that operate exclusively for educational purposes.

UNG professor and president of the Georgia chapter of the American Association of University Professors said he expects educational organizations to sue to stop what he called an “attack on higher education.”

“The impact would kneecap thousands of schools, deter millions of students, and likely gut donations to those places," he said. "This is the anti-woke defunding higher education as promised by Trump.”

Read more here: 👉 https://tinyurl.com/4krjrem6
And tell us what you think in the comments. 👇

Georgia colleges and private schools could lose tax-exempt status under proposed Trump administration rules targeting race-based admissions and aid.

09/02/2026

OPINION: We all recognize it is the political season, but on matters of national security, the American people deserve honesty, not partisan theater from their elected officials, writes Rep. Austin Scott.

08/27/2026

The Atlanta school board will cast the deciding vote on Mayor Andre Dickens' neighborhood reinvestment plan. The proposal involves extending the life of so-called "Tax Allocation Districts," and forgoing billions of dollars over three decades. The money would be invested in neighborhood projects, such as parks and possibly new grocery stores.

Two of three governing bodies - the school board, the Fulton County Commission and Atlanta City Council - need to ok the plan for it to move forward. The city council approved it, but Fulton commissioners said "no." That makes the school board the mayor's last hope.

Read more here:👉 https://tinyurl.com/jvcykk89

Let us know what you think about the mayor's plan in the comments below. 👇

The Atlanta Board of Education will cast the deciding vote on Mayor Dickens’ idea to extend taxing districts, sacrificing revenue for revitalization. They are in no hurry.

08/27/2026

Georgia frequently ranks around the national average or in the middle nationally in many key educational benchmarks. Staff writer Cassidy Alexander dug into the numbers and talked to experts and leaders in an article that is now on our website. We'd love to hear from you about what is something you think could help Georgia improve its standing nationally. https://www.ajc.com/education/2026/08/georgia-education-system-is-average-is-that-progress-or-a-problem/