ATLANTA – The Georgia Professional Standards Commission voted unanimously Thursday to delete “woke” words including “equity” and “inclusion” from the state’s teacher preparation rules.
Along with “diversity,” a word the commission voted last month to delete from the preparation standards, the changes were requested by the University System of Georgia to clarify expectations for incoming teachers, commission Chairman Brian Sirmans said. Such words have come to mean different things to different people in recent years and have made interpreting them difficult, Sirmans said he was told by university system officials.
The changes are not aimed at reducing educational opportunities for minority students in Georgia, Sirmans said before Thursday’s vote.
“We still expect to prepare educators who are well prepared to meet the needs of all of the students they encounter,” he said.
But teachers, parents and civil rights activists who spoke during a public comment period said deleting those words will leave incoming teachers unprepared for the diverse mix of students they will see in their classrooms.
“To blatantly remove all references to diversity, equity and inclusion is just horrible,” said Aireane Montgomery, president and CEO of Georgia Educators for Equity & Justice. “To erase diversity, equity and inclusion is to ignore and minimize marginalized communities.”
Jonathan Campos with the Intercultural Development Research Association compared the rules changes to “some of the darkest periods in history” when Hispanic children were not allowed to speak Spanish in school and it was illegal to teach enslaved children to read.
Other speakers argued the rules changes will strike a blow at the morale of minority teachers in Georgia and prompt many to leave the profession.
ATLANTA – More than $83.5 million in federal grants is going to support 118 pubic safety measures addressing staffing challenges that arose during the pandemic, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Thursday.
“With the increase in violent crime seen in communities across the country, including here in our state, we’re sending reinforcements to to keep hardworking Georgians and their neighborhoods safe,” Kemp said. “From tackling staffing needs to deploying new equipment and technology, these funds are being invested so that our brave first responders have the resources they need to fight back against dangerous criminals.”
Under the rules set up for the grant program, awarded funds will be used to supplement law enforcement staffing, support violent crime reduction, or community violence intervention initiatives. The money also can go toward investments in technology and equipment needed to address the rise in community violence resulting from the pandemic.
The largest grants – $1.65 million – went to the Athens-Clarke, Columbus, and Henry County police departments, the DeKalb County School District, and Georgia Piedmont Technical College.
ATLANTA – Georgia’s chief budget officer is leaving state government for an executive position at a Connecticut technology company.
Kelly Farr, director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget (OPB), will join ReFrame Solutions as chief strategy officer, the firm announced Wednesday.
Farr has been heading the OPB since 2019, appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp early in his first year in office. Before that, he held strategic business and technology positions at several companies including Lucent Technologies, PCC Technologies, and SAS Institute.
“We are thrilled to welcome Kelly to the executive team as our new chief strategy officer,” said Scott Schooley, ReFrame Solutions’ board chairman. “His extensive experience and industry acumen make him an ideal candidate to guide our company’s growth and future success.”
“I believe that ReFrame has tremendous potential for further growth and innovation, and I am excited to work alongside a talented team to shape the company’s strategic direction,” Farr added. “I look forward to leveraging my experience and expertise to drive initiatives that will propel ReFrame Solutions and our customers to new heights.”
Farr holds a bachelor’s degree in finance/economics from Augusta University.
ATLANTA – The voter registration rate in Georgia increased from 78% to 98% during the first four years of automatic voter registration, according a report released Wednesday by a nonpartisan nonprofit that promotes election integrity.
The Peach State implemented automatic voter registration in 2016 through state motor vehicles offices. Every time a Georgian updates his or her drivers license information, their voter record is also automatically updated.
The report from the Center for Election Innovation & Research (CEIR) also found that 97% of all Georgians have both a driver’s license and Social Security number associated with their voter registration record, boosting the accuracy of voter rolls that was questioned repeatedly by Republican conspiracy theorists after Democrat Joe Biden carried Georgia in the 2020 presidential election over GOP incumbent Donald Trump.
“We knew we were pretty good,” said Gabriel Sterling, chief operating officer for the Georgia secretary of state’s office, who appeared at numerous news conferences following the 2020 election to debunk accusations that the race was rigged. “This report proves we were pretty good.”
The report attributed the growth in Georgia’s voter registration rate to the ease of registering through the state Department of Driver Services (DDS). Most new registrations are occurring through DDS transactions, and they consistently account for more registrations than non-DDS sources.
The report also found that as the registration rate has increased, the registered population has become more representative of Georgia’s population. The gap between the overall population of younger voters and those who are registered to vote has grown much narrower.
The CEIR also reported a substantial decrease in the percentage of the voter rolls made up of inactive voters, which fell from an average of 14% during the 16 years before implementation of automatic voter registration to just 5% in 2020.
The voter registration rate peaked at 98% in 2020 before declining to 92% last year. CEIR founder David Becker attributed the decline to the COVID-19 pandemic, which reduced the number of Georgians going to DDS offices.
With the drive to register voters having proven successful, there’s also little room left to grow those numbers, Becker said.
“You’re really only capturing new residents, people who have moved into Georgia,” he said.
Sterling said automatic voter registration saves taxpayer dollars because automatic transactions are less expensive to process than paper registrations.
Becker said relying more on DDS offices to register voters also spreads out registration activity throughout the year rather than concentrating it during the busy election season, when elections officials are more likely to make mistakes.
“It cuts down on these voter challenges people are worried about,” Sterling said. “We don’t have to spend money and time on challenges.”
ATLANTA – A South Korea-based auto parts maker will build its first U.S. manufacturing plant in Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Wednesday.
Woory Industrial Co. will invest an estimated $18 million in a facility in Dublin that will create more than 130 jobs. The company specializes in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning components for both electric and internal combustion vehicles.
“We’re proud to welcome Woory Industrial as the latest job creator to help us on the path to becoming the e-mobility capital of the nation,” Kemp said. “This emerging industry continues to bring historic levels of new jobs and investment to communities all over the state, thanks to our highly skilled workforce and reliable infrastructure network.”
Unlike internal combustion engines, EVs do not have a heating source. As a result, heaters for electric vehicles are required for heating the cabin and maintaining the temperature of the battery. Pioneering development by Woory has made the company a leader in EV heating technology.
The company also is working to develop other new products for EVs as well as hydrogen-fueled vehicles.
“We are facing a revolution in the automobile industry for the first time in 100 years,” said Jungwoo Kim, Woory’s CEO. “The transition to electric vehicles is the future, and the U.S. EV market is the key market among all automobile markets.”
Woory will be hiring for positions from all fields necessary for an automotive parts plant. Interested individuals can learn more about employment opportunities at www.woory.com.
The Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Global Commerce team worked with the Dublin-Laurens County Development Authority, Georgia Power, and the Technical College System of Georgia’s Quick Start program to land the project.
The new plant is expected to begin operations in November.
