Public to get limited chance to comment before vote to remove ‘woke’ words from K-12 lesson plans

A Georgia board could soon debate whether teachers should be trained in concepts like diversity. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)

The Georgia Professional Standards Commission, a governor-appointed body whose roles include setting rules for Georgia’s teacher training programs, is set to meet Thursday afternoon to vote on a new batch of changes. But some educators say they have not had an opportunity to sound off on the latest proposal to remove so-called woke words from teachers’ lesson books.

“It is frustrating because they are asking anyone who wants to speak publicly to be in downtown Atlanta at 3:30 p.m. on a weekday, but this affects more than just people in the metro area, and this is not accessible to those people,” said Mikayla Arciaga, Georgia advocacy director and education policy fellows coordinator for the Intercultural Development Research Association.

Commission Program Director Anne Marie Fenton confirmed that commissioners will not be present at Thursday’s meeting, but those wanting to speak will need to be present in a downtown Atlanta board room.