Superintendent Candidates Address Teachers
The nominees for state school superintendent spoke at the second annual Georgia Education Leadership Institute Thursday. The event, held at Atlanta’s Marriott Marquis, offers informational sessions for teachers.
Hear the broadcast version of this story.
Each candidate addressed the group of educators separately. They didn’t debate each other.
Republican nominee Richard Woods, a former Irwin County educator, spoke first. Woods said his priorities include ensuring a fair teacher evaluation process; addressing math performance; and giving teachers plenty of flexibility.
“We have to make sure that with our children that they are the number one top priority, that we, as individuals working within education, that we personalize, not standardize education because each child is different,” he said.
Woods also said Georgia’s education budget has endured too many cuts. His opponent, Democrat Valarie Wilson, said that’s her biggest concern.
“I want to be your next state schools superintendent because I want to work on restoring that budget that we’ve seen devastated over the last 10-12 years,” Wilson said. “I think it’s important that we do that. I think it’s important that we recognize that we have not seen any increase in funding, if anything, we’ve seen a reduction.”
Gov. Nathan Deal added more than $500 million to this year’s education budget. But Wilson said it’s just a start. Wilson has served as president of the Georgia School Boards Association and is currently the executive director of the Atlanta BeltLine Partnership.
The event wraps up Friday. Republican Gov. Nathan Deal and his Democratic opponent state Sen. Jason Carter will speak in the morning.
9(MDAxODM0MDY4MDEyMTY4NDA3MzI3YjkzMw004))
Top Stories
