Southeast

Georgia Gov. Kemp proposes $11.3M to overhaul literacy education

Published

2 years ago

January 19, 2024

Georgia Gov. Kemp proposes .3M to overhaul literacy education

Georgia education officials want to provide literacy coaches to help train teachers to improve reading instruction, even as some prominent lawmakers say the state Department of Education isn’t doing enough to implement a literacy law passed last year.

Georgia’s effort to help children read better is one example of many nationwide as the “science of reading” shakes up teaching and learning. For example, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is pushing to retrain teachers and revamp what children learn there, proposing $10 million to support the effort.

Georgia is a relative latecomer to literacy reform, with legislators passing a law last year mandating that each district must retrain teachers by August 2025. The law is modeled on a decade-long Mississippi effort that saw that state sharply improve what had been bottom-tier reading scores. Mississippi modeled its effort on Florida.

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A majority of Georgia’s young students are behind in reading. The 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress found 32% of fourth graders were proficient in reading, about the same as nationwide. State Superintendent Richard Woods prefers a different measure, which finds just more than 40% of third-grade students are ready. That number shows improvement later, with 60% of students ready by eighth grade.

In his budget proposed Thursday, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp included $11.3 million for literacy efforts, including $6.2 million for literacy coaches and more than $5 million for a screening test to detect dyslexia and other problems as early as kindergarten. The money, recommended by Woods, would be the first significant state spending on the law.

Most experts now agree effective teaching should include detailed instruction on the building blocks of reading, including letter sounds and how to combine them into words. But Georgia’s 181 school districts have broad autonomy to chart their own course. Some districts have long followed favored methods, while others have more recently adopted them, fueled in part by kids who lost ground during the pandemic.

An Atlanta student uses a bookmark to follow along as they read during an after-school literacy program on April 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Slitz, File)

Because the Georgia Department of Education doesn’t closely track what schools are teaching, it’s possible some districts haven’t even gotten started. A survey by the Sandra Dunagan Deal Center for Early Language and Literacy could help answer that question by spring.

Some lawmakers say Woods, an elected Republican, isn’t doing enough.

“I would love to see the Department of Education embrace and champion the plan for literacy that’s been pushed by the literacy council and by the legislature,” Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Blake Tillery, a Vidalia Republican, told The Associated Press. “I don’t feel that they’re ready and there on that.”

For example, lawmakers are displeased that the state Board of Education, at Woods’ recommendation, approved 16 different screening tests in July. The Deal Center later evaluated three of those screeners as weak, and lawmakers said in a December hearing that so many screeners will make it impossible to compare districts. The state is also developing its own screener that will be provided free of charge to districts.

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Woods touts online training classes that the department is providing through the Rollins Center for Language & Literacy, noting 600 teachers have enrolled.

“One of the things we’re trying to focus on is providing our teachers with the resources and support that they need to become effective reading teachers within the classroom,” Woods told reporters this month at a Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education meeting.

But Georgia has more than 27,000 K-3 teachers. Mississippi, by contrast, retrained all existing teachers over two summers. Such an effort could cost Georgia more than $60 million, the state estimated last year.

And the coaching money won’t reach most teachers directly. Instead it will go toward hiring 32 regional coaches and paying stipends to school district personnel who lead literacy efforts.

Coaching is seen as essential because it helps teachers put learning into practice.

“The research shows just going to workshops, just hearing talks and participating in webinars, that’s unlikely to change behavior,” said Lindee Morgan, executive director of the Deal Center.

A recent survey by the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement found 58% of 149 districts already employ at least one literacy coach, with more than 500 working statewide. But Morgan said it’s unclear what those coaches are doing.

“Have they been trained in structured literacy?” she asked. “Have they been trained in effective coaching strategies?”

Matt Jones, Woods’ chief of staff, said the regional coaches are intended to bring “consistency and standardization” to coaching methods. He said the department may later seek to hire coaches to send directly into schools.

But some lawmakers could try to legislate a more aggressive approach this year.

“The legislature is yelling ‘Literacy is the most important thing,’” Tillery said in December.

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Southeast

Dem governor under fire after illegal alien allegedly stabs woman to death at bus stop: ‘Heinous’

Published

12 hours ago

February 28, 2026

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Dem governor under fire after illegal alien allegedly stabs woman to death at bus stop: ‘Heinous’

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EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Homeland Security is calling on Virginia’s Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger to ensure local law enforcement cooperates with federal immigration officials by handing over an illegal immigrant with a lengthy criminal record who allegedly killed a woman earlier this week at a Virginia bus stop.

Police in Fairfax County, Virginia, arrested an illegal immigrant from Sierra Leone earlier this week on charges of second-degree murder after he allegedly fatally stabbed a woman, Stephanie Minter, 41, who was found dead at a local bus stop with several wounds to the upper body.

The alleged suspect, Abdul Jalloh, 32, also has a criminal history of more than 30 arrests, according to DHS, including for rape, malicious wounding, assault, identity theft, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, assault and pick-pocketing.

The request from the Trump administration comes after the newly elected Democratic governor of Virginia signed an executive order to end cooperation between federal immigration officials and state and local law enforcement, a move several Democratic Party governors have taken recently amid President Donald Trump’s move to increase deportation operations around the country.

The DHS request asking Virginia officials to cooperate with ICE also comes after an illegal immigrant allegedly murdered someone just days after being released from jail for a separate crime in December.

Abdul Jalloh, 32, and Gov. Abigail Spanberger (Department of Homeland Security/Getty Images)

“We are calling on Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger and Virginia’s sanctuary politicians to commit to not releasing this murderer and violent career criminal from their jail without notifying ICE,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis.

“This illegal alien’s murder of an innocent, beautiful American woman came less than 24 hours before Governor Spanberger’s demonization of ICE law enforcement. This heinous criminal is a perfect example of why we need cooperation from sanctuary jurisdictions and the importance of third country removals for the safety of the American people.”

Spanberger’s representatives did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Jalloh entered the United States illegally in 2012, according to DHS, and immigration officials lodged an immigration detainer against him in 2020, whereupon he was granted a final order of removal by a judge who said he could be removed to any country other than Sierra Leone.

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Protesters, using whistles to alert neighborhoods to ICE activity, face off with Minneapolis police officers in Minneapolis Jan. 24, 2026. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)

DHS indicated that ICE cooperation to ensure Jalloh’s deportation is evident after a case Fox News covered in December when a criminal illegal alien from El Salvador, Marvin Morales-Ortez, 23, allegedly killed a man just a day after Fairfax County jail officials let him go.

The immigrant from El Salvador had been in custody on charges of malicious wounding and brandishing a gun, but police released him after the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, led by George Soros-backed prosecutor Steve Descano, dropped the charges.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Fairfax County Sheriff’s office to inquire about why the man had not been handed over to ICE.

The sheriff’s office said, “ICE was aware of Morales-Ortez’s incarceration and elected not to seek a judicial warrant to ensure he remained in custody.

Marvin Morales-Ortez, who is living in the country illegally, was released from Fairfax County custody and then allegedly committed a murder the next day. (Fairfax County Police Department/Getty Images)

“The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office follows all local, state and federal laws when determining whether a person is subject to release from the ADC,” the sheriff’s office told Fox News Digital at the time. “Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is automatically notified any time a person is booked into the ADC.”

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The same sheriff’s office did not get back to Fox News Digital’s media inquiry for this story on DHS urging officials to cooperate with federal officials.

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Southeast

Illegal immigrant arrested after showing up to Florida Border Patrol office for contract IT work

Published

24 hours ago

February 27, 2026

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Illegal immigrant arrested after showing up to Florida Border Patrol office for contract IT work

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FIRST ON FOX: An illegal immigrant who reported to a U.S. Border Patrol site in Florida to perform some Information technology contractual work was arrested when authorities were made aware of his citizenship status, officials said.

Angel Camacho, a Venezuelan citizen, reported to a USBP center in Dania Beach, Florida, Jan. 6 to do some IT work when U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials began vetting him, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Fox News Digital.

During its investigation, it was revealed Camacho was in violation of U.S. immigration laws, authorities said.

Angel Camacho reported to a Florida U.S. Border Patrol center to perform contractual work when he was arrested, a Department of Homeland Security official said. (Getty Images )

“CBP vets all external visitors before allowing them to enter secure facilities to ensure safety and operational integrity,” DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement.

“During the vetting process, CBP uncovered this individual was a tourist visa overstay in the country for over five years.”

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This photo shows a U.S. Border Patrol patch on a border agent’s uniform in McAllen, Texas, Jan. 15, 2019. (Suzanne CordeiroAFP via Getty Images)

Camacho was arrested and transferred to ICE custody, Bis said.

His criminal history includes theft and resisting a Florida Highway Patrol officer, officials said. Federal authorities have nabbed several illegal immigrants in the process of trying to obtain employment in law enforcement and education.

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One Sierra Leone citizen was recently arrested as he was training to become a Pennsylvania corrections officer.

Another illegal immigrant, Ian Roberts, served as the former superintendent of Iowa’s largest district, Des Moines Public Schools, before he was arrested by ICE.

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Southeast

High school teacher arrested in alleged sex case involving student

Published

2 days ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

High school teacher arrested in alleged sex case involving student

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A Georgia high school teacher was arrested Wednesday after allegations of inappropriate contact between a teacher and a minor student surfaced at Lee County High School.

Danielle Weaver, 29, of Leesburg, is charged with child molestation and improper sexual contact by an employee, agent or foster parent, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI).

Lee County High School requested the Leesburg Police Department investigate the allegations on Feb. 3, and the GBI was called to assist the following day.

Danielle Weaver, 29, of Leesburg, Ga., is charged with child molestation and improper sexual contact by an employee. (Lee County Sheriff’s Office)

Investigators identified Weaver as the “subject,” and identified the victim as a student under 18 years old at Lee County High School, according to officials.

GBI agents continued the investigation along with the Leesburg Police Department, and arrest warrants were obtained for Weaver on Tuesday.

A Google Maps street view photo of Lee County High School in Leesburg, Ga. (Google Maps)

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Weaver turned herself in to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday, and was later released on bond, according to a report from WALB News.

This investigation is active and ongoing, according to the GBI.

The incident allegedly happened at a high school in Georgia. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

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Once complete, the case file will be given to the Southwestern Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.

Leesburg is located in South Georgia, and is about an hour and a half north of Tallahassee, Florida.

Lee County High School’s communications team did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Alexandra Koch is a Fox News Digital journalist who covers breaking news, with a focus on high-impact events that shape national conversation.

She has covered major national crises, including the L.A. wildfires, Potomac and Hudson River aviation disasters, Boulder terror attack, and Texas Hill Country floods.

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