Georgia

Georgia Democrat Abrams proposes big boost in teacher pay

Published

2 years ago

June 12, 2022

Georgia Democrat Abrams proposes big boost in teacher pay

TUCKER, Ga. (AP) — Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams is proposing a giant instructor pay increase in her run for governor, saying Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s much-touted $5,000 across-the-board enhance shouldn’t be sufficient to recruit new academics and retain present academics.

“We’re dropping the combat for our youngsters’s future,” Abrams mentioned Sunday as she accepted the endorsement of the Georgia Affiliation of Educators. “We want a governor who doesn’t see schooling as an election 12 months gimmick, however sees our accountability as a assure for the strongest future for our individuals.”

Georgia has lengthy had the best common instructor pay within the South, however Abrams is proposing a $1.65 billion bump over 4 years. She would increase the everyday beginning wage to $50,000 from the present stage slightly below $40,000 and enhance common instructor pay to $75,000 from $60,553 this previous college 12 months, as tracked by the Nationwide Training Affiliation.

Abrams mentioned that will enhance Georgia, which at the moment ranks twenty first in pay nationwide into the highest 10.

Kemp’s $5,000 increase was a signature 2018 promise that he completed delivering this 12 months. However Lisa Morgan, the president of the Georgia Affiliation of Educators, mentioned Georgia academics have fallen behind inflation regardless of that. Federal figures present Georgia academics made a median wage of $41,023 in 1999-2000. In right now’s cash, that will be greater than $71,000.

“Our educators are underpaid,” Morgan mentioned. “Adjusted for inflation, educators in Georgia are making much less now than they did in 1999. We’ve got to draw the perfect and brightest to be educators. This requires our career be enticing as a profession. It’s not nearly salaries. It’s about educators being handled because the professionals we’re.”

The common beginning wage in Georgia lags quite a lot of different states within the South, together with Florida, Louisiana, Alabama and Virginia, NEA figures present.

GAE, the state affiliate of the NEA union, is the second-largest instructor group in Georgia. The non-union Skilled Affiliation of Georgia Educators, the state’s largest instructor group, declined remark Sunday.

Whereas Georgia has an official state wage schedule, districts have waivers to pay various quantities. Many districts pay academics greater than the state schedule utilizing native funds. State pay raises can stress districts as a result of they pay extra staff fully out of native funds past state allotments. Districts usually use native tax cash to extend these staff’ pay when the state raises salaries.

Abrams mentioned 20 years of Republican governors have harm Georgia’s public colleges, saying she needed to be the “public schooling governor.”

“Sadly, over the past 4 years, and the final 20 years there have been constant unadulterated cuts to progress, slashing budgets, and eliminating alternatives, creating division after we needs to be coming collectively to raise up our youngsters,” Abrams mentioned.

Morgan criticized Kemp for supporting conservative schooling payments this 12 months that regulated the educating of race and let the state athletic affiliation ban transgender ladies from taking part in highschool sports activities. Others codified dad and mom’ rights, compelled college programs to reply to challenges of books and elevated tax credit for personal college scholarships.

A Kemp marketing campaign spokesperson attacked Abrams’ proposed new spending as dangerous. Abrams additionally needs greater than $200 million yearly to cowl uninsured adults by the Medicaid medical insurance program.

“Stacey Abrams’ newest Hail Mary proposal for over $2 billion in new state spending yearly joins an ever-growing pile of pie-in-the-sky plans that will make inflation worse and require increased taxes on Georgia households to pay for all of it,” spokesperson Tate Mitchell mentioned in an announcement.

Abrams, although, mentioned if Georgia tax collections develop at 3% a 12 months, the state would have greater than $1 billion in new income yearly.

“As the following governor of Georgia. I do know that we will truly develop Medicaid in Georgia, and enhance instructor pay, and nonetheless not increase a single greenback in taxes, and have cash left over to repair some extra issues on this state,” Abrams mentioned.

Kemp has been courting academics. Morgan has beforehand praised Kemp for his pay enhance and assist for lessening standardized testing.

In some methods, Abrams is taking part in can-you-top-this with Kemp. She’s additionally calling on Kemp to droop state fuel taxes by 12 months’s finish.

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Georgia

Jimmy Carter Christmas ornament now available at Georgia stores

Published

8 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Press Room

Jimmy Carter Christmas ornament now available at Georgia stores

ATLANTA – The White House is honoring former President Jimmy Carter this Christmas with his own ornament, and Georgians can get their own for their tree.

The ornament is in the shape of an anchor, a symbol of hope that also represents Carter’s service in the U.S. Navy.

It also features historic moments from Carter’s life and presidency and comes with a keepsake box and illustrated booklet on Carter’s presidency.

“It is a great honor to offer the Official 2024 White House Christmas Ornament at Home Depot stores for the first time in Georgia,” said Stewart McLaurin, president of the White House Historical Association. “This year we pay tribute to President Jimmy Carter’s remarkable life and enduring legacy as he continues to be a fixture in our country’s ongoing history.”

The White House Historical Association, Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum/NARA)

Shoppers can find the ornament at around 60 Home Depot stores across Georgia and in the Washington, D.C. area.

You can also buy the ornament on The Home Depot’s website.

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Georgia

Georgia Senate study panel considers restrictions on trans women’s college sports participation • Georgia Recorder

Published

16 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Press Room

Georgia Senate study panel considers restrictions on trans women’s college sports participation • Georgia Recorder

A Georgia Senate study committee that bills itself as tasked with protecting women’s sports met Thursday for the last time before it is set to release recommendations before next year’s legislative session, and transgender Georgians are bracing themselves.

At Thursday’s hearing, transgender women and allies argued that vanishingly few transgender women participate in school sports, and those who do are largely not at the top of the competitive heap. Many said the national focus is making life difficult.

“It’s so hard to face this kind of opposition,” said Aaron Baker, a transgender woman and activist. “It’s so hard to be at a hearing like this and hear the language. It’s so hard for you to hear people describe me as a biological man because it’s not

Aaron Baker. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder

true. I am hormonally female, I’m phenotypically female, I’m psychologically female, and that is a gross oversimplification of who I am and my identity, and it hurts.”

Committee Chair Greg Dolezal, a Cumming Republican, told members he would spend the next week or so reviewing testimony from the committee’s three hearings and plans to announce the date for presenting recommendations shortly after. Study committee recommendations could take the form of proposed legislation in time for the 2025 General Assembly, which is set to begin Jan. 13.

Dolezal indicated he is interested in considering regulations for college sports. A previous hearing featured testimony from cisgender women college swimmers who said they were placed at an unfair disadvantage when they had to compete against a transgender woman at a competition at Georgia Tech.

“A few years ago, I believe it was three years ago, the General Assembly passed a bill essentially prescribing the control to make decisions around transgender participation in sports to the Georgia High School Association, they passed a resolution that stated that participation in sports, high school sports, in the state of Georgia was based on the sex prescribed on a birth certificate. The law is currently silent on the collegiate competition level. So right now, we just have a law as it relates to high school associations,” he said.

Other Republicans on the committee suggested they would like to see legislation in K-12 schools, especially surrounding restrooms and locker rooms.

“As a father of two young daughters, we’ve got to protect women,” said Gwinnett Republican Sen. Clint Dixon. “We’ve got to protect their sports, we’ve got to protect them in changing rooms from what we heard from many of those athletes who testified, four or five of them who testified in the first committee hearing, having to change, which took 20, 30 minutes at a time, in front of a transgender female, but still had the genitalia of a male, which was horrific for them to witness that, some of them ended up changing in a storage closet, some of them waited until that athlete left the room, having to miss some of their competition, and that’s just at the college level, we’re not even talking about minors in K-12.”

Some activists indicated that they would oppose any kind of restriction on transgender participation, while speakers like Lambda Legal attorney Sasha Buchert urged the lawmakers to take a nuanced approach over a blanket ban, which could mean a committee including medical experts to consider safety or competitive concerns on a case-by-case basis. Others said such decisions should be left to athletic associations and leagues rather than politicians or political appointees.

Delfina Booth Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder

“Sports are already managed by expert organizations like the NCAA, the International Olympics Committee, and professional leagues,” said Delfina Booth, a former Georgia Tech student and high school athlete who said she has lost transgender friends to police violence and suicide.

“These governing bodies have developed policies over decades that analyze fairness based on unique needs of each sport,” she added. “Contact sports have different rules than non-contact sports, children’s sports focus more on teamwork and development than adult sports, et cetera. These nuances cannot be addressed through broad government legislation. Additionally, decisions about athletic ability involve multiple complex factors, including the signs of physical development and the specific demands of each sport. These aren’t matters that lend themselves directly or easily to blanket rules.”

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NC State football vs Georgia Tech score: Live updates, highlights from ACC game

Published

1 day ago

November 21, 2024

Press Room

NC State football vs Georgia Tech score: Live updates, highlights from ACC game

The N.C. State Wolfpack and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets play in primetime on Thursday (7:30 p.m., ESPN) at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Week 13 of the college football season.

Coming off an idle week, the Wolfpack (5-5, 2-4 ACC) needs to win one of its final two games to become bowl eligible for the fifth straight season. But it won’t be an easy task taking on the Yellow Jackets (6-4, 4-3) in Atlanta, where N.C. State has lost 11 of 15 games in the series.

The Wolfpack hasn’t won at Georgia Tech since 2010.

NC State vs GT preview, prediction

Keep this page refreshed and bookmarked for live updates for N.C. State vs. Georgia Tech.

NC State vs Georgia Tech score

Live scoreboard:

What channel is NC State vs Georgia Tech today?

TV Channel: ESPN

Livestream: Fubo (free trial), ESPN+

Watch NCSU vs. GT on Fubo

N.C. State vs. Georgia Tech will be broadcast nationally on ESPN in Week 13 of the 2024 college football season. Matt Barrie and Dan Mullen will call the game from the booth at Bobby Dodd Stadium, with Harry Lyles Jr. reporting from the sidelines. Streaming options for the game include FUBO, which offers a free trial to new subscribers. Matt Chazanow, Johnny Evans and Tony Haynes will have the radio call on the Wolfpack Sports Network.

NC State vs Georgia Tech start time

Date: Thursday, Nov. 21

Start time: 7:30 p.m.

Buy NCSU vs GT tickets here

The N.C. State vs. Georgia Tech game starts at 7:30 p.m. from Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.

NC State vs Georgia Tech history

Series record: Georgia Tech 20-11

NC State’s last win: 2020 (23-13)

Georgia Tech’s last win: 2019 (28-26)

NC State vs Georgia Tech prediction

Georgia Tech 30, N.C. State 23: The Yellow Jackets will remain undefeated at home behind a big effort from quarterback Haynes King. The Wolfpack will head to Chapel Hill for the regular-season finale, needing a win to play in the postseason.

NC State vs Georgia Tech spread, betting odds

Game lines and odds from BetMGM will be posted as they become available.

Spread: Georgia Tech is an 8.5-point favorite

Over/under: 52.5 points

Moneyline: N.C. State (+270), Georgia Tech (-350)

NC State vs Georgia Tech weather

Temperatures for kickoff will be around 44 degrees under clear skies in Atlanta, Georgia. Winds will be between 8-16 mph, with gusts up to 38 mph.

NC State vs Georgia Tech injury updates

This section will updated in the pregame.

NC State schedule 2024

Aug. 29: Western Carolina (W, 38-21)
Sept. 7: Tennessee (L, 51-10)
Sept. 14: Louisiana Tech (W, 30-20)
Sept. 21: at Clemson (L, 59-35)
Sept. 28: Northern Illinois (W, 24-17)
Oct. 5: Wake Forest (L, 34-30)
Oct. 12: Syracuse (L, 24-17)
Oct. 19: at Cal (W, 24-23)
Oct. 26: OPEN
Nov. 2: Stanford (W, 59-28)
Nov. 9: Duke (L, 29-19)
Nov. 16: OPEN
Nov. 21: at Georgia Tech (Thursday)
Nov. 30: at UNC

Georgia Tech schedule 2024

Aug. 24: Florida State (W, 24-21)
Aug. 31: Georgia State (W, 35-12)
Sept. 7: at Syracuse (L, 31-28)
Sept. 14: VMI (W, 59-7)
Sept. 21: at Louisville (L, 31-19)
Sept. 28: OFF
Oct. 5: Duke (W, 24-14)
Oct. 12: at UNC (W, 41-34)
Oct. 19: Notre Dame (L, 31-13)
Oct. 26: at Virginia Tech (L, 21-6)
Nov. 2: OFF
Nov. 9: Miami (W, 28-23)
Nov. 16: OFF
Nov. 21: NC State (Thursday)
Nov. 29: at Georgia

Rodd Baxley covers Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his ACC coverage on X/Twitter or Bluesky: @RoddBaxley. Got questions regarding those teams? Send them to rbaxley@fayobserver.com.

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