A Georgia teachers’ union wants lawmakers to return to the Georgia State Capitol this summer to address federal education funding cuts. (Jerry Neace/NowHabersham.com)
A group that represents teachers and school staff across Georgia is asking Gov. Brian Kemp to call a special session to address federal cuts to education funding.
The Georgia Federation of Teachers (GFT) sent a letter to Kemp saying lawmakers need to reappropriate surplus funds to teachers after the federal Department of Education froze billions of dollars in promised grants.
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GFT President Verdaillia Turner said some school districts in Georgia could be forced to cut programs or staff if they do not receive the funding they were promised.
“Georgia should step up to the plate where these school districts, where they’re already inadequately funded, could at least do business this year,” she said.
The frozen funds were supposed to be distributed July 1 for the upcoming school year.
RELATED Federal funding freeze jeopardizes after-school programs in Northeast Georgia
No plans for special session
A spokesperson for Kemp said there are no plans for a special session. By law, either Kemp or two-thirds of the Legislature must call a special session.
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Turner also sent a letter to State School Superintendent Richard Woods advocating for a special session. Woods released a statement on Monday calling for the release of withheld funds.
“I deeply believe in fiscal responsibility, which means evaluating the use of funds and seeking out efficiencies, but also means being responsible — releasing funds already approved by Congress and signed by President Trump,” Woods said. “In Georgia, we’re getting ready to start the school year, so I call on federal funds to be released so we can ensure the success of our students,” he said.
Read GFT’s full letter to Kemp here.
This article comes to Now Habersham in partnership with GPB News
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Federal funding freeze jeopardizes after-school programs in Northeast Georgia
Bulldogs score three touchdowns in final stanza, will move up in CFP rankings
Georgia dominated the fourth quarter in a top-10 matchup with Texas en route to a 35-10 win and a huge addition to its College Football Playoff resume. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)
ATHENS — Georgia football shined bright under the lights, dominating Texas in the fourth quarter en route to the 35-10 win.
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The Bulldogs (9-1, 7-1 SEC) figure to move up from No. 5 in the College Football Playoff ranking on Tuesday night.
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Mike is in his eighth season covering SEC and Georgia athletics for AJC-DawgNation and has 30 years of collegiate sports multimedia experience, 25 of them in the SEC including beat writer stops at Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee and now Georgia. Mike was named the National FWAA Beat Writer of the Year in January, 2018.
Mike is in his eighth season covering SEC and Georgia athletics for AJC-DawgNation and has 30 years of collegiate sports multimedia experience, 25 of them in the SEC including beat writer stops at Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee and now Georgia. Mike was named the National FWAA Beat Writer of the Year in January, 2018.
A Georgia player has won an estimated $980 million Mega Millions jackpot on Friday, the eighth-largest prize in the game’s history, according to the lottery.
The winning ticket matched all six winning numbers: 1, 8, 11, 12, 57, and Mega Ball 7.
The win ends a 40-drawing streak without a jackpot winner, making it the first time since June that the top prize has been claimed. In that previous drawing, a Virginia ticket won $348 million.
The winner can choose to receive the $980 million in annual payments over 30 years, or a lump-sum cash payout of $452.2 million, all before taxes.
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The winning ticket was sold at a Publix supermarket in Newnan, a city roughly 40 miles southwest of Atlanta, according to the lottery. The store will receive a $50,000 retailer bonus from the Georgia Lottery for selling the jackpot ticket, the lottery said.
“We are thrilled to congratulate the largest winner in our state’s history,” Georgia Lottery President and CEO Gretchen Corbin said in the news release.
This is the largest Mega Millions prize since the game’s overhaul in April, which raised ticket prices to $5 and increased the starting jackpot to $50 million. Under the new system, the odds of winning the jackpot are now 1 in 290 million, according to the lottery.
In the latest drawing, a ticket sold in Michigan won $3 million by matching all five white balls and the 3X multiplier, the lottery said. Another 22 tickets matched four white balls and the Mega Ball, winning $20,000.
The Mega Millions’ record jackpot stands at $1.6 billion, claimed by a single ticket sold in Florida in August 2023.
The leader of the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia says that he will step in to replace Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in the Georgia election interference case against President Trump and others.
PAC Executive Director Peter J. Skandalakis made the announcement on Friday, which was the deadline set by the judge overseeing the case to find Willis’s replacement.
In his announcement, Skandalakis said that he will take up the case after his organization was unable to find another prosecutor by Friday.
“Several prosecutors were contacted and, while all were respectful and professional, each declined the appointment,” he wrote. “Out of respect for their privacy and professional discretion, I will not identify those prosecutors or disclose.”
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Skandalakis said that he chose to lead the prosecution due to his familiarity with some of the immense case file, which he described as more than 100 banker boxes of documents and an 8-terabyte hard drive. Though he attempted to examine the evidence and interviews in the time the judge allotted him, he said he was not able to complete a full review.
“With Judge McAfee’s deadline now upon us and my review still ongoing, I have determined that the best course of action is to appoint myself to the case,” Skandalakis wrote. “This will allow me to complete a comprehensive review and make an informed decision regarding how best to proceed.”
With Skandalakis as the prosecutor, he now has the choice whether to continue the path Willis had taken, pursue only some charges, or dismiss the case entirely.
While it is unlikely that any action against Mr. Trump could proceed while he is the sitting president, there are 14 other people still facing charges in the case, including former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former New York mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani.
In a statement to CBS News, attorney Steve Sadow, who is representing Mr. Trump in the case, said that the “politically charged prosecution has come to an end.”
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“We remain confident that a fair and impartial review will lead to a dismissal of the case against President Trump,” Sadow said.
How Georgia’s Trump election case began
Willis announced the indictment against Trump and 18 others in August 2023, using Georgia’s anti-racketeering law to accuse them of participating in a scheme to overturn Trump’s narrow 2020 election loss to Joe Biden in Georgia.
The alleged plot included Trump’s call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, urging him to “find” enough votes to reverse the outcome. Four defendants: attorneys Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, Kenneth Chesebro, and bail bondsman Scott Hall have pleaded guilty.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis looks on during a hearing at the Fulton County Courthouse on March 1, 2024, in Atlanta.
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Alex Slitz / Getty Images
Willis was disqualified from prosecuting the case after revelations that she had a romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she hired to lead the investigation.
Defense attorneys alleged that Willis and Wade benefited from their relationship, saying Wade used his earnings from the case to pay for trips they took together. Willis and Wade acknowledged the relationship but said it began after he was hired.
In March 2024, Judge McAfee rebuked Willis for a “tremendous lapse in judgment” but said there was no conflict of interest that would disqualify her. He ruled she could stay on the case if Wade resigned, which he did hours later.
The defense attorneys appealed, and in December, the Georgia Court of Appeals removed Willis from the case, citing an “appearance of impropriety.” The state’s high court declined to hear Willis’ appeal in September, placing the case in the hands of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council.
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While Trump announced pardons for people accused of backing his efforts to overturn the results of that election earlier this week — including those charged in Georgia — that doesn’t affect state charges.
