社区黑料

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for 社区黑料 Newsletter

Georgia鈥檚 Republican schools Superintendent Richard Woods appears headed for a third term. In unofficial results, he鈥檚 leading Democratic challenger Alisha Thomas Searcy with over 54% of the vote. 

During the campaign, Searcy, a former state representative who supports school choice, touted her ability to work across the aisle. But with Republicans prevailing in other statewide races, her message apparently didn鈥檛 break through.

In the wake of recent results on the National Assessment of Educational Progress 鈥� showing flat performance in Georgia since 2019, but a sharp in eighth-grade math 鈥� Woods told 社区黑料 he plans to 鈥渟tabilize and improve student academic performance as we move out of the pandemic鈥� and to 鈥渂olster and support our teacher workforce.鈥�

With Woods looking to hold onto his seat, the state education department would continue its shift away from Common Core standards, long associated with the Obama administration despite their origin in the states. Georgia is in the process of implementing new math and English language arts . Observers suggest it will also join other states in emphasizing evidence-based literacy instruction.

鈥淚 have seen some encouraging signs that literacy is emerging as a focus,鈥� said Ken Zeff, executive director of Learn4Life, a nonprofit working to improve education in the metro Atlanta area. 鈥淭hat could help reverse not just the latest NAEP results, but generations of students struggling with literacy.鈥�

During the campaign, Woods emphasized his efforts to reduce testing and teacher evaluation visits. He said Searcy鈥檚 lack of experience as a classroom teacher made her unprepared to lead the education department. 

Searcy criticized Woods鈥檚 support for a state law restricting how teachers can discuss some , which she said ties teachers鈥� hands and undermines their professionalism.

A charter schools supporter, Searcy served as superintendent of a small, all-girls charter network before leaving to work as an educational consultant. Her advocacy for school choice, however, lost her the endorsement of the Georgia Association of Educators, the state affiliate of the National Education Association.

The race was largely overshadowed by other high-profile match-ups on the ballot, namely former football star Herschel Walker鈥檚 bid to oust Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Stacey Abrams鈥檚 second attempt to defeat Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. Kemp was re-elected with almost 54% of the vote, but the Walker/Warnock race is still too close to call.

Did you use this article in your work?

We鈥檇 love to hear how 社区黑料鈥檚 reporting is helping educators, researchers, and policymakers.