Jamilataylor122, Neighbor

Sixty percent of children in Georgia’s public schools now come from low-income households, and our state spends nearly 17% less per child on K-12 education than it did prior to the Great Recession. For 14 of my 18 years in education, the Governor and the Georgia General Assembly have voted to cut billions of dollars from Georgia’s public schools. I have seen first hand the effects this has had on my students.

Rather than asking the legislature to adequately fund our children’s education, Governor Deal’s has created an Education Reform Commission to rewrite the funding formula and permanently lock in the deep cuts. In a snub to educators across the state, the governor did not appoint a single classroom teacher to the commission. With the ALEC inspired Opportunity School District legislation, he has also attempted to concentrate more power in the Governor’s office and take control of local schools that he labels as “failing.”

Unfortunately, my opponent, Representative Mary Margaret Oliver, has chosen to side with Governor Deal. While most Democratic lawmakers opposed modifying Geogia’s constitution in order to grant the Governor more power, Representative Oliver voted for it. However, this is not the first time she has shown little respect for educators and an interest in increasing the powers of the Governor. In the 1990s, she sponsored legislation to remove teaching experience as a qualification from the constitutional office of Superintendent of Schools. She has also repeatedly advocated removing the State Superintendent of Schools from Georgia’s list of constitutional officers, thereby making it a position appointed by the Governor—not elected by the people.

While I believe that Representative Oliver entered office back in 1987 with the intention of serving the public, it is my opinion that her lengthy career has distanced her from the citizens of House District 82 and, in some important ways, the values of the Democratic Party. I do not believe that most Georgians want a top-down style of government that concentrates so much power in the hands of the well connected few, and Georgia deserves a legislature that is filled with representative citizens rather than career politicians.

If you also believe the time is ripe for change, I ask you to join me in service to this great state and the good people of House District 82!