On Wednesday, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jason Carter picked up an endorsement from the Georgia Association of Educators, a nonprofit professional organization for state teachers, administrators and other education professionals.
Carter’s wife Kate shared news of the endorsement in an emailed release.
“For our family, public education is personal. I was a public school teacher for the past six years and both of our boys attend public school,” she wrote. “This endorsement is confirmation that Jason’s commitment to prioritizing education is the right one for Georgia.”
Carter has kept education at the forefront of his campaign, vowing to make it a priority in his administration.
“I welcome this endorsement, and look forward to GAE’s help to win this election and our partnership to rebuild our schools,” Jason Carter said in a released statement.
Deal recommends policy change for BOE
Last week, Gov. Nathan Deal recommended the State Board of Education change its policy to allow computer programming courses to satisfy core requirements for receiving a high school diploma.
“Students need to acquire the 21st century skills necessary to thrive in the modern workforce,” Deal said in a press release. “Computing is currently one of the fastest growing occupations in the country with average salaries nearly twice the national rate. In fact, more than half of the projected job growth in the STEM fields will be in computing occupations. We must begin training our young people in these areas prior to their post-secondary education so they are prepared to fill these high-wage, in-demand positions.”
Currently, most computer programming courses are treated as electives and do not satisfy graduation core requirements. The execption—the advanced placement computer science course—can be used to satisfy the fourth and final science credit in high school. The problem, according to Deal, is that access to the class is limited to only 18 percent of Georgia’s high schools. Less than 1 percent of students took the course in 2013.
“I am working to keep Georgia the No. 1 place in the nation for business and we must have a strong education system that responds to the needs of companies across our state in order to do so,” Deal said.
Medical cannabis committee holds first meeting
State lawmakers met Wednesday to begin discussions regarding medical cannabis. The Prescription of Medical Cannabis for Serious Medical Conditions Joint Study Committee is co-chaired by State Sen. Renee Unterman (R-Buford) and State Rep. Allen Peake (R-Macon).
“It is imperative that we, as lawmakers, do everything within our means to study medical cannabis, so that we can help those families who are suffering from terminal illnesses here in Georgia find a solution — one that will not require them to travel outside of our state, thus becoming ‘medical refugees’,” Peake said in a press release. “We have clear evidence that our legislature and Georgians desire legislation that would allow this treatment to be legal in our state, and we need to act now.”
The committee heard testimony from inidividuals who have firsthand experience with cannabis oil and are advocates for legislation allowing the medical use of cannabis.
“Our goal is to use these meetings as a tool to learn more about medical cannabis from various aspects and perspectives, have meaningful discussion, and obtain enough information to create the best infrastructure for a future bill,” Peake said.
The committee will hold its next meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 10 at Mercer University in Macon.
Political Notebook appears in the Thursday and Sunday editions of the Gwinnett Daily Post.
POLITICAL NOTEBOOK: Education remains focal point for gubernatorial candidates
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