Parents, Teachers, Students on Anti-Education Legislation Passed by Georgia House of Representatives

Today, the Georgia House of Representatives passed Brian Kemp’s anti-education agenda off the floor. The extreme legislation, HB 1178 and HB 1084, hurts teachers, threatens to defund schools, and jeopardizes Georgia kids’ education – all in a shameless attempt to boost Kemp’s own re-election campaign.

Earlier this week, Georgia parents, teachers, and public school students came together to condemn the legislation and Kemp’s politicization of education during an election year. Here’s what they had to say:

“As a parent, I want the best education for my kids. And I know their teachers have the same goal,” said Laura Judge, a Cobb County parent. “Politicians like Brian Kemp should stop inserting their agendas into the classroom just to try and win an election. For generations, parents and students have worked together as partners to ensure our children are prepared for the future. But Brian Kemp is attacking the important partnership between parents and their educators. He isn’t doing this because he cares about our children or their education — he only cares about politics.”

“I am a special education teacher in Cobb County, and I have been in the classroom for almost twenty-three years. As a teacher, I’m committed to our students and to providing them a great education to help them succeed — unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Brian Kemp. Everyday, teachers across our state work hard to educate the next generation. To accuse us of dividing and indoctrinating our kids is not only offensive, it’s a flat out lie. These bills send a message to teachers that they’re no longer trusted to teach a curriculum that has been part of their lesson plans for years,” said Tiffany Fannin, Cobb County teacher, member of the Georgia Association of Educators and the group’s Democratic Caucus Chair. “Brian Kemp is acting like a typical politician, putting his re-election campaign and partisan politics ahead of Georgia students and their education – and our students are the ones who will lose out.”

“I’m a proud product of public education here in the state of Georgia. Brian Kemp’s agenda to politicize school curriculum and censor what’s taught in our classrooms is despicable. Not only is this bad public policy – it will have a negative impact on my generation’s ability to learn, to grow, and to become educated young adults,” said James Wilson, a freshman at Georgia State University. “None of this legislation that we’re seeing is based on issues that are actually present in the classroom. The truth behind this bad legislation is simple: Brian Kemp is using Georgia public school students like me and jeopardizing our education because he is worried about his re-election campaign.”

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