Gov. Nathan Deal has whittled a list of 400 or so applicants for a half-dozen positions on the DeKalb County school board, and will announce the names of the six late this morning.

The machinations are an attempt to please the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the accreditation agency whose threat to withhold its approval is driving all this.

But the head of SACS says he’s not necessarily happy with the speedy process. From the Channel 2 Action News website:

The head of SACS, Mark Elgart, told lawmakers Tuesday night that he believes the state is moving too quickly, but the governor said it is important to move fast for the sake of the children.

 “We believe at least six months, preferably a year, be granted, let the process work,” Elgart said.

Check out the video above.

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Late Tuesday, I ran into House Democratic Leader Stacey Abrams, D-Atlanta, who said she had advised members of her caucus to vote their consciences when it comes to the bill to vastly reduce the tax revenue available to Fulton County government.

That means House Republicans, led by Majority Whip Edward Lindsey, R-Atlanta, are likely to get the one vote they need on the measure, which requires passage by a two-thirds majority. Republicans had taken a number of local Democratic bills hostage in order to pry votes loose.

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Speaking of Edward Lindsey: The House Republican appears intent on running for the 11^th District congressional seat, should U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Marietta, decide to run for the U.S. Senate. Lindsey said Tuesday that he’ll make up his mind within a week or so of Gingrey’s announcement.

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Phil Gingrey’s formal announcement that he’s running for U.S. Senate should come fairly quickly. We’ve confirmed that he’s hired Republican strategist Chip Lake, former chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, to put together his campaign.

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Roll Call reports that Kristin Oblander, the Democratic fundraiser based in Atlanta, is in charge of collecting cash for the South Carolina congressional campaign of Elizabeth Colbert Busch, who is likely to face the winner of  GOP primary that includes former Gov. Mark Sanford and Teddy Turner, son of the CNN founder.

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The man who recorded Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney as he told a group of contributors that 47 percent of voters wouldn’t have him because they’re too dependent on government will come forward tonight on MSNBC’s “The Ed Shultz Show.”

He was a bartender for a company that catered to a high-end clientele, and had previously worked at a fundraiser at a home where former President Clinton spoke. Clinton visited the kitchen after the event – which is why, the bartender will say, he brought his Canon camera to the Romney event. We knew the picture quality was too good for an iPhone.

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A new Washington Post-ABC News poll indicates that the goodwill generated by President Obama’s reelection and inauguration appears to have dissipated. His public approval rating back down to the 50 percent mark:

In December, just after he won a second term, Obama held an 18-percentage-point advantage over congressional Republicans on the question of whom the public trusted more to deal with the economy. Now, it’s a far more even split — 44 percent to 40 percent, with a slight edge for the president — but the share of those saying they have confidence in “neither” has ticked up into double digits.

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U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss’ Democratic partner in the Gang of Six effort sounds like he’s ready to jump ship, too. Also from the Washington Post:

For Mark R. Warner, years of frustration with a dysfunctional U.S. Senate and a broken budget have built to this: The sequester stands to rob Virginia of billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of jobs, and there’s not much he can do about it.

Used to being in charge, the former governor and hyperactive venture capitalist now sits restlessly on the sidelines of another fiscal crisis, referring to himself as “the guy who, unfortunately, hasn’t been in the room on any of these final negotiations.”

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The AJC’s Politifact Georgia today takes a look at a Democratic state senator’s claim that “Georgia has the most lax gun laws in the nation.”