A.M. ATL: Stay class-y

Morning, y’all! Happy Mardi Gras, or as they say in New Orleans, “Pick up your trash, you heathens! This is a public street, not a dumpster.” Carnival festivities were a little greener this year with biodegradable Mardi Gras beads. They’re made with okra seeds, so they’re still Southern through and through.

Let’s get to it.

LAWMAKERS TAKE ON TEACHER SHORTAGE

Lawmakers are considering new bills to keep hardworking Georgia teachers from saying, "Wow, I can't do this anymore."

Georgia legislators are working on bills that would take on the state’s precarious public school teacher situation.

Georgia actually has a good retention rate. Public schools held on to about 90% of their teaching staff last year. But other challenges make the long game trickier.

• Burnout: About 44% of teachers leave the profession within five years, according to a Georgia education agency
• Vacancies: Georgia has about 6,000 public school teacher vacancies

Here are some solutions cooking at the 2026 legislative session:

• Make it easier for retired teachers to come back to work without losing benefits
• Pay student teachers
• Increase personal leave time (Georgia teachers usually get nine sick days and three personal or professional leave days a year)
• Extend a tax credit that pays teachers $3,000 to accept jobs in a high-need subject area or certain underserved schools

🔎 READ MORE: Who supports what and how educators are responding

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APALACHEE SHOOTING SUSPECT’S DAD ON TRIAL

Colin Gray, the father of Apalachee High School shooting suspect Colt Gray, on the first day of his trial in Barrow County.

The trial of Colin Gray, the father of the Apalachee High School shooting suspect Colt Gray, started yesterday in Barrow County.

• Gray is facing 29 charges related to the shooting, including two counts of second-degree murder and multiple counts of involuntary manslaughter, reckless conduct and child cruelty.
• Prosecutors say the father knowingly allowed his son access to guns and ammunition despite “sufficient warning” that his son posed a danger to others.
• This is a rare case. It’s unusual for a parent to be charged and prosecuted for a school shooting perpetrated by their child.

🔎 READ MORE: What to know about the trial, charges and people involved

Shooter allegedly drew dark inspiration

Colt Gray allegedly carried out the September 2024 shooting at Apalachee High School, killing two students and two teachers and injuring several others. It was the deadliest school shooting in Georgia history.

The teenager was obsessed with school shootings, prosecutors told the jury during opening statements. They say Gray made tributes to Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz and even sent him money.

🔎 READ MORE: Apalachee suspect ‘obsessed’ with school violence

THE PRESIDENT VISITS ATL THIS WEEK

President Donald Trump will swing by Rome, Georgia, on Thursday to tout his economic agenda. This is Trump’s first Peach State visit since his 2024 election victory.

While we are famously hospitable company, Trump likely isn’t visiting for the southern charm. He has things to prove.

• Election denial: Just weeks ago, the FBI raided a Fulton County elections center and seized truckloads of 2020 election ballots. Despite repeated proof to the contrary, Trump is still beating the election fraud drum. Concerned politicians warn he may use the situation to take wider control of Georgia’s elections.
• Key campaigns: Wild coincidence, but Rome is the congressional district of former Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene, whose successor will be chosen in a special election next month. Trump also hasn’t chosen a favorite in Georgia’s Republican contest to challenge Sen. Jon Ossoff in the midterms, and his favor could still affect the Georgia governor’s election.

🔎 READ MORE: What’s on GA Republican minds as Trump arrives

MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS

🗳️ The NAACP asked a judge to protect Georgia voters against “misuse” of voter data seized in last month’s FBI raid. (Remember, voter data includes personal info like addresses, birth dates and ID numbers.) The motion, cosigned by other organizations, asks the law to “order reasonable limits on the government’s use of the seized data.”

💰 State Rep. Dexter Sharper is expected to plead guilty to unemployment fraud perpetrated during the COVID-19 pandemic. He’s the second state lawmaker to plead to such charges.

GEORGIA GOLD!

Monobob is like normal bobsled, except even scarier because you're alone.

Our girl did it! Douglasville resident, prolific Olympian and mom of two Elana Meyers Taylor grabbed gold in women’s monobob at the Milan Cortina Games.

This is history upon history here:

• At 41, she’s the oldest American woman to win gold at the Winter Games.
• She’s also the most decorated Black athlete in Winter Olympics history. This is her sixth medal, after all.
• With the new hardware, she’s tied with speed skater Bonnie Blair for the most Winter Olympics medals won by an American woman.

When she talked with the AJC earlier this year about motherhood and her long career, Taylor spoke her victory into existence.

“I have an unwavering belief in myself that I can pull it together when it counts the most,” she said.

The mind of a champion. Take notes.

🥇 READ MORE: Scenes from her historic win

NEWS BITES

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, civil rights icon, dies at 84

His daughter, Santita Jackson, confirmed that her father died at home, surrounded by family.

Intense curling drama at the Olympics is helping spread popularity of curling

Niche interest drama is one of the great pleasures of life. Please, make an entire documentary. We will be sat.

The ‘6-7’ craze is going strong at NBA and college basketball games

How creative! What a cool, cute trend! (Work with me here. Every time an adult is annoyed by dumb preteen memes, they get stronger.) Have fun, kids!

Freestyle skiers pick their hype-up and cool-down soundtracks at the Winter Games

“Whoa!” — Black Rob

“I’m Goin’ Down” — Bruce Springsteen

“Help!” — The Beatles

ON THIS DATE

Feb. 17, 1984