District 1 — Southeast Atlanta
Name: Brenda Muhammad (Incumbent)
Occupation: Executive director for the Atlanta Victim Assistance
Quote: “This is the time to move the system in a new direction. There is still work to be done, and I would appreciate a final four years to complete some of that work.”
Website: http://www.brendajmuhammad.com/
Name: Leslie Grant
Occupation: President of Chickin Feed, a small business promoting child nutrition
Quote: “It is important that we elect leadership that will keep the focus of the policies, budget, and politics where it belongs — on students and their success.”
Website: http://www.electlesliegrant.com/
District 2 — Central Atlanta
Name: Byron Amos (Incumbent, unopposed)
Occupation: CEO of Capacity Builders
Quote: “Children can elevate their performance to the level of our expectations, so we must expect the best of them.”
Website: http://byronamos.homestead.com/
District 3 — East Atlanta
Name: Matt Westmoreland (unopposed)
Occupation: High school history teacher
Quote: “To break the cycle of dysfunction and infighting, we need a fresh perspective on the board.”
Website: http://www.mattwestmoreland.com/
District 4 — North Atlanta
Name: Taryn Chilivis Bowman
Occupation: Film consultant
Quote: “We need to redirect the money to the classroom, which, in turn, empowers principals to hire the teachers of their choosing.”
Website: http://www.voteforbowman.com/
Name: Nancy Meister (Incumbent)
Occupation: Residential real estate agent
Quote: “I will continue to advocate for a balanced budget that pushes for smaller administrative overhead and one that empowers our local principals to make the financial decisions that make the most sense for their schools. Furlough days and larger classes are not the answer.”
Website: http://www.nancydistrict4.com/
District 5 — West Atlanta
Name: Raynard Johnson
Occupation: Software development consultant
Quote: “We have to break through our kind of private idea that children belong to their families and recognize that children belong to whole communities.”
Website: http://raynardjohnsonforatlanta.com/
Name: Charles Lawrence
Occupation: Real estate broker
Quote: “Some of the issues that should be addressed are the dropout rate and the graduation rate, not only in the general population but in the special education population of our school system.”
Website: http://bit.ly/1cpCHIT
Name: Steven Lee
Occupation: Executive director for the Unity Network and Counseling Center
Quote: “Teacher absenteeism disproportionately affects low-income students. Research shows that absenteeism in schools serving low-income students is higher than for students in more affluent communities.”
Website: http://www.electstevenlee.com/
Name: Mary Palmer
Occupation: Academic coach
Quote: “The system has to get over the hurdle of the negatives of the cheating scandal, the instability in the leadership.”
Website: http://marypalmerforschools.com/
District 6 — South Atlanta
Name: Dell Byrd
Occupation: Property management
Quote: “As global competition becomes more challenging, we cannot allow a deserving generation to lag behind, to fail to graduate, to have less than the finest in educational opportunities.”
Website: http://www.dellbyrd-district6.com/
Name: Eshé Collins
Occupation: Project Director for the Jumpstart program at Georgia State University
Quote: “The schools in South Atlanta are the lowest-performing schools in the district. We cannot continue ignoring certain parts of the city.”
Website: http://www.collinsforkids.com/
Name: Shawnna Hayes-Tavares
Occupation: Homemaker
Quote: “All children deserve to be educated in a safe environment where their talents and gifts are realized and nurtured. In order to do that, we must first ensure that every school has equitable resources.”
Website: http://www.shawnnaforourchildren.com/
Name: Anne Wofford McKenzie
Occupation: Retired Atlanta Public Schools teacher
Quote: “Career paths allow students to choose, with help, the career they’d like to follow after high school. It’s not about everybody having to do the same thing. Not everybody has the same interest or the ability to compete at the college level.”
Website: None
District 7 — Citywide
Name: Courtney English (Incumbent)
Occupation: Education strategy and development consultant
Quote: “As a former teacher in the Atlanta Public Schools, I understand the challenges our children and our teachers are facing: failing schools fueled by low expectations and little resources or support.”
Website: http://www.courtneyenglish.com/
Name: Nisha Simama
Occupation: Administrator at the private Paideia School
Quote: “I still teach each day ,which keeps me in touch with many of the educational issues we face in a changing society. I have been an educator for over 30 years, and when I served as interim board member in 2011, it became very clear to me that my experience and perspective in education was much needed.”
Website: http://nishasimama.com/
District 8 — Citywide
Name: Cynthia Briscoe Brown
Occupation: Attorney
Quote: “I want to unify the board around the common goal of making sure every child gets everything they need to succeed.”
Website: http://cynthiabriscoebrown.com/
Name: Reuben McDaniel (Incumbent)
Occupation: Investment banker
Quote: “We’ve come through a very difficult period in Atlanta Public Schools, but we are really making progress — just not fast enough.”
Website: http://www.reubenmcdaniel.com/
Name: Mark Riley
Occupation: Real estate developer
Quote: “We need a new board that’s committed to doing the hard work to change an incredibly calcified bureaucracy, to change the culture and find new ideas and approaches in classrooms.”
Website: http://www.markrileyforschoolboard.com/
Name: Tom Tidwell
Occupation: Attorney
Quote: “Atlanta Public Schools is insanely top heavy. We’ve got to get more of that money into the classroom.”
Website: http://electtidwell.com/
Name: Dave Walker
Occupation: Former street vendor
Quote: “We need to put prayer back in school.”
Website: None
District 9 — Citywide
Name: Eddie Lee Brewster
Occupation: Life insurance agent, substitute teacher
Quote: “I feel there’s a whole lot of waste, and I also see a lot of problems in the classroom coming from student behaviors. Parents have to get more involved.”
Website: None
Name: Jason Esteves
Occupation: Attorney
Quote: “We are at a pivotal moment, and a visionary superintendent is needed to ensure our district fulfills its mandate to our children.”
Website: http://www.jasonesteves.com/
Name: Lori James
Occupation: President of Focus on Education
Quote: “We have too many children leaving high school unable to read, compute without a calculator, write a complete sentence or paragraph, or utilize proper English.”
Website: http://www.electdrlori.com/
Name: Ed Johnson
Occupation: President of Quality Information Solutions
Quote: “Atlanta Public Schools operates too much like a business, and by that I mean there is too much of the classrooms responding to demands from the administration when it ought to be the administration responding to demands from the classrooms.”
Website: http://www.edjohnsoninseat9.com/
Name: Sean Norman
Occupation: President of WillAppoint
Quote: “My platform is restoring trust in Atlanta Public Schools. I want to do that with effective leadership starting with bringing in a world class superintendent.”
Website: http://www.seancnorman.com/
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