Andy Young, Hank Aaron say no to Opportunity School District

Atlanta Braves baseball great Hank Aaron (left) urged voters to reject Amendment 1 on the coming November ballot, along with Ambassador Andrew Young and Lisa-Marie Haygood of the Georgia PTA. The amendment would allow Georgia to create the Opportunity School District, which would allow a state appointee to take over up to 20 failing schools a year and try to turn them around.

Atlanta Braves baseball great Hank Aaron (left) urged voters to reject Amendment 1 on the coming November ballot, along with Ambassador Andrew Young and Lisa-Marie Haygood of the Georgia PTA. The amendment would allow Georgia to create the Opportunity School District, which would allow a state appointee to take over up to 20 failing schools a year and try to turn them around.

Georgia’s proposed Opportunity School District got new opposition Tuesday as both former Atlanta Mayor Andy Young and baseball great Hank Aaron held a news conference to urge people to vote against Amendment 1.

The constitutional amendment on the Nov. 8 ballot would allow the governor to establish a new statewide school district with authority to take over schools deemed to be “chronically failing.”

» Interactive: Which failing Georgia schools could be taken over by the state?

African-American voters widely supported a constitutional amendment four years ago to authorize the state to establish charter schools. Backers of this new amendment are counting on similar support, and opposition from black icons like Young and Aaron could prove consequential.

» Seven things you need to know about the proposed Opportunity School District

The Opportunity district, if approved, would empower the state to close schools, remove the staff and run them directly or convert them to state charter schools.

You can see how your school compares to those around you in the new Ultimate Atlanta School Guide.