Top Georgia leaders at odds over direction of education

Georgia's new education plan has driven a wedge between two top state officials: the governor and the elected state superintendent.

The two Republicans are fighting over the state’s plan for compliance with the U.S. Every Student Succeeds Act, which Georgia sent to President Donald Trump’s education secretary on Sept. 18.

Gov. Nathan Deal says it “falls short in setting high expectations,” in part because of the way it uses testing to hold schools accountable. Superintendent Richard Woods refused to make amendments demanded by Deal, arguing that they would have fostered a culture of “measure, pressure, and punish.”