12 days until vote
Thursday marks 12 days until Americans vote in federal and state races on Nov. 8. All year, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has brought you the key moments in those races, and it will continue to cover the campaign's main events, examine the issues and analyze candidates' finance reports until the last ballot is counted. You can follow the developments on the AJC's politics page at http://www.myajc.com/s/news/georgia-politics/ and in the Political Insider blog at http://www.myajc.com/s/news/political-insider/. You can also track our coverage on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GAPoliticsNews or Facebook at https://facebook.com/gapoliticsnewsnow.
Even Gov. Nathan Deal’s fabled friendship with Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed has its limits.
The bipartisan duo showered each other with praise at a Wednesday press conference announcing a new information technology hub in Atlanta, and the mayor bit his tongue after the event when he was pressed on whether he supported Deal’s failing schools initiative.
But on Monday, Reed told the Buckhead Rotary Club that he opposed the governor's proposed constitutional amendment creating an Opportunity School District, joining the ranks of other high-profile Democrats fighting the ballot initiative. And later Wednesday night he elaborated on his position.
“I oppose this proposal because I believe it will inevitably result in the diversion of public funds for public schools to private entities, with inadequate oversight, and without accountability to parents,” the Democrat said in a statement. “I believe such a change in our state, through the permanent measure of a constitutional amendment, will weaken our public schools and create conditions where they become the last resort for desperate families, rather than a symbol of excellence and source of community pride.”
Reed's opposition is another blow to the governor's plan for a new statewide district that would take control of schools deemed to be persistently failing. Deal has tried to tailor his pitch for the initiative, the cornerstone of his second-term agenda, to Democrats in low-performing schools as a way to reverse a cycle of poverty. (To Republicans, he's also ratcheting up his argument that failing schools breed crime.)
But Reed has aligned himself with other leaders in his party, as well as powerful educator groups and more than 40 school boards, who worry it would hand control of local schools to an aloof entity that’s not accountable to voters and give the governor’s office too much power.
An Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll released last week found nearly 60 percent of voters would vote against the amendment, though Deal’s allies say they remain confident that the question on the ballot, which is more favorably worded, will pass next month.
At Wednesday's press conference, Reed stood silently behind Deal as he elaborated on his fear that students in failing schools are more likely to turn to a life of crime — and more likely to target people in affluent neighborhoods.
“It has no racial overtones at all,” he said. “It’s a matter of fact.”
After Deal left, Reed was asked whether he agreed with the governor’s sentiment.
“What I know about the governor is that he has a deep passion about the care for the kids of this state,” Reed said. “The way we get to it may be a bit different, but I don’t question his heart.”
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