More than $3 million has already been raised to buy ads both extolling the virtues of and slamming Gov. Nathan Deal’s proposed constitutional amendment allowing the state to take over failing schools.

As of Sept. 30, all of the $2.1 million raised by a fund opposing the amendment had come from the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers union, and its Georgia affiliate.

Who is funding the advertising push to pass the proposal on next month's ballot isn't quite as clear. That's because a big chunk of the money has come from a fund set up by Deal's supporters in such a way that it doesn't have to disclose its donors.

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With the closure of the labor and delivery unit in St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital in Lavonia, expectant mothers will instead be directed to deliver at St. Mary’s Hospital in Athens, about 45 miles away.  (Photo Illustration / Getty Images)

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