In a surprise announcement, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced Thursday she will not seek reelection following her first term in office.
Bottoms said the last three years were not what she would have scripted for Atlanta, reported WABE’s Lisa Hagen. She said it was time to pass the baton.
“I don’t know what’s next for me personally and for our family,” said Bottoms on Friday. “But what I do know is that this is a decision made from a position of strength and not weakness.”
Bottoms was once considered a possible candidate for Joe Biden’s vice president. Money from a March fundraiser headlined by the president will be returned to donors immediately, according to Bottoms.
A new analysis of Georgia’s public Pre-Kindergarten program shows several providers would benefit from more state funding. The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute (GBPI) surveyed 38% of the state’s Pre-K directors.
“We wanted to get the perspectives of those implementing this program on how they interact with funding,” says Stephen Owens, a senior policy analyst with GBPI who authored the report. “Is it adequate? Is it covering all their needs in order to set students up for kindergarten?”
48% of the survey’s respondents said they don’t receive enough money from the state to implement high-quality programs. 32% said state funding is sufficient.