Coalition takes aim at school takeover bid

Educators, clergy, unions among those opposing Gov. Deal.

The factions opposing Gov. Nathan Deal’s school takeover plan have forged a united campaign aimed at defeating the constitutional amendment in November.

Called the Committee to Keep Georgia Schools Local, the group includes the Georgia Association of Educators, the Georgia AFLCIO, Better Georgia, the Concerned Black Clergy of Metro Atlanta and a half-dozen other organizations. They kicked off a statewide campaign last weekend at Piedmont Park.

It’s another sign that the opponents of Deal’s plan to create an Opportunity School District are trying to muster their forces ahead of a contentious vote. The measure, which gives the state the power to take control of persistently failing schools, must be approved in a November referendum.

The public unveiling came after the National Education Association disclosed plans for a statewide campaign to derail the initiative.

Leading Democrats and some influential educator groups have These are some of the many items readers could find this past week in the Political Insider blog on AJC.com. Look there for breaking news and to gain insight about Georgia’s political scene. staunchly opposed the plan, fearing it gives the governor’s office far too much power.

Deal, who casts his proposed constitutional amendment as a moral imperative, has his own big-money campaign brewing.

A pair of groups, Georgia Leads and Georgia Leads for Education, have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to support the measure. — GREG BLUESTEIN

Judge nixes labor law

A federal judge struck down part of a Georgia law criticized by the state’s labor organizations as an effort to chip away at their influence.

The most contentious part of the 2013 law allowed employees to cancel their union membership at any time, rather than only after a one-year period.

The law was backed by Republicans as a way to bolster Georgia’s “right to work” status and burnish the state’s pro-business reputation. Opponents of the legislation, including some leading Democrats, saw it as another threat to the waning power of union groups.

U.S. District Judge William O’Kelley ruled this month that the Georgia rules were “unenforceable” because they were at odds with federal labor rules. He let stand other provisions of the law, including a “statement of rights” that reinforces the right of employers to oppose the recognition of unions.

A spokesman for Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens, whose office defended the statute, did not immediately comment on the judge’s ruling. Labor groups, who challenged the law in court shortly after it took effect in 2013, were quick to declare a resounding victory.

“They spent precious legislative time and money in 2013 going after the working families that make our state great,” said Steve Lomax, the president of a local chapter of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. “Tens of thousands of taxpayer-funded dollars for a long legal fight gained nothing for Georgia citizens.” — GREG BLUESTEIN