Author: Ikhlas Saleem

Alisha Thomas Morgan on Running for Office at 22, the NAACP and Sundays With the Real Housewives

At 23 years old Alisha Thomas Morgan became the first African-American to represent Cobb County in the Georgia House of Representatives. During her 12 years of service,  as a legislator and mom, Morgan championed the expansion of school choice options for Georgia parents. In 2015, Morgan became executive director/superintendent of Ivy Preparatory Academies, an all-girls charter network servicing metro Atlanta…

These Two Atlanta Students Were Homeless and Just Got Scholarships to College

Rebecca Schmitt and Jakobi Horn of Maynard Jackson High School in Atlanta have both been homeless at one point—contributing to Atlanta’s population of nearly 1,800 homeless students. Shmitt, who was recently named valedictorian, and Horn were selected for this year’s Student Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) program, honoring Georgia’s outstanding high school seniors and the teachers who have been most instrumental in…

Arne Duncan to Trump and DeVos: We Cannot Stop Protecting Our Most Vulnerable Students

In AJC’s Get Schooled blog hosted by Maureen Downey, former Education Secretary Arne Duncan pushes back on the Trump’s administration call to leave enforcement of federal civil rights laws to states. Duncan notes that while Trump has claimed education to be “the civil rights issue of our time,” leaving it up to states to protect civil rights will not hold…

Atlanta Superintendent on Restoring Confidence, Focusing on Kids and Selfie Sticks

Meria Joel Carstarphen became superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools (APS) on the heels of a national cheating scandal in which 11 of 12 people in APS were convicted on charges including racketeering, with some serving time in prison. Her two years have been a true test even within the intensely political world of urban superintendencies. But she’s been making her mark and moving…