GOP bills seek changes in Georgia's second-largest county
ATLANTA (AP) — Republicans are moving to ram through bills changing the composition of the county commission and school board in Georgia's second-largest county after Democrats took control of both bodies.
The Senate State and Local Government Operations Committee voted 4-3 to approve Senate Bill 5EX on Wednesday, which would change how the Gwinnett County Board of Education is elected from partisan to nonpartisan races. It would also redraw school board districts, taking back that power from the current board.
The committee briefly considered but did not vote on Senate Bill 6EX, which would expand Gwinnett County's commission from four members to nine. A chair would continue to be elected countywide, but would only vote in future meetings in the event of a tie.
The measures are the latest proposals by Republicans to alter local government, including splitting Columbia County from a Democratic-dominated Augusta judicial circuit, allowing the Buckhead neighborhood to secede from Atlanta, and creating new cities in Cobb County after Democrats took over county government there.
Sen. Clint Dixon of Buford, the lone Republican in Gwinnett County's Senate delegation, said the school board changes are needed because his constituents have voiced alarm over the board's earlier decision to fire longtime Superintendent Alvin Wilbanks before his scheduled retirement and because they're worried school board members may impose curriculum changes including the teaching of critical race theory. While that term refers to a particular academic theory about how legal structures can perpetuate racism, Republicans use the term to attack a broad range of efforts to teach about racism as well as efforts to include diverse populations.
“My constituents are very concerned,” Dixon said....