A group of teachers is choosing an unusual way to urge the state’s future leaders to continue to fully fund education.
Their campaign called Hungry for Education is aimed at convincing state lawmakers to do the same under a new governor and lieutenant governor.
“This may be the first hunger strike in history not to change something, but to keep it the same,” says Alex Robson, Gwinnett County’s Middle School Teach of the Year in 2017.
So far nearly 50 teachers from Gwinnett and other parts of metro Atlanta have joined in the two-week fast to call attention to the issue. Robson plans to only consume water, lemon juice, vitamins and one Gatorade each day until August 26.
Other teachers from his school, the G.I.V.E. Center West, plan to take different approaches including a sunup to sundown fast.
“I just want to do something to show that this is a really important issue and needs to be taken seriously by our heads of state,” says middle school teacher Topaz Thompson.
This past legislative session lawmakers, prompted by Gov. Nathan Deal, used revenue increases to fully fund the formula that determines how much a school district receives for the first time in 16 years.
Robson has seen first hand what the increases have meant to Gwinnett schools including additional school resource officers as well as cost-of-live adjustments this year.
The group is planning to reach out to candidates running for governor and lieutenant governor in an effort to make the issue part of the upcoming November elections.