REAL RESULTS FOR GEORGIA'S EDUCATORS.

As a 29+ year veteran educator, Richard Woods knows how important it is to support those who support our children -- he's the only candidate with teaching experience.

Together, we must continue to support those who support our students -- our teachers.

ENDORSED BY GEORGIA EDUCATORS
​"Georgia educators know Richard Woods. Richard has shown a heart of an educator, never forgetting what it was like to be a classroom teacher. His proven leadership is needed now more than ever.

Richard Woods has worked with teachers from across the state to elevate and support our profession.

​Time and time again, Richard Woods has stood up for the teaching profession.
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• Fighting for our profession. ​Richard Woods has been a fierce advocate on behalf of the teaching profession -- fighting back against efforts to blame and shame our teachers. Our students are more than a test score and so are our teachers!
• Decreasing high-stakes testing. Richard Woods led the largest reduction of high-stakes in our state's history -- eliminated SLOs and 13 Georgia Milestones.
• Reforming TKES. Richard Woods eliminated the requirement of six observations for every teacher and lowered the testing weight -- he's launched an overhaul to the current TKES to transform it from a 'gotcha' tool to one that truly supports teachers throughout their professional careers -- from beginning teacher to teacher leader.
• Increasing teacher pay and protecting benefits. Richard Woods provided $1k bonuses to all educators and support staff during the pandemic, fighting for the full $5,000 pay raise, and protecting TRS and healthcare benefits. Richard Woods won't stop there -- he supports expanding salary step increases on the teacher pay scale for the full length of teachers' careers.
• Clearing the plates of teachers. Richard Woods is fighting to protect funding to lower class sizes and spearheading efforts to evaluate curriculum programs, testing program, and paperwork to eliminate the redundancy so our teachers can teach. 
• Ensuring "compassion over compliance" during the pandemic. Richard Woods suspended testing, accountability, and TKES at the onset of the pandemic. Pushed back against federal testing and accountability mandates so teachers can stay focused on what truly matters -- meeting the needs of their students.