Three of four Atlanta Board of Education seats are headed to runoffs on Dec. 2. Atlanta Civic Circle reached out to the school board contenders knocked out of the race for Districts 2, 6 and Seat 8, At-Large to ask who they’re endorsing and what issues the runoff candidates should champion for Atlanta Public Schools (APS).
All of the erstwhile contenders declined to endorse a runoff candidate, but they did raise concerns about the encroachment of charter schools, APS school closures from redistricting, and improving student performance. APS lags behind the state average in reading and math performance metrics at every grade level.
The nine-member school board administers APS’s $1.85 billion budget, which is larger than the city of Atlanta’s $975.4 million general fund, and primarily funded through property taxes. It also makes redistricting and school closure decisions, and oversees the APS superintendent.
Seat 8, At-Large: Kaycee Brock v. Royce Mann
Kaycee Brock finished first in the citywide Seat 8 At-Large race with 39.6% of the vote, so she advanced to a runoff with Royce Mann, who finished second with 32.8%. Runner-up Aisha Stith earned 28% of the vote out of 92,092 ballots cast.
The matchup neatly encapsulates Atlanta’s political divide between the establishment and more progressive figures.
Brock, an experienced educator and consultant, has most recently worked for the Charter School Growth Fund and the KIPP Foundation, which supports a national network of public charter schools. She is backed by establishment figures such as Mayor Andre Dickens, District 10 Councilmember Andrea Boone, and civil rights icon and former mayor Andrew Young.
She is also backed by education advocacy group Equity in Education, which critics say is pushing for publicly funded charter schools and school vouchers at the expense of regular APS schools. Major donors to Equity in Education include the billionaire-backed City Fund Action and GeorgiaCAN, which both advocate to expand public funding of charter schools.
“We do seek to understand and educate the public on what charter education is, but we are not looking for privatized education,” said Equity in Education spokesperson Kameron Preston-Smith.
Mann, who’s 24 and a former APS student, has emerged as the progressive favorite. He’s endorsed by District 2 City Councilmember-elect Kelsea Bond, the Georgia Working Families Party, and recommended by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)’s Atlanta chapter. These groups typically back candidates who want to bolster funding for public education, instead of privatizing it. Mann is also endorsed by former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin.
Mann is campaigning on housing affordability and fully funding APS by rejecting Tax Allocation Districts (TADs) that divert property taxes earmarked for public schools. Relatedly, he advocates for tightening appraisals of commercial properties to increase the tax base that funds APS. He’s also expressed skepticism about APS funding additional charter schools, which currently receive about 13% of APS’s budget, or $237.8 million.
Stith, the third-place finisher, raised concerns about outside groups’ influence on candidates. “The general public needs to take a deep look at the surrounding organizations that all candidates are connected to,” she said.
“We were not asked hard questions on the campaign trail,” Stith added. She said major issues, like increasing the number of charter schools for APS and school closures from redistricting, were sidestepped. “We need to know where the remaining candidates stand on charter schools… They need to say it and stand on it and have a bold perspective,” she said.
District 2: Marlissa Crawford v. Tony Mitchell
In the open race for central and Westside Atlanta’s school board District 2 seat, Marlissa Crawford led with 39.4% of the 9,799 votes cast, followed by Tony Mitchell with 35.8%. Stephen Owens failed to advance to the runoff with 24.8%.
Heading into the runoff, Mitchell, a lobbyist for Gilead Sciences, is the establishment-backed candidate, with endorsements from Dickens, retiring District 2 board member Aretta Baldon, and Equity in Education.
It’s not clear where his opponent, Crawford, who’s a flight attendant and APS parent, stands on the issues. She did not respond to Atlanta Civic Circle’s candidate questionnaire for this contest.
The race’s third-place candidate, Owens, said the District 2 runoff should be a referendum on Crawford and Mitchell’s commitment to equalizing funding for APS clusters — especially for the district’s Washington Cluster — and how much sway outside advocacy groups have over school board decisions.
“My kids and neighbors in the Washington Cluster deserve the same opportunities as those in the North Atlanta, Midtown and Jackson Clusters,” he said.
Owens, who was recommended by the DSA Atlanta chapter, declined to endorse either finalist.
“I don’t know enough about Ms. Crawford and can’t bring myself to endorse Mr. Mitchell, as he was so closely tied to what I consider a bad-faith actor — Equity in Education,” he said.
Owens said Equity in Education’s PAC paid for mailers that falsely called him a Republican for once casting a Republican primary ballot in 2016, which he said was to vote against President Donald Trump.
He questioned Equity in Education’s financial backing, claiming the group is a vehicle for the “astroturfing of school privatization in Atlanta.” Owens added: “I cannot support a single candidate that takes money from that.”
District 6: Tolton Pace v. Patreece Hutcherson
In school board District 6, covering Southwest Atlanta, incumbent Tolton Pace led with 34.2% of 15,595 votes, qualifying for a runoff with Patreece Hutcherson, who won 24.7% of the vote.
Three candidates were knocked out of the race: Jonathan Leon (16.1%), Michael Hopkins (13.9%), and Tyrese Miller (11.1%).
The school board appointed Pace in January to fill the remainder of Eshé Collins’ term after she won the Atlanta City Council’s Post 3, At-Large seat. Collins is endorsing Pace, who previously worked as a senior program officer for the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. He did not respond to Atlanta Civic Circle’s candidate questionnaire for the Nov. 4 election.
Hutcherson, an APS graduate of Booker T. Washington High School, has worked as a counselor for the Douglas County School System for over 21 years. She strongly opposes privatizing public education and has criticized recent APS school closures. A recommendation from the DSA Atlanta chapter positions her to Pace’s left.
Leon, the third-place finisher, declined to endorse either Pace or Hutcherson. He failed to make the runoff despite endorsements from Equity in Education, and the Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council (AFL-CIO).
Leon said his top issues are improving APS students’ academic performance and rebuilding trust in the district. “Only about a third of our students are reading on grade level, and families want to see real progress in literacy and math,” he said. “Recent school closures and mergers have been painful for many families, and restoring confidence will take transparency and engagement.”
Hopkins, the fourth-place finisher, said his top priorities are championing social-emotional learning programs within APS, and fostering community engagement to prevent violence in schools. He also declined to endorse either candidate. “I just want to make sure that anyone who comes out on top of this is focused on the children,” Hopkins said.
Fifth-place finisher Miller did not respond to Atlanta Civic Circle’s requests for comment.
Runoff information
To find out who has endorsed the school board and city council candidates still in the race, check out our runoff endorsement tracker.
Early voting runs from Nov. 22 to Nov. 26. The last day to request an absentee ballot is Nov. 21 and Election Day is Dec. 2.
You can see who is on your ballot using Atlanta Civic Circle’s Build Your Ballot tool. For early voting locations and hours, click here.
I really appreciate how this article breaks down the key issues facing the Atlanta school board runoffs it does a great job of showing that these aren’t just elections, but real debates over the future of public education. The way it highlights concerns about charter school expansion, school closures, and underfunding makes it clear just how high the stakes are for students and communities. It’s inspiring to see this level of civic engagement and a reminder that voters have a powerful opportunity to shape meaningful change.