Atlanta Board of Education members do more than sit in an hours-long meeting once a month. They make decisions that affect nearly 50,000 students at Atlanta Public Schools, a school district wrestling with gaps in achievement and racial inequity. That’s why your decisions in the upcoming school board election on Nov. 7 matter so much. […]
Sydney Sims
Posted inK-12
Low Turnout, High Stakes: Why Atlanta School Board Elections Matter
Iesha Lyons has always picked her daughter up from school. As she sat in her car one afternoon in August, stuck in a long line outside Howard Middle School, she admitted she might change her stance after the 8th-grader graduates this spring. “Maybe she will ride the bus when she goes to high school,” Lyons […]
Posted inHistory
ATL’s Love for Hip-Hop: Residents Share How They Got Hooked
Aug. 11 marks Hip-Hop’s 50th birthday. And while Atlanta isn’t the birthplace of Hip-Hop, few cities have influenced the genre’s history, current popularity, and future like ATL, letting everyone know that “The South has something to say.” So, in honor of the anniversary, Capital B Atlanta set out to ask residents a simple (yet loaded) […]
Posted inK-12
Atlanta School Board Seats Are Open: Ready to Run?
August means back-to-school time for thousands of students at Atlanta Public Schools. But it also marks the start of election season for the school board. Aug. 23-25 is the official qualifying period for potential candidates to put their name in the running for the upcoming APS School Board elections, which will take place on Nov. […]
Posted inHigher Education
How Black College Students in Atlanta Are Reacting to Affirmative Action Ruling
Black college students in Atlanta are not mincing words after last month’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling to end affirmative action in higher education. They say the decision — which limits colleges from considering race in admissions — is just another in a long list of challenges keeping scholars of color from gaining access to colleges […]
Posted inCity Politics
What Would Atlanta Teens Do If We Gave Them $790 Million to Spend on the Budget?
Budget season in Atlanta is nearing the home stretch. Before the City Council and Mayor Andre Dickens approve and sign off on the record-setting $790 million general fund tab, we had one question: What would local teens do with that money? After all, Dickens dubbed 2023 the “Year of the Youth,” launching an initiative in […]
Posted inCity Politics, Explainers, Politics
Atlanta City Council Proposes New Ordinance to Ensure Residents Are Heard in Public Comment
If you’ve ever been to an Atlanta City Council meeting and tried to speak during the public comment section, you may have had to wait several hours to state your piece. Now, the city is proposing a change to its public comment system to help ensure that all residents can voice their concerns. Here’s what […]
Posted inPublic Services
Need Plumbing Repairs? DeKalb County Has the Solution for You.
Live in DeKalb County? Need some help with your plumbing or mounting water bill debt? The DeKalb Cares Water Repair Program may be the solution for you. On Aug. 1, 2022, the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners announced that residents across the county would see a 6% increase in water and sewer bills to fund […]
Posted inK-12
DeKalb County Schools Has a New Superintendent. Here’s What Residents Think.
The decision-making process LaTasha Adams went through before deciding to enroll her 8-year-old daughter at Wadsworth Magnet School was intense. The Decatur resident, who lives in the Columbia Woods neighborhood, had been home-schooling her daughter Zoey, but after taking a site tour of the magnet school in South DeKalb, and meeting the administrators, she was […]
Posted inCity Politics, Politics
It’s Not Just the City of Atlanta. Black Residents in DeKalb Have Water Issues, Too
Earlier this week, Janis Gardner sat outside the DeKalb County government office in downtown Decatur looking for answers. It was early in the morning, but she waited, alongside a dozen others, for the 10 a.m. Board of Commissioners meeting. Next to her were fellow members of the DeKalb Water Watch, a community group created with […]