On Jan. 8, 2024, Alfred “Shivy” Brooks was sworn in as the first active teacher elected to the Atlanta Board of Education (ABOE) in Atlanta Public Schools’ 150-year history. Before 2023, a teacher couldn’t serve on the board regardless of where they taught. But now, Brooks, an economics teacher at Charles Drew High School in Clayton County with 13 years of teaching experience, is the District 7 At-Large member.
Over the past two years, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Atlanta has resettled 800 Afghan evacuees who came through Operation Allies Welcome after the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan but their “humanitarian parole” status only lets them to stay for two years at a time and doesn’t provide a path to lawful permanent residence.
