By Jill Nolin | Editor
Georgia was the first state to roll out universal pre-K for its 4-year-olds in the 1990s, but the state has struggled to meet demand in some areas of the state, leaving parents in those communities to endure frustrating waiting lists. So it caught our attention when Keisha Lance Bottoms pledged to guarantee access to all 4-year-olds if she’s elected governor. How would the Atlanta Democrat pay for that, and is there really even enough demand to support expanding the program on the scale Bottoms is proposing? Freelance reporter Jeff Amy digs into it.
Amy M. Jacobs (left), commissioner of the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, visited pre-K summer transition program classes in northeast Georgia recently. Photo courtesy of the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning
EDUCATION
By Jeff Amy
Georgia’s prekindergarten program for 4-year-olds is supposed to provide a free spot to any parent who wants to enroll their child.
But that universal guarantee has been voided by a shortage of classrooms in parts of the state.
Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Democratic nominee for governor, says she wants to fill that gap if she’s elected.
From left, Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who is running for governor, and U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff at a rally in Atlanta on May 31, 2026. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
2026 ELECTION
By Craig Nelson
There was no mistaking the message that incumbent U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff and gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms were seeking to drive home at a rally on Saturday in Savannah, not only to the thousand or so supporters gathered in a hall on a sweltering day in late June but to voters across the state.
Signs reading “United for Georgia” were everywhere, eclipsing the “Ossoff for Senate” and “Bottoms for Governor” placards. The two Democrats that top their party’s ticket this fall embraced at rally’s end and held their clasped hands high before the adoring crowd. The meaning of the gestures was plain: They have decided they cannot win in November without the public support of the other.
States’ approaches toward street homelessness have included imposing camping bans on public lands, setting mandates for local governments to enforce those bans and, in some cases, allowing property owners to sue their local government if they do not comply with enforcement of statewide camping bans. (Photo by Ronda Churchill for Nevada Current)
HOUSING
By Robbie Sequeira, Stateline
Two years after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Grants Pass v. Johnson decision — which allowed governments to enforce public camping bans without violating the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment — more than 350 cities and 14 states, including Georgia, have adopted laws or measures to crack down on street homelessness.
News tips, feedback, question? Email us: [email protected]
FROM OUR DC BUREAU
ICYMI FROM THE RECORDER
Thanks for reading The Daily Record. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.