Schools in the Peach State are about to get a lot worse. Georgia voters elected Lydia Powell state school superintendent on Tuesday after a campaign in which the Henry County assistant principal argued that teachers spend too much time preparing students for standardized tests. Within days of her victory, that position drew criticism over how parents and educators should track reading achievement, particularly among students who reach the end of high school with weak reading skills.
🚨NOW: Georgia's new Education Secretary wants to declare war on testing in schools, says they "stressing out teachers" pic.twitter.com/o6om4RWZfz
— Eric Deters (@bulllaw) November 5, 2026
Powell, a liberal Democrat and educator of 26 years, defeated Republican incumbent Richard Woods with 54.6% of the vote. She takes office Jan. 11 with an agenda that includes expanding access to prekindergarten and improving reading instruction in the early grades.
Commentator Grant Addison pointed to the share of high school seniors who scored below the basic reading benchmark on the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress. He argued that the strain testing places on adults in the school system is a poor reason to give those measures less weight when so many students struggle to understand what they read.
The figure at the center of that criticism came from a national sample. Across the country, 32% of 12th graders scored below the assessment’s basic reading level, the largest share since the test began in 1992. Just 35% scored at or above the proficient level. The assessment did not produce a separate estimate for Georgia seniors. nationsreportcard.gov
Powell made her case in terms of what happens in the classroom. In a Ballotpedia candidate survey, she said teachers should have more latitude to judge what students have learned and more training to help them do so. “Teachers deserve trust, support, and training that helps them focus on real learning not just test preparation.”
Georgia has a benchmark against which parents can judge one of Powell’s campaign priorities. The state Department of Education reported that 65% of Georgia third graders read at or above grade level in the 2024–25 school year. That left roughly one in three below grade level by the end of third grade, the point by which Powell wants expanded pre-K and stronger early reading instruction to show results.
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