(ExpressTelegraph.com) — Here is a look back at the top Peach State political news.
NEW ROLE: State School Superintendent Richard Woods appointed Christy Todd, the 2024 Georgia Teacher of the Year and a finalist for National Teacher of the Year, to a new role at the Georgia Department of Education, supporting teacher recruitment and retention efforts.
STUDENT SUCCESS: For the eighth year in a row, Georgia students beat the national average on the ACT, recording their highest scores in reading.
| National Average | Georgia Average | |
| English | 18.6 | 20.5 |
| Mathematics | 19.0 | 20.4 |
| Reading | 20.1 | 22.2 |
| Science | 19.6 | 21.1 |
| Composite | 19.4 | 21.2 |
COMPENSATION FOR ANOTHER COUNTY: On Wednesday, Georgia Labor Commissioner Bruce Thompson said workers in an additional county — McIntosh — may now be eligible for federal Disaster Unemployment Assistance to compensate for income lost directly resulting from Hurricane Helene. The complete list of counties declared as affected by Hurricane Helene are Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley, Brooks, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Butts, Camden, Candler, Charlton, Chatham, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Columbia, Cook, Dodge, Echols, Effingham, Elbert, Emanuel, Evans, Fulton, Glascock, Glynn, Hancock, Irwin, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Lanier, Laurens, Liberty, Lincoln, Long, Lowndes, McDuffie, McIntosh, Montgomery, Newton, Pierce, Rabun, Richmond, Screven, Tattnall, Telfair, Tift, Thomas, Toombs, Treutlen, Ware, Warren, Washington, Wayne, and Wheeler.
UNEMPLOYMENT STEADY: On Thursday, Thompson announced that Georgia’s September unemployment rate was 3.6 percent, unchanged from a revised 3.6 percent in August. The unemployment rate was five-tenths lower than the national unemployment rate.
POLITICAL GEORGIA?: Georgia is the 33rd most politically engaged state, according to WalletHub. Maryland ranked as the most politically engaged state, while Arkansas ranked as the least.
NO VIOLATION: A Cobb County trial court did not abuse its discretion when it concluded that jail phone calls between a defendant and his attorney were not protected by attorney-client privilege, the Georgia Supreme Court concluded.
The state’s highest court affirmed a Court of Appeals decision to uphold the trial court’s denial of Derek Burns’ request for a new trial. Burns, convicted of aggravated assault and other crimes in 2019, argued that he was entitled to a new trial because the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office violated his Sixth Amendment rights when it listened to recorded jail calls between him and his attorney.
The trial court denied Burns’ motion for a new trial, and the appeals court sent the case back to the trial court to consider the Sixth Amendment argument. The trial court again denied the motion for a new trial, and the Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling.
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