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Gwinnett Daily Post gwinnettdailypost.com
Wednesday, February 5, 2020
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Vol. 50, No. 16
Kemp-backed bill would axe many end-of-year tests By Beau Evans Staff Writer Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp unveiled legislation Tuesday that would reduce the number of standardized tests public school students must take in Georgia and untie the link between scores earned on those
exams to their final grades. The changes figure into the governor’s push to roll back some standardized tests instituted over the past decade, both at the federal and state levels. Kemp’s announcement followed a series of meetings last fall with teachers who raised concerns over the rigor of the state’s standard-
ized tests. At a news conference Tuesday, Kemp said the testing changes aim to ease the amount stress put on students, teachers and parents. He said the tests do not best reflect student learning progress and place a “substantial burden” on teachers who already have heavy workloads. “When you look at the big pic-
ture, it’s clear,” Kemp said. “Georgia just tests too much.” Four tests would be yanked from the roster of exams Georgia high schoolers have to take. Another test in social studies would be nixed for fifth graders. Tests to be eliminated would include American literature, geometry, physical science and economics.
Kemp’s legislation would also give the Georgia Board of Education “flexibility” to decide whether end-of-the-year exams would affect a student’s final grade in a course. The tests would also have to be given sometime within the last five weeks of the school year instead of See TESTS, A7
Schrader to go on trial alone Kramer enters Alford plea in computer trespassing case
By Curt Yeomans curt.yeomans@gwinnettdailypost.com
Staff Photos: Taylor Denman
Beauty P. Baldwin, center, and Gwinnett County officials mark the renaming of the county’s elections office by cutting a ribbon in front of the building on Tuesday in Lawrenceville.
IT’S A BEAUTY
Remodeled elections office named after Gwinnett trailblazer
Gwinnett County Superior Court Judge Kathryn Schrader will go on trial alone next week on charges of computer trespassing. Ed Kramer, the last of the three co-defendants indicted alongside Schrader last fall, entered an Alford plea — which allows a defendant to enter a plea without admitting any guilt — during a hearing on Monday morning. “We filed a couple of motions Kathryn which will be withdrawn in light Schrader of the negotiated Alford plea on one count of computer trespassing,” Kramer’s attorney, Stephen Reba, told Judge David Sweat during a motions hearing. Kramer, who co-founded DragonCon but has not been affiliated with the convention in several years, received a sentence of 10 years of Ed Kramer probation for one count of computer trespassing while the other counts of that crime were dropped. Kramer could have faced jail time if a jury convicted him of any, or all, of the three computer trespassing charges that had been filed against him.
By Taylor Denman
See TRIAL, A9
taylor.denman@gwinnettdailypost.com
The newly renovated, more spacious Gwinnett County Voter Registration and Elections Building was described cleverly by Gwinnett County Commission Chairman Charlotte Nash. “The building and its interior is a beauty,” Nash said. Just like the person it’s named after. In her seat nearby, Beauty P. Baldwin beamed before a packed room at the newly renamed Gwinnett County Voter Registration and Elections Beauty P. Baldwin Elections Building. Though she’d know for more than a year it would happen, she was still humbled on Tuesday. She was surprised to receive an award at Gwinnett’s bicentennial celebration as one of Gwinnett County’s trailblazers in December 2018. Minutes later, Nash announced to the crowd at Infinite Energy Center that the county’s renovated elections building would be named after her. “I just lost it,” Baldwin said. “Could not believe it.” Tuesday’s ribbon cutting at the Gwinnett County Voter Registration and Elections building is sort of a punctuation on a career in education and civil service that spans nearly 60 years. Bald-
Police investigating man found dead at Snellville intersection By Chamian Cruz chamian.cruz@gwinnettdailypost.com
Beauty P. Baldwin, right, greets friends in front of the Gwinnett County Elections Office on Tuesday. for the job at Buford City Schools. After her retirement from education, she was appointed to the Board of Elections in ♦♦Visit us online at www.gwinnettdailypost.com for more 1997 and has served there ever since. photos from the ribbon cutting event. Baldwin, who said she is eying retirement from the Gwinnett County Board of Elections after being a member for 23 win was both the first black person and years, said she gets fulfillment looking the first woman named superintendent in Georgia in 1984 when she was hired See BEAUTY, A7
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Visit the Outdoor Oasis showcasing 1,200 sq. ft. of fresh ideas and inspiration for you to create a backyard of your dreams. Presented by:
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Gwinnett County police responded to the scene of a homicide in Snellville Tuesday afternoon after a passerby noticed a male lying in the street. Cpl. Collin Flynn said police responded to the call just after 2:20 p.m. near the intersection of Hightower Trail and Donald Road. The homicide unit also responded to the scene. While the passerby said it appeared as though the male had either been hit by a vehicle or was injured, when police arrived they found a deceased male with at least one gunshot wound, possibly more, police said. “At this time the investigation is still very preliminary,” Flynn said. “We are still trying to figure out who the male is, why he’s at that intersection, and obviously locate witnesses
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