Mayor of Atlanta Keisha Lance Bottoms earlier this week named 30-year-old Aliya Bhatia as the city's first chief education officer, but The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has made official that Bottoms withdrew Bhatia's job offer within days of the proclamation.

However, Bottoms provided no statement for rescinding the offer.

The mayor frequently is sworn to create the position during her campaign earlier this year.

"Quality education can transform lives," Bottoms said in a press release on July 9.

"Aliya Bhatia's experience, passion and commitment to creating high-quality, accessible educational opportunities will allow her to effectively partner with (Atlanta Public Schools) and other education and industry leaders from throughout the community as we work to improve access to education and training for all of our children and residents."

Bhatia was to have reported working this week.

Recently, Bhatia earned a master's degree in public policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, according to the press release last week announcing her hiring.

Sources told the AJC that Bhatia had already moved back to the area to begin working for the city.

Although Bottoms campaigned on a commitment to hire a city official to focus on education, the idea initially didn't garner a warm reception from Atlanta Public Schools leadership.

Bottoms administration did not directly respond to questions about the situation, but a spokesperson said in a statement: "There is no higher priority for this Administration than making sure our children and communities have the tools and direction they need to compete in the advanced workforce of today and tomorrow. We have decided to delay the implementation and start-date of this position to further review some of the nuances that will make this nexus between the City and our education partners even stronger. We appreciate Aliya Bhatia's remarkable talent and energy, and trust that she will be tremendously successful in her future endeavors."

The decision was so abrupt that not everyone in the administration seemed to know that Bhatia would not be assuming the role of chief education officer.

By Sowmya Sangam