SUMMARY:  SB 167/CSFA/2 As Passed Senate

This bill now contains two parts:  the Act to Restore Educational Authority to Georgia Citizens and the Student Right to Privacy Act.  The bill no longer refers to common core but now uses the term "content standards."  It creates a Content Standards Advisory Council that seems to operate year-round and an extensive process for the periodic review of the standards.

The Student Right to Privacy Act contains numerous limitations on the information that may be collected and shared.

Both parts are extremely prescriptive with the word "shall" used 123 times.

In bold are the provisions related to the local school system in the Act to Restore Educational Authority to Georgia Citizens.  The Student Privacy Act applies to local school systems as well as the state.

PROVISIONS:

Act to Restore Educational Authority to Georgia Citizens

Revises 20-2-141 

• Content standards in math, English language arts, science, and social studies must be reviewed by the State Board every five years.
• State Board shall review relevant research in the core subject area under review and identify content standards where revision is appropriate.
• State Board shall examine content standards for core subject areas which have been previously or are currently adopted by Georgia or by other states or countries, with preference given to states that had standards which were highly rated in national surveys of state standards before 2010 and to states and countries with highly rated internationally competitive test results 
• Any proposed changes must be reviewed by the Content Standards Advisory Council which may include review of other content standards within the same subject area, statewide CRCTs related to the same subject area, or data collection policies of the Department of Education or the Office of Student achievement.
• Nothing shall preclude the Council from beginning any review as soon as it is appointed.
• • State Board shall solicit interested persons who are eligible to be appointed to the Council and submit the names to the Governor, Lt. Governor, and Speaker of the House
  • Council will have 17 members
    • Must have a bachelor's degree in at least one of the subject areas under review or a related subject area and appropriate experience and credentials
    • Must be residents of Georgia for at least six months prior to appointment
    • To the extent possible, shall include balanced representation from urban, suburban, and rural areas and representation from each congressional district
    • Shall elect a chair and vice-chair from among its members
    • Nine parent or grandparent representatives representing public school students
      • Governor, Lt. Governor, and Speaker each appoint three of these members -- one from the elementary level, one from the middle, and one from the high school level
    • Three current or retired teacher representatives, including one elementary school teacher, one middle school teacher, and one high school teacher, appointed by the Governor 
    • Two private-sector representatives, one appointed by the Lt. Governor and one by the Speaker
    • Three postsecondary content specialist education representatives, appointed by the Governor
      • Someone currently employed or retired who has taught the subject content at least five years in a postsecondary institution
      • Has an advanced degree, preferably a doctorate, in the subject of study
        • English degree for English language arts
        • Math or statistics for math standards
        • Natural sciences and engineering for science standards
        • Government, economics, history, or political philosophy for social studies standards
        • Advanced degrees in education of the subject, such as mathematics education, do not qualify 
  • Council shall be convened every two years to review proposed changes by the state board to content standards in core subject areas
  • Each Council shall exist for a two year term and shall review a specified subject area in each year of its two-year term.
  • Council members may be reappointed once. 
  • In the event of a vacancy, the member shall be replaced within 30 days in the same manner as the original appointment was made
  • The Council shall establish subcommittees which shall include Council members and other appropriate individuals knowledgeable and experienced in the subject area under review such as
    • early childhood development specialists
    • K-5 content specialists
    • grades 6-8 content specialists
    • grades 9-12 content specialists
    • certified K-5, 6-8. and 9-12 teachers
    • postsecondary content specialists 
  • Council members and subcommittee members shall be reimbursed for per diem and travel expenses in the manner provided for in Code Section 45-7-21
  • Subject to appropriations, non-public sector members may receive an honorarium for their services and local school systems may be reimbursed for the cost incurred in hiring subs to replace teachers serving on subcommittees
  • Contains conflict of interest provision
  • State Board shall post on the department website the names, contact information, and credentials of each Committee member and Subcommittee member 
  • All meetings of the Council and subcommittees are subject to the Open Meetings Act except for reviews and discussions of assessment instruments pursuant to Code Section 20-2-281(i)
• The state board shall provide a 90 day period for public review and comment on its proposed content standards and any other content standards in the same subject area.
• Prior to the 90 day period described above, the State Board shall:
  • Post all proposed changes to content standards on the Department of Education website
  • Submit all proposed changes to content standards to the Council, Governor, Lt. Governor, Speaker of the House of Representatives, chairperson of the Senate Education & Youth Committee, chairperson of the House Committee on Education, and each local school system which shall notify the parents and guardians of its students that proposed content standards are available for review on the department website
  • Submit all proposed changes to content standards to the president of each public postsecondary institution in the state.  The presidents must then provide an electronic copy of the proposed changes to the appropriate school deans, department heads, or both, as appropriate.  For example, changes to the English Language Arts standards would be sent to the English department heads; high school math standards would be sent to the department heads of math, engineering, physical and biological sciences, and computer science.
• Within the 90 day period:
  • Each State Board member shall conduct at least one public hearing and shall provide notice of such hearing by issuing a press release to print and broadcast media serving the congressional district and providing notice to each local school system within the congressional district.
    • The local school system shall notify parents and guardians of all students of the public hearing
    • State Board shall provide at least one week's notice to each state legislator who represents a portion of the congressional district
    • The Council shall try to have Council members present at each hearing
    • State board shall cause minutes of the hearings to be taken and shall distribute them to all State Board members and Council members within 10 business days of the hearing
  • State Board shall solicit feedback on the proposed content standards or on any other content standards within the same subject area from teachers, parents, and other stakeholders through the development, posting, and advertisement of an online survey and shall accept any comments received via email or U.S. mail.
  • The State Board shall also solicit feedback from appropriate content related organizations, associations, and agencies.
  • All feedback received shall be made available to the Council
  • Senate Education & Youth Committee and House Committee on Education may each hold additional public hearings to provide additional opportunity for public comments on the proposed changes and shall submit to the Council any public comments received from the hearings.
  • All public comments received by the State Board in the 90 day period shall be public record and shall be maintained by the Department of Education and available for review for at least six years.
• The Council and its subcommittees shall review the proposals made by the State Board and any feedback received and, with any needed assistance from the department, propose changes to the State Board's proposed changes as it deems appropriate.
• The Council's proposed changes, if any, must be submitted to the State Board by a written report no later than 60 days after the 90 day period for public review.
  • When the report is submitted to the State Board, the Council, through the department, shall provide an electronic copy of the Council's proposed changes to all members of the Senate Education & Youth Committee and House Committee on Education, to each local school system, and to the president of each public postsecondary institution in the state and shall make them available to the public by posting on the department's website.
  • Each local school system shall notify the parents and guardians of its students that proposed content standards are available for review on the department website.
  • The president of each public postsecondary institution in this state shall provide an electronic copy of the proposed changes to the appropriate deans, department heads, or both. 
• The State Board shall take into consideration the recommendations of the Council when, in an open meeting, it makes the changes it deems in the best interest of the students, their parents, teachers, and the citizens of the state.  Adoption of the standards shall not be subject to the Administrative Procedures Act.
• The State Board shall report the approved content standards to local school systems and the General Assembly and post such approved content standards in an easily accessible location on the department's website.
• These requirements apply to all content standards in accordance with a timetable set by the State Board except that:
  • a review of the math standards shall be completed no later than May 31, 2015, and implemented no later than the beginning of the 2016-17 school year
  • a review of the English Language Arts standards shall be completed no later than May 31, 2016, and implemented no later than the beginning of the 2017-18 school year
  • The State Board may accelerate the review of these two areas in the same year
  • Local boards may implement the revised math standards in the 2015-16 school year 

Adds a new Code Section 20-2-141.1

State of Georgia shall retain sole control over the development and revision of the content standards.

Procedures required in 20-2-141 above shall not apply to courses developed and submitted by local boards of education for approval by the State Board.

On and after the effective date of this Code Section, the state shall not adopt any federally prescribed content standards or any national content standards established by a consortium of states or a third party, including, but not limited to, the Next Generation Science Standards, the National Curriculum for Social Studies, the National Health Education Standards, or the National Sexuality Standards.

No official of the state of Georgia, whether elected or appointed or representing the state in any capacity, shall join, on behalf of the state or a state agency, any consortium, association, or entity or enter into a binding agreement, when such membership or agreement would relinquish any measure of control over standards and assessments, to any individual or entity outside the state.

The Department of Education shall annually submit to the General Assembly a detailed report of all grants, including federal, private, or from other sources, that the department has applied for or received and of all outside funding that the department has received.  The report shall include:

• Long-term projections of unfunded costs for both state and local governments for at least a 12 year period
• The purpose and effect of the program, including its effect on and interrelationship with any existing program currently operating within the state
• Justification for the program and peer reviewed research, if any, that validates the effectiveness of the program
• Any negative effects on the constitutional rights of Georgia citizens, including their right to exercise control over education

All statewide K-12 tests and assessments shall be controlled by the State of Georgia without any obligation to other entities, states, consortia, of the federal government and shall not be designed to test national standards or rebranded national standards or be based on any standards established by a consortium of states or a third party, including but not limited to, the Next Generation Science Standards, the National Curriculum for Social Studies, the National Health Education Standards, or the National Sexuality Standards.

The state shall not relinquish any binding control over testing as a condition of receiving a grant.

CRCTs developed according to 20-2-281 shall be aligned with the content standards revised in accordance with 20-2-141 for each subject area.  Until such new assessments are developed, the State Board shall use elementary, middle, and high school level criterion assessments which progress toward revised content standards.

Beginning September 24, 2014, a local school system shall have the flexibility to determine its curriculum and instruction without constraint, including returning to curriculum and instruction aligned to the former Georgia Performance Standards that were in effect in June 2010, until the completion of the revision process established in the bill and the establishment of new standards after this process.

Local school systems may elect to use discrete math and to adopt reading lists, instructional materials, and support materials.

Following adoption of content standards, local school systems may sequence, expand, and enrich the content standards as needed and appropriate for its students and communities.

Student Right to Privacy Act 

Adds a new article (Article 3) to Chapter 1 of Title 20

20-1-30 provides 15 definitions used in the Article such as affective computing, biometric data, cloud computing, intrapersonal and interpersonal resources, and psychological resources.

20-1-31

Unless explicitly required by federal law, no student or family information may be collected by a state agency, local school system, or education institution without the written consent of parents, guardians, or eligible students unless the data is directly related to the educational needs of the student.  The following is NOT considered directly related to the educational needs of the student: 

• K-12 student biometric data, except as may be necessary to facilitate instruction of special needs students or students participating in school PE and athletic programs.  
  • Biometric data is defined as "a record of one or more measurable biological or behavioral characteristics that can be used for automated recognition of an individual, including fingerprints, retina and iris patterns, voiceprints, DNA sequence (including newborn screening information), and facial characteristics."
• Any data collected via affective computing, including analysis of facial expressions, EEG brain wave patterns, skin conductance, galvanic skin response, heart-rate variability, pulse, blood volume, posture, and eye-tracking.  Affective computing is defined as "systems and devices that can or attempt to recognize, interpret, process, or simulate aspects of human feelings or emotions."
• Student of family religious affiliation or beliefs
• Student or family political affiliation or beliefs
• Student or family member sexual orientation or beliefs about sexual orientation
• Student or family gun ownership
• K-12 student or family income data, except information necessary to determine eligibility for, to facilitate participation in, or to receive financial assistance under a scholarship, free-or-reduced lunch, or other financial assistance program
• K-12 student or family social security numbers except as otherwise authorized by law

Unless explicitly required by federal law, a local school system shall not allow the following information regarding its students to be entered into any statewide student longitudinal data base without the written consent of parents, guardians, or eligible students:

• Medical, health, and mental health records, except
  • immunization records required by state law;
  • records needed or created by a school based health program for administering prescription drugs or otherwise treating a student at school;
  • records needed or created by a school based counselor when a student seeks counseling while at school; or
  • fitness assessments pursuant to Code Section 20-2-777
• Student or family workforce information, except information related to work-based learning, technical, or industry-certificate programs participated in for academic credits or as used for an audit, evaluation, or compliance activity in connection with a state-supported education program provided that parents and eligible students may opt out from any personally identifiable data being disclosed for the purpose of such audits, evaluations, or compliance activities
  •  Work force information is defined as "information related to unemployment insurance, wage records, unemployment insurance benefit claims, or employment and earnings data from work force data sources, such as state wage records, the Wage Record Interchange System (WRIS), or the federal Employment Data Exchange System (FEDES)"
• Any psychological data (including any resulting from classroom, education institution, local school system, state, or national assessments) that measure psychological resources, attributes, dispositions, social skills, attitudes, or interpersonal or intrapersonal resources -- this does not include special education assessments
  • Psychological resources means "noncognitive, emotional characteristics, attributes, and skills, including mindsets, learning strategies, and effortful control, used by an individual to address or manage various life situations"
  • Interpersonal resources means "noncognitive, emotional, and psychological characteristics and attributes and skills used to manage relationships and interactions between or among individuals."
  • Intrapersonal resources means "noncognitive, emotional, and psychological characteristics and attributes used to manage emotions and attitudes within an individual."
• Any data developed through predictive modeling, except information necessary for dropout prevention programs and as necessary for evaluation of education programs relating to student proficiencies as measured in preK-12 education or to predict student success in higher education

No funds -- federal, private, or other sources -- shall be used on construction, enhancement, or expansion of any student data base that does not comply with this Code Section, that is designed to collect and store student data that tracks students beyond their K-12 or postsecondary education or compile their personal, nonacademic information beyond what is necessary for either administrative functions directly related to the student's education or evaluation of academic programs and student progress, or that is used for an audit, evaluation, or compliance activity in connection with federal or state supported education programs

No state agency, local school system, or education institution shall pursue or accept any grant, federal or private, that would require the collection or reporting of any types of student data in violation of the first two paragraphs of this section as shown above. 

By August 1, 2014, state agencies, local school systems, and education institutions shall publicly and conspicuously disclose on their websites:

• the type of personally identifiable information from education records maintained by the state agency, school system, or education institution -- directly or through contracts with outside parties
• the types of education records that are transferred to cloud computing service providers
• The disclosure shall be updated within 30 days of any change.
• Local school systems and education institutions shall annually notify parents and eligible students of such website posting which may be accomplished through prominent posting on the website and notice through local media.  The posting shall also include a telephone number or email address for parents to ask questions.
• Within 30 days of a request to a local school system, parents and eligible students shall be provided a printed copy of the student's education records that are in a student data base and shall have the right to correct the records in such data base in a manner that is consistent with requirements of state and federal law.
• State agencies shall also provide annual electronic notification of this information to the chairpersons of the Senate Education & Youth Committee and House Committee on Education including information for parents or eligible students regarding the process to request a copy of the education record pertaining to that student contained in the student data base, the required response time, and the process to contest its content. 

20-1-32