The House Education Committee met this afternoon and hotly debated a new version of HB 908. The bill’s sponsor had deleted or softened several provisions of the legislation which PAGE found highly objectionable.  Two committee members offered substitute versions of the bill, and the committee considered rolling these alternate proposals into a new version of the bill which would be effective until 2013. It would allow all school systems additional line item spending flexibility. Current class size maximums could be expanded by one student in grades k-5 and two students in grades 6-12. The legislation would mandate that school systems affirmatively opt-in to take advantage of the class size and spending flexibility and mandate that such systems comply with certain accountability measures set by the State Board of Education.  During the committee debate, Committee Vice-Chair Fran Millar (R-Dunwoody) read a report from the Georgia Department of Education regarding the cumulative savings if all grade levels in all the state’s school systems were increased class sizes by two students: approximately $625 million. Ultimately, the committee declined to take action on any version of the bill, and Committee Chair Brooks Coleman (R-Duluth) announced that a vote will be taken in two weeks.    

Chairman Coleman announced that HB 904 will be held for summer study. The bill changes the payment schedule for equalization funding. In the event that the legislature fails to fully fund the equalization program, the bill requires that poorer school systems receive partial payment at a higher rate first, relatively poor systems will receive partial payment at a reduced rate second, and the wealthiest systems entitled to equalization funds will then receive whatever funds remain.

The Committee also debated SB 84, comprehensive school board governance legislation, from the last legislative session. The bill creates new requirements for local school board members and contains ethics and nepotism components. SB 84 directs the State Board of Education to create a model ethics policy and allows the Governor to remove local board members when a school system’s accreditation is jeopardized.

The Education Committee passed HB 910, which requires the Department of Education to publish an annual report with information regarding athletic expenditures and participation rates for each gender and such other information as the state board and department deem relevant. The legislation moves to the Rules Committee.

The Committee assigned two bills to the Academic Support Subcommittee. Both pieces of legislation amend laws passed by the 2009 Georgia General Assembly. The bills include:

• HB 937 modifies current school board nepotism laws and allows local board members who were elected before June 30, 2010, who are reelected, to remain in office even if such board member has an immediate family member serving as a school administrator in that school district.  

• HB 966 modifies a law allowing students to attend the school of their choice within the student’s school system, if space is available at such school. The bill defines this space as “permanent classroom space,” excluding temporary buildings like trailers from qualifying as available space.  

This morning, PAGE lobbyists attended a meeting on HB 897. The legislation changes existing law outlawing sexual relationships between k-12 educators their students. HB 897 would bar evidence of student consent to the relationship to be used in the defense of the educator accused of sexual assault.  The judiciary subcommittee to which the legislation is assigned worked to tweak language in the bill, but took no formal action.

Another judiciary subcommittee met today to consider HB 927 which expands the definition of bullying to include cyber-bullying and other disruptive behaviors and to include acts by students in grades k-12. The legislation would allow local boards of education, at their sole discretion, to assign bullies to schools outside the bullies’ attendance areas for the purpose of separating bullies from their victims. The bill also directs the state board of education to enact a model bullying policy which contains a:

• Prohibition of bullying;
• Requirement that teachers or other employees who have reliable information leading a reasonable person to suspect that someone is a target of bullying immediately report it to the school principal;
• Requirement that each school have a procedure for the school administration to promptly investigate in a timely manner and determine whether bullying has occurred;
• Identification of an age appropriate range of consequences for bullying;
• Procedure for a student, parent or guardian, teacher, or other school employee, either anonymously or in such person's name, at such person's option, to report or otherwise provide information on bullying activity;
• Requirement that a parent or guardian of any target of bullying or student who bullies another shall be notified; and
• Statement prohibiting retaliation following a report of bullying.

The Subcommittee will continue to work on the legislation and did not take a vote on the bill.

Mark your calendars now to attend 2010 PAGE Day on Capitol Hill on February 23. Please join us at the capitol to speak with your legislators about the state budget and other important education issues. RSVP to this free event to Tamme Bell as tbell@pageinc.org or at (770) 216-8555.

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