At this afternoon’s House Education Committee meeting, two important pieces of legislation were discussed.

An amended version of HB 908 was debated in committee. After advocacy on the part of PAGE and other groups, the bill has been stripped of many of its most unappealing provisions. The current version of the legislation would not allow school systems to disregard the state salary schedule or class size maximums. However, the bill would allow school systems to disregard expenditure controls on direct instruction for the next three years. HB 908 passed after much discussion. It now moves to the House Rules Committee for placement on the House Calendar.    

SB 84 was sponsored on behalf of Governor Perdue’s office. This comprehensive school board governance legislation is a holdover from 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 sanction local board members when a school system’s accreditation is jeopardized. Several Education Committee members proposed amendments to the bill. Committee Chair Brooks Coleman (R-Duluth) indicated that the committee will vote on the legislation next week.  

The Chair also assigned the following legislation to subcommittee:

Assigned to Academic Support:

• HB 936 allows funds which the State Board of Education allocates for school-bus replacement to be used by local boards of education to refurbish existing buses.

• HB 977 mandates that in any year in which a local board of education furloughs teachers, paraprofessionals, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, custodians, support staff, or other non-administrative positions, such local board cannot use any state funds to provide a salary increase for the local school superintendent or administrators. If teachers and other educators are furloughed, and the local board decides to increase the salary of the superintendent or administrators, the board must hold a public hearing 

• HB 995 requires that the school year shall not begin prior to September 1 or Labor Day, whichever is earlier. The legislation would not apply to schools with a year-round calendar.

Assigned to Academic Achievement:

• HB 1031 directs parents or guardians to re-enroll students in school within thirty days if the family relocates. Failure to do so could result in the parent being charged with a misdemeanor.

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.

Professional Association of Georgia Educators

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