After six members were removed from the Dekalb school board following an investigation by SACS, the Governor named replacements today. Over at the AJC, Maureen Downey describes the nominees’ bios. 

Ed Subcommittee Passes Freedom Bill

This afternoon a House Education subcommittee met and passed several pieces of legislation which will now move to the full committee for consideration, including:

• SB 100 reestablishes the Career and Technical Advisory Committee. The committee is comprised of 14 individuals appointed by the House, Senate, Governor, and State School Superintendent.
• SB 68, the Celebrate Freedom Act, sponsored by Senator Ligon (R-Brunswick) mandates that schools recognize the week of Constitution Day (Sept 17) as Celebrate Freedom Week. The legislation generated more discussion than some anticipated when representatives from the GA DOE, conservative advocacy groups, and a retired historian disagreed on the merits of the bill. Subcommittee chair Mike Dudgeon suggested an amendment making recognition of Celebrate Freedom Week discretionary for school systems, but because of a technical problem with the amendment, it’s expected to be added when the bill is heard in full committee. As a general rule, legislators tend to recognize that they should not dictate curriculum from the Gold Dome, but should leave the job to educators. Several of the speakers and legislators expressed support for this practice at today’s meeting. 
• HR 552 encourages the implementation of comprehensive school counseling programs.

 Tuition Tax Credit Bill —Will the Cap be Raised?

SB 243, sponsored by Senator Bethel (R-Dalton), adds much-needed transparency to Georgia’s tuition tax credit program, sometimes referred to as a back-door school voucher. The program was created and sold to policy makers as a private school scholarship program to help poor students escape failing public schools. Available evidence indicates that the program may not be serving this purpose. Media investigations and a comprehensive report by the Southern Education Foundation have shined light on incidents of financial mismanagement. 

Bethel’s bill, which is supported by many public education advocates and some student scholarship organizations, includes a requirement that students briefly attend public school before becoming eligible to receive the voucher to attend private schools. Unfortunately, this requirement was softened on the Senate floor last week by inserting exceptions to the attendance requirement. See our last Week in Review show for committee footage on SB 243 and more information on what happened on the Senate floor.

The legislation was heard today in the Income Tax Subcommittee of House Ways and Means, and the subcommittee took out the most objectionable exception to the attendance requirement. This exception allows parents with a religious objection to circumvent 243’s requirement that students attend public school for at least six weeks before becoming eligible for the private school voucher. As expected, advocates in the favor of the program pushed the committee to raise the $50 million/year cap on the program, a move which PAGE opposes. The subcommittee will likely reconvene to hear the bill again very soon. 

Educators concerned about the diversion of additional dollars away from public schools should contact Ways and Means committee members now and mention the impact of further funding cuts on their students. Educators might also express support for the transparency provisions of SB 243 but mention that allowing exceptions for the bill’s attendance requirement is bad policy. Always follow the best practices outlined by PAGE regarding contact with legislators--use your personal email account, and refrain from contacting legislators during instructional time and from any school computer or phone.

WATCH “Legislative Week in Review” for more on education-related issues at the Capitol

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