The 2013 Legislative Session was condensed, fast-paced, and marked with debate about a number of hot-button issues, many of which were only tangentially related to education. Ethics reform, abortion, gun control, and Medicaid funding generated the lion’s share of discussion under the Gold Dome. Many Capitol-watchers believed that the passage of last fall’s state constitutional amendment regarding charter schools served as a referendum on Georgia’s public education system and a precursor to expansion of school choice options; however, widespread school-choice expansion was unsuccessful. Policy makers focused more energy on traditional public schools. 

Below is a summary of legislation passed during the 2013 General Assembly. The bills have been sent to Governor Deal who has forty days after the end of the session to sign or veto any bills.  On May 7th, legislation which has not yet been signed or vetoed becomes law.  The effective date of the following legislation is July 1, 2013, unless otherwise specified within the legislation.

Please note that in the electronic version of this PAGE legislative report, we have included links to supporting documents and legislative voting records for some bills. Please take the time to see how your House and Senate members voted and to learn more about the legislative issues.

Evaluation Changes

Perhaps the most important piece of education legislation which passed this session is HB 244, sponsored by Rep. Randy Nix, which makes sweeping changes to Georgia’s educator evaluation system. The new system is mandated to go statewide by the 2014-2015 school year. It is modeled after the evaluation system piloted in schools participating in the federal Race to the Top program.       

HB 244 mandates that teachers of record in courses in which standardized tests are administered be assessed using student achievement growth, and that the growth measure comprise at least 50 percent of the teacher’s evaluation.

The new evaluation system also calls on trained evaluators to conduct multiple observations. Teachers and administrators will have a pre-evaluation conference, a midyear evaluation conference, and an end-of-year summative evaluation conference. Teachers must be notified of and have access to all observations and evaluations within five working days. Educators may request conferences within ten working days of receipt of this information. Such conference must be provided within ten working days of the conference request.    

Principals will be evaluated on their ability to retain highly rated teachers, effectively manage schools, establish a positive learning climate, and other measures aligned with student achievement.

Individual performance evaluations and related documents are protected from public disclosure. Teachers and administrators will receive one of four rating levels, including Exemplary, Proficient, Needs Development, and Ineffective.  Decisions regarding retention, promotion, compensation, dismissal, and other staffing decisions, including transfers, placements, and Reductions in Force, will be based on the evaluation as will educator professional development. Any combination of two Ineffective or Needs Development summative evaluations within a five-year period will result in the loss of renewable Georgia teaching certification.

In addition to its description of the new evaluation system, HB 244 also makes permanent the May 15 deadline by which school systems must tender employment contracts to educators. Georgia law previously required employers to provide these contracts by April 15, though the date has been extended in recent years. The bill also retreats from recently-enacted mandates that educators obtain permission from their school systems before enrolling in education leadership programs. HB 244 allows educators to enroll in such programs, regardless of employer sponsorship. Educators will not be paid for leadership degrees unless they received employer sponsorship, however.

VIEW House voting record on HB 244

VIEW Senate voting record on HB 244

ACCESS results from the PAGE evaluation pilot survey, which served as the basis for our advocacy and testimony regarding HB 244

ACCESS GA DOE information on the new evaluation system

Title 20 Rewrite & Georgia’s Tuition Tax Credit Program

Each legislative session usually brings with it one education bill to which other legislation is added as the session progresses. The underlying legislation successfully moving through the legislative process on which amendments are hung is referred to as a “Christmas Tree Bill.” HB 283, sponsored by House Education Committee Chair Brooks Coleman (R-Duluth), morphed into this year’s education Christmas Tree when other bills were added to what began as the “Title 20 Cleanup Bill.” The original bill makes multiple updates to Title 20 of Georgia Code, the portion of Georgia law pertaining to public education, upon the recommendation of the State Education Finance Study Commission. These updates include changing the name of “vocational” education to “career, technical, and agricultural” education, tweaking education program weights, making allowances for local reconfiguration of middle schools, changing the funding supplement for charter school systems by capping an individual system’s annual supplement at $4.5 million annually, changing posting requirements for education job openings, changing the name of “commission” charter schools to “state” charter schools, and changing home school reporting requirements.

HB 283 became controversial late in the session when provisions were added relating to Georgia’s tuition tax credit program. This voucher program, which PAGE opposes, diverts over $50 million annually away from public coffers and to private schools. PAGE and other education advocates were pleased when SB 243, sponsored by Senator Charlie Bethel (R-Dalton) was added to HB 283, as the Senate bill mandated greater transparency within the voucher program. Unfortunately, along with tighter fiscal controls, the later amendments also included an expansion of the voucher program, lifting the $50 million cap and replacing it with $58 million annual allowance for the tuition tax credit program. On the last night of the 2013 Session, the House and the Senate went back and forth, disagreeing over the cap. House members wanted a larger expansion, but the Senate held firm.    

Other late amendments to HB 283 include a provision allowing local school board members who violate the federal Voting Rights Act to be charged criminally. An allowance for school systems operating under Investing in Education Excellence (IE2) contracts who fail to meet their performance contract goals is also included in HB 283.     

The voting record on HB 283 is complex due to House and Senate disagreement on the tuition tax credit cap increase.

VIEW House Voting Record

VIEW Senate Voting Record

READ the Southern Education Foundation’s report on the tax credit program

School Board Dysfunction

The highly-publicized dysfunction of some local boards of education prompted several pieces of school board governance legislation which were ultimately rolled into one bill, HB 115, by Rep. Tom Dickson (R-Cohutta). The legislation gives the Governor greater discretion in removing local school board members who jeopardize their system’s accreditation. After controversy arose regarding the cost of legal representation for suspended members of Dekalb County’s Board of Education, another provision was added to HB 115, prohibiting the expenditure of public funds on school board members’ legal costs.  

Payroll Deduction Limitations

HB 361, sponsored by House Majority Whip Ed Lindsey (R-Atlanta), limits the ability of labor organizations to deduct member dues via payroll deduction. An early version of the bill affected PAGE members, but PAGE and other organizations representing educators, firefighters, and police officers were excluded from the limitations. Later in the legislative process, a Senate amendment was added, limiting the ability of seasonal school workers like bus drivers and lunchroom workers to draw unemployment benefits over the summer. Ultimately, this Senate amendment did not pass, though fortunately, the PAGE exclusion held firm.     

State Education Budget

The 2014 education budget contains no big surprises. Highlights include the addition of funding for Georgia’s popular four-year-old pre-k program which will restore a full 180-day pre-k school year. Funds for several categories suggested by the Education Finance Study Commission were appropriated, including: school nurses, school counselors, and professional development. The legislature also agreed to the Commission’s recommendation to swap central office funding for classroom technology. Fortunately, cuts to education sparcity grants, the school nutrition program, and education technology centers proposed in early versions of the budget were not contained in the final version of the budget.

VIEW the entire Fiscal Year 2014 Budget, education portion beginning on page 83

VIEW the entire Supplemental 2103 Budget, education portion beginning on page 44

Georgia Budget & Policy Institute’s ANALYSIS of 2014 state education budget

Other Education-Related Bills

• HB 70, by Rep. Rich Golick (R-Smyrna), is troubling legislation allowing the State Board of Education to waive current public school attendance requirements for students with medical conditions who are eligible for Georgia’s special needs voucher.  

• HB 116, sponsored by Rep. Tom Dickson (R-Cohutta), allows the State Board of Education to transfer donations, gifts, and other assets held in trust to its non-profit arm, the Georgia Foundation for Public Education. 

• HB 131 mandates that dual credit classes be weighted in the same manner as international baccalaureate and advanced placement classes, for the purposes of determining eligibility for Georgia’s HOPE scholarship program. The legislation is sponsored by Rep. Valerie Clark (R-Lawrenceville).

• HB 284, the “Return to Play Act,” sponsored by Rep. Jimmy Pruett (R-Eastman), directs all public and private schools to develop a concussion management plan. The legislation requires schools to provide the parents of student athletes with information regarding concussions. If they show signs of a concussion, students are prohibited from further athletic participation until medical evaluation and clearance. HB 284 contains a hold harmless clause shielding educators, volunteers, and other personnel from liability.  

• HB 337, allows physicians to write prescriptions for auto-injectible epinephrine to schools. Schools can stock this medication (commonly referred to as Epi-Pens) and respond to cases of anaphylaxis. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Barry Fleming (R-Harlem) and also contains a liability waiver protecting school employees who administer the medication in good faith.

• HB 345 is sponsored by Rep. Tommy Benton (R-Jefferson) at the request of the Teachers Retirement System of Georgia. The housekeeping legislation updates the definition of “teacher” in Georgia law. 

• SB 100 reconvenes the Career and Technical Advisory Commission. The bill is sponsored by Senator John Wilkinson (R-Toccoa).

• SB 212, by Senator Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga), requires middle and high schools to provide cardio pulmonary resuscitation instruction to students as a graduation requirement no later than the 2013-2014 school year.   

What Didn’t Pass

Since the Georgia legislature runs on a biennial system, legislation that is introduced in the first year of the biennial is also eligible to pass the following year. The legislation below did not pass this session, but is likely to inspire debate and progress through the legislature during the 2014 Session. 

• HB 123, commonly referred to as the “Parent Trigger Act,” sponsored by Rep. Ed Lindsey, is officially entitled the “Parent and Educator Empowerment Act.” It allows parents and teachers to petition their local boards of education to adopt a school turn-around model for low-performing schools. More controversial is the second portion of the bill, allowing parents (but not teachers) to petition local boards to convert traditional public schools to charter status. The legislation moved quickly through the House but stalled in the Senate after a Senate version of the bill stripped teachers from of the first portion of the bill and renamed the legislation the “Parent Empowerment Act.”

• HB 228, by Rep. Mark Hamilton (R-Cumming), bars public employees, including educators, from using publicly owned computers, email accounts, printers or phones to oppose or promote the passage of legislation. One version of the legislation directs that educators or others found in violation of this rule be charged criminally. Another provision of the bill mandates that parent and student email addresses be used only for school-related functions and not for the purposes of promoting or opposing legislation.

Though it has not passed and is unnecessary and overly punitive, the legislation serves as a reminder that educators should always use the best practices outlined by PAGE when contacting legislators regarding pending legislation. Only personal email addresses, personal electronic devices, and non-instructional time should be used for such communications. 

• HB 263, sponsored by Rep. Chuck Martin (R-Alpharetta), quickly generated a great deal of discussion and communication from educators during the legislative session. The bill would force retiring educators and other state employees to pick up the entire cost of their state health insurance. When the legislation was heard in committee, Rep. Martin clarified his intention that the legislation only apply to educators hired after July 2013. Still, the concept was unattractive to House Retirement Committee members, who declined to move the bill forward.

• HB 327, referred to as the “Flexibility & Accountability Bill,” seeks to give local school systems, in correlation to systems’ scores on Georgia’s College and Career Readiness Performance Index (CCRPI), the ability to waive many provisions of Georgia education law. Some of the provisions include spending mandates, class size caps, teacher certification requirements, and the state salary scale. 

ACCESS PAGE’S letter of concern to legislators regarding HB 327

More about CCRPI: http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/Curriculum-Instruction-and-Assessment/Accountability/Pages/default.aspx

·        SB 68, the “Celebrate Freedom Week Bill,’ sponsored by Senator William Ligon (R-Brunswick), mandates that K-12 schools use the week of September 17th to educate students about the “sacrifices made for freedom in the founding of this country and the values, principles, and philosophies on which this country was founded,” and provide approximately three hours of related instruction. This instruction must include an age-appropriate study of the intent, meaning, and importance of the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, in their historical context including the background of the colonial era along with instruction about the Founding Fathers. SB 68 dictates that the religious references in the writings of the Founding Fathers shall not be censored and directs schools to suggest related reading for students in grades 3-12. Those students will be encouraged to recite from the Declaration of Independence, the Preamble of the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, or the 14th or 19th Amendments. 

• SB 101, by Senator Frank Ginn (R-Danielsville); HB 35, by Rep. Paul Battles (R-Cartersville); and HB 512, by Rep. Rick Jasperse (R-Jasper) were rolled into one omnibus gun bill with a provision impacting K-12 schools. The legislation would give local boards of education authority to designate trained school employees to carry firearms at school. Employees could not be forced to carry firearms, and a hold harmless provision is intended to protect school systems from liability for adopting or declining to adopt such a policy.

Other controversial portions of the omnibus bill allowed firearms to be carried in bars, churches, and some government buildings. The point of contention that ultimately stalled the bill was a provision allowing firearms on college campuses.

• SB 167 and SB 203, both sponsored by Senator Ligon, represent significant skepticism about Georgia’s adoption of the Common Core State Standards. SB 167 would allow Georgia to opt out of the Common Core, and SB 203 would convene the Curriculum Content Standards Advisory Council. 

• HR 550 would allow local school systems to return to the method of electing their school superintendents. The resolution is sponsored by Rep. Rick Jasperse (R-Jasper). 

• HR 486, by Rep. Tom Taylor (R-Dunwoody), seeks to change the state constitution and allow for the creation of additional local school systems.

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

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