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2015 Legislative
2015 Legislative Summary
By Margaret Ciccarelli, Director of Legislative Services
The 2015 General Assembly focused on medical marijuana, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and transportation but also passed several important education bills.
Below is a summary of education-related legislation passed in 2015. The bills and resolutions were sent to Gov. Nathan Deal, who had 40 days after the end of session to veto any legislation. The governor did not veto any education bills this year, so all of the legislation summarized below becomes law July 1, 2015, unless another effective date is specified in the legislation.
Please note that in the electronic/online version of this PAGE legislative summary, whenever possible, 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.
ALLOWING THE STATE TO TAKE OVER LOCAL SCHOOLS
SB 133 and SR 287 contain Governor Deal’s proposed constitutional amendment and companion legislation, allowing the state to take over local schools. If approved by voters in November 2016, the plan would allow an Opportunity School District, run by an OSD school superintendent answering directly to the governor, to take over local schools that receive three consecutive failing scores on Georgia’s College and Career Ready Performance Index. Four reorganization options would be available to the schools: closure, charter conversion, governance by the OSD superintendent or entering into a memorandum of understanding with the local school district.
When the OSD legislation was being considered in committee, PAGE testified and described the need for additional support services for students attending the targeted schools. PAGE suggested that policymakers look to success stories ty schools for a road map to turnaround and cited concerns regarding the staff in OSD schools. PAGE also requested that legislators prohibit for-profit charter school companies from operating in the Opportunity School District.
When SB 133 and SR 287 passed, votes generally fell along party lines, with most Republicans voting for the legislation
occurring in notable Georgia high-poverand many Democrats voting against. There were outliers on both sides of the aisle, however. One Republican representative explained his opposition to the plan due to its duplicative creation of school services. Several Democrats speaking in support of the amendment cited frustration with and mismanagement by their local school boards.
Georgians will have the opportunity to vote on the proposed constitutional amendment in the fall of 2016. The amendment will read: “Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended to allow the state to intervene in chronically failing public schools in order to improve student performance?”
TEACHER RETIREMENT SYSTEM LEGISLATION
SB 152, by Sen. Hunter Hill (R-Atlanta), changes Georgia’s Teacher Retirement System to a hybrid or blended plan. The bill was not heard in committee, nor did it receive a vote on the House or Senate floor. However,
the legislation will be viable next year if retirement committee members vote to send it for an actuarial study over the summer. A date for this joint House and Senate Retirement Committee meeting has not yet been set.
MOVING ON WHEN READY
SB 2 allows high school students who pass post-secondary entrance exams to enroll in colleges, universities and technical schools and to obtain their high school diplomas simultaneously with their post-secondary degree or certifica-
tion. The legislation was sponsored on behalf of Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle by Sen. Lindsey Tippins (R-Marietta).
SB 132, the Move on When Ready Act by Sen. Mike Dugan (R-Carrollton), repeals the current dual enrollment law and replaces it with a new one, which allows students in ninth through 12th grades to participate in dual enrollment at high schools and postsecondary institutions. Program funding will be administered by the Georgia School Finance Commission and is subject to appropriation by the legislature.
REPORTING CHILD ABUSE
HB 177, by Rep. David Wilkerson (D-Austell), requires that DFCS notify school personnel who have reported potential cases of child abuse about whether the abuse was confirmed. Similar legislation almost passed during the 2014 session.
HB 268, by Rep. Mandy Ballinger (R-Canton), broadens Georgia’s man-
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gru.edu/coe/edd dated reporter statute to require that mandated reporters who learn that a child is being abused by an employee of or volunteer at a hospital, school, social agency or similar facility notify the person in charge of such facility.
TRANSPORTATION
The transportation bill’s impact on state and local education dollars changed significantly as HB 170, sponsored by Rep. Jay Roberts (R-Ocilla), moved through the legislative process. In its final form, the bill is intended to generate about $1 billion annually in new transportation dollars by converting Georgia’s current two-tier system of motor fuel tax to a single excise tax. Upgrades to roads, bridges and transit will be funded by new fees on hotel rooms, heavy-duty trucks and electric vehicles. The bill eliminates some existing tax breaks for Delta Air Lines and drivers of electric cars, and it also allows counties to levy voter-approved sales tax for transportation.
EDUCATION BUDGET
The fiscal year 2016 education budget funds formulaic increases for student enrollment and educator training and experience. It also includes a partial restoration of the ongoing education austerity reduction. The FY 2016 $280 million partial restoration is intended to allow local school districts the ability to eliminate teacher furlough days, increase instructional days and increase teacher salaries. However, the funding is unlikely to enable all local school districts to accomplish each of these important goals.
Though the governor’s original budget recommendation eliminated state health insurance for classified school staff working fewer than 30 hours a week, fortunately, the final version of the budget restored the insurance. Unfortunately, a large portion of the partial education austerity restoration will be used by local districts to cover the increased cost to insure these employees. The local district contribution rate for these employees will increase from $596.20 per member, per month to $746.20 per member, per month. This amounts to a $102,825,000 cost to local districts.
Other education budget highlights include: • $300,000 increase for the Young Farmers program in Turner, Union,
Johnson and Burke counties; • Equalization grant increase of $18.8 million; • $9.4 million increase in local fivemill share; • Increase of $1.2 million for differentiated pay for newly certified math and science teachers; • $631,357 increase for school nurses; • Increase of $275,000 for Positive Behavior Intervention Supports trainers; and • $2.4 million increase for personnel for 17 teacher and leader effectiveness support positions, one teacher induction position and two district effectiveness positions.
OTHER EDUCATION LEGISLATION
SR 80 requests the State Board of Education rewrite the Advanced Placement U.S. History framework. Sen. William Ligon (R-Brunswick), the same legislator behind the push to withdraw Georgia from the Common Core standards, authored SR 80.
HB 91, sponsored by House Education Chair Brooks Coleman (R-Duluth), enables students who have fulfilled every other high school graduation requirement but have failed to pass the outdated High School Graduation Test to receive a high school diploma. This legislation was signed by Governor Deal March 30 and became law.
HB 502, this year’s Title 20 Rewrite Bill by Rep. Mike Dudgeon (R-Johns Creek), makes small changes to current education law, including the names of several school district governance models. IE2 districts will now be known as “Strategic Waivers School Systems.” The bill also eliminates existing terminology referring to “status quo” school districts and renames these systems “Title 20/ No Waivers Systems.” The final version of HB 502 contains language from SB 116, the Celebrate Freedom Week Bill by Senator Ligon and from America’s Founding Philosophy and Principles Act.
SB 89, the Digital Classroom Act by Sen. John Albers (R-Roswell), encourages all textbooks to be in digital format by 2020. HB 414 was attached to SB 89 before the combined legislation ultimately passed. HB 414 contains student data privacy recommendations from last summer’s Study Committee on the Role of the Federal Government in Georgia Education. Among other things, the bill requires that the state DOE create a chief information officer position and develop new policies regarding how it handles student data.
HB 164, sponsored by Rep. Chuck Martin (R-Alpharetta), was brought on behalf of the Georgia Professional Standards Commission. The bill extends the moratorium on educator PLU requirements until 2017, when the GAPSC’s new professional learning requirements will be in effect.
HB 198, the Jason Flatt Act, sponsored by Rep. Katie Dempsey (R-Rome), requires local school districts to provide staff training on suicide awareness and prevention. The legislation contains a hold harmless clause limiting liability for local districts.
HB 209, by Rep. Wes Cantrell (R-Woodstock), requires that school districts provide parents of students eligible for Georgia’s special needs voucher program with specific written notice of the student’s eligibility at initial Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings.
HB 313, by Rep. Robert Dickey (R-Musella), allows public employees to use up to eights hours of accrued leave per calendar year for the purpose of promoting education in Georgia. Using such leave for political purposes or agendas is expressly prohibited.
SB 126 allows doctors or nurse practitioners to write prescriptions for autoinjectable epinephrine and albuterol inhalers to public and private schools so that schools may stock the medicine in case of emergency. The legislation was sponsored by Sen. Chuck Hufstetler (R-Rome).
SB 164, by Sen. Emmanuel Jones (D-Decatur), encourages local boards of education to implement the PBIS and Response to Intervention behavioral programs, particularly in high-need schools.
HB 131, the End to Cyberbullying Act by Rep. Pam Dickerson (D-Conyers), prohibits bullying of students and school staff through use of computers or other electronic devices, regardless of whether the electronic communication originated on school property or with school equipment, if the electronic communication is directed specifically at students or school staff, if it is maliciously intended for the purpose of threatening the safety of students of staff or substantially disrupting the orderly operation of the school and if it creates a reasonable fear of harm or has a high likelihood of succeeding in that purpose.
HB 372, the Utopian Academy for the Arts Act by Rep. Christian Coomer (R-Cartersville), was amended to include language from HB 474 by Rep. Margaret Kaiser (R-Atlanta), providing for enrollment priorities in charter schools for educationally disadvantaged students.
SR 564 creates a Senate study committee on school construction.
HR 620 urges local boards of education to provide educational awareness regarding renewable energy.
HR 765 creates a House study committee on the role of school counselors.
FAILED LEGISLATION
Because 2015 is the first in Georgia’s two-year biennial session, the following legislation is eligible to pass in the 2016 General Assembly:
HB 243, the Education Savings Account Act by Mark Hamilton (R-Cumming), seeks to allow kindergarteners and first-graders that never attended public schools to use public funds to attend private schools. The legislation would enable parents to use the state portion of public dollars allocated for their child’s education by depositing the funds in an Education Savings Account to be used for private school tuition, private tutoring, textbooks or homeschool and higher education expenses.
HB 240, by Rep. Buzz Brockway (R-Lawrenceville), is PAGE-supported legislation requiring that at least one member of the board overseeing the State Health Benefit Plan be a retired or active educator or state employee covered by the plan. The bill is a muchneeded move to add transparency and accountability in decisions related to state health insurance.
HR 4, a proposed state constitutional amendment by Rep. Tom Taylor (D-Dunwoody), seeks to allow for the creation of new city school systems.
HB 100, by Rep. Tom Dixon (R-Cohutta), attempts to change the age by which students can start kindergarten. The bill would change the current requirement that a student turn 5 by Sept. 1 in order to begin kindergarten to Aug. 1 for school year 2017-18, and to July 1 for school year 2018-19. n