March 3, 2020

Legislative Session
Day 23
Report Snapshot

Senate Passes Bill Reducing the Number of High-Stakes Assessments

Charter School, Retirement, School Allotment, & Dual Enrollment Bills Pass House 

Bill Allowing Homeschooled Students to Participate in Public School Sports & Extracurriculars Moves Forward

House Judiciary Subcommittee Hears Bill on Criminalizing the Sharing of Obscene Materials in Public Schools

House Subcommittee Approves Cuts to Need-Based Financial Aid Program
Upcoming Schedule

Wednesday, March 4 – Legislative Day 24

Senate Education & Youth, 8 a.m., 310 CLOB

Senate Public Safety, 1 p.m., MEZZ 1

House Higher Education, 1 p.m., 606 CLOB

Senate Education & Youth, 2 p.m., 307 CLOB

Senate Retirement, 4 p.m., MEZZ 1

Thursday, March 5 – Legislative Day 25
Senate Passes Bill Reducing the Number of High-Stakes Assessments

Highlights:
 
  • Senate passed SB 367 unanimously. The bill reduces the number of state assessments and makes other changes to Georgia’s testing program.

  • PAGE legislative team has produced a full analysis of the bill available here.

The Senate passed SB 367 by Sen. P.K. Martin (R-Lawrenceville), a PAGE-supported bill that would eliminate one state test for fifth graders as well as four state tests for high school students. The bill would also move the testing period closer to the school year’s end for elementary and middle school students. It also calls for eliminating questions intended to measure Georgia students’ academic achievement against their peers in other states.

There were no questions about the bill from the Senate floor, and no other senators besides Martin spoke on the bill. It passed unanimously.

CLICK HERE for a full analysis of the changes outlined in SB 367.  

-Josh Stephens
Charter School, Retirement, School Allotment, & Dual Enrollment Bills Pass House

Highlights:

  • House passes bill clarifying charter educators’ ability to participate in state health plan, making changes to State Charter Commission terms, and several other provisions.

  • House approves bill allowing public pension plans to invest up to 10 percent in alternative investments and passes school allotment legislation.

  • House agrees to Dual Enrollment bill, sending it to the governor.

The following three education bills passed on the House floor today. All now move to the Senate.

HB 957 , sponsored by Rep. Jan Jones (R-Milton) clarifies that educators employed at charter schools are eligible for the State Health Benefit Plan. The legislation also seeks to allow charter school governing boards to accept proof of student residency in a school's attendance zone at time of application or time of enrollment. The legislation staggers the terms of State Charter School Commission board members and lengthens those terms from two to four years. Other provisions are described in the PAGE Day 18 report .

HB 830 by Rep. Tommy Benton (R-Jefferson) would allow public pension plans to invest up to 10 percent of their funds in alternative investments. Such investments are currently capped at 5 percent, and the Georgia Teachers Retirement System (TRS) is currently prohibited from alternative investments. At recent House and Senate retirement committee meetings, PAGE expressed concerns regarding the interplay between HB 830 and a Senate bill which would allow TRS to invest in alternative investments. Benton addressed those concerns when presenting the bill on the House floor and indicated he is working with TRS to fix the problem.

HB 755 by Rep. Dave Belton (R-Buckhead) requires local boards of education that authorize local charter schools to provide those schools with annual allotment sheets itemizing state, local, and federal allocations for the upcoming school year. School districts must provide the allotment sheets to the charter schools no later than Oct. 1 of each year.

Before the House adjourned, representatives voted to agree to Senate changes to the Dual Enrollment Bill, HB 444 . Review more details about the legislation in the PAGE Day 3 report . HB 444 now moves to Gov. Kemp for his approval.

-Margaret Ciccarelli
Bill Allowing Homeschooled Students to Participate in Public School Sports & Extracurriculars Moves Forward

Highlights:

  • House Academic Support Subcommittee approves bill allowing homeschooled students to participate in athletic and other extracurricular programs offered by public schools.

  • Subcommittee considers bill addressing attendance issues of students who work in the entertainment industry.

House Bill 1055 , sponsored by Rep. Rick Jasperse (R-Jasper) chair of the House Education Committee, would allow homeschooled students to participate in extracurricular activities including athletics, band, chorus and other musical and theater activities as well as school clubs and organizations. To be eligible, homeschooled students must complete an online course in a core subject area facilitated by their resident district prior to participating in an extracurricular activity and must continue enrollment in an online course for the duration of the activity. Representatives of the Georgia Association of Educational Leaders (GAEL) and the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) encouraged legislators to allow local school boards to decide whether to open their extracurricular activities to homeschooled students, a recommendation the committee did not pursue. The committee passed HB 1055 by a 3-2 vote. The bill moves to the full Education Committee. 

The committee also heard House Bill 476 , sponsored by Rep. Valencia Stovall (D-Forest Park). Under the bill, districts would be required to count students employed as performers as present on days they are working outside of the school building. Stovall noted that these students receive instruction while working. Regulations regarding these student performers are overseen by the Department of Labor. Committee members asked Stovall to incorporate additional “guardrails” as well as collaborate with the labor department to ensure the bill aligns with existing regulations. The committee will review the bill again.

-Claire Suggs
House Judiciary Subcommittee Hears Bill on Criminalizing the Sharing of Obscene Materials in Public Schools

Highlights:

  • House subcommittee hears bill that would criminalize the sharing of obscene material, including literature, with students.

  • Bill also would create a parental review committee tasked with approving any materials being placed in K-12 libraries.

  • PAGE spoke in opposition to the bill. 

A subcommittee of the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee, chaired by Rep. Ed Setzler (R-Acworth), heard HB 1041 by Rep. Karen Mathiak (R-Griffin). Mathiak explained that the intent of her bill is to prevent students in K-12 public schools from receiving obscene material. Any person under 14 years of age that provides this material to students would be charged with up to one year of probation and a fine up to $500. Any person over the age of 14 would be subject to one year of probation and a fine up to $1,000. The bill also sets up a parental review committee that charged with approving any material placed in a school library.

Margaret Ciccarelli, director of legislative services for PAGE, spoke in opposition to the bill expressing concern with the criminal penalties in the bill and the potential impact these could have on an educator’s certification. She explained there might be administrative or civil penalties that could be explored instead of criminal penalties. The Georgia School Boards Association (GSBA) testified in opposition to the bill, citing processes already put in place by local school boards of education that provide an appeal process for any material parents or students find offensive.

Several parents spoke in favor of the bill, describing specific literature that was distributed to committee members prior to the meeting. They argued that there are loopholes in the current law and expressed dissatisfaction with the appeals processes utilized by local school boards.

-Josh Stephens
House Subcommittee Approves Cuts to Need-Based Financial Aid Program

Highlights:

  • House Academic Achievement Subcommittee approves bill that reduces the number of students able to access a REACH scholarship.

The House Academic Achievement Subcommittee unanimously passed House Bill 1026 , which cuts the number of students who receive a REACH Scholarship from 12 to eight in districts with five or more high schools and from seven to five in those with fewer than five high schools. Rep. Robert Dickey (R-Musella), the bill’s author, noted the bill reflects current budget pressures, which PAGE highlighted in this report .

The REACH Scholarship is the state’s need-based financial aid program. It provides $2,500 annually for four years of postsecondary study to eighth grade students who show academic promise, good behavior and financial need. In addition to the scholarship, participating school districts provide mentors to students as well as academic coaching. The program is supported by the state and school districts, which commit to raising a portion of the funds. It serves about 2,400 students.

The bill now moves to the House Education Committee.

-Claire Suggs
Claire Suggs
Senior Education Policy Analyst
csuggs@pageinc.org
Josh Stephens
Legislative Affairs Specialist
jstephens@pageinc.org
Margaret Ciccarelli
Director of Legislative Services
mciccarelli@pageinc.org