The Education Subcommitte of the House Appropriations Committee met for the first time on Thursday with new chairman, Rep. Robert Dickey (R-Musella), at the helm. 

 

Ted Beck, the Chief Financial Officer for the Georgia Department of Education, presented the AFY17 budget for the department. While there were no major changes, the department is requesting $500,000 to conduct a comprehensive review of some of the department's severely outdated computer programs used for financial reporting and other important functions of the department. This review would provide the state with several options for newer alternatives to replace these antiquated systems. GaDOE requested a $5 million grant to replace two of the four systems that need to be replaced; however, this grant request did not make it to the AFY 17 budget.

 

During an exchange with House Education Committee Chairman Brooks Coleman (R-Duluth) in which the chairman inquired about the financial resources needed by the department to intervene in "failing schools," the Chairman also inquired about whether the department has not been intervening in these schools. Beck responded by describing the work done by the School Improvement department at GaDOE to help these schools. Beck was also questioned about the turnaround time on testing results. Currently, the Assessment & Accountability department within GaDOE utilizes staff from other departments (for example, content specialists) to help process the data to have test results available to districts at the current turnaround time.

Also delivering presentations about their organizations and their AFY 17 budgets were Dr. Buster Evans, executive director of the Teacher Retirement System of Georgia (TRS); Jim Potvin, executive director of the Employee Retirement System of Georgia (ERS); Commissioner Amy Jacobs, head of the Department of Early Care and Learning; Martha Ann Todd, executive director of the Governor's Office of Student Achievement; and a representative from the Georgia Professional Standards Commission. 

Next week, all subcommittees of the House Appropriations Committee will meet to discuss and approve the AFY 17 budget for a House vote at a later time. These hearings can be watched online HERE.

The House Retirement committee, chaired by Rep. Paul Battles (R-Cartersville), met on Wednesday for the first time. Since committees had not officially been named at the time, the meeting was an informational session with updates by Dr. Evans with TRS, and Mr. Potvin with ERS. 

 

The House Education committee has seven new members since several legislators on last year's committee were defeated in the election or stepped down from their seat. 2017 committee members are as follows: