Senate Ed and Youth Adds a New Member
& Assigns Data Bill
The Senate Education and Youth committee met Wednesday, Jan. 27 to take care of organization business. The chair requested to amend the existing committee rules to increase the quorum number for the meetings from 5 to 6, as newly-elected Sen. Janice VanNess (R-Conyers) joined the committee. That rule change was approved. The membership list for the Senate Ed Committee is available HERE. Notably, Senate Ed Committee Chair Lindsey Tippins (R-Marietta) assigned SB 281 by Sen. William Ligon (R-Brunswick) to be heard by the Academic Achievement subcommittee in the coming week. The legislation would require the destruction of any data collected on a student using a digital learning platform. The bill would also allow parents to opt-out their child from using any digital learning platform in which case they would be required to receive traditional instruction on the digital learning curriculum. PAGE will continue to monitor this bill and its potential impact on gathering student data.
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Senate Democrats Introduce Legislation Aimed at Clarifying OSD Language
Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta) has introduced legislation aimed at making the Opportunity School District ballot question more transparent for voters in November. In SR 828, Fort seeks to amend the current question: Shall the constitution of Georgia be amended to allow the state to intervene in chronically failing public schools in order to improve student performance?
with this new version, which is very unlikely to pass:
Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended to allow an appointee of the Governor to take over local school operation, buildings, and control of all federal, state, and local funding if a school has low scores on standardized tests or for any other reason a future legislature may allow?
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House Passes AFY 16 Budget
The House passed the 2016 Amended Fiscal Year Budget. The document contains formulaic increases for student enrollment growth and teacher training and experience, and represents nothing out of the ordinary, education budget amendments. The AFY 216 now goes to the Senate for consideration. The House version is available HERE, with education starting on p. 34.
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House Academic Achievement Declines to
Consider Bill & Passes Another
The House Education Subcommittee on Academic Achievement met Thursday afternoon and declined to hear HB 701, which would require students in grades 3-12 to receive instruction in alcohol and drug use prevention. Subcommittee Chair Mike Dudgeon (R-John's Creek) cited the Governor's Education Reform Commission's desire to prevent more demands on classroom teachers. The subcommittee passed HB 739 sponsored by Rep. Tanner (R-Dawsonville), and the legislation will next be considered by the full House Education Committee. The legislation would require local school districts to establish a review and recommendation process for locally-approved student instructional materials adopted or used by local districts and to post this information online on school and district websites. The posting requirements would not apply to supplementary or ancillary material such as articles, online simulations, worksheets, novels, biographies, speeches, videos and music. When presenting his bill to the subcommittee, Rep. Tanner said that his bill allows for greater public notice and transparency regarding locally-approved student textbooks. Several visitors, including one from Concerned Women for America, spoke in support of the legislation, citing concerns about lack of parental and taxpayer access to proposed student textbooks and student exposure to concepts such as same-sex marriage, feminism, and Marxism.
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Don't Miss the Vote!
Register by Feb. 1 to Vote on March 1
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 This is a big year in politics -- not only is it a presidential election year, but state and federal legislative seats will also be decided in the November general election. There are many education policies and initiatives being proposed this year in Georgia. Your voice counts and the best way to be heard is by voting. To cast your vote in the SEC Primary or for local issues, you must be registered or ensure your registration is current by Monday, Feb. 1. To make it easy for you, we have included the on-line links for registering, checking your registration, and to review your sample ballot. You can register here and you can check your registration here. These online tools are easy to use and the My Voter Page provides voter-specific information. Be aware that if you do not provide a copy of your state identification when registering, you will be asked to show it the first time you vote. Georgia also has an official app (GA Votes) which will allow you to register, find your polling location, see a sample ballot and more! Just search for GA Votes.
When encouraging your older students to register to vote, please note they must be 17.5 by Feb. 1 to register. They must be 18 by March 1st, the presidential preference primary election date, to be eligible to participate. The general primary election will be held on May 24.
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