March 10, 2016
                     

Table of Contents
House Ed Does Not Pass SB 364 - Chairman Expresses Anger at PAGE Alert Without Naming PAGE
What PAGE Did, Why We Did It, and an Apology
Committee Discusses House Changes to SB 364 and Hears Public Testimony
What Happens Next and What Educators Can Do
Other Bills Heard by the Committee
 
Meeting Schedule
 
Fri. March 11 - House Education Committee - 8:30am - 606 CLOB

Fri. March 11 - Senate Education and Youth - 2:00pm - 307 CLOB

 
Week in Review

CLICK HERE
to watch the latest Week in Review podcast to catch up on last week's action under the Gold Dome.
 
PAGE Report From the Capitol
House Education Committee Hears Testimony on SB 364 
House Ed Does Not Vote on SB 364:
Chairman Expresses Frustration

The House Education Committee met to hear public testimony on SB 364 (the original version of the legislation), critical evaluation and testing reform, yesterday. Unfortunately, the committee did not vote on the bill, but committee leaders indicated they intend to do so this Friday, March 11, 2016.

As the SB 364 portion of the meeting began, Committee Chairman Brooks Coleman (R-Duluth) expressed frustration with a state teacher group, which he declined to name specifically, for an action alert that the group issued early yesterday morning. The alert alleged that Gov. Nathan Deal's office reached out to Coleman and three other committee members Tuesday night and discouraged them from passing the bill.

Chairman Coleman was upset by the group's follow-up messaging to its members, which he said failed to adequately retract factual inaccuracies and instead complimented Georgia educators on the hundreds of calls and emails that came in this morning supporting SB 364.

Read the AJC'S coverage HERE and HERE.    
What PAGE Did, Why We Did It, and an Apology
 
At 10:15 Tuesday night, PAGE received a message from a very credible source with information that Gov. Nathan Deal contacted Chairman Coleman and several other legislators earlier in the evening and that the Governor discouraged the leaders from passing SB 364. PAGE immediately reached out to Coleman via text and to two other named legislators via email to inquire about this troubling information. The hour was late and PAGE understandably received no response from the legislators that night.
 
Due to the critical importance of the bill and since it was slated for a vote at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, PAGE staff determined that it was reasonable to launch a campaign early that morning in response to a trustworthy but unverified report of a very serious and imminent threat to testing and evaluation reform. PAGE drafted the action alert regarding the information asking educators to contact House Education leaders in support of SB 364. That call to action was solely intended for educators to demonstrate their committed support for the bill from those most directly affected by testing and evaluation reform to counter any pressure that may have been applied from the Governor's office. In no way was it designed or intended as an attack by PAGE or its members against the four members of the House Education committee. Representatives Coleman, Dickson, Dudgeon and Nix have consistently listened and responded to educators' concerns. Their willingness to listen - even when we disagree - has always been appreciated. We regret that our action caused these legislators to be angry and dissatisfied with PAGE.       
  
PAGE and educators have reason to be concerned about Gov. Deal's views of testing and evaluation reform. We met with several of his representatives in late 2015 and made the case for these important changes. Review a follow-up letter regarding this meeting HERE. Unfortunately, the Governor declined to take action, and though he acknowledged the need for testing reform in his 2016 State of the State Address, no executive action has been taken to our knowledge thus far and neither he, nor his staff, have spoken publicly on these issues even though his representatives have attended the meetings on the bills.
 
Wednesday morning's campaign was successful in encouraging a response in support of SB 364. Concerned educators and parents across the state flooded legislative offices with phone calls. They called because they care about these critical education issues. They did not call to attack or impugn the four legislators who PAGE named in the alert but to share their desire that SB 364 be passed out of committee.
PAGE spoke with Chairman Coleman and Committee Vice Chair Mike Dudgeon at the earliest possible time on Wednesday morning. Both assured PAGE that they received no calls from Gov. Deal on SB 364 on Tuesday night and that they intended to pass SB 364. PAGE was pleased and relieved to hear this and issued a follow-up statement to our membership as a result. That statement did not satisfactorily address the issue that PAGE sent out an alert with unverified information.
 
Let us be clear: PAGE regrets that the alert was sent to our members before confirming with House Education Committee leaders whether they had been contacted by the Governor's office, and we apologize for our insufficient follow-up message. PAGE apologizes to Chairman Coleman, Rep. Dickson, Rep. Dudgeon and Rep. Nix. PAGE is committed to principled, truthful and transparent advocacy on behalf of educators and public education and we know that dealing with policymakers in good faith is essential.

We hope that all involved understand that PAGE works very hard to advocate for Georgia educators because Georgia educators work very hard to serve and advocate on behalf of Georgia students. Our students and educators deserve the best from all of us.

We appreciate the strong advocacy by educators and parents in support of testing and evaluation reform. We hope that House Education leaders will work out any differences of opinion with the Senate in regard to the legislation and will move quickly to pass SB 364. Together, we can move forward collaboratively to prepare Georgia's students for a bright future.
 
Committee Discusses House Changes to SB 364 and Hears Public Testimony

The House Education Committee considered SB 364 in a 2 � hour hearing Wednesday afternoon. The bill is expected to come up for a committee vote at a meeting on Friday at 8:30 a.m. After a presentation of the House substitute found HERE by House Ed Vice Chair Mike Dudgeon (R-Johns Creek), bill sponsor Sen. Lindsey Tippins (R-Marietta) provided an appeal to reinstate the emphasis on reading and mathematics in the early childhood years.

The committee then heard from approximately 30 speakers. All but one of the speakers -- out-of-state group StudentsFirst -- urged the committee to pass SB 364 or provided positive comments about the substitute. Those testifying ranged from parents to teachers to education advocacy groups, including PAGE. While there is broad support for the bill, the speakers' views varied on the importance of testing reform vs. educator evaluation reform.

One point of confusion that did not appear to be satisfactorily answered is how SLOs factor into the Student Growth Percentile and how they should be developed and administered.

Chairman Brooks Coleman (R-Duluth) asked members to submit recommended revisions to either his office or to Vice Chair Dudgeon for the committee to review before Friday.

As SB 364 exists now the reforms include:
  • The percentage of assessment results as a factor of educator evaluation will be reduced from 50 percent to 30 percent for teachers and from 70 percent to 40 percent for leaders.
  • A student must be present for 90 percent of a teacher's course for that student's score to count in the teacher's evaluation.
  • Educators would have appeal provisions if the evaluation procedure was not followed, but could not appeal the summative rating for the overall evaluation.
  • State-required standardized tests would be reduced from 32 to 24.
  • State assessments must be determined to be valid and reliable by a third-party evaluator.
  • Buford City and Webster County school districts would be included in the educator evaluation and testing reforms rather than being excluded for not choosing to be either a charter or a strategic waiver district.
What Happens Next and What Educators Can Do

SB 364 will be voted on by the House Education Committee on Friday at 8:30 a.m.  Parents and educators should contact House Ed members between now and then and urge them to pass SB 364.

House Ed Committee Members

DaveBelton[email protected] 
TommyBenton[email protected] 
BethBeskin[email protected] 
WesCantrell[email protected] 
AmyCarter[email protected] 
DavidCasas[email protected] 
JoyceChandler[email protected] 
ValerieClark[email protected] 
BrooksColeman[email protected] 
PamDickerson[email protected] 
TomDickson[email protected] 
MikeDudgeon[email protected] 
TerryEngland[email protected] 
HughFloyd[email protected] 
MikeGlanton[email protected] 
WayneHoward[email protected] 
JanJones[email protected] 
MargaretKaiser[email protected] 
HowardMaxwell[email protected] 
RahnMayo[email protected] 
RandyNix[email protected] 
EdSetzler[email protected] 
ValenciaStovall[email protected] 
KevinTanner[email protected] 
SamTeasley[email protected] 
 
Other Bills Heard by the Committee

The committee passed the following bills, and they all move on to the House Rules Committee:

HR 1253 by Rep. Dexter Sharper (D-Valdosta) encourages local boards of education to provide dugout safety instructions to student athletes playing baseball.
 
HR 1342 by Rep. Demetrius Douglas (D-Stockbridge) requests more recess time for students.

HR 1564 by Rep. David Clark (R-Buford) encourages local boards to adopt and implement a sudden cardiac arrest return to play policy and encourages the Department of Public Health to endorse one or more sudden cardiac arrest prevention education courses. 
 
SB 329 by Senate Education and Youth Chairman Lindsey Tippins (R-Marietta) expands the types of technical diplomas awarded based on dual credit courses.

SB 374 by Chairman Tippins provides for a temporary exemption from certain financial reporting requirements for local school systems participating in a federally authorized pilot program.

The following bill was held by the committee as members of the committee had changes they would like to make: 
 
SB 348, also by Chairman Tippins, allows both charter systems and strategic waiver school systems to open College and Career Academies.  
Margaret Ciccarelli - Director of Legislative Affairs [email protected]

Josh Stephens - Legislative Policy Analyst
[email protected]
  


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