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AJC.com > Legislature > Blog > Archives > 2006 > March > 30 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USSchool club bill goes to governor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Parents will get more information about school clubs and be given the chance to exclude their children from certain campus activities under a bill headed to the governor.
“You can’t make an informed choice if you don’t have all of the information,â€? said Sadie Fields, chairman of the Christian Coalition of Georgia, which supported the bill. “There are some clubs that may fly in the face of traditional family values and parents have the right to know.â€?
After wrangling all session with whether to require parental permission before students participate in school organizations, including controversial gay and lesbian support groups, state lawmakers Thursday reached a compromise.
Under Senate bill 413, principals must inform parents at the beginning of the year what extracurricular options are available and allow them to fill out a form indicating which clubs are not OK for their child. Students also must get written permission to participate in clubs that form after that initial notification is sent home.
While conservative groups championed the plan as a “parental rightsâ€? issue, critics derided it as an intrusion into teacher-run activities.
“Ask your child. Visit your school. I mean there’s nothing that can be better than that,â€? said Edward R. Gray, executive director of an Atlanta gay and lesbian advocacy group that opposed the bill. “I don’t understand the need for a form to guide family conversations.â€?
Groups representing school administrators fought off what they saw as a burdensome requirement when the State Board of Education considered a similar rule last summer. But politicians, determined to see something done, revived the issue at the beginning of the session. A legislative tug-of-war ensued with the House and Senate passing competing versions.
The bill went to a conference committee this week after the Senate demanded students get written permission for every activity and the House demanded parents give notice only when they didn’t want their children involved.
“You know how much time and energy we’ve spent on this,â€? remarked Herb Garrett, executive director of the Georgia School Superintendents Association, which opposed the idea but worked for a compromise. “What we wanted was something everybody could live with, and we can live with this.â€?
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