Georgia Senate adopts new K-12 accreditation rules after Cobb dispute

In a rare show of bipartisanship, the Georgia Senate on Tuesday unanimously adopted legislation that would change high school accreditation statewide.

Senate Bill 498 passed the Senate 51-0 and moves to the House. It would require that accreditation be based 80% on academics and 20% on finances, rather on the behavior of elected school board members.

Sen. Lindsey Tippins, R-Marietta, authored it after the global accreditation organization, Cognia, produced a negative review of the Cobb County School District. The review was, in part, prompted after the Democratic school board members complained the Republican majority was limiting their participation.

Cognia recently issued a rare retraction of many of its findings after the school district produced evidence to challenge them. Cognia stood by it’s criticism of the way the school board functions.

“They took statements in public comment in a school board meeting and used it as fact that they based part of their evaluation findings on in Cobb County,” Tippins said in an interview after the vote. “That’s wrong. We need to be evaluating data and seeing how well we’re doing.”

The bill calls on the state to produce academic performance criteria that accreditation agencies like Cognia would have to use to evaluate schools.

Though the bill originated with a Republican — a similar measure in the House was also authored by a Republican — Democrats showed strong support for it.