With Georgia’s legislative session set to end this week, only one significant education bill has passed, and few look poised to follow.
This was supposed to be the year of education change as, late last year, Gov. Nathan Deal was said to be readying a slew of proposals for the General Assembly. In January, though, he paused, announcing he did not intend to push any of the recommendations of his Education Reform Commission, which labored over much of 2015 on an education agenda.
Lawmakers had little time to fill the vacuum, but they tried.
One last-minute bill is widely considered to be the most significant education legislation of the year. Sen. Lindsey Tippins, R-Marietta, said he only started working on Senate Bill 364 after Deal announced in his state of the state speech in January that he would forward no education legislation this session.
Tippins' bill eliminates eight of Georgia's 32 mandatory high-stakes public school tests. It also diminishes the effect of the scores for teachers' careers. Under current law, at least half of each teacher's job review must be based on their students' "growth" over time on the Georgia Milestones tests or on locally-created tests known as Student Learning Objectives. SB 364 reduces that to 30 percent. It also lets school districts consider alternatives to the oft-criticized SLO tests.
SB 364 unanimously passed both the Senate and House but must return to the Senate for approval of changes made in the House version. The Legislature meets only Tuesday and Thursday before wrapping up business for the year, but Tippins said Monday he is confident his bill will get onto the Senate floor for final approval.
“With the kind of overwhelming support it has gotten from all quarters, I can’t imagine this bill would not pass,” he said.
Assuming this happens, SB 364 will join a rarefied rank of education legislation. So far, only one significant education-related bill is awaiting the governor’s signature. Senate Bill 309 prohibits discrimination against religious expression on student athletic uniforms and pressures the Georgia High School Association to allow its member schools to compete against non-member schools.
About a dozen other education bills have passed either the House or Senate and are awaiting a hearing. Among them are one that prohibits punishment of students who refuse to take state tests, another that tightens financial security at charter schools and another that requires online publication of school budgets.
About the Author
