For the first time in recent memory, the state Senate took action on the first day of a new legislative session. It gave final approval Monday to two education-related bills, sending them to the governor for his signature.
One gives the state schools chief sole power to hire and fire Education Department employees. The other mandates that local school boards first consider teacher performance -- and not seniority -- when undertaking layoffs or risk losing state funding.
The votes came after the chamber's Republican leadership promised business would take priority over the usual ceremony that accompanies the start of the session. The House approved both bills last year, and they could be considered quickly because this is the second year of a regular two-year cycle on which the Legislature works.
"On Day 1, we take the most serious issue facing Georgia and address it head-on," said Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock.
But detractors, including Democrats, said the Senate leadership was more interested in showboating than standing behind educators, not least because it is an election year for members.
The state has cut billions of dollars from state agencies including the Education Department and has not fully funded its public schools, as mandated by law, for years.
"Where were they when [the state] increased class sizes" as districts dealt with the economic downturn? asked Sen. Steve Thompson, D-Marietta.
The more controversial of the two bills was Senate Bill 184, which bans local school boards from considering only a teacher's hiring date when deciding whether to lay off him or her -- or risk losing state funding if they don't comply. The bill prompted more than an hour's worth of debate in the chamber, with members at one point voting down a motion to table the bill for further review.
Proponents said they were aware of situations in which instructors who had been named teachers of the year had been dismissed solely because other teachers had more seniority, a situation they said this bill could prevent.
Those in opposition called it a policy change that would take away control from local governing authorities. They also said few, if any, school districts have mandated a so-called "last hired, first fired" policy.
"This is bumper-sticker, chest-thumping legislation," said Tim Callahan, spokesman for the Professional Association of Georgia Educators, the state's largest educator advocacy group with 82,000 members. Alluding to election-year politics, Callahan said school boards were under no mandate to consider seniority, either, because "Georgia is not a collective bargaining state."
The legislation passed on a 38-15 vote and now goes to Gov. Nathan Deal for his signature. SB 184 also would create a task force to review teachers' professional learning requirements.
The second bill, Senate Bill 38, would take power away from the state school board and give it to the state superintendent by making him the sole authority to hire and fire department employees.
Currently, the state superintendent is allowed to hire five people, typically members of his Cabinet. But all other hiring and firing -- from secretaries to top staffers -- must be approved by the board.
“The superintendent is the CEO and should be making the hiring and firing decisions,” department spokesman Matt Cardoza said.
Another provision of the bill allows the superintendent to approve contracts valued at $250,000 and below. Currently, he only has sign-off on contracts of $50,000 or less. Cardoza said the board’s budget committee chairman recommended giving the superintendent the increased authority and said the changes overall should help the department.
According to SB 38, the state board would be able to overrule the superintendent in any employment decision by a two-thirds vote.
Senate members approved the bill unanimously and sent it to Deal.
Staff writer Nancy Badertscher contributed to this article.
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