Georgia lawmakers pass school financial transparency mandate
Georgia lawmakers are sending a bill to Gov. Nathan Deal that mandates disclosure of each public school’s spending on items such as salaries and maintenance.
House Bill 139 requires the Georgia Department of Education to collect the information and publish it on its website. The data must include a per pupil spending figure for each school, which would allow for school-by-school comparison.
The bill was amended by the Senate to include House Bill 148, regarding the tracking of student data of children of military parents. The House of Representatives approved the package Thursday.
Last year, a similar financial transparency bill by the same chief author, Rep. Dave Belton, R-Buckhead, was vetoed by Deal but not because of the disclosure mandate. Deal said at the time that he did not like an unrelated amendment that, like HB 148, was added as an amendment.
About the Author
Ty Tagami is a staff writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Since joining the newspaper in 2002, he has written about everything from hurricanes to homelessness. He has deep experience covering local government and education, and can often be found under the Gold Dome when lawmakers meet or in a school somewhere in the state.
