The Georgia K-12 schools agency retains control over career, technical and agricultural education
Ranking members of the Georgia House of Representatives no longer want to immediately shift control over career-oriented education from the state agency for public schools to the one that oversees technical colleges.
House Bill 778 was introduced by the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Terry England, R-Auburn. The bill would have changed the agency that controls content standards, testing, administration and money for career, technical and agricultural education.
The bill had backing from other committee chairmen, but on Thursday England hesitated.
“At this point we’re going to pull that back,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He cited anxiety about change and frustration with rumors.
"There have been a lot of rumors and accusations and so forth about what the bill does and doesn’t do,” he said, adding that his intention was to ensure students have skills needed to get a job.
Currently, the state Department of Education and the state education board oversee these career-oriented programs, along with the rest of K-12 schooling. But HB 778 sought to transfer control to the Technical College System of Georgia’s board.
England said lawmakers will revisit the issue this summer in Rural Development Council hearings.
About the Authors
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.
Mark Niesse is an enterprise reporter and covers elections and Georgia government for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and is considered an expert on elections and voting. Before joining the AJC, he worked for The Associated Press in Atlanta, Honolulu and Montgomery, Alabama. He also reported for The Daily Report and The Santiago Times in Chile.
