Online clearinghouse bill passes Senate

A clearinghouse of online education courses would be kept by the state under a bill passed Monday by the state Senate.

More notable about the passage of House Bill 175 was what it wouldn't do: Allow charter and virtual students to play on sports teams at traditional public high schools.

The Senate Education and Youth Committee had attached what is dubbed the Rachel Sackett Act, after a 16-year-old Gwinnett County charter school student, to HB 175. However, before a vote on the Senate floor, Majority Leader Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock, removed the language from the bill. He said he did so because the Senate passed the act last year and it is still alive in the House.

HB 175 passed on a 48-1 vote. Because the bill was modified, it now goes back to the House for another vote.

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