Day 25: Teacher Prep, School District Financial Accountability, and Absenteeism Bills Pass
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The House and Senate continued their focus on education bills, with the House approving two education bills: HB 1107, the Excellent Teacher Preparation Act, by Rep. Carmen Rice (R-Columbus), which would require the GaPSC to develop and annually report comprehensive performance measures for all educator preparation providers (EPPs) in the state, among other changes. Click HERE for more on HB 1107. The bill was approved 166-0 and moves to the Senate for consideration. The House also approved HB 1164Â by Rep. Will Wade, which revises financial audit provisions for school districts and state charter schools. A detailed description is available HERE. The bill was approved 103-68.
The Senate approved SB 513, the Every Day Counts Act, by Sen. Jason Dickerson (R-Canton). A detailed description of the bill is available HERE. The bill was approved 46 -1 and moves to the House for consideration.
Vision and Hearing Screeners, Education and Workforce Strategy Act, and More Approved by House Ed
HB 1402Â by Rep. Leesa Hagan (R-Lyons) would require public schools to administer vision and hearing screeners to all students in grades Pre-K through third grade. Schools are required to notify parents if their child fails a screening and report specific information regarding screener results to the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH). The bill would provide a one-time grant of up to $15,000 to local school systems to purchase needed screening equipment. Grants would be subject to appropriation. HB 1402 would also require local school governing authorities to provide written notification to the parents of children who do not achieve grade-level reading proficiency in third grade. Parents may opt out of the screeners.
HB 1302 by Rep. Matthew Gambill (R-Cartersville), the Education and Workforce Strategy Act, is a workforce development initiative of Gov. Brian Kemp. The bill renames the Governor's Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) the Governor’s Office of Education and Workforce Strategy (GOEWS) and expands the agency’s role in aligning education, workforce development, and data governance across state agencies regarding the state’s federal Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act and Perkins plans. The bill ends the Alliance of Education Agency Heads and establishes a new statewide education and workforce planning process, the Education Data Governance Board, to coordinate cross-agency data sharing and workforce development policy alignment.
The bill renames and revises the state’s apprenticeship initiative as the Top State for Talent Pre-Apprenticeship and Apprenticeship Program and designates the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) as the state apprenticeship agency. TCSG would collect and track data on all registered apprenticeship programs in Georgia. After pushback from several groups representing trades that offer their own apprenticeship programs, Gambill said a substitute version of the bill addresses their concerns by allowing those offering apprenticeship programs to report only their program information to TCSG for apprenticeship coordination, rather than having the agency operate the programs. The effective date for the apprenticeship reporting requirement was also moved to Jan. 1, 2027, to allow more time for implementation.
HB 1284 by Rep. Deborah Silcox (R-Sandy Springs) would require high school diplomas to be awarded to students diagnosed with terminal medical conditions and receiving end-of-life care. The bill outlines the process and procedures for requesting and awarding these diplomas and states that, while every effort should be made to award the diplomas before the student’s death, they may be awarded posthumously.
HB 1045Â by Rep. Tangie Herring (D-Macon), the You Are Not Alone Awareness Act, would require student identification badges in grades 6-12 to include specific language about the 988 suicide and crisis hotline. The bill also adds challenges with substance abuse to the list of issues that could be addressed via the hotline.
All four bills passed and move to House Rules. Before adjourning the committee, Chair Chris Erwin (R-Homer) said he intends to have at least one additional committee meeting before Crossover Day, which is Friday, March 6.
House Education Committee Meeting Recording
PAGE Presents to Working Families Caucus
PAGE Director of Legislative Services Margaret Ciccarelli and Senior Policy Consultant Claire Suggs presented to the Working Families Caucus. Ciccarelli and Suggs encouraged support for legislation that strengthens the educator workforce, including return-to-work, teacher prep affordability, and tax credits. They also discussed the education budget and educator survey data related to cell phone bans.
Upcoming Schedule
Monday, March 2 - Committee Workday
House Education Appropriations, 10:30 a.m., 341 CAP
Tuesday, March 3 - Legislative Day 26
Wednesday, March 4 - Legislative Day 27
Thursday, March 5 - Committee Workday
Friday, March 6 - Day 28/Crossover Day