Day 28: House and Senate Approve Education Bills, Including PAGE-Supported Teacher Tax Credit, Ahead of Crossover Deadline
- Mar 7
- 3 min read
The House and Senate worked late into the night to meet the Crossover Day deadline by which all bills must pass the chamber in which they are introduced to remain eligible to continue moving. Multiple education bills were approved by the House and Senate.
PAGE-Supported Teacher Tax Credit Approved by Senate
The Senate passed the following bills, which now move to the House for consideration:
SB 515 by Sen. Billy Hickman (R-Statesboro), PAGE-supported legislation to reauthorize and modify a tax credit for some teachers at low-performing and rural schools. The program will expire this year without reauthorization. SB 515 extends the deadline for new tax credit applications until 2031. It would also reduce the tax credit for educators who are not already receiving the $3,000 credit to $2,500. It increases the cap on the number of participating teachers from 1,000 to 1,200. If more than 1,200 teachers apply, those in rural schools will be prioritized. Hickman’s legislation requires participating teachers to teach in statewide high-needs areas of math, special education, CTAE, or reading, writing, or ELA, provided that qualifying teachers hold a current Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC)-approved dyslexia or reading endorsement. The total amount of tax credits provided cannot exceed $3 million for any fiscal year. PAGE was the only educator association signed up to speak in support of the bill when it moved through the committee process. The bill was approved 49-1.
SB 445 by Sen. Greg Dolezal (R-Cumming) changes several aspects of the Georgia Promise Scholarship private school voucher program at the request of the Georgia Student Finance Commission (GSFC). A list of changes proposed in the bill is available here. Sen. RaShaun Kemp (D-Atlanta) attempted to amend the bill on the Senate floor to increase accountability standards in the voucher program, but the amendment failed along party lines. The bill was approved 50-2.
SB 589 by Sen. Matt Brass (R-Newnan) requires schools to allow children who reach age 4 or 5 by Sept. 1 to enroll in a voluntary Pre-K program at the request of the child’s parent or guardian. The bill was approved 54-0.
SB 498 by Sen. Clint Dixon (R-Gwinnett) establishes the Georgia Charter School Facilities Authority to allow charter schools to obtain revolving loans for the construction, renovation, and rehabilitation of educational facilities. The bill was approved 49-3.
SB 475 by Sen. RaShaun Kemp (D-Atlanta), which requires local boards of education to treat local charter schools no less favorably than other local schools for purposes of special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) proceeds. During the committee process, Senate leadership amended the bill to lower the percentage of eligible voters needed to trigger a local referendum on dissolving a city school district into a county district. The current threshold to do so is 25%, and SB 475 would lower that percentage to 10% of eligible registered voters. The bill passed 43-6.
SB 556 by Sen. Chuck Payne (R-Dalton) provides for the inclusion of advanced placement, Cambridge, and International Baccalaureate fine arts courses in the calculation of student grade point averages for HOPE eligibility or other scholarship determination. The bill passed 50-0.
Financial Literacy and Dual Achievement Program Changes Advance in House
The House passed the following bills, which now move to the Senate:
HB 1114 by Rep. Bill Yearta (R-Sylvester), which would allow Georgia high school students to complete the required financial literacy course as early as ninth grade, starting in the 2026-2027 school year. Currently, students can only complete this requirement in the 11th and 12th grades. The bill passed 171-0.
HB 1293 by Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones (R-Milton) removes the pilot status of the Dual Achievement Program and makes changes to requirements to enter the program. Jones changed the bill to ensure that students eligible to participate in the Dual Achievement Program in metro Atlanta districts that will not be included in a completion special school consortium will be able to continue participating in the existing programs. The bill passed 166-0.
Upcoming Schedule
Monday, March 9 - Day 29
House Education Appropriations Subcommittee, 9 a.m., 341 CAP
House Appropriations, 10:15 a.m., 341 CAP
Tuesday, March 10 - Day 30
Senate Retirement, 1 p.m., 310 CLOB
Senate Education & Youth, 2 p.m., 307 CLOB
Wednesday, March 11 - Committee Workday
Thursday, March 12 - Day 31
