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GAIC
Legislative Update
February 23,
2009
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GAIC Testifies on
School Calendar Bill
HB
193, which would allow the State Board
of Education to set an equivalent to a 180 day school year
(e.g., a minimum number of hours of instruction), was heard by
the Academic Achievement Subcommittee of the House Education
Committee last week. GAIC provided testimony highlighting the
need to ensure parents, afterschool educators and child care
providers are included in decisions to drastically change a
school schedule, such as changing to a 4-day school week. GAIC
also urged Subcommittee members to ensure that a school
schedule policy change would be reviewed after implementation
to analyze impacts on school attendance and achievement, as
well as resources provided to help working families manage
changes to out-of-school time.
The hearing provided
GAIC with the opportunity to inform Subcommittee members that
the trend across the country is to provide more time for
learning through afterschool and summer learning programs, as
well as expanded learning time (ELT) initiatives. While the
bill passed the Education Committee without the language GAIC
had hoped, Committee members heard our concerns -- before
voting the bill out, legislators raised the issue of parents'
input and schedules as well as the need for more learning time
for Georgia's
kids. | |
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Federal Dollars
Increase as State Revenues Decline
On the same day that
President Obama signed the $787 billion economic stimulus
bill, Governor Sonny Perdue announced he would cut the current
state budget by an additional $450 million. On
Tuesday the Governor also agreed to sign HB 143 to fund
Homeowner's Tax Relief Grants in FY09 -- a surprise choice by
the man who has been arguing for months that the grants do
little to help lower property taxes.
Last week's actions mean
an additional $98.8 million cut to the Department of
Education and an extra $20.8 million cut to the Board of
Regents, with other state agencies facing
drastically smaller cuts this round. For anyone who is
counting, the FY09 state budget as a whole dropped
to $18.9 billion. As originally passed in April of
2008, the FY09 budget was set at $21.2 billion.
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GAIC
Legislative Tracking
GAIC
tracks bills of interest to afterschool advocates throughout
the legislative process. The following list includes status
updates of all relevant bills filed or moving this past
week.
Education
HB 193 (Rep. Tom
Graves, R - Granger) would allow the State Board of Education
to define an "equivalent" requirement for days of instruction
(currently set at 180 days) thus allowing schools to move to a
four-day school week, accomodate testing schedules or
more easily make-up snow days. Status: Passed House
Education
HB 251 (Rep.
Alisha Morgan, D - Austell) would allow a student to attend
any public school within his/her school system if the school
has space available. The student would have to arrange his/her
own transportation. Status:
Passed the House
HB 280 (Rep.
Brooks Coleman, R-Duluth) which was filed by the
Education Chair on behalf of the Governor, would provide
higher pay for math and science teachers. Status: Passed House
Education
SB 84 (Sen. Bill
Heath, R-Bremen) is the result of a study on school board
governance, in light of the issues with the Clayton County
School Board during 2008. The bill would require local school
boards to have at most seven members and abide by an ethics
policy. The bill also gives the governor the power to remove
board members if a school system is placed on probation by an
accrediting agency. Status:
Passed Senate Education and Youth
SR 152 (Sen. Dan
Weber, R - Dunwoody) urges the Governor to appoint a working
group to study the establishment of "Governor's Academies"
which would implement recommendations of the Tough Choices or
Tough Times working group. Status: Passed Senate Education and
Youth
Revenue and
TaxesHB 143 (Rep. Larry O'Neal, R -
Bonaire) would require the current budget (FY09) to include
funding for Homeowner's Tax Relief Grants (HTRGs) - property
tax breaks of roughly $250 per homeowner which the Governor
did not include in his budget proposal. In future years, HTRGs
would only be funded if state revenues are sufficient.
Status: Governor Signed on 2/17/09
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Track the Stimulus
Funds |
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Find out where the American Recovery and
Reinvesment Act money is going at Recovery.gov. |
Upcoming Events
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March
10-12, 2009
Holiday Inn
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| Contact Information |
Korynn
M. Schooley
Policy
and Advocacy Manager
404.527.7280
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