Blog

Last week I reported on the withdrawal of HB 778, the CTAE-TCSG bill but this Thursday brought some not so pleasant news.  HB 482, the most recent voucher bill, passed out of Ways and Means as expected and is now in the Rules Committee.  Whether the bill goes to the House floor for a vote or not is to be determined.

Although January 8, 2018, seems like a long way off, it really is just around the corner and it signals the beginning of a what must be a historical legislative session.  What makes 2018 special?

1.  The 2018 General Assembly is the last hurrah for Governor Nathan Deal.Governor Deal’s eight years have been a roller coaster ride for Georgia public education.Unfortunately his two terms will be most remembered for the failure of Amendment 1 designed to take over Georgia’s failing schools.Much to his credit and the work of Rep. Kevin Tanner the Turnaround plan that resulted is both workable and reasonable.The fact that Governor Deal led the effort to adequately fund the Turnaround program is a credit to his support for public education.

On November 9, I attended the GPEE Critical Issues Form on education messaging and a roll out of EdQuest Georgia—the massive work of Dr. Dana Rickman and others of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education.  I had my cage rattled!!!  EdQuest Georgia is the result of a massive data collection to identify the critical issues in Georgia public education.  It looks at the critical issues of what we do:  foundations of learning, quality teaching, quality leadership, supportive learning environments, advanced instructional system, clear pathways to post-secondary success and adequate and equitable funding.  The clairvoyant work identifies what the issues are, what we have done, and most importantly what is missing and needs immediate actio

In 2007 the Georgia State Board of Education enacted the one diploma for all plan that we currently us.  State School Superintendent Kathy Cox spearheaded the effort to eliminate the Technical Diploma and move the one diploma concept

One of the most debated and controversial bills of the 2017 General Assembly was HB 280, the bill which permits licensed gun owners to carry concealed weapons on college campuses with several exceptions.  The implementation of that bill is a classic example of the difference between legislation and rules that follow. 

One of the highlights of the GSSA Spring Bootstrap Conference was the presentation by Ralph Martire, Executive Director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability located in the Chicago, IL area.  Interestingly, Martire got his start as an attorney with Troutman and Sanders in Atlanta.  He presented a tremendous amount of information that sheds light on the plight of public schools in the United States

Crossover Day is Friday, March 3, and that is the day that bills must exit their originating chamber to continue for this session.  Here are some of the things that are now clear:

A tremendous amount of work by GADOE staffers, system personnel, and state-wide educational leaders has gone into preparing a Georgia plan for ESSA.

Ty Tagami of the AJC reports that the a long-simmering lawsuit against the state’s tax credit scholarship program got a hearing in the Georgia Supreme Court on Monday. Under current law citizens may claim tax credit, not tax deduction, for contributions made to private school scholarship funds

The current issue of the Georgia General Assembly began its annual trek on Monday morning. While Monday was filled with largely ceremonial issues, Tuesday saw a joint meeting of the House and Senate Education Committees.