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Twenty-first legislative day - Thursday, February 19, 2026

House Education Committee passes 8 bills today

The House Education Committee passed eight bills this afternoon. These bills now move to the House Rules Committee, which may calendar them for votes of the full House:

HB 634: A bill filed by House Republicans to amend the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Act concerning expedited completions of a student's first Individualized Education Program (IEP). The bill states: " ... in the case of a student whose first Individual Education Program was expedited ... but was not in effect at the time of the most recent enrollment count, the initial calculation of the maximum scholarship amount shall be based upon services specified in the
Individualized Education Program in place at the time such Individualized Education
Program takes effect."

HB 1030: "The Math Matters Act" would require that middle and high school students have access to advanced math classes and that students in the 4th and 5th grades have 60 minutes daily or 300 minutes weekly core math instruction.

HB 1107: "The Excellent Teacher Preparation Act" concerns educator preparation providers or EPPs. The bill would require the state Board of Education, the state Department of Education, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, and the Office of Student Achievement develop performance measures that evaluate the performance of each EPP. Such EPP performance measures shall focus on the preparedness and performance of EPP graduates. Included in the list of measures of EPP teachers is information about student performance data for the first three years after EPP completion.

HB 1164 would require State Board of Education to appoint an audit committee and would revise provisions for financial audits of local school systems.

HB 1218 would allow virtual school students to participate in the athletic programs of their resident schools.

HB 1220: Waives the six-week required enrollment in public school for certain students enrolling in the state's private school voucher program. Those include students of an active-duty military family, students with IEPs or 504 plans or have been diagnosed with dyslexia, autism spectrum disorder, speech-language delay and disorder, hearing loss, or another intellectual and developmental disability. These students are currently already eligible for the Special Needs Voucher.

HB 1123 would require public schools that offer after-school programs and that have Georgia Pre-K programs include those Pre-K students in the after-school programs.

HB 1259 woud prohibit local schools that offer virtual instruction from accepting out-of-district and out-of-state students if the local school system has failed to maintain a College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) over 70 in the past two years.

Senate Education Committee passes 2 bills

The Senate Education and Youth Committee approved two bills this afternoon. The measures now go to the Senate Rules Committee for possible votes on the Senate floor.

SB 472 relates to the suspension and removal of local school board members upon potential loss of accreditation and when districts at financial risks.

SB 513 - the "Every Day Counts Act" - addresses chronic student absenteeism by suspending students from extracurricular activities who are absent without excuse for more than five days in the first 50 days of the school year or, after 50 days, for more than 10% of school days. The bill also proposes revocation of a student's drivers license as a consequence of continued absences. Much of the bill is a result of the Senate Study Committee on Combating Chronic Absenteeism in Schools.

GAE DAY AT THE CAPITOL IS MARCH 5

Register today to hear from educational leaders in the Georgia General Assembly, including the chairs of the House and the Senate Education Committees and state superintent Richard Woods.

Immigration: Know Your Rights Webinar

NEA's "Know Your Rights" Webinar on Immigration will be Monday, February 23 at 7:00 p.m. Register here.

Attacks on communities and schools across the country have been met with widespread public opposition of every kind ranging from social media posts, to testifying, to organizing demonstrations, and protests.

Join us for a Know Your Rights webinar to learn what advocacy is, and is not, protected by the First Amendment and how you may be able to expand those protections in your state. This webinar is aimed at K-12 educators and will provide participants with turnkey materials to use in educating other members about these critical issues.

The next Legislative Alert will be Tuesday, February 24

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