Voucher bill to be heard early next week

CONTACT MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE EDUCATION COMMITTE TODAY

Legislation, SB 233, to create a new voucher program in Georgia, will be heard early next week in a subcommittee of the House Education Committee. The bill would cost taxpayers and low-wealth schools hundreds of millions of dollars each year to subsidize private-school tuition and fees.

Please write members of the House Education Committee expressing your opposition to the bill. You should begin by clicking here, where a sample letter is provided for you to personalize. By entering some basic information, your message will be sent directly to the members of the committee.

An excellent analysis by the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute (GBPI) gives further details on the bill.

House Education Committee passes 4 bills

The House Education Committee meet this morning at 8:30 a.m. and passed each of the four bills on its agenda. The bills that passed out of committee are:

SB 32, which would require school systems to develop "mobile panic alert systems" to ensure real-time coordination between local and state law enforcement and first responder agencies during a time of a school emergency.

SB 45 provides for the creation of a "seizure action plan" to be followed by a school for a student with epilepsy or other seizure disorders.

SB 204, regulating school system accrediting agencies, would limit accreditation reviews to student achievement measures and financial efficacy only.

SB 211 establishes the Georgia Council on Literacy and charges it with conducting comprehensive reviews of birth-to-postsecondary literacy programs. The Council would make recommendations as to the status of the professional development needed by current teachers for the improvement in literacy instruction, pre-K thru 3th grade. The bill also creates a statewide "Georgia Literacy Coach" within the Governor's Office of Scholastic Achievement (GOSA) to work with the Georgia Alliance of Education Agency department heads on other recommendations.

House special election in Clayton County Tuesday

An election to fill a vacancy in the state House of Representatives for District 75 will be held on Tuesday, March 21. GAE has endorsed Herman "Drew" Andrews in the race. The district is mainly within the city of Jonesboro and parts of Lovejoy. He will be a strong advocate for educators and students when he is elected. For more information on Mr. Andrews' campaign, visit his web site at: https://drewandrews4statehouse75.com/.