Voucher bill passes the Senate today

A bill to expand the state's private school voucher program passed the state Senate today by a 32-22 vote. SB 152 proposes to grow the newly created taxpayer-funded, private school tuition program to include the biological and adopted children of those who have been foster parents in the last ten years. SB 152 also prioritizes these students above all others including those from low income families in the priority in the priority list for receiving a voucher.

GAE bill to compensate student teachers filed in Senate

State Sen. Emanuel Jones has filed legislation, SB 300, to compensate student teachers. Presently student teachers are enrolled full-time in college, working full-time in their placement schools, and some are forced to have another job to pay their bills. The bill is an attractive option to address the shortage of teachers in the state.

House approves literacy bill

The House this morning passed HB 307, 166-0, a literacy bill that expands on HB 538, the Georgia Early Literacy Act, which passed in 2022, both sponsored by state Rep. Bethany Ballard, R-Warner Robins.

Among other things, the bill proposes additional resources to support reading programs for dyslexic students, and the bill also limits the use of "three cueing" in teaching reading, stating that it could not be the "primary" method utilized. Three-cueing, or MSV, teaches reading by meaning drawn from context or pictures, syntax, and visual information, meaning letters or parts of words.

More education-related bills filed

HB 631, sponsored by GAE member Mekyah McQueen, would require that the minimum base salary for certified professional educators with bachelor's degrees be based upon the national average "living wage" as determined by the State Board of Education, which could reduce teacher salaries.

HB 634 has been filed to amend the Special Needs voucher law: " ... 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 (IEP) in place at the time such Individualized Education."

HB 674 would require the State Board of Education to adopt content standards for instruction in financial literacy and money management to be completed by students in grades four and five.

SB 309, filed by state Sen. Randal Mangham, would repeal the voucher law that passed in 2024.

Next Legislative Contact Team meeting is Wednesday

The next meeting of the GAE Legislative Contact Team (LCT) is Wednesday, March 3 at 6:30 p.m. Register for updates on the legislative session.

Next Legislative Update: Monday, March 3

100 Crescent Center Pkwy, Suite 500 | Tucker, GA 30084 US

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