Both the House and the Senate were quite busy on this twenty-seventh day of the 2010 session of the Georgia General Assembly, as both chambers tackled afternoon calendars after a morning filled with committee meetings.  Of course, those committee meetings are (almost) worth watching as legislators scurry to "get bills out of committee" so that they can at least be considered for placement on a calendar in their chamber; some of those bills that are being rushed through are, shall we say, less than perfect.

Among those that would certainly be considered as "less than perfect" is SB 515, just introduced a day or two ago.  This bill reflects a jaundiced (and, erroneous) view of some at the Capitol (a number among the leadership) that "local systems are sitting on piles of money while pointing accusatory fingers at the General Assembly."  That "pile of money" that they see is comprised of local systems' fund balances, which have dwindled considerably in recent years during the fiscal calamity that has occurred.  The bill seeks to prohibit furloughs of teachers when a local system's fund balance is greater than 6%, but more than that, it demonstrates a true lack of knowledge of what a fund balance is and how it is used by local boards of education.  I offer the following examples:

• In 2003, when public educators were first introduced to the words "austerity cuts," $300+ million was cut from the state's QBE funding obligations in mid-year.  Thank heaven for fund balances that local systems used to cover the unexpected shortfall in state funds.
• In 2010, with over $400 million already scheduled to be cut from the state's QBE obligations, an additional $500 million was cut from system allotments, again in mid-year.  Thank heaven for fund balances.
• Growing systems have to hire teachers at the beginning of the year to staff schools with growing enrollments, but the state's QBE formula does not reimburse local systems for those teachers' salaries until the 10th month of the fiscal year (or later).  Thank heaven for fund balances.
• Systems encounter unexpected emergencies requiring funding to cover them (a damaged roof, a faulty furnace, an immediate need for a bus).  Thank heavens for fund balances.
• Local school systems, like counties and cities, are facing shortfalls in their local ad valorem tax collections (with teachers already under contract for the school year).  Thank heaven for fund balances.
• The state has demonstrated the difficulty it is having in meeting its statutory obligations for funding under QBE, having changed the state funding stream to local systems on two different occasions during this school year alone.  Thank heaven for fund balances.

This bill will come before the Senate Education and Youth Committee on Monday, March 22, at 10:00 a.m.  Interested and involved educators will certainly want to make their views heard on this piece of legislation.

Now, back to the action.  The Senate's ten-bill calendar contained no education bills, and the House's nine-bill calendar contained only one:  HB 936, which allows bus replacement funds to be used to "refurbish" existing buses and was approved by the lower chamber by a vote of 160-1.

As noted earlier, the committee action was fast and furious on this day.  In an early morning meeting of the Senate Education and Youth Committee, the following bills were given a "do pass" recommendation and now go to the Senate Rules Committee to be considered for placement on a future Senate calendar:

• SB 320, the so-called "Educator's Bill of Rights";
• SB 426, which would deny per diem or salary to recalcitrant school board members whose behavior causes a potential loss of accreditation; and,
• SB 521, which seeks to more fully compensate local systems for dual enrollment students when the classes in which those students are enrolled are held on the high school campus.

The House Education Committee, following a meeting of their Academic Support Subcommittee, awarded "do pass" status to:

• HB 1200, which "authorizes" local boards to accept various donations;
• HB 1110, making school board members ineligible for employment in their districts for one year after service as a board member; and,
• HB 1031, which makes changes to the laws regarding school attendance.

The committee held (once again) a discussion on HB 215, the "two diplomas" bill, but no vote was taken.  It was agreed that there needed to be some sort of study committee on this issue (though the number of study committees will be limited over the next year or two due to budget constraints).

The General Assembly will be in recess until Monday, March 22, when they will convene for Day 28 of this session.