As the final minutes of the 2008 session of the Georgia General Assembly ground to a raucous close, there were both cheers and jeers for the actions (and inactions) of our legislative body.  Angry, angry words flew from the mouth of Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Dallas) over the failure of his much-ballyhooed tax reform efforts while, at the same time, emotions ran high over such issues as transportation, water, and even the creation of the city of Dunwoody.

In the world of education, most eyes were on the budget and on several key bills that had been held by House and Senate leadership as last-minute bargaining chips.  And, in that game of "political chicken," some of those bills either failed or simply were never brought up for a vote.

First, though, the budget.  Shortly after the dinner hour, both the House and the Senate voted to approve the conference committee report on the FY09 budget, and that document included the following "highlights" for education:

• A 2.5% pay raise for teachers, bus drivers, and lunchroom workers (and, state employees);
• Another round of $100 "gift cards" for teachers;
• The remainder of the money needed ($10.7 million) to "plug the $30 million hole" in the equalization grant program created by Governor Perdue's original budget recommendation; and,
• $50 million to apply against the continuing, seemingly-permanent "temporary austerity cuts" that have appeared in every budget since 2003, leaving the FY09 austerity cuts at approximately $91 million.

[Editor's note:  Public school advocates applaud the efforts of the House and Senate to chip away at the austerity cuts, but cannot help but notice that the approved budget document includes some $50 million in "local projects."  And, of course, the Governor's veto pen has yet to be wielded, so the final chapter on the FY09 budget has yet to be written.]

Several bills that had been closely followed by educators passed on this last day, among them the following:

• HB 881 -- the much-debated bill creating a state-level "charter school commission," said commission authorized to approve charter schools in local systems regardless of whether the locally-elected school board agrees.  In addition, the bill creates a "shell game" for the state-level commission to award local monies to their state-approved charter schools, once again without the approval of the local board.  [Editor's note:  In obvious anticipation of this bill's passage, House and Senate budget conferees included $250 thousand in the FY09 budget to pay for staff for the newly-authorized commission.]
• HB 1209 -- the Governor's bill emanating from some of the meetings held by his education finance task force (IE2) and allowing systems wishing to do so to sign "more flexibility with higher accountability" contracts with the state.  [Editor's note:  Education watchers left the Capitol believing that both the House and the Senate had gone through the appropriate parliamentary machinations to give final approval to this bill.  Media outlets reported that the bill did not pass.  Further conversations with the offices of the House and the Senate reveal that both bodies did, in fact, give final approval to the conference committee report on this bill and that it has passed.]
• SB 327 -- the latest version of "retirees return to full-time work" legislation.
• SB 345 -- the bill authorizing Georgia's participation in an interstate compact agreement governing the treatment of students who are children of military personnel.
• HB 948 -- this year's setting of the dates for the now-annual "back-to-school sales tax holiday."  (Anyone think that wouldn't pass??)
• HB 1321 -- sets penalties for students who falsely report misconduct by educators.
• SR 996 -- a proposed constitutional amendment (question will be on November ballot) seeking to allow local school tax dollars to be part of TAD (Tax Allocation District) projects.  This legislation came as a direct result of the Georgia Supreme Court's recent decision interpreting (correctly) the Georgia Constitution's prohibition against such expenditures.

There were others, of course, and they will be detailed in future reports as the Governor reviews and decides on his veto options over the next 40 days.

Of great interest were the bills that DID NOT PASS, some sponsored by leading legislators.  Among those failing to survive the session were:

• SB 458 -- Senator Eric Johnson's (R-Savannah) second annual attempt at voucher legislation had passed the Senate (to no one's surprise) and had made it through the House Committee process.  However, even though it appeared on more than one House debate calendar, it was never called for debate and a vote, and it is dead.
• SB 535 -- Governor Perdue's bill calling for the recall of school board members in systems that lose accreditation, this legislation was never voted upon in the House.  The contents of this bill were later folded into a "committee substitute" version of the aforementioned SB458, but as noted earlier, that bill was never voted upon.
• SB 506 -- the SHAPE bill, much-amended but still calling for testing of students' physical fitness, was soundly defeated on the floor of the House!
• HB 905 -- the BRIDGE bill was on the Senate calendar for each of the last two days of the session, but was never voted upon, and is thus dead.
• HB 1286 -- the bill that would require public schools to close on Veteran's Day each year also appeared on the Senate calendar for each of the last two days of the session, but was never voted upon and is dead.

Now, thankfully, our elected officials return home to their families and to those who elected them.  The results of the November elections will bring a new group back to Atlanta for the 2009 session of the General Assembly, where we will undoubtedly see some of the same issues brought up for debate once again.  And, particularly in our world of public education, who knows what "new and creative" ideas will surface?  Sine die.