On this thirty-third day of the 2012 session of the Georgia General Assembly, the House of Representatives had another "slow day," tackling only a single, non-education bill. The Senate, however, was a different story.
On their four-bill calendar, three education bills were passed. They were:
- HB 706, the "Title 20 clean-up bill" sponsored in the House by Rep. Mike Dudgeon (R-Cumming) and seeking to eliminate a number of outdated statutes in the education code;
- HB 713, the bill intended to delay the deadline dates included in last session's HB 186; and,
- HB 760, the changes to the capital outlay statutes that were recommended by the Education Finance Study Commission.
In the House, the education-related action was in the House Education Committee, where five bills received "do pass" recommendations and move on to the House Rules Committee. Those bills were:
- SB 289, Senator Chip Rogers' bill that originally mandated online courses for all students, but now amended to ask the State Board to "maximize" the number of students enrolled in such courses;
- SB 403 and SB 404, both authored by Senator Fran Millar (R-Dunwoody) and both emanating from the Education Finance Study Commission and making changes to the funding for school nurses (403) and for professional development (404);
- SB 410, authored by Sen. Tommie Williams (R-Lyons) and originally calling for a letter grading system for Georgia's public schools, but now amended to merely "match" the state's waiver request from USDE; and,
- SB 153, Senator Chip Rogers' bill mandating that, when teachers are fired from a school system as part of a reduction-in-force and through "no fault of their own," their personnel records shall reflect that action.
All of these bills move to the House Rules Committee for consideration to be placed on a future House calendar.
As the day wore on, rumors began to fly that a critical number of Senate Democrats who had held firm in opposition to the infamous HR 1162 were wavering and considering changing their votes. No information was available about what "incentives" might have been offered those Dems, but education advocates immediately began contacting those senators to urge their continued opposition. As the lawmakers headed home for a long weekend, this rumor changed the tenor of what those senators might hear as they approached their home districts. The next few days will certainly be interesting. Day thirty-four is set for Monday, March 19. |