On this thirty-eighth day of the 2012 session of the Georgia General Assembly, the House of Representatives finished in a timely fashion while the Senate labored on into the evening hours. While there were certainly a few education bills acted upon that will be of interest to the education community, the one that will undoubtedly have the greatest impact is the FY2013 Budget. That document was approved by the conference committee in charge of working out differences between the House and Senate versions and will undoubtedly be voted on by both chambers on Day Thirty-nine. The final document contains the following highlights/lowlights for the next school year:
- The infamous "austerity cuts" that were instituted in the first year of the Perdue administration and have continued since are included in this budget (though many legislators are clearly unaware of that inclusion). The amount for FY2013 alone exceeds $1.1 billion and is in addition to the severe underfunding of pupil transportation and equalization grants, thus continuing the systematic shift for the responsibility of the funding of public education from the state to local property taxpayers.
- Funds for the special education voucher program ($10 million), pupil transportation ($128 million), and the school nurse program ($30 million, which includes a $3.5 million increase) are being "transferred to the QBE program" for reasons that are unclear to any education observers who have an understanding of budget. Proponents of this funding shift tout it as one that will provide "flexibility" to local systems, but those same proponents seem unable to explain just how that will be. Skeptics, including this author, believe it to be a shift done to provide legislators with "talking points" about how much more money has been put into QBE, while the aforementioned "shift" is nothing more than moving money around.
- The FY2013 Budget does include funds for enrollment growth and for the T & E factor for teacher training and experience ($112 million).
- State special charter schools receive a special grant in the amount of $8.6 million.
- $2.8 million is included to pay early-career math and science teachers per HB280 from the 2010 session of the General Assembly. [Note: It appears that those early career teachers will receive those salary bumps only until they reach level six on the salary schedule, after which they will then be treated the same as other veteran teachers for experience purposes. This represents a change in the original manner in which this legislation was implemented.]
- Funds are added to pay for AP courses for students eligible for free and reduced price lunches ($177K).
- Cuts recommended by the Governor for Ag education, the technical/career education program, and RESA's were reduced by the conference committee.
- Funds designated for charter systems ($2.8 million) remained in the budget.
- $25 million in bonds for the purchase of school buses was included.
- $250K mysteriously appeared in the final budget for something called the "Global Initiatives Program," a program that had never been mentioned by anyone prior to this version of the budget document.
The FY2013 Budget now goes to the Governor for his consideration.
As noted earlier, the House of Representatives' calendars included only one education bill, SB 289, now altered to require the Department of Education to "maximize" virtual learning opportunities for students. That bill passed overwhelmingly, and it now goes back to the Senate for their agreement or disagreement with the changes that have been made since it left the upper chamber. [Editor's note: Education-watchers still believe that this bill, in its current form, contains some requirements that local boards provide opportunities for students to take online courses.]
The Senate's calendar contained 31 bills (3 of keen interest to education-watchers). Passed by that chamber were:
- HB 692, which provides that bonuses "earned" by teachers based on student test scores must return those bonuses if the student test scores are found to be falsified;
- HB 797, the enabling legislation for the infamous HR 1162 [Seven amendments were offered, five by Democrats and two by Republicans; only one minor, Republican-sponsored amendment passed. One of the proposed amendments was an attempt by Senate Education and Youth Committee chairman Fran Millar (R-Dunwoody) to attach the contents of HB 651, which would essentially end the practice of paying charter systems extra money for each student enrolled; the proposed amendment was defeated 50-1, with Millar casting the only "yes" vote.]; and,
- HB 824, which establishes a new method by which to calculate equalization grants. [Note: Senate amendments to the bill during the committee process will, if passed, result in a requirement that systems must eventually levy at least 14 mills by 2016 in order to be eligible to receive this grant.] This bill must now go back to the House for agreement/disagreement.
Day thirty-nine is set for Tuesday. |