It was with no small sense of relief that education-watchers celebrated the end of the 2012 session of the Georgia General Assembly. By any measure, it was not a good one for Georgia's public schools. Budgets were adopted that virtually assure the continuation of furlough days in many systems, larger class sizes in all systems, and fewer dollars available to cover essentials like pupil transportation and technology. At the same time, legislation was passed (and, celebrated in many quarters) that could result in the ability of the state to create a parallel school system and pay for those schools from some unknown, unnamed place in a state budget that, apparently, cannot or will not pay for the schools we already have. Perhaps that light at the end of the tunnel IS the headlamp of an onrushing train.....
Of course, these negative thoughts are present in force on this "day after sine die" because of this author (and many others) having watched the legislative action on that frantic 40th day. It is not something one watches so as to gain confidence in our method of making the laws that govern our lives. Rather, it is an exercise in political wrangling, partisan politics, and, sometimes, just plain orneriness. Each of those had at least something to do with the legislation that passed on Day Forty, including the following education bills that gained final approval:
- HB 39, a bill that relaxes somewhat the requirement that parents be notified of their child's excessive absences from school via certified mail;
- HB397, changes to the state's open meetings and open records acts;
- HB 175, legislation introduced a year ago that creates a state-level "clearinghouse" for online classes;
- HB 181, an adjustment to the special education voucher statute that authorizes the State Board of Education to waive the "one year of attendance" requirement for a student to be eligible for the voucher. [Note: With a nod to the notion that not all legislation is bad, this bill was amended to revise the funding for these vouchers to bring them more closely in line with the cuts that local systems continue to incur.]
- HB 706 (the Title 20 "cleanup bill"), HB 824 (changes the equalization grant formula and eligibility requirements), and SB 403 (amends school nurse program and funding provisions), all emerging from initial recommendations of the Education Finance Task Force;
- HB 713, which delays some of the provisions of last year's Career Pathways bill (HB 186);
- HB 797, the enabling legislation for the infamous HR 1162 (and, including some amended language to "up" the funding for current state special charter schools -- imagine that!);
- HB 1178, requiring ten-year cost projections for education legislation that has any cost attached to it (another example of not all legislation being bad!);
- SB 227, the long-sought (by some) Interstate Compact for Children of Military Families;
- SB 289, the bill originally designed to require an online course of all students, but now watered down considerably;
- SB 322, adding SPLOST reporting requirements [Note: There is still disagreement over whether this applies to school boards, as the bill clearly targeted cities and counties.]; and,
- SB 410, the highly unnecessary and somewhat controversial "school grading bill" that duplicates the provisions contained in Georgia's recently-granted waiver from NCLB requirements.
Many other education bills had been approved earlier in the session, making empty the promises by some key leaders to hold legislation to a minimum. If anything, more education bills were enacted this year than any in recent memory. Thus endeth the 2012 session. Sine dang die. |