As the Georgia General Assembly wound down for the 2013 session, they managed to complete what they had to do (the budget), add a few things to it (more about that later), and avoid passing a few items that had created no small amount of heartburn among various groups. But first, the budget.
The House and the Senate gave their approval to the conference committee version of the budget on this last day. Included in the document ( click here to read the education portion) were: - A reduction in the cuts recommended by the Governor to both agriculture education and to career/technical ed;
- An increase in the funds dedicated to charter school facilities (approximately $300K);
- $2.6 million in funds for sparsity grants (that had been recommended for elimination by the Governor);
- $38 million to fully fund the new equalization grant formula along with $146.5 million to cover enrollment growth;
- More money for nurses ($2.5 million) and professional development ($760K), but less for counselors ($850K), both resulting from recommendations made by the Education Finance Task Force;
- A little extra money to pay for the Special Needs Voucher program ($54K), but not nearly what the Governor had requested ($800K);
- A reduction in the size of the cuts that the Governor had recommended for RESA's, and a complete elimination of the cut that the Governor had requested in funds dedicated to ETC's ($1.3 million); and,
- The addition of $7.2 million in funds for charter systems (consistent with the passage of legislation that will cap at $4.5 million the amount that any charter system can earn in a given year).
The budget, along with other legislation that made it through the General Assembly's meat grinder, now goes to the Governor for his consideration and eventual signature.
Much of the legislation that had been followed closely by education-watchers at the Capitol had already been dealt with on earlier legislative days, but a few were acted upon on this last day. Passing both chambers on Day 40 and heading to the Governor were:
- HB 283, the omnibus bill that had originally been designed as this year's "Title 20 clean-up" legislation (but, that became the 2013 "Christmas tree" upon which all things education were hung). After the contents of SB 243, the bill dealing with Student Scholarship Organizations, was added, the sticking point of this legislation became the amount of the donation cap. Ultimately, and after numerous procedural votes, the cap was established at $58 million (a raise from the current cap of $51.5 million, but less than the $65 million cap suggested by the House, and far less than the $80 million sought by Rep. Earl Ehrhart, but there is no longer an automatic, annual, inflation-adjusted increase), and the bill passed.
- HB 70, eliminating the one-year-in-public-school attendance requirement for certain students to qualify for the Special Needs Voucher program.
- HB 337, allowing doctors to write prescriptions for epi-pens directly to schools so that schools can stockpile them.
- HB 211, eliminating the excise tax on fuel for school buses for the next two years (after which it will be reviewed for possible extension).
What was more interesting to observers was what didn't pass. For example, after intense wrangling between House and Senate negotiators, no gun bill could be agreed upon (meaning, of course, that the legislation that would have allowed local boards of education to arm school employees is still in limbo until the 2014 session). SB 68, the "Celebrate Freedom Week" bill based on model legislation from ALEC, never made it onto a House calendar. And, HB 123, the much-discussed "Parent Trigger" legislation (also based on an ALEC model), languished in the Senate Education and Youth Committee (but, you can bet it will be pushed again in 2014).
All in all, after the contentious 2012 session, the 2013 session (at least as far as education legislation is concerned) was much calmer. There was the usual fussing and fighting among legislators, but the arenas in which those battles were fought (ethics, Fulton County) were elsewhere. Sine dadgum die.
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