This week’s Georgia Education Policy Alert includes legislative updates on bills attempting to take away the rights of Georgia students and opportunities to take action on good bills that would change Georgia classrooms for the better.
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Legislative Updates
You can find all the bills we’re tracking this session within IDRA’s Georgia Coalition for Education Justice bill tracker. These include troubling bills targeting trans students, impacting education funding, furthering the school-to-prison pipeline, and attacking immigrant students and families. Here’s your brief recap of the priority bills that were filed or progressed over the past week.
Legislation to Oppose!
- HB 267, a sweeping anti-trans bill infringing on the civil rights of trans Georgians that restricts trans children from using their preferred restroom at school and replaces “gender” with “sex” throughout Georgia code passed out the House Education Committee on Friday.
- SB 74, a bill that would criminalize librarians and open them to fines or even jail time based on highly subjective standards of the literature they display, passed out of the Senate Education and Youth Committee yesterday.
Take Action!
In the House: Ask Chairman Erwin of the House Education Committee, to hear the following bills.
- HB 42 is a long-needed adjustment to support our public school transportation systems.
- HB 245 adjusts the funding formula to allocate funding for students living in poverty.
- HB 310 would provide grant funding to pay student-teachers who staff our public schools.
In the Senate: Ask Chairman Hickman of the Senate Education & Youth Committee to hear the following bill.
- SB 128 adjusts the funding formula to allocate funding for students living in poverty.
Committee Hearings
Past Committee Hearings and Key Outcomes – Watch Recordings
- Friday 2/21 Education (House)
- Monday 2/24 Education (House)
- HB 340, a cell-phone ban, passed out of the committee (Starts at 44:40 min)
- Tuesday 2/25 Education and Youth (Senate)
- Tuesday 2/25 Higher Education (House)
- Tuesday 2/25 Higher Education (Senate)
- Wednesday 2/26 Education Subcommittee on Curriculum (House)
- HB 133, a bill allowing academic credit and excused absences for religious courses during school hours passed out of committee (45:30 – 1:01:29 min)
- Wednesday 2/26 Education Subcommittee on Policy (House)
Upcoming Committee Hearings
All times Eastern
- Wednesday (2/26)
- 1 PM or Upon Adjournment | House Higher Ed Committee | 606 CLOB
- Thursday (2/27)
- 8 AM | Senate Higher Education Committee | 307 CLOB
- Hearing: SB 120
- 1 PM | Senate Education and Youth Committee | 450 CAP
Tools & Resources
Learn more about IDRA’s policy recommendations for Georgia
How to Testify before the Georgia General Assembly – Infographic
Learn more about our statewide coalition, the Georgia Coalition for Education Justice
Keep up with bills using the Georgia Coalition for Education Justice bill tracker.
