Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Day 15: Education Package


Day 15:  Education Package

Monday 02/11/2013. Fifteenth day of the Georgia Legislative Session. Today was the second legislative public hearing held by the House Democratic Caucus, this time referred to education. Promising stuff. As we mentioned on the entry of Day 13, HB54, that changes back the GPA requirement for HOPE recipients from 3.0 to 2.0 for Technical schools. The bill already counts with Governor Deal support. The bill is sponsored by minority Leader Stacey Abrams, and co-sponsored by Rep. Craig Gordon.

Other bills presented:
  • HB 221, bill that will require open records of schools and programs participating in Student Scholarship Organizations (SSO) and contributions. Currently, Georgia tax payers money allocates $50 million to SSOs. Sponsored by Rep. Brian Thomas and Rep. Nikki Randall.
  • A bill by Rep. Simone Bell and Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (no number yet), to make sure private schools that accept SSO tax money does not discriminate based on race, gender, national origin, religion, sexuality or disability.
  • HB 166, which will guarantee parents to take work leaves to go to school conferences and medical appointments on benefit of their children. By Rep. Roger Bruce and Rep. Tonya Anderson.
  • HB 19,bill to deter school drop outs. By Rep. Keisha Waites and Rep. Hugh Floyd.
  • A bill addressing cyber bulling by Rep. Pam Dickerson and Rep. Carolyn Hugley.
You can check the current language of the bills and their statuses here.




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