PDF: Education bills for GA
By Ashley Speagle
Correspondent
ATLANTA -- Georgia House members passed a series of bills Tuesday they say will help schools and educators who will lose millions in upcoming budgets.
House Education Committee Chairman Brooks Coleman, R-Duluth, said the committee consulted with school personnel to create helpful legislation as schools prepare to lose funds.
Schools face additional cuts of more than $600 million in the current fiscal 2010 budget and will lose more than $430 million in fiscal 2011 under Gov. Sonny Perdue's proposed budget.
House Bill 905 extends a deadline for schools to receive certain funding for projects that include expanding, reconstructing and replacing facilities. The deadline was June of this year, and the bill would extend it to June 2015.
State capital outlay funds grant entitlements to schools based on their state-approved five-year plans. That money can be accumulated and combined with local funding for construction.
The types of capital outlay renewed in HB 905 grant immediate funds to schools with urgent needs and additional funds to schools with low local funds or increased student populations.
"We must do this or the schools are going to lose their capital outlay funds," Rep. Coleman said.
Rep. Tom Dickson, R-Cohutta, said the deadlines on capital outlay funds, common in many bills, allow legislators to continuously re-evaluate programs and make updates, and this five-year extension reflects the length of entitlement funding.
HB 906 allows schools to deliver contracts to teachers in May rather than April during the next three years, which helps schools create contracts after they find out their budgets.
"We are much better off having school systems make those decisions when they know what funding they're getting from the state," said Rep. Jay Neal, R-LaFayette, who sponsored the bill.
The Legislature passed a similar bill last year that extended contract deadlines for only one year, but Rep. Coleman said HB 906 reflects additional estimated budget constraints for the next three years.
While the bill gives school officials time to make more informed decisions on contracts, it gives teachers who are fired less time to find new jobs before the next school year begins, said Rep. Mark Hatfield, R-Waycross.
HB 907 would allow schools to qualify for middle-school program funds without having specific combinations of sixth, seventh and eighth grades and without all grades being in one building.
Rep. David Casas, R-Lilburn, said some schools cannot qualify for middle-school program funds because of budget constraints. He said that, under his bill, more schools could get a share of the funds.
Rep. Neal's HB 923 allows teachers currently working towards higher degrees who finish by July 1, 2013, to qualify for higher salaries even without holding leadership positions.
Last session, legislators ended this salary program but included teachers currently earning degrees. HB 923 would extend eligibility to be grandfathered in, Rep Neal said.
"It applies only to those that went under the program when the current law said they would receive that pay," Rep. Neal said.
The bills will go to Senate committees next before the full Senate votes on them.
WHAT THE BILLS SAY
House Bill 905: Extends deadline for schools to receive certain funding for capital improvement projects
House Bill 906: Schools can deliver contracts to teachers in May rather than April for the next three years
House Bill 907: Schools can qualify for middle-school program funds without having specific combinations of 6th, 7th, 8th grades and without all grades being in one building.
Source: House Education Committee
TO LEARN MORE
Visit the Georgia General Assembly at www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2009_10 and type in the bill number.