Georgia state Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, has introduced a bill with bipartisan support that would eliminate the number of suspensions and expulsions from the formula that determines a public school’s key rating.
Every public school in Georgia gets a School Climate Star Rating. The state was the first in the country to implement the rating system that is designed to be a diagnostic tool to determine whether a school is on the right path to educational improvement.
There are four parts to the rating system: attendance; a student survey focused on a safe and substance-free learning environment; a more general survey of students, teachers and parents on the perception of the school’s climate; and student discipline.
Student discipline uses a weighted suspension rate that makes up one-fourth of the overall rating.
The overall rating system is part of a school’s College and Career Ready Performance Index, a key factor in determining which schools in the state are eligible to become one of the “turnaround schools.” Those schools become eligible to receive additional support and oversight from the state.