In array to complete this PBA, I had a chance to attend one of the professional affiliates of Georgia

Association of Educational Leaders (GAEL), G-CASE Conference, which was held, in Athens, Georgia.
GAEL is the organization that provides unity of school leadership groups in Georgia. It is a statewide
"umbrella" organization, composed of seven professional affiliate associations for school leaders. The
seven departments of GAEL are as follows:

Georgia Association of Elementary School Principals (GAESP)

Georgia Association of Middle School Principals (GAMSP)
Georgia Association of Secondary School Principals (GASSP)
Georgia Association of Curriculum and Instructional Supervisors (GACIS)
Georgia School Superintendents Association (GSSA)
Georgia Council of Administrators of Special Education (G-CASE)
Georgia Association of School Personnel Administrators (GASPA)

During the conference, I had the chance to hear the General Assembly Update, which was presented by
Mr. Jimmy Stokes.

I choose to share with leadership team bill 364. The states the following:

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Article 6 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to the "Quality Basic Education Act," so as to revise provisions relating to annual
teacher, principal, and assistant principal evaluations; to revise provisions relating to student
assessment; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purpose.

I used a powerpoint to share information with the leadership team.

Refection: I was difficult choosing a bill to share with the leadership team. So many of them would cause
a considerable discussion. After the presentation, the Social Studies and Science teachers had questions
about how they would obtain their TEMS score. After explaining where and how their score was
collected, they were for the bill to be passed. I also subsricbied to Mr. Jimmy Stokes newsletter. Here is
a look at one of the news letters:

The GAEL Capitol Opinion

March 31, 2017
Sine Die Edition

2017 Bills That Made It to Day 40

Below is the chart of bills that reached Day 40 but BOTH chambers participated in political
jockeying on Sine Die and as a result many bills were delayed until next year. There were
extensive amendments and changes to numerous bills and some of the changes we will not
know about until late next week. It is what it is! Sine Die came at 12:55 AM. There
was so much confusion that some bills may have outcomes we did not see. If
the bill is highlighted, it may change.

HOUSE BILLS
HB 9 Makes "up skirt" photography illegal (SB 45) Added to SB 104 ADOPT
May not exclude dual enrolled students from Val and Sal
HB 114 ADOPT
consideration
HB 139 Make public school site financial budget and information + HB 148 ADOPT
HB 148 Unique identifiers for children of military personnel ADOPT
HB 198 Requires information on influenza vaccine ADOPT
HB 217 Raises private scholarship cap to $65 million ADOPT
 HB 222
National guard and reserve dependents satisfy residency for HOPE LOST
HB 224
Permits students of military to attend any school in a system ADOPT
HB 237
Tax credit innovation/enrichment fund for underperforming schools ADOPT
HB 246
Repeals sunset on annual fitness assessment program DEAD
HB 273
Requires daily recess or PE for K-5 LOST
HB 280
College campus gun carry bill ADOPT
HB 338
Governor's failing school plan ADOPT
HB 425
Permits parents to request pencil and paper test options ADOPT
HB 437
Recreates the Agricultural Education Advisory Commission ADOPT
Requires certain ERC recommendations be imposed on charter
HB 430 ADOPT
schools
HB 463 Creates public foundation for DCAL ADOPT
HR 354 Encourages compilation of MH and disability materials DEAD
SENATE BILLS
CONNECT Act, industry credentialing and certifications + SB 139
SB 3 LOST
+ HB 458
SB 29 Requires testing water in schools for lead DEAD
SB 30 Creates Sustainable Community School Grants Add to HB 430 LOST
SB 139 Permits local system to add leadership career pathway LOST
SB 149 Requires SROs to be POST trained and 40 hour SRO course ADOPT
DEFEATED 52-
SB 152 Limits alternative school to two semesters
100
Clarifies that MOWRs earning an AA degree HOPE continues + HB
SB 186 ADOPT
331
Formative assessments for 3-12, one summative assessment + HB
SB 211 ADOPT
114
SR 95 Distribution of elost revenue among multiple district counties ADOPT
SR 192 Allow elected superintendent/appointed board of education LOST

THE BILLS-TENTATIVELY
Below are brief explanations of the bills and what we observed to be their outcome.
Unfortunately there were so many last minute votes, agrees and disagrees, etc, that we have
to wait until next week to know everything for sure! You will receive the FINAL edition of
the Opinion next Friday.

Bills that go to the Governor have three fates: he can sign the bill into law, he can veto the
bill, or he can wait the statutory 40 days (May 9) and the bill will become law. He has been
very quiet with his opinion about bills in the pipleline-more drama!.

Full Bills may be viewed at http://www.legis.ga.gov/en-US/default.aspx

HB 9
The "up skirt" bill that would have made it unlawful for students (or anyone) to take
pictures under skirts, etc. The bill was added to SB 104 and approved by Conference
Committee. To the Governor
HB 114
Bill prohibits discrimination against MOWR and dual enrollment student in the
determination of valedictorian and salutatorian. (Some districts have policies that students
must attend a certain number of semesters in the last two years to be chosen as Val or Sal.
This bill nullifies such policies.) Added to SB 211 and approved by the Senate. To the
Governor

HB 139
Requires districts to do cost accounting by school including all costs. GADOE has said they
will do the calculations for systems. Includes HB 148 added by Senate and approved by the
House. To the Governor

HB 148
Requires unique identifying ID number for military dependents. Policy is already in place
but the bill is part of the BRAC package aimed at demonstrating legislative support for
military dependents and hopefully allaying base closings in Georgia. Added to HB 139 and
approved by House. To the Governor

HB 198
Requires that influenza vaccine information be distributed students each year.
To the Governor

HB 217
Raises the cap for Student Scholarship Organization contributions to $65 Million. SSOs
provide private school scholarships with public funds.
Amended by the Senate and approved by the House. I believe that the $58 Million original
cap was adopted but there was tremendous confusion on the bill as time expired. To the
Governor

HB 222
Dependents of National Guard and reserves meet residency requirement of HOPE. Failed in
Conference Committee.

HB 224
Permits military students to attend school of their choice in districts where they reside.
Policy is already in place. Part of BRAC package. To the Governor

HB 237
Tax credit contribution fund for underperforming schools. Cap is $5 million.
To the Governor

HB 246
Repeals the sunset provision of the SHAPE bill continuing annual physical fitness
assessment of all students. Failed to exit Rules

HB 273
Encourages schools K-5 to provide 30 minutes of recess or physical education each day.
Failed to be called for a vote.
HB 280
Permits licensed adults to carry weapons on college campuses with the exception of
residence halls, fraternity and sorority houses, athletic venues, child care facilities, and
buildings where MOWR or dual enrolled students are located. Agreed to via Conference
Committee. To the Governor

HB 338
Creates a Chief Turnaround Officer and team to work with underperforming schools in the
bottom 5% academically. Schools have three years to make progress once the process
begins. Calls for substantive initial assessment followed by collaborative plan. The bill also
calls for legislative study committees to look at creation of a Leadership Academy and a
State Accreditation Commission. To the Governor

HB 425
Suggests that schools honor parent's requests for paper and pencil Milestone exams and
limits what should be done with students that opt out of Milestone exams. To the Governor

HB 430
Imposes Education Reform Commission recommendations on charter schools.
Major change was that the opportunity for charter schools to assume school property was
limited to buildings NOT in the school system's five-year facilities plan. To the Governor

HB 437
Recreates the Agricultural Education Advisory Commission which will meet two yearly in
an advisory capacity. To the Governor

HB 463
Creates public foundation that can receive tax deductible contributions to benefit DCAL. To
the Governor

SB 3
CONNECT Act. Requires post-secondary and secondary schools to provide credentialing
opportunities for students when such is available. Also enables any school to propose new
career pathways to the SBOE for adoption but such proposals must be vetted in the same
manner as current pathways. Amended by House to include SB 139 and HB 458 (traffic
cameras in school zones) removed by Senate. Conference Committee Report not adopted.

SB 29
Schools must test drinking water for lead contamination. Tied up in House Committee and
lost until next year.

SB 30
Creates Sustainable Community School Operation grants to help schools convert to wrap-
around community centers. Added to HB 430 but removed by House.
Lost

SB 149
SROs must be POST certified and take the SRO Training Course. (Already in place.) To the
Governor
SB 152
Suggests that tribunals/hearing officers limit placement in alternative schools to two
semesters. Defeated in House 52-100

SB 186
Enables students in MOWR at technical college that complete a certificate program to use
HOPE grant funds to complete an AA degree while still in high school. Added to the bill was
a provision that enables parents to grant power-of-attorney to other relatives to handle
school matters and medical treatment for students on a temporary basis. House added HB
331 and approved by the Senate. To the Governor

SB 211
Institutes formative exams in the place of Milestones for grades 3-12 and requires one
summative assessment. (Would give school systems the opportunity to use exams such as
ITBS rather than Milestones so that exams could be used for diagnostic purposes.) Changes
the emphasis of testing and assessment from evaluation of teachers and schools to
diagnostic testing of students. House added HB 114 and approved by Senate. To the
Governor

SR 95
Constitutional amendment that would require Elost revenues be divided on the basis of
FTE unless systems could agree. Goes to the voters

SR 192
Constitutional amendment that would permit systems to elect superintendents and have
school boards appointed by grand juries. Defeated in House Education.

The Capitol Opinion will be published each Friday of the 2017 General Assembly. If you
have specific questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me at
jstokes@gael.org or 770-601-3798. The Capitol Opinion is authored by Jimmy C. Stokes
and is not the official position of GAEL or any of its affiliates.