ATLANTA — After watching high school graduation rates soar despite poor reading skills documented in tests, Georgia lawmakers have decided to send tens of millions of dollars to elementary schools to boost literacy rates.
The Georgia Early Literacy Act approved by the General Assembly Tuesday would hire more teachers and overhaul curricula and training, with a focus on the phonics-based teaching methods credited with accelerating reading apprehension in other Southern states.
“Our youngest students won today,” said Rep. Chris Erwin, R-Homer, a former school superintendent who leads the House Education Committee and was a main author of House Bill 1193.
The measure passed the Senate unanimously Tuesday with amendments after it passed the House 170-2 in February.
Later Tuesday, the House approved the Senate changes, sending the bill to Gov. Brian Kemp for his signature.
House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, speaks about the adoption of House Bill 1193 at the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta on Tuesday, March 31, as his wife Dayle (on his left), a retired educator who urged him to tackle literacy, watches, with Lt. Gov Burt Jones by her side. The trio are flanked by Rep. Chris Erwin, R-Homer (left) and Sen. Billy Hickman, R-Statesboro (right). (Ty Tagami/Capitol Beat)
The main pillar, employing a literacy coach in every K-3 school, remained in the bill after the Senate’s amendments. But the funding method changed.
Instead of using the state’s education funding formula to reimburse school districts for employing 1,313 literacy coaches, the Senate elected to pay for them with a $70 million grant.
Rather than recurring automatically like money in the funding formula, the Legislature would have to appropriate money each year for future grants.
House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, said there was no doubt that would happen. Lawmakers may move the funding into the Quality Basic Education funding formula in the future, he said.
“But I can assure you,” he said, “with the support we’ve received, this bill has received, the literacy initiative has received in the Senate and the House, there will be a continued investment in the young people and the children of our state.”
The coaches — teachers with enhanced literacy training — would work in classrooms alongside teachers.
Also, school districts would have to use curricula vetted by the state, and the state would help cover the schools’ costs for acquiring it.
A literacy task force would be empaneled to oversee the process. It would collaborate with the Georgia Department of Education and the state Board of Education to guide the initiative.
Sen. Billy Hickman, R-Statesboro, said literacy rates in the lower grades had been far lower than high school graduation rates. That could only mean that Georgia schools had been handing diplomas to students who could not read well, said Hickman, chairman of the Senate Education and Youth Committee.
“Now we know the graduation rates were not reflective of the true answer,” said Hickman, who collaborated with Erwin on the bill. “The true answer was our children could not read.”
Hickman, Erwin and other Georgia lawmakers have gradually steered schools toward the teaching of literacy using mainly phonics, part of a broader approach dubbed the “science of reading.”
The best methods for teaching literacy have been subject to debate in academia for decades, but successes with the science approach in other Southern states, including Alabama and Mississippi, led Georgia to follow their lead, first with small steps and, should Kemp sign HB 1193 into law, a big step.
ATLANTA — The Georgia Senate overhauled one of the state House’s top priorities for the year, passing an amended version of the Georgia Early Literacy Act Tuesday.
But the measure that the Senate approved unanimously maintains nearly all the core elements that were in House Bill 1193 when it passed the House 170-2 in February.
The main pillar, employing a literacy coach in every K-3 school, remains in the bill, but the funding method changed.
Instead of using the state’s education funding formula to reimburse school districts for employing 1,313 literacy coaches, the Senate would pay for it with a $70 million grant, with new money to be appropriated each year.
Also, school districts would have to use curricula vetted by the state, and the state would help cover the schools’ costs for acquiring it.
A literacy task force would be empaneled to oversee the process and collaborate with the state education board.
Sen. Billy Hickman, R-Statesboro, said literacy rates in the lower grades have been far lower than high school graduation rates. That could only mean that Georgia schools have been giving diplomas to students who cannot read well, said Hickman, chairman of the Senate Education and Youth Committee.
“Now we know the graduation rates were not reflective of the true answer,” said Hickman, an architect of the state’s approach to literacy over the past few years. “The true answer was our children could not read.”
Georgia lawmakers have gradually steered schools toward teaching literacy using mainly phonics, part of a broader approach dubbed the “science of reading.”
The best methods for teaching literacy have been subject to debate in academia for decades, but successes in other Southern states, including Alabama and Mississippi, led Georgia to adopt their approach, first with small steps and, should HB 1193 become law, a major step.
ATLANTA — The Georgia Senate passed a measure Tuesday that would reduce homeowner property taxes by creating a new sales tax in exchange.
House Bill 1116 came from the House as a cap on property tax valuation increases.
The Senate’s amended version would create new special taxing districts overlayed on county lines, and those districts could implement a 1% sales tax. The revenue would go toward reduction of homeowner property taxes.
The bill would also generally prohibit revenue increases from property taxes of more than 3% or the federal Consumer Price Index, whichever is greater.
Homeowners would benefit most from the combined effect of the cap and the sales tax, said Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, R-Rome, who presented the bill on the Senate floor. But he said properties without a homestead exemption would benefit too.
“Just about every city and county would eliminate their homeowner property taxes. … And the rest of city and county taxes would be eliminated in some counties and reduced in other counties.”
Hufstetler said property taxes have been rising at an unsustainable rate.
“Our citizens who have to live within their means are frustrated,” he said.
Democrats criticized the measure, saying sales taxes consume a larger portion of the household budgets of lower-income people. They also said renters would not enjoy the same benefit from the property tax rollbacks as would homeowners.
“We are choosing to say that the people who own homes really are more important,” said Sen. Sonya Halpern, D-Atlanta.
The Senate’s amended version of HB 1116 passed in a party-line 31-19 vote.
The bill returns to the House. The version that chamber passed in early March sought to restrain property value increases for taxation purposes at 3% a year or the federal Consumer Price Index, whichever is greater.
ATLANTA — A bill that honors conservative activist Charlie Kirk and protects students’ political speech won final approval from the Georgia General Assembly on Tuesday.
The Republican-controlled Georgia House voted 95-68 to pass the bill Tuesday over Democrats’ objections to Kirk, who co-founded the conservative student organization Turning Point USA. Kirk was assassinated last year during a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University.
The Senate later voted 42-7 on the bill. It now heads to Gov. Brian Kemp.
The legislation, Senate Bill 552, would make it illegal for public schools to deny access to school facilities for student meetings based on political or ideological content.
“They can’t discriminate based on the content of the subject or viewpoint of the group,” said Rep. Rob Leverett, R-Elberton.
Schools would still be able to restrict conduct that could disrupt education or infringe on other students’ rights, Leverett said.
The bill is named the “True Patriotism and Universal Student Access Act,” giving it the same acronym as Turning Point USA.
Democrats said they support student speech but opposed Kirk’s criticism of gay people, immigrants, and Black people.
“The title excludes some of the groups it purportedly seeks to include on our campuses,” said Rep. Jasmine Clark, D-Lilburn. “It breaks my heart that we are doing this bill in a way that only gives a nod to one political ideology and one specific organization.”
ATLANTA — Georgia voters will decide this year on a constitutional amendment that would dedicate their 911 fees to a statewide fund for improving emergency services.
The Senate voted unanimously Tuesday to put the 911 referendum on the ballot in November. The House previously approved the proposal.
The 911 fund could pay for cellphone technology that would allow Georgians to contact emergency services using voice, text, and data.
“Imagine you’re a first responder being able to see videos of what you’re rolling into, whether it be a terrible situation of an active shooter scene or a crime that just happened, or a firefighter rolling up on a hot fire situation,” said Rep. Chuck Martin, R-Alpharetta. “It makes the first responders safer and gives them the ability to react to the situation and get to the people that need help.”
If approved by voters, the 911 fee will remain the same as it is today, at $1.50 per month.
But instead of a local fee, the money would be used exclusively for expansion, maintenance, and operation of 911 services across Georgia, according to House Resolution 1243.
Senate Minority Leader Harold Jones, D-Augusta, said the fee could help improve emergency response times.
“We hear many stories: They call 911, a person may not answer. It’s not quite up to the quality level. This is what we’re hoping to actually change,” Jones said.
