On Tuesday, Feb. 20, Georgia’s House Education Policy Subcommittee unanimously passed . HB 1122 now heads before the House Education Committee and could receive a vote as early Thursday. The pro-charter school bill is championed by 91桃色视频 and sponsored by Rep. Scott Hilton, District 48. In its current version, HB 1122 has three main provisions.
Provision #1
Equitable Administrator Funding for Charter Schools
Background:
- PRINCIPALS. Currently, state funding for school principals is allocated by 鈥渟chool code鈥� NOT by grade band. (So, a K-12 school only 鈥渆arns鈥� 1 principal while a听pipeline of听elementary, middle, and high schools earn 3 principals. These schools serve the same grades and students, but the K-12 school is garnering substantially less state funding support.) Over half of GA’s charter schools听served multiple grade bands under a single 鈥渟chool code鈥� in 2022-2023. (34 state charters and 22 local charters).
- SUPERINTENDENTS. State funding for superintendents is provided to school district LEAS and NOT provided to charter school LEAs (which have the same state reporting requirements and legal obligations).
HB 1122 calls for the allocation of additional funding to cover:听
- one (1) superintendent for each state charter school.
- one (1) principal for each charter school (state and local) serving grades 9-12 (as long as that principal was reported on the Oct. CPI report).
- (1) principal per 300 students (max of 2 principals) for each charter school (state and local) serving any of the grade levels K-8 (assuming those principals were reported on the October CPI report).
Provision #2听
Charter School Autonomy Protections (Enrollment)
Background:
- Current law allows for a charter school enrollment priority for children of school employees and/or governing board members. The specific allowance reads: 鈥淎 student whose parent or guardian is a member of the governing board of the charter school or a full-time teacher, paraprofessional, or other employee at the charter school.鈥�
HB 1122 clarifies that:
- 鈥渇ull-time鈥� applies only to teachers and 鈥減art-time鈥� should be added for paraprofessionals and other employees. The bill was amended to define “part-time” as an employee who works at least 20 hours per week.
- This will allow schools to attract retirees (49%) and other highly qualified persons to work as para-pros, after school help, etc. (which gives schools a much more experienced, qualified, and affordable staff) and will create a larger pool of teachers to cover 鈥渟pecials鈥� (art, music, band, etc.) a few times a week.
- This request stems, in part, from the reduced number of people entering the teaching profession and the increased number of teachers retiring and leaving after only a few years teaching.
Provision #3
Conflict of Interest Clarification (Governing Board Membership)
Background:
- Current law prohibits all district employees from serving on a state charter school governing board. (This is restrictive.)
HB 1122 allows for:
- 鈥榥on-executive level鈥� employees (teachers) to serve on state charter governing boards.
*This provision was requested by the SCSC in response to school requests.
