Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law bills passed by the General Assembly covering a broad range of education topics.
Kemp was joined by wife, Marty, along with State School Superintendent Richard Woods, parents, students and education leaders for the April 28 signing ceremony at the Forsyth County Arts and Learning Center.
“Today, we’re here at the Forsyth County Arts and Learning Center to sign legislation that puts our children ahead of partisan agendas, gets parents back in charge of their kids’ education, and expands school choice for those who need it most,” he said.
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One of the bills he signed was HB1178. Called the “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” the legislation says that it is “to provide for the protection of the fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their minor children from undue infringement by a state or local government entity, local board of education or other governing body…”
The bill goes on to specify parents have the right to direct the moral and religious training of their minor child, a right to review all instructional materials intended for use in the classroom and the right to access and review all records relating to the child.
“It provides greater transparency to parents and legal guardians regarding what their student is being taught in school and protects the fundamental right of moms and dads across this state to direct the education of their child,” Kemp said.
Kemp also signed HB1184 which bars divisive concepts and ideologies from classrooms. The bill has nine sections defining divisive concepts, including:
“One race is inherently superior to another race; The United States of America is fundamentally racist; An individual, by virtue of his or her race, is inherently or consciously racist or oppressive toward individuals of other races; An individual should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment solely or partly because of his or her race; An individual’s moral character is inherently determined by his or her race; and an individual, solely by virtue of his or her race, bears individual responsibility for actions committed in the past by other individuals of the same race.”
“It ensures all of our state and nation’s history is taught accurately – because here in Georgia, our classrooms will not be pawns of those who want to indoctrinate our kids with their partisan political agendas,” said the governor.
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Also signed was SB226. It removes obscene material that is harmful to minors from school libraries. The bill defines harmful to minors as a description or representation of nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement and sadomasochistic abuse deemed lacking literary, artistic, political or scientific values for minors.
During his April 27 visit to Deer Chase Elementary School, Woods explained his outlook on the bills.
“For me, as a teacher, and even a superintendent, I looked at these bills and said, ‘Would it impede my ability to teach,’ and I felt that they do not impede my ability to teach,” he said. “If teachers are looking at just teaching our standards, our expectations, there’s no problems there as well.”
Woods said schools must earn, and maintain, the public trust, particularly with parents. He also wants to see parents involved with their child’s education.
“One of the things I look at, it puts all of us in the state in the same playing field, it means we will follow the same process. But also, I think it is a mechanism that will also be used to protect our teachers as well. So, I think it’s very beneficial for us to take some of the question marks out there,” he said.
SB226 gives local boards of education until January 1, 2023, to adopt a resolution policy to address complaints against specific books and materials a parent or guardian deems is harmful to minors and should be removed from the school.
All of the bills signed by Kemp can be accessed at: https://gov.georgia.gov/executive-action/legislation/signed-legislation/2022-signed-legislation
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a general assignment reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com
