by Ty Tagami | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — When Georgia lawmakers asked what they could do to make the lives of educators a little easier, they got a predictable response: stop telling us what to do, especially if you will not pay for it.
The first hearing Tuesday of a House study committee on reducing mandates for public school administrators revealed concerns about an old law that mandates high-stakes testing, an even older state funding formula that has not kept up with costs, and two new laws.
The Early Literacy Act passed two years ago is an unfunded mandate that has forced school districts to cut back in key areas to pay for teacher retraining and new curriculum, said Mack Bullard, the superintendent in Twiggs County.
Technology does not get upgraded, he said. Fine arts, clubs and sports that keep students connected to school get cut. Safety improvements and facility repairs get skipped. And teachers do not get paid a competitive salary, leading to attrition.
“Every dollar we redirect to cover an unfunded mandate is a dollar that we take away from another essential service,” Bullard told the panel, which convened in Warner Robins for a livestreamed meeting.
There were also complaints about Georgia’s Quality Basic Education funding formula from the 1980s. It pays an average $18.75 per day for substitute teachers in Houston County, said Chris Brown, the deputy superintendent there. The $17,452 per year for secretaries does not cover their health insurance, which exceeds $22,000 annually, let alone their pay, he added.
Brown also pointed to the 2024 law giving students a $6,500 annual voucher if they leave a public school to attend a private one.
Those private schools do not have to face the same accountability measures as public schools, Brown said.
Rep. Shaw Blackmon, R-Bonaire, leads the committee. He said the concerns deserve further discussion. He said the next hearing will be Sept. 29.
