Search Result for: Georgia


Committee Releases Initial Proposals for School Funding in georgia

...urrent at time of posting, but may require registration or expire over time. A committee to review georgia’s main school funding mechanism, the Quality Basic Education Act (QBE), released initial recommendations earlier this month. Those recommendations include increasing funding for technology and leadership training, expanding the number of school nurses and improving nurses’ salaries, and ending georgia’s “65% rule,” which requires that at least 65% of education...
Date: 2011-09-28

georgia Attorney General Rules School Group Illegal

...gistration or expire over time.   The organization that brought a school finance lawsuit in georgia has been declared illegal by the state’s attorney general in an opinion solicited by the governor. The Consortium for Adequate School Funding (CASFG), which had almost 50 school districts as members, filed a lawsuit challenging the Quality Basic Education (QBE) formula that the state uses to determine the amount of money allotted to each school system per student. The QBE is meant to...
Date: 2009-05-05

georgia Charter Law Faces Legal Fight

...urrent at time of posting, but may require registration or expire over time. Fifty-nine percent of georgia voters approved a constitutional amendment that will create a new statewide chartering entity in the state. However, a lawsuit is underway challenging the language used to describe the amendment on the ballot as “misleading.” Campaigning around the issue was fierce, with public officials being sharply criticized for taking positions and millions of dollars of out-of-state dona...
Date: 2012-11-27

georgia Charter Law Under Fire

...equire registration or expire over time. A charter school funding case that will be heard by the georgia Supreme Court next month could determine how much control over charter school budgets that regular school districts will have. As first reported in the October 2009 edition of RSFN, a group of school districts is challenging the constitutionality of the georgia Charter School Commission (GCSC). The districts are appealing a decision from Fulton County Court earlier this year that found in ...
Date: 2010-09-28

georgia Cutting Funding for Low Wealth Districts

...s are free and current at time of posting, but may require registration or expire over time.  georgia’s rural schools have been hard hit by budget cuts as the governor reduced “equalization funding” in the state by 20%. These monies are meant to help mitigate some of the disparities that result in school funding for districts with low property wealth and are an especially significant part of the budget for many rural schools. However, under the current allocation system, ...
Date: 2009-07-18

georgia District Must Clarify Use of Social Security Numbers, DOJ Says

...ation or expire over time. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has entered into an agreement with georgia’s Henry County School District to ensure the district’s practice of demanding Social Security numbers ends and that the district effectively communicates enrollment requirements to all parents, particularly those who have limited English proficiency. georgia law requires districts to request Social Security numbers from students, but it also requires that parents be given a wa...
Date: 2012-11-27

georgia Districts Nearing Insolvency, But Funding Commission Recommends Only Minor Changes

...ration or expire over time. More than $4 billion in “austerity” cuts have been made to georgia’s K–12 education budget in the last four years. In response, schools have cut more than 4,000 teaching jobs as well as programs, services, and supplies. So many school districts are catastrophically strapped for cash that the state has issued a blanket waiver on class size and length of school year. Under the waiver, many districts have reduced the number of days they hold scho...
Date: 2012-09-26

georgia Looking for Ways to Support Rural Teacher Recruitment

...nks are free and current at time of posting, but may require registration or expire over time. The georgia State Department of Education has asked the Board of Education for clearance to use $3.6 million of the state’s Race to the Top grant monies to award tax-exempt “signing bonuses” for teachers who choose to move to rural high-need schools. The funds would be distributed to districts that are home to the approximately 920 schools that qualify as high-need due to their perce...
Date: 2012-02-23

georgia Restricts Disciplinary Restraints

...: Links are free and current at time of posting, but may require registration or expire over time. georgia’s State Board of Education has banned seclusion rooms, chemical restraints (medications), and the use of prone restraints, in which a student is held face down on the floor. Under the new rules, parents must be notified within one day if any physical restraint has been used on their child. Nationally, special education advocates have been publicizing mistreatment of students by scho...
Date: 2010-07-23

New georgia Funding Organization Speaks Out

...e registration or expire over time.   The new coalition working for school finance reform in georgia has issued a comprehensive report, "The Unfilled Promise to georgia's Children," highlighting the needs of students across the state and making recommendations for systemic change to the school finance system.   The georgia School Funding Association (GSFA) is the successor to the Coalition for Adequate School Funding in georgia, which brought a school finance lawsuit agai...
Date: 2009-10-30

Proposed georgia Constitutional Amendment on Charters Highlights Debate Over Funding

...ppose the measure. The amendment question on the ballot will read “Shall the Constitution of georgia be amended to allow state or local approval of public charter schools upon the request of local communities,” but many claim that wording is misleading since both the state and local districts can already approve charter schools. State Education Superintendent John Barge broke party lines when he announced his opposition to the amendment earlier this month, saying in a prepared stat...
Date: 2012-08-28

Rural School Funding News: georgia Case Withdrawn

...This article appeared in the October 2008 Rural Policy Matters The Consortium for Adequate School Funding in georgia (CASFG) has withdrawn its lawsuit against the state after the case was abruptly transferred to a new judge just weeks before the trial was scheduled to begin. In an effort to address a state budget crisis, the state judiciary suspended the use of senior judges, including Judge Elizabeth Long, who had handled the case for three years. Plaintiff districts had overcome several...
Date: 2008-10-10

Rural School Funding News: georgia Governor Wants Lawsuit Participation Blocked

...This article appeared in the November 2008 Rural Policy Matters. Taking a cue from South Dakota, georgia Governor Sonny Purdue has asked the state Attorney General for an opinion on whether school districts can spend tax money on the school funding lawsuit. State schools superintendent Kathy Cox warned districts against paying dues to the Consortium for Adequate School Funding (CASFG). CASFG withdrew its school finance lawsuit when, a month before trial, a new judge with no knowledge of the cas...
Date: 2008-11-06

Zero Tolerance Reform Bill Advances in georgia

...t time of posting, but may require registration or expire over time. As reported in January RSFN, georgia legislators are taking steps to limit the use of zero tolerance policies by school officials against students in the state. A bill that would give school officials more discretion on whether students are arrested or detained has unanimously passed the state Senate and is headed for the house. Under current law, a student found with a weapon in school receives a mandatory felony charge, an...
Date: 2010-03-26

2008 State Election Update: A Sampler

...m the rainy day funds. Money borrowed from the Alabama Trust Fund must be repaid within six years. georgia. Amendment 2 authorizes local school districts to use tax funds for community redevelopment. Specifically, the measure restores to local school boards the right to participate in Tax Allocation Districts (TAD). TADS are used primarily in metropolitan areas to finance housing developments in post-industrial and other areas where traditional financing is unavailable. The idea is that school ...
Date: 2008-11-06