When the 2023 session of the Georgia General Assembly convened in January, senate leaders voiced their concern over the state’s literacy rate and listed it as a top priority for this year. They came one step closer to addressing the issue late last week when state Sen. Billy Hickman’s, R-Statesboro, SB 211 received approval from the House Education Curriculum Subcommittee following a few tweaks and amendments. The bill now moves to the full House Education Committee for a vote.
With this legislation, Hickman hopes to establish the Georgia Council on Literacy to set new school district improvement requirements and oversight mechanisms. The Council would be made up of 10 legislators, two teachers, two superintendents, one State Board of Education representative, two school board members, and two literacy advocates. According to Hickman, the Council would be responsible for reviewing best practices in literacy instruction from other states and establishing a common metric for literacy scores for kindergarten through 12th grade.
In his presentation to the committee Hickman pointed to reports from the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement that show 43 percent of 3rd graders are not reading on grade level.
According to the bill, the Council would partner with the Georgia Department of Education and the State Board of Education to implement requirements of early literacy requirements. The Council would also be tasked with finding ways to improve literacy rates among low-income students, minority students and any student showing characteristics of dyslexia. The Council would also set annual literacy goals for students in third, fifth and eighth grades.
Hickman’s bill sailed through the Senate with a 55-0 vote.
The same House Education subcommittee passed SB 204 by Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, but not before stripping the bill and adding language from HB 506, by Rep. Ginny Ehrhart, R-Marietta, which did not make it out of the House before Crossover Day.
Ehrhart’s legislation addresses accreditation and would require the State Board of Education to establish assessment criteria, procedures, and other requirements for recognized accrediting agencies and prohibits recognition of certain accrediting agencies. The bill now moves to the full Education Committee in the House.
The House Higher Education Committee is scheduled to hear several key bills Wednesday including SB 86 by Sen. Matt Brass, R-Newnan, which would allow Dual Enrollment students to access HOPE career grant funds for certain CTAE courses, and SB 112 by Sen. Jason Anavitarte, R-Dallas, – the Workforce EXCELeration Act — which would create a private-public partnership with Goodwill to develop a pilot program to allow students 21 years of age or older who have aged out of public high schools to attain a high school diploma instead of a GED.
