[LM_NET] Information about "Flexibility Bill" - HB 908

["Payne, Carole" <CPayne@BARTOW.K12.GA.US>]

This bill has been postponed for 2 weeks for study and 3 amendments have been 
submitted for study of this bill.
This information came from the mouth of a Georgia State Representative.

Carole Payne
Woodland High School
Cartersville, GA

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

HB 908 - "Flexibility"

What is so alarming about HB 908  is that the House Education Committee is
not going through the normal legislative process with this bill!

The committee wants to push it through quickly and the bill is not going
through the sub-committees in the House and Senate.  We ALL need to email
our legislators and tell them to follow the process on HB 908 which allows
time for the public to understand and voice their opinions to their
legislators.   This is not clean politics.  Shame on this committee for
doing this.

 We are going to have to act fast to oppose this bill.   The General
Assembly will adjourn Friday, January 15th through Sunday, January 24th
for budget hearings.  We expect the committee to move quickly on the
legislation when they return on Monday, January 25th.

Go to:

 www.congress.org

to find your legislators and EMAIL or CALL them asking them to follow
correct procedure so the bill will go through the normal process.  Tell
them why expenditure controls are important.  Remember  - they want to
know how their constituents feel about legislation as you have the power
to vote them in or out of  office.    Make sure you tell them you are
their  constituent.


Betsy Razza
GLMA President Elect




>>From Beth Miller  MA, MLIS
>
Media Specialist/Teacher
GLMA Legislative Advocacy
Crabapple Middle School
bvrm@bellsouth.net
404-434-6433  cell

** GLMA Legislative Alert **

House Education Kicks Off the Session in High Gear

On the second day of the 2010 session, Tuesday, January 12th, the
House Education Committee heard presentations on several pieces of new
legislation.  It is disappointing to report to you this early in the
session on a bill that eliminates provisions you have fought hard to
maintain.

"Flexibility Bill" - HB 908

As written, HB 908 gives local systems total flexibility through
"blanket waivers" that

* Eliminate Expenditure Controls - media center, direct instruction,
and staff development costs
* Eliminate the 65% Rule  - minimum classroom expenditures
* Eliminate Maximum Class Size - maximum individual class size for
math, science, social studies, and language arts
* Eliminate Funding for Additional Instruction Days
* Eliminate the Minimum Salary Schedule

The language in this bill eliminates the need for systems to request
waivers for any or all of these provisions through July 1, 2013.  When
questioned about the negative impact this bill would have on student
achievement, legislators and DOE staff defended their position by
pointing out that the systems would still be held accountable for
student achievement - but there are no accountability measures spelled
out in this bill.

Now is your time to act!  The General Assembly will adjourn Friday,
January 15th through Sunday, January 24th for budget hearings.  We
expect the committee to move quickly on the legislation when they
return on Monday, January 25th.

Though we know Georgia's financial picture is bleak, you know children
will suffer if local school administrators use their ability to take
advantage of waiving these code sections that were put in place years
ago to assure system and school accountability and student
achievement.

Betsy L. Razza, M.Ln., Ed.S., NBCT
Teacher-Librarian and Webmaster
GA Library Media Specialist of the Year 2005
Druid Hills High School
1798 Haygood Drive
Atlanta, Ga 30307

678-874-6335 or 6333
fax: 678-874-6310


[cid:image002.gif@01CAA331.8C114EF0][cid:image002.gif@01CAA331.8C114EF0][cid:image002.gif@01CAA331.8C114EF0][cid:image002.gif@01CAA331.8C114EF0]
 Carole Payne
Media Specialist
Woodland High School
800 Old Alabama Road
Cartersville, Ga 30120
770-606-5800 x 5278
770-606-5800 x 5265 Circulation Desk
No one who cannot rejoice in the discovery of his own mistakes deserves to be 
called a scholar.
  - Donald Foster<http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/27050.html>
This e-mail may contain information that is privileged, confidential and exempt 
from disclosure under applicable law.  If the reader of this message is not the 
intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any unauthorized dissemination, 
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 If you receive this  e-mail in error, please notify me immediately.


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