2009-20010 Legislative Priorities
Georgia PTA urges you to:
- Support public K-12 schools with adequate state funding, reflective of
the actual costs of providing the state defined services. Support equitable
distribution of state funding to K-12 schools, currently calculated on
property tax wealth in each school system.
- Support using public funds for public schools only. Oppose any effort to
use public funding for private or sectarian schools.
- Support efforts to increase the graduation rate in Georgia through
mandatory attendance until graduation or age 18, early identification of
potential dropouts, improved instructional programs for at-risk students,
expanded counseling and guidance services, job placement and work experience
programs, immediate follow-up of why individual students drop out.
- Support using multiple criteria to determine promotion and retention, and
not rely upon the results of a single test score.
- Support policies that increase meaningful parental involvement in
decisions regarding school policies, curriculum, and academic growth for
children, and increase opportunities for the development of parenting skills
and school support.
- Support the right of local boards of education to manage and control
local public schools as they seek to improve the quality of education for
all students and are sensitive to differences in educational needs in their
respective communities.
- Support the local property tax and the educational SPLOST sources of tax
revenues for local school district spending priorities.
What does Georgia PTA do with the priorities?
Priorities form the basis of Georgia PTA's efforts with the Georgia General
Assembly and Congress. Georgia PTA monitors all legislation and policy
issues affecting children and youth, including K-12 education, postsecondary
education, Pre-K, child health and safety, gun safety, teen driving and
underage drinking. Our priorities receive most of our attention; however,
Georgia PTA responds to any legislation covered by our position statements.
What are the biggest issues for Georgia PTA in 2008?
Public education funding. One of the most essential roles of state
government is to provide a quality education to its citizens in order to
maintain an educated citizenry capable of participating in a democracy. As
globalization of the world economy continues, it is evident that Georgia's
economic development and prosperity depends on developing an educated
workforce.
A quality education requires consistent and adequate state funding. Georgia
PTA continues to ask for restoration of more than $1.4 billion in cumulative
Quality Basic Education (QBE) funding cuts that have shifted state
obligations to local taxpayers, causing many Georgia school systems to
exhaust reserves, cut programs, lay off employees and/or raise property
taxes. Full funding of mandated programs and reforms at the time they are
enacted is a state responsibility. Otherwise, even more local systems will
become financially burdened trying to implement state mandates. If not
addressed, the funding gap between high and low wealth systems regarding the
equality and adequacy of education funding will widen.
Also vital to Georgia's economic development is the improvement of its
graduation rates. Georgia law requires school attendance until age 16, at
which time a student may legally withdraw from school. Georgia PTA supports
requiring attendance in school until a high school diploma is earned or a
student has reached the age of 18, whichever occurs first.
Additional resources:
Please visit:
www.Georgiapta.org and click on the Capitol Watch Icon. This connects you to
all the information regarding the Georgia legislature and updates on
upcoming/pending legislation. Find out where PTA stands on certain issues
and why we take that position. You can also input your persoanl information
and find out who your senators and represntatives are and how you can contact
them to give your input and ideas about your children, their schools and how
what is going on at the capitol effects you.
www.pta.org leads you to the Nationsl PTA's website where you can get
infomraiton on their Member-to-Member Network.
These are great resources for you to use on a daily basis to keep informed
about issues that are important to PTSA and you.