HB294: HB294 Quality Basic Education Act; require State Board of Education to review and update policies, guidelines, and processes for awarding units of high school credit to students based on a demonstration of subject area competency

Georgia law already lets students earn high school credit by proving they know the material, instead of only by sitting through a full course, under O.C.G.A. § 20-2-159.4. This bill directs the State Board of Education, working with the university and technical college systems, to review and update those policies and guidelines as necessary rather than adopt them once, and shifts the applicable school year from 2013-2014 to 2025-2026. The bill adds international baccalaureate exams to the list of assessments, alongside AP exams, ACT course assessments, industry credentials, and CLEP exams, that count toward proving subject area competency. It also states that no policy the state board adopts can let the State School Superintendent deny, delay, or interfere with approval of a performance based assessment the board has already approved. Local school systems must still follow the state's policies and cannot set rules that block compliance. The bill would take effect July 1, 2025.

• Requires the State Board of Education to review and update, rather than just initially adopt, its policies for awarding high school credit based on subject mastery.
• Moves the applicability start date for these credit policies from the 2013-2014 school year to the 2025-2026 school year.
• Adds international baccalaureate exams taken as part of an IB diploma program to the list of assessments students can use to demonstrate subject competency.
• Bars the State School Superintendent from denying, delaying, or interfering with approval of any performance based assessment the State Board of Education has already identified and approved.
• Keeps the existing requirement that local school systems and charter schools follow the state's credit policies and cannot adopt rules that block compliance.

High school students seeking credit through testing rather than seat time, the State Board of Education and State School Superintendent, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, the State Board of the Technical College System of Georgia, and local school systems and charter schools that must implement the credit policies.

Students aiming to earn credit through IB exams would gain a clearer path to competency-based credit, and disputes over which assessments count could be affected since the superintendent could no longer block board-approved tests, changing how quickly new credit options reach classrooms.

• Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 20-2-159.4(a) to require ongoing review and updating of credit policies instead of a one-time adoption, effective for the 2025-2026 school year.
• Subsection (c) adds international baccalaureate exams administered with an IB diploma program to the list of qualifying assessments.
• New subsection (e) prohibits the State School Superintendent from denying, delaying, or interfering with approval of any performance based assessment already identified and approved by the state board.
• Renumbered subsection (f) keeps the requirement that local school systems and other public school governing bodies comply with state policies and not adopt rules that impede compliance.
• New subsection (g) clarifies that the law does not require any school to offer AP or IB courses just because they count toward credit.
• Section 2 sets the effective date as July 1, 2025.

1. 2025-02-10House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-02-06House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-05House Hopper (House)

• Tanya Miller (D, HD-062)Primary sponsor
• Lydia Glaize (D, HD-067)
• Doreen Carter (D, HD-093)
• Mekyah McQueen (D, HD-061)
• Bryce Berry (D, HD-056)
• Inga Willis (D, HD-055)

• high school credit
• education policy
• State Board of Education
• standardized testing
• Quality Basic Education Act