HB 1256: Georgia Appreciation for Educators Act; enact

Currently Georgia has no dedicated student loan repayment program specifically for veteran public school teachers. This bill, called the Georgia Appreciation for Educators Act, would create one through the Georgia Student Finance Authority. Teachers who are Georgia residents, graduated from an eligible Georgia postsecondary institution, and have worked as a public school teacher in the state for at least five years could apply. Approved teachers, called recipients, would sign a student loan repayment agreement with the authority. The authority would pay off student loan debt over up to five years in annual installments, but only loans that are not in default and not already covered by another repayment or forgiveness program. Recipients must keep teaching in a Georgia public school and remain state residents while the agreement runs. The authority would set the rules, and the whole program only works if the General Assembly actually appropriates money for it each year.

• Creates a new student loan repayment program at the Georgia Student Finance Authority for public school teachers with at least five years of experience.
• Limits eligibility to Georgia residents who graduated from an eligible Georgia postsecondary institution and currently teach in a Georgia public school.
• Requires recipients to sign a repayment agreement lasting up to five years, paid in annual installments, tied to continued teaching service.
• Excludes loans that are in default or already being repaid through another loan forgiveness or repayment program.
• Allows the authority to terminate an agreement for sufficient cause, as long as that power is not used arbitrarily.
• Makes the entire program contingent on the General Assembly appropriating funding each year in the state budget.

Public school teachers in Georgia who graduated from eligible Georgia postsecondary institutions and have taught at least five years, the Georgia Student Finance Authority, which would run the program, and the General Assembly, which must fund it annually for it to operate.

If funded, eligible teachers could see part or all of their student loan debt paid off over five years, potentially easing a financial burden tied to entering or staying in the teaching profession in Georgia. Because funding depends on yearly state budget decisions, the benefit is not guaranteed even if the bill becomes law.

• Section 1 gives the bill its short title, the 'Georgia Appreciation for Educators Act.'
• New Code Section 20-3-467(a) defines 'eligible applicant,' 'eligible postsecondary institution,' 'recipient,' 'student loan,' and 'teacher.'
• Subsection (c) allows the authority to repay loans in exchange for at least five years of teaching service in a Georgia public school.
• Subsection (e) caps repayment agreements at five years, paid in annual installments, up to the recipient's total loan debt, contingent on available funding.
• Subsection (e)(3) requires recipients to remain Georgia residents and stay employed as teachers for the full term of the agreement.
• Subsection (g) makes the whole repayment program contingent on annual appropriations from the General Assembly.
• Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-02-11House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-02-10House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-02-09House Hopper (House)

• Bryce Berry (D, HD-056)Primary sponsor
• Tangie Herring (D, HD-145)
• Mekyah McQueen (D, HD-061)
• Samuel Park (D, HD-107)
• Rhonda Burnough (D, HD-077)
• El-Mahdi Holly (D, HD-116)

• teacher pay
• student loans
• education funding
• teacher retention