HB 293: Education; Protect Students First Act; repeal various provisions

In 2022 Georgia enacted the Protect Students First Act, which defined certain 'divisive concepts' and barred public schools, teacher certification standards, and educator training programs from advocating for them. This bill would undo that law. It repeals Code Section 20-2-11, which laid out the divisive concepts ban, discrimination protections, and complaint procedures. It also strips out related language from several other education code sections that tied teacher certification, professional standards, ethics codes, and state-run diversity and conflict resolution training to the divisive concepts restriction. Specifically, the bill removes the restriction from rules governing how the Professional Standards Commission certifies and classifies teachers, from the commission's certification standards and procedures, from its code of ethics for educators, and from Department of Education training programs on conflict management and cultural diversity that have run since 2000. The bill does not add any new requirements; it only removes existing restrictions.

• Repeals Code Section 20-1-11 (referenced as 20-2-11 in Section 1), which defined divisive concepts and barred schools from advocating for them.
• Removes language in O.C.G.A. § 20-2-200 that barred teacher certification and classification from depending on completing training programs that advocate divisive concepts.
• Removes language in O.C.G.A. § 20-2-739 that barred state-run conflict management and cultural diversity training programs from advocating divisive concepts after July 1, 2022.
• Removes language in O.C.G.A. § 20-2-984 that barred the Professional Standards Commission's certification standards from requiring divisive concepts training.
• Removes language in O.C.G.A. § 20-2-984.1 that barred the commission's code of ethics for educators from requiring divisive concepts training.

Georgia public school teachers and other certificated school personnel, the Professional Standards Commission, the Department of Education, local school boards, and students and parents who take part in state-run conflict management and cultural diversity training programs.

If enacted, Georgia would no longer have a statewide legal definition of 'divisive concepts' or a ban on schools, teacher certification rules, and training programs advocating for them, changing what the Professional Standards Commission and Department of Education can require or offer in educator training and certification.

• Section 1 repeals Code Section 20-2-11 in its entirety, eliminating the divisive concepts definition, discrimination prohibition, complaint resolution policies, and record inspection rules.
• Section 2 removes from O.C.G.A. § 20-2-200 the provision tying teacher certification and classification to completing (or not completing) divisive concepts training.
• Section 3 removes from O.C.G.A. § 20-2-739 the post-2022 restriction on Department of Education conflict management and cultural diversity training programs.
• Section 4 removes from O.C.G.A. § 20-2-984 the restriction on Professional Standards Commission certification standards, while keeping a July 1, 2025 literacy-alignment requirement for the Georgia Assessments for Certification of Educators.
• Section 5 removes from O.C.G.A. § 20-2-984.1 the restriction on the commission's code of ethics for educators.
• Section 6 repeals all conflicting laws.

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

• divisive concepts
• teacher certification
• education policy
• Protect Students First Act
• school training programs