---
title: HB 487. Quality Basic Education Act; computer science course shall be a high school graduation requirement beginning in 2031; provide
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb487
cite_as: HB 487, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb487
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb487.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb487/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70411
date: 2025-02-20
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 129
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb487.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 487
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-02-18
last_action: House Second Readers
sponsors:
- Bethany Ballard
- Matt Dubnik
- Brad Thomas
- Todd Jones
- Scott Hilton
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB487/2025
upstream_id: 1974421
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- high school graduation requirements
- computer science education
- Quality Basic Education Act
- K-12 curriculum
- CTAE courses
---
# HB 487. Quality Basic Education Act; computer science course shall be a high school graduation requirement beginning in 2031; provide
## Text
House Bill 487
By: Representatives Ballard of the 147th, Dubnik of the 29th, Thomas of the 21st, Jones of the
25th, and Hilton of the 48th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Part 2 of Article 6 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to competencies and core curriculum under the "Quality Basic Education
Act," so as to provide that, beginning in the 2031-2032 school year, a computer science
course shall be a high school graduation requirement; to provide for certain computer science
courses to be substituted for units of credit graduation requirements in certain other subject
areas; to provide for such exception; to revise legislative findings; to provide for related
matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Part 2 of Article 6 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to competencies and core curriculum under the "Quality Basic Education Act," is
amended by revising Code Section 20-2-149.3, relating to requirements for computer science
education, as follows:
"20-2-149.3.
(a) The General Assembly finds that:
(1) Education in computer science is a critical need for the students of Georgia for the
twenty-first century; and
(2) Less than 0.5 percent of high school graduates have taken a computer science course;
(3) There are thousands of unfulfilled computer science jobs in the state; and
(4) The logical critical thinking skills taught by computer science are now very valuable
in many noncomputer science jobs, as technology has become embedded in most
professions.
(b) As used in this Code section, the term:
(1) 'Computer science' means the study of computers, algorithmic processes, coding,
artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, and logical critical thinking, including
computer principles, their hardware and software designs, their implementation, and their
impact on society.
(2) 'Computer science courses and content' means high school courses that teach
computer science as stand-alone implementations and middle school courses that provide
instruction in computer science in stand-alone implementations or by being embedded
in other subjects and focus on how to create and understand technology, rather than by
simply using technology.
(3) 'High-quality professional learning' means professional development activities that:
(A) Clarify the conceptual foundations of computer science;
(B) Teach research based practices, including hands-on and inquiry based learning; and
(C) Are intended for teachers with or without prior exposure to computer science.
(4) 'High-quality professional learning providers' means institutions of higher education
in this state, local school systems, nonprofit organizations, or private entities that have
successfully designed, implemented, and scaled high-quality professional learning for
teachers and are approved or recommended by the State Board of Education in
coordination with the Department of Education.
(5) 'Offer' means providing a course taught by a computer science teacher:
(A) Who is onsite at the physical location of the school; or
(B) Who is not onsite at the physical location of the school but conducts the course
through virtual means with a proctor onsite at the physical location of the school.
(c)(1) Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year:
(A) Each local school system shall provide that at least one high school in its school
system offer a course in computer science;
(B) Each local school system shall provide that all middle schools in its school system
offer instruction in exploratory computer science;
(C) Each state charter school that serves high school students shall offer a course in
computer science;
(D) Each state charter school that serves middle school students shall offer instruction
in exploratory computer science;
(E) Each local school system may provide that all elementary schools in its school
system offer instruction in exploratory computer science; and
(F) Each state charter school that serves elementary school students may offer
instruction in exploratory computer science.
(2) Beginning in the 2023-2024 school year, each local school system shall provide that
at least 50 percent of the high schools in its school system offer a course in computer
science.
(3) Beginning in the 2024-2025 school year, each local school system shall provide that
all high schools in its school system offer a course in computer science.
(4)(A) Beginning in the 2031-2032 school year, each local board of education shall
require all students, as a condition of graduation from high school, to complete a course
in computer science or a career, technical, and agricultural education (CTAE) course
embedded with computer science which meets the requirements provided in
subparagraph (B) of this paragraph.
(B) The course required in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph may be earned by
students in any of grades eight through 12 and shall:
(i) Meet or exceed the content standards and any other requirements prescribed by
the State Board of Education for such courses;
(ii) Be made available in a traditional classroom setting, a blended learning
environment, or an online or other technology based format that is tailored to meet the
needs of each participating student; and
(iii) Not increase the number of credits required for graduation.
(C)(i) Except as provided in division (ii) of this subparagraph, a full-credit computer
science course that meets the requirements provided in subparagraph (B) of this
paragraph shall be eligible to satisfy the course required in subparagraph (A) of this
paragraph and one unit of credit graduation requirement for one of the following:
(I) One unit of math credit; provided, however, that such unit of credit shall not be
a substitute for Algebra: Concepts and Connections or its equivalent, Geometry:
Concepts and Connections or its equivalent, or Advanced Algebra: Concepts and
Connections or its equivalent;
(II) One unit of science credit; provided, however, that such unit of credit shall not
be a substitute for any biology or physical science requirements;
(III) One unit of CTAE credit;
(IV) One unit of Modern Language or Latin credit;
(V) One unit of Fine Arts credit; or
(VI) One unit of elective credit.
(ii) A student may be permitted to earn more than one unit of credit graduation
requirement by completing more than one computer science course that implements
a minimum course of instruction based on content standards prescribed by the State
Board of Education and which is separate and distinct from such other computer
science course completed by such student, and such student may be permitted to use
multiple units of credit to offset other graduation requirements as provided in this
subparagraph; provided, however, that a student shall not be permitted to offset more
than one unit of math credit and one unit of science credit; and, provided further, that
there shall be no limit to the number of offsets permitted for units of CTAE or elective
credits.
(D)(i) Except as provided in division (ii) of this subparagraph, a full-credit CTAE
course embedded with computer science that meets the requirements provided in
subparagraph (B) of this paragraph shall be eligible to satisfy the full-credit course
required in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph and one unit of credit graduation
requirement for one of the following:
(I) One unit of CTAE credit; or
(II) One unit of elective credit.
(ii) A student may be permitted to earn more than one unit of credit graduation
requirement by completing more than one CTAE course embedded with computer
science that implements a minimum course of instruction based on content standards
prescribed by the State Board of Education and which is separate and distinct from
such other computer science course completed by such student, and such student may
be permitted to use multiple units of credit to offset other graduation requirements as
provided in this subparagraph.
(E) The Department of Education shall establish, and the State Board of Education
shall approve, the minimum criteria by with a CTAE course embedded with computer
science may be approved.
(d) The Department of Education shall ensure that the Georgia Virtual School operated
pursuant to Code Section 20-2-319.1 has sufficient capacity to enable schools to utilize
computer science courses to meet the needs of such schools as a result of this Code section.
(e)(1) Subject to appropriations, grants shall be provided to eligible entities to deliver
professional development programs for teachers providing instruction in computer
science courses and content.
(2) Eligible entities shall include local school systems, consortia of local school systems,
local charter schools, state charter schools, and high-quality professional learning
providers working in partnership with local school systems.
(3) Criteria for grant awards to eligible entities pursuant to this subsection shall include:
(A) The number of teachers in a local school system that require training and the
number of teachers in a local school system that have already received training; and
(B) The willingness of local school systems to make available their teachers who have
received training in computer science courses and content to provide computer science
instruction in another local school system or systems.
(4) The Department of Education shall submit a report on December 1 of each year to
the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the
chairperson of the Senate Education and Youth Committee, and the chairperson of the
House Committee on Education. Such report shall include the number of teachers
trained, the number of schools offering training, the number of students served and the
demographics of such students, and a list of the eligible entities that provided the
training."
SECTION 2.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## Summaries written by Georgia Commons
The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.
A Georgia House bill would make computer science a high school graduation requirement starting with the 2031-2032 school year, letting certain computer science or CTAE courses count toward other credit requirements like math, science or electives.
### Plain-language summary
Georgia law already requires high schools to phase in offering computer science courses, with all high schools required to offer one by the 2024-2025 school year. This bill goes a step further: starting in the 2031-2032 school year, local school boards would have to require every student to complete a computer science course, or a career, technical, and agricultural education (CTAE) course that includes computer science content, as a condition of graduating high school.
Students could earn this credit anytime from 8th through 12th grade, and the course could be taken in a regular classroom, blended learning, or online. The bill specifies that a qualifying computer science course can also count toward one unit of math, science, CTAE, foreign language, fine arts, or elective credit, with limits on how many math and science credits can be offset this way. The bill also updates the legislative findings section, removing some older statistics, and adds artificial intelligence and emerging technologies to the definition of computer science.
### What it does
- Adds a new graduation requirement, starting in the 2031-2032 school year, that all high school students complete a computer science or computer-science-embedded CTAE course.
- Allows that required course to also satisfy one unit of credit in math, science, CTAE, foreign language, fine arts, or electives, without increasing total credits needed to graduate.
- Limits students to offsetting no more than one math credit and one science credit through multiple computer science courses, while allowing unlimited CTAE or elective offsets.
- Directs the Department of Education to set minimum criteria for approving CTAE courses embedded with computer science, subject to State Board of Education approval.
- Updates the definition of 'computer science' to include artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, and removes outdated statistics from the law's legislative findings.
- Requires the Department of Education to ensure the Georgia Virtual School has enough capacity to help schools meet the new computer science requirement.
### Who it affects
Georgia public high school students starting in the 2031-2032 school year, local school boards and school systems that must build the new requirement into graduation plans, high school and middle school computer science teachers, the Department of Education, and the Georgia Virtual School, which must have capacity to support the new requirement.
### Why it matters
Every Georgia high school student would need a computer science credit to graduate starting in 2031, changing course scheduling and staffing needs for school systems years in advance. Letting the course substitute for other credits could ease scheduling pressure but also shifts which subjects students take less of.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. ยง 20-2-149.3 to add a new paragraph requiring, beginning in the 2031-2032 school year, that all students complete a computer science or computer-science-embedded CTAE course to graduate.
- The required course can be taken in grades 8 through 12 and must meet State Board of Education content standards without adding to total graduation credit requirements.
- A qualifying full-credit computer science course can substitute for one unit of math, science, CTAE, modern language or Latin, fine arts, or elective credit, but not for specific required math courses like Algebra or Geometry or for biology or physical science requirements.
- Students can earn more than one offsetting credit by completing multiple distinct computer science courses, but are capped at one math offset and one science offset; CTAE and elective offsets are unlimited.
- A qualifying CTAE course embedded with computer science can similarly satisfy one unit of CTAE or elective credit, with the Department of Education setting approval criteria for such courses.
- The bill updates the legislative findings section, removing statistics about the percentage of graduates who took computer science and the number of unfilled computer science jobs, and expands the definition of computer science to include artificial intelligence and emerging technologies.
- Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2025-02-18)
- Last action: House Second Readers (2025-02-20)
- Sponsors: Bethany Ballard, Matt Dubnik, Brad Thomas, Todd Jones, Scott Hilton
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70411
> The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb487.md?full=1