--- title: HB 542. Protecting All Learners Act; enact collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb542 cite_as: HB 542, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb542 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb542.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb542/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70579 date: 2025-02-24 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. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb541.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb543.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 129 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb542.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 542 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-02-20 last_action: House Second Readers sponsors: - Bryce Berry - Floyd Griffin - Doreen Carter - Ruwa Romman - Jasmine Clark text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB542/2025 upstream_id: 1978438 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - school vouchers - students with disabilities - private schools - special education - IEP compliance --- # HB 542. Protecting All Learners Act; enact ## Text House Bill 542 By: Representatives Berry of the 56th, Griffin of the 149th, Carter of the 93rd, Romman of the 97th, and Clark of the 108th A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Article 2 of Chapter 2B of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to promise scholarship accounts, so as to require participating private schools to comply with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education (IDEA) Act and Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973; to require participating schools to implement participating students' IEPs and Section 504 plans; to provide for rules and policies requiring parents of participating students to provide complete copies of such plans to participating schools; to provide for a short title; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. This Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Protecting All Learners Act." SECTION 2. Article 2 of Chapter 2B of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to promise scholarship accounts, is amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows: "20-2B-23.1. Notwithstanding any provision of Code Section 20-2B-23 or any other provision of law to the contrary, each participating school shall: (1) Fully implement the most recent Individualized Education Program plan or Section 504 plan for each student enrolled in such participating school who is the subject of such plan; (2) Comply to the fullest extent possible with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973; and (3) Adopt rules and policies to implement the provisions of this Code section, including, but not limited to, rules and policies requiring parents of participating students to provide the participating school with a complete copy of their child's most recent Individualized Education Program plan or Section 504 plan within ten days of enrollment in such participating school." SECTION 3. This Act shall become effective on July 1, 2025. SECTION 4. 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. House Bill 542 would require private schools that accept Georgia promise scholarship funds to follow federal disability education laws and fully carry out students' individualized education plans. ### Plain-language summary Georgia's promise scholarship program (O.C.G.A. Title 20, Chapter 2B) lets eligible students use state funds to attend participating private schools. Currently those private schools are not required to follow the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the two main federal laws that guarantee services for students with disabilities in public schools. This bill, called the Protecting All Learners Act, adds a new Code section requiring any private school participating in the promise scholarship program to fully carry out each enrolled student's Individualized Education Program (IEP) or Section 504 plan, comply as fully as possible with IDEA and Section 504, and adopt rules requiring parents to hand over a complete copy of their child's plan within ten days of enrollment. The law would take effect July 1, 2025. ### What it does - Requires private schools accepting promise scholarship funds to fully implement each enrolled student's most recent IEP or Section 504 plan. - Requires those schools to comply to the fullest extent possible with the federal IDEA law and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. - Directs participating schools to adopt rules and policies requiring parents to submit a complete copy of their child's IEP or Section 504 plan within ten days of enrollment. - Sets the new requirements to take effect July 1, 2025, if the bill becomes law. ### Who it affects Private schools that accept Georgia promise scholarship students, parents and students with disabilities enrolled in the promise scholarship program, and school administrators who would need to adopt new compliance rules and collect disability plan paperwork from families. ### Why it matters Families using promise scholarships to send children with disabilities to private schools would gain a legal guarantee that those schools follow the child's IEP or Section 504 plan, similar to protections already required in public schools, changing what services and accommodations participating private schools must provide. ### Key provisions - Section 1 gives the bill the short title 'Protecting All Learners Act.' - Section 2 adds new Code Section 20-2B-23.1, requiring participating schools to fully implement each student's IEP or Section 504 plan. - Section 2 also requires participating schools to comply to the fullest extent possible with the federal IDEA Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. - Section 2 requires participating schools to adopt rules, including requiring parents to submit a complete copy of the plan within ten days of enrollment. - Section 3 sets the effective date as July 1, 2025. - Section 4 repeals any conflicting laws. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2025-02-20) - Last action: House Second Readers (2025-02-24) - Sponsors: Bryce Berry, Floyd Griffin, Doreen Carter, Ruwa Romman, Jasmine Clark - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70579 > The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb542.md?full=1