--- title: SB 597. "Student Legal Literacy and Life Skills Education Act"; enact collection: bills id: 2025-2026/sb597 cite_as: SB 597, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb597 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb597.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb597/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73694 date: 2026-02-26 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/sb596.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb598.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 95 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb597.md?full=1 bill_number: SB 597 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: Senate bill_type: bill status_date: 2026-02-25 last_action: Senate Read and Referred sponsors: - Randal Mangham - Harold Jones - Kenya Wicks - Nabilah Islam Parkes - Nan Orrock text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB597/2025 upstream_id: 2124829 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - education policy - high school curriculum - graduation requirements - legal literacy - student rights --- # SB 597. "Student Legal Literacy and Life Skills Education Act"; enact ## Text Senate Bill 597 By: Senators Mangham of the 55th, Jones II of the 22nd, Wicks of the 34th, Parkes of the 7th and Orrock of the 36th 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 for a course of instruction in legal literacy and life skills; to provide for the adoption of content standards for such instruction; to require that each local board of education and other public school governing body offer a course of instruction based on such content standards; to require that students complete such course of study prior to graduation; to provide for related matters; to provide a short title; 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 "Student Legal Literacy and Life Skills Education Act." SECTION 2. 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 adding a new Code section to read as follows: "20-2-149.5. (a) No later than January 1, 2027, the State Board of Education shall adopt content standards for a course of instruction for students in grades nine through 12 in legal literacy and life skills. At a minimum, such content standards shall relate to instruction in: (1) Constitutional rights; (2) Individual legal responsibilities; (3) Interactions with law enforcement; (4) Employment rights, workplace protections, and contracts; (5) Housing and tenant rights; and (6) Consequences of violating a criminal law. (b) Beginning in the 2027-2028 school year, each local board of education and other public school governing body shall require all students, as a condition of graduation, during their ninth, tenth, eleventh, or twelfth grade years to complete at least a half-credit course in legal literacy and life skills which implements the course of instruction based on the content standards prescribed pursuant to subsection (a) of this Code section. Such course of instruction may be provided within the framework of existing coursework offered by a local school system or other public school governing body. Such course of instruction shall be eligible to count toward a social studies or elective unit of credit requirement for graduation." SECTION 3. 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 Senate bill would require public high schools to teach a legal literacy and life skills course covering constitutional rights, workplace protections, and tenant rights, with students required to pass it to graduate starting in the 2027-2028 school year. ### Plain-language summary Georgia's current core curriculum for public schools does not include a required course on everyday legal knowledge like constitutional rights, workplace protections, or tenant rights. This bill, called the Student Legal Literacy and Life Skills Education Act, would add a new section to the state's Quality Basic Education Act to change that. The State Board of Education would have to adopt content standards by January 1, 2027 covering constitutional rights, individual legal responsibilities, interactions with law enforcement, employment rights and contracts, housing and tenant rights, and the consequences of breaking criminal law. Starting with the 2027-2028 school year, every local school board and other public school governing body would have to require students to complete at least a half-credit course built on those standards sometime during ninth through twelfth grade before they can graduate. Schools could fold the course into existing classes, and it could count toward a social studies or elective credit requirement. ### What it does - Adds a new Code section requiring the State Board of Education to adopt content standards for a legal literacy and life skills course by January 1, 2027. - Requires the standards to cover six topics: constitutional rights, legal responsibilities, interactions with law enforcement, employment rights and contracts, housing and tenant rights, and consequences of breaking criminal law. - Requires local school boards and other public school governing bodies to make students complete at least a half-credit course based on those standards before graduating, starting in the 2027-2028 school year. - Allows the course to be taught within existing coursework rather than as a standalone class. - Lets the course count toward a social studies or elective credit requirement for graduation. ### Who it affects Public high school students in grades nine through twelve, who would need to pass the course to graduate; local school boards and other public school governing bodies, which must build and offer the course; and the State Board of Education, which must write the content standards by 2027. ### Why it matters If enacted, Georgia high schoolers would get formal instruction on topics like their rights during police encounters, workplace protections, and tenant rights before graduating, and schools would need to build or adapt courses to meet a new statewide graduation requirement starting in 2027-2028. ### Key provisions - Section 1 gives the bill its short title, the Student Legal Literacy and Life Skills Education Act. - Section 2 adds new Code section 20-2-149.5, directing the State Board of Education to adopt content standards no later than January 1, 2027 covering six specific topic areas. - Section 2 also requires local boards of education and other public school governing bodies, beginning in the 2027-2028 school year, to require all students to complete at least a half-credit course based on those standards as a graduation condition. - Section 2 allows the course to be integrated into existing coursework and to count toward a social studies or elective credit requirement. - Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2026-02-25) - Last action: Senate Read and Referred (2026-02-26) - Sponsors: Randal Mangham, Harold Jones, Kenya Wicks, Nabilah Islam Parkes, Nan Orrock - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73694 > The history, votes, and amendments (95 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb597.md?full=1