HB1330: HB1330 Georgia Public School Excellence and Stability Act; enact

Georgia law currently has a reserved, unused section of the Quality Basic Education Act (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-308). This bill fills that section in to create the Georgia Public School Excellence and Stability (GPSES) grant program, run by the State Board of Education. Schools that appear on a specific state list of public schools (kept under O.C.G.A. § 20-2B-29) and the local school systems that oversee them could apply for grants. The money could pay for tutoring and other educational services that match state academic standards and reading instruction methods and that track student progress. It could also fund salary supplements, up to $5,000 a year, for experienced teachers and administrators who take a first-time contract at one of these listed schools, renewable for up to two more years if their performance evaluations stay satisfactory. The whole program only runs if the legislature sets aside money for it in the state budget, and the bill repeals any conflicting laws.

• Establishes the Georgia Public School Excellence and Stability (GPSES) grant program inside the State Board of Education to fund schools on a specific state list.
• Allows grant money to pay for tutoring and other educational services that are grade-level appropriate, tied to state standards, and based on reading science.
• Creates salary supplements of up to $5,000 per year for teachers and administrators with more than three years of experience who take a new contract at a listed school.
• Lets qualifying teachers and administrators keep the supplement for up to three years total, as long as they do not get an unsatisfactory performance rating.
• Requires public schools and local school systems to apply to the Department of Education with a detailed spending plan to receive a grant.
• Makes the entire program dependent on the legislature specifically funding it through the state budget.

Public schools and local school systems included on a specific state list of schools (kept under O.C.G.A. § 20-2B-29), teachers and school administrators considering contracts at those schools, and the State Board of Education and Department of Education, which would run the grant application and payment process.

Schools on the qualifying list could get new money for tutoring and staffing incentives, potentially making it easier to attract and keep experienced teachers and administrators at schools that need extra support. Whether any of this happens depends on the state legislature actually funding the program in the budget.

• Section 1 gives the bill the short title 'Georgia Public School Excellence and Stability Act.'
• Section 2 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 20-2-308 to create the GPSES grant program under the State Board of Education.
• Subsection (a)(1) limits tutoring grants to services that are grade-level appropriate, aligned with state standards, based on reading science, and that track student progress.
• Subsection (a)(2) caps salary supplements at $5,000 per school year and allows renewal for up to three years total unless the recipient gets an unsatisfactory performance evaluation.
• Subsection (b) requires schools and school systems to apply to the Department of Education with a plan showing how grant funds will be spent and how their impact will be measured.
• Subsection (c) makes the whole program contingent on the legislature appropriating money specifically for it.
• Section 3 repeals any existing laws that conflict with the Act.

1. 2026-02-19House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-02-18House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-02-17House Hopper (House)

• Doreen Carter (D, HD-093)Primary sponsor
• Beth Camp (R, HD-135)
• Bethany Ballard (R, HD-147)
• David Wilkerson (D, HD-038)
• Carolyn Hugley (D, HD-141)
• Bryce Berry (D, HD-056)

• public school funding
• teacher pay
• tutoring programs
• education grants
• school staffing