HR 887: House Study Committee on Reducing and Prioritizing Mandates for Public School Administration; create

House Resolution 887

By: Representatives Blackmon of the 146th and Erwin of the 32nd

A RESOLUTION

Creating the House Study Committee on Reducing and Prioritizing Mandates for Public School Administration; and for other purposes.

WHEREAS, providing for public education is a primary responsibility of the State of Georgia, as enshrined in the Constitution; and

WHEREAS, local school systems are established and maintained and under the management and control of local boards of education; and

WHEREAS, providing for the education of Georgia's public school students is a responsibility shared by state and local governing authorities; and

WHEREAS, the effective administration of public elementary and secondary schools in this state requires local boards of education, local school system administrators, and public school administrators to address many and varied state and federal statutory and regulatory mandates; and

WHEREAS, the addition of new legal mandates each year to existing mandates, some of which have become outmoded or are practically unenforceable, can have the unintended effect of dividing the attention of local boards of education, local school system administrators, and public school administrators, with increasing attention paid to administrative matters at the expense of decreasing attention paid to supporting and improving student learning; and

WHEREAS, it is critical that state and local resources and efforts should be primarily focused on supporting and improving student learning rather than complying with legal mandates, especially such mandates that have become outmoded, are practically unenforceable, or are no longer the priority of state and local governing authorities; and

WHEREAS, a review of existing mandates relating to public school administration is needed for legislators, education leaders, and community stakeholders to examine and evaluate best practices for reducing and prioritizing mandates for public school administrators, and to recommend legislative and policy initiatives to that end.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:

(1) Creation of House study committee. There is created the House Study Committee on Reducing and Prioritizing Mandates for Public School Administration.

(2) Members and officers. The committee shall be composed of six members of the House of Representatives to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall designate a member of the committee as chairperson of the committee.

(3) Powers and duties. The committee shall undertake a study of the conditions, needs, issues, and problems mentioned above or related thereto and recommend any action or legislation which the committee deems necessary or appropriate.

(4) Meetings. The chairperson shall call all meetings of the committee. The committee may conduct such meetings at such places and at such times as it may deem necessary or convenient to enable it to exercise fully and effectively its powers, perform its duties, and accomplish the objectives and purposes of this resolution.

(5) Allowances and funding.

(A) The legislative members of the committee shall receive the allowances provided for in Code Section 28-1-8 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated.

(B) The allowances authorized by this resolution shall not be received by any member of the committee for more than five days unless additional days are authorized. Funds necessary to carry out the provisions of this resolution shall come from funds appropriated to the House of Representatives.

(6) Report.

(A) In the event the committee adopts any specific findings or recommendations that include suggestions for proposed legislation, the chairperson shall file a report of the same prior to the date of abolishment specified in this resolution, subject to subparagraph (C) of this paragraph.

(B) In the event the committee adopts a report that does not include suggestions for proposed legislation, the chairperson shall file the report, subject to subparagraph (C) of this paragraph.

(C) No report shall be filed unless the same has been approved prior to the date of abolishment specified in this resolution by majority vote of a quorum of the committee. A report so approved shall be signed by the chairperson of the committee and filed with the Clerk of the House of Representatives.

(D) In the absence of an approved report, the chairperson may file with the Clerk of the House of Representatives a copy of the minutes of the meetings of the committee in lieu thereof.

(7) Abolishment. The committee shall stand abolished on December 1, 2025.