SR 545: Senate Paid Student Teaching Study Committee; create

Aspiring teachers in Georgia currently complete unpaid student teaching, often working more than 40 hours a week in classrooms while still paying tuition and covering living costs. This resolution creates the Senate Paid Student Teaching Study Committee to look into whether the state should change that by paying student teachers. The committee will have six Senate members, four picked by the Senate majority caucus leader and two by the minority caucus leader, with a chairperson named by the President of the Senate. It will study financial hardships facing student teachers, the effect of unpaid teaching on recruiting and keeping educators (especially in rural and high-need schools), links between paid internships and teacher quality, cost estimates for a statewide paid program, and lessons from other states. The committee can recommend legislation, must fund itself through existing Senate appropriations, and is abolished on December 1, 2026.

• Creates the Senate Paid Student Teaching Study Committee made up of six Senate members to study paying student teachers.
• Assigns the President of the Senate to name a chairperson from among the committee's legislative members.
• Directs the committee to study financial hardship, teacher recruitment and retention, program costs, and practices in other states.
• Allows the committee to recommend legislation if it approves findings by majority vote before the committee ends.
• Sets member travel and meeting allowances under existing Senate rules (O.C.G.A. § 28-1-8), capped at five paid days unless more are approved.
• Abolishes the committee on December 1, 2026, requiring any report to be filed before that date.

The resolution directly affects the six Senate members appointed to the committee. Its subject matter concerns student teachers, teacher preparation programs, public school students and districts (especially rural and high-need schools), and the broader pool of Georgians considering entering the teaching profession.

If the committee's work leads to a paid student teaching program, it could ease financial pressure on aspiring teachers and potentially help address Georgia's teacher shortage. For now, the resolution itself only creates a study group, so no funding or pay changes take effect immediately.

• Paragraph (1) creates the Senate Paid Student Teaching Study Committee.
• Paragraph (2) sets committee membership at six senators, four chosen by the majority caucus leader and two by the minority caucus leader, with a chairperson designated by the President of the Senate.
• Paragraph (3) directs the committee to study the issues raised in the resolution and recommend action or legislation.
• Paragraph (5) ties legislative member allowances to O.C.G.A. § 28-1-8 and limits paid days to five unless additional days are authorized, funded through Senate appropriations.
• Paragraph (6) lays out reporting rules, requiring majority committee approval before any report is filed with the Secretary of the Senate.
• Paragraph (7) abolishes the committee on December 1, 2026.

1. 2026-03-31Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senado)
2. 2026-03-31Senate Third Read (Senado)
3. 2026-03-27Senate Read Second Time (Senado)
4. 2026-03-27Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senado)
5. 2025-04-04Senate Read and Referred (Senado)
6. 2025-04-02Senate Hopper (Senado)

• RaShaun Kemp (D, SD-038)Patrocinador principal
• Jason Esteves (D, SD-035)
• Freddie Sims (D, SD-012)
• Harold Jones (D, SD-022)
• Kim Jackson (D, SD-041)
• Sally Harrell (D, SD-040)
• Derek Mallow (D, SD-002)
• Kenya Wicks (D, SD-034)
• Gail Davenport (D, SD-017)
• Josh McLaurin (D, SD-014)
• Nikki Merritt (D, SD-009)
• Donzella James (D, SD-028)
• Tonya Anderson (D, SD-043)
• Nabilah Islam Parkes (D, SD-007)
• Sonya Halpern (D, SD-039)
• Sheikh Rahman (D, SD-005)
• Randal Mangham (D, SD-055)

1. AprobadaVotación: Senado31 de marzo de 2026

   48 a favor, 0 en contra (3 sin votar, 3 ausentes)

   Consent Calendar For Senate Study Committees: Senate Vote #875

• teacher shortage
• student teaching
• education policy
• Georgia Senate committees
• teacher pay