Comité Higher Education del Senado, 3 de marzo de 2026

Transcripción

226 turnos. Seleccione un tiempo para reproducir ese momento del video.

1. 0:17:53

   This is the Senate Higher Education Committee. I'd like to call the meeting to order. I'm gonna ask my good friend from the fourth if he would open us in a word of prayer. Senator?

2. 0:18:04

   Thank you, sir. Let us pray. Lord God, what a great day you've given us here. We pray you give us another day to honor you. Lord, we just ask you to provide us with wisdom that we will do the right thing to represent the great people of the state of Georgia. In your Son's name I pray, amen.

3. 0:18:18

   Amen. Thank you, Senator. Um, ladies and gentlemen, we have one bill on our agenda this morning, SB556. I'm gonna ask, uh, Senator Payne if he would present his legislation.

4. 0:18:31

   Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, this bill is an advan- is, this bill will add advanced placement, International Baccalaureate, and upper level Cambridge fine arts courses to the Georgia HOPE Scholarship rigor course list in OCGA20-2-157, allowing them to be considered for calculation of grade point averages for, uh, for determining HOPE eligibility. Beginning July 1, 2026, this bill will include the following coursework subjects on the rigorous course, uh, list for students in grades nine through 12.

5. 0:19:06

   For, and we already have English, mathematics, science, and social studies and foreign language. This one just adds fine arts to that list. And this card, and I also have Matt Cardoza here with me. He's the one that brought me th- this bill co- is back with the-

6. 0:19:22

   He-

7. 0:19:22

   ... education. And so this is just to make sure that we're giving these kids the opportunity to move forward.

8. 0:19:27

   All right. Uh, happy to invite, uh, Mr. Cardoza to come up and speak to the bill. Uh, I, I understand this is at the request of the Department of Education. Is that correct?

9. 0:19:38

   Yes, sir.

10. 0:19:41

    That should be good.

11. 0:19:42

    Okay. Yes, sir. Thank you so much, Chairman, um, committee members. I'm Matt Cardoza, um, not usually here in higher ed, usually, uh, with, uh, Chairman Hickman in, in, uh- ... Senate Ed. Uh, but-

12. 0:19:56

    Well, you're welcome to be here anytime.

13. 0:19:58

    It's great to be here.

14. 0:19:58

    Always.

15. 0:19:59

    Thank y'all. It's great to be here with y'all. It's shorter than, uh, today's meeting probably, so. Um, th- you know, but thanks for, uh, having this bill today. So what we hear from, um, a lot of the students is, uh, particularly these high-flying students, if they, uh, are in a fine arts pathway to, to graduate from high school, oftentimes they have to end up going to take another kind of AP or IB Cambridge course that's in the core area, um, instead of continuing with things like music theory or some of those higher level courses because they're not counted currently in the HOPE courses of rigor, um, for qualification or for the, um, the weighted GPA.

16. 0:20:37

    So this simply adds fine arts, um, and allows those courses to count for that, um, so many of those students who are in that pathway will stay in those pathways.

17. 0:20:48

    A, a couple of questions, if I might. Uh, th- clarify for the committee, uh, the difference between advanced placement Cambridge courses and International Baccalaureate pr- courses.

18. 0:21:00

    Sure. So these are different, um, you know, everybody's probably familiar with, um, advanced placement and International Baccalaureate. These are high level courses. Cambridge is relatively new, out of Cambridge, um, UK. Um, also very high level courses that several of our school districts have been utilizing. Um, some cases instead of AP, uh, they will utilize Cambridge, and same thing with, uh, International Baccalaureate. So they're just, uh, separate organizations, honestly, that have courses at that high level that, uh, uh, colleges will take, you know, for credit oftentimes.

19. 0:21:39

    Would, uh, if I could follow up, would a, um, a secondary school, uh, have the option of an AP class, a Cambridge class, or an IB class, and how do they determine what, what, what choice they make?

20. 0:21:54

    Sure. Sure, sure. So i- in any of the, the courses that are on the student finance course of rigor list and any of the state-funded courses that are on our State Board of Education list, those students can take any of those courses. And then secondary or post-secondary, y- you know, I, I know those are different depending on what, what institution as to whether or not they take that for credit. Um, so yes, a- any student, if it's provided, um, in, in that school district, now not every, not every school district provides all AP classes.

21. 0:22:27

    Not everyone does IB or, or, or Cambridge. Now, we have the Georgia Virtual School that, that the state runs, um, pretty much all of these, these kind of options. So in theory, every student, uh, w- would have an opportunity for those.

22. 0:22:42

    So are these presence-based classes or, or remote delivery or both?

23. 0:22:46

    It, it, yeah, it, it depends. It can certainly be both.

24. 0:22:49

    And then my last question, I think, is, um, a- a- a- again, what we're doing is allowing these fine arts courses to count toward HOPE eligibility. Is that correct?

25. 0:23:00

    That's right.

26. 0:23:00

    That's right.

27. 0:23:00

    So would that, would that increase the number of HOPE-eligible students? Do you see that as impacting the number of HOPE-eligible students?

28. 0:23:08

    It, it'd be really hard to run those specific numbers. What I would say is most of the students who are taking, who, who are gonna take an AP music theory or, uh, you know, Cambridge high level arts class, they're probably already gonna be HOPE eligible. What this does is allows them to stay in that fine arts pathway-

29. 0:23:30

    Right

30. 0:23:30

    ... instead of having to switch and take classes that aren't really part of their pathway.

31. 0:23:34

    All right. Thank you. Um, Senator Hickman.

32. 0:23:38

    Thank you, um, Mr. Chairman. Define fine arts. I mean, how far does fine arts go? Does it go all the way to basket weaving?

33. 0:23:45

    No. No, no, sir. No, sir. It, it would not. Um, there, there would be more designated courses that are at that very high level, similar to how, um, student finance has, has courses designated, uh, in AP and IB and Cambridge already for the core areas. Uh, we would, we would designate some of those courses that are fine arts. So again, think of your- I mean, your, your music theory, your, you know, your... They're all high-level courses if they are Cambridge-

34. 0:24:17

    Mm-hmm

35. 0:24:18

    ... if they're IB, if they're AP. So in that sense, you're not talking about a, a student taking regular basket weaving.

36. 0:24:27

    Okay. Thank you, sir.

37. 0:24:30

    Senator Harrell, 13.

38. 0:24:33

    Uh, yes. Thank you. Uh, you keep mentioning music theory, and, uh, I actually, when I was in high school, took a college-level music theory course at Butler University, and I will tell you it was hard.

39. 0:24:44

    Yeah.

40. 0:24:44

    It is not basket weaving. Um, but, uh, my question is, uh, uh, this Cambridge curriculum is, is new to me. I, you know, of course, know IB and, A- AP and all that, but this, this is new. So, uh, you mentioned like you're part of Georgia Virtual School, but, like, can you just kind of give us a picture of, um, how, how present you are in, in various school districts, um, particularly I'm from the metro area-

41. 0:25:11

    Yeah

42. 0:25:11

    ... so, um, m- maybe rural versus urban.

43. 0:25:15

    Sure. Sure, sure. So I'm with, uh, the State Department of Education.

44. 0:25:19

    Education.

45. 0:25:19

    Now, I know we do have some representatives, um, I think in the audience, who could probably speak much better, uh, to that. I will say that if you look at the Georgia Student Finance, uh, courses of rigor list, as well as the State Board of Education's, uh, state-funded course list, they include Cambridge courses at that, that same level for all the core areas, uh, just like AP and, and IB ones. What, what this would do only is just allow the fine arts ones that are at that really high level to be included for all three of those organizations.

46. 0:25:54

    Um, so from the Cambridge, uh, sense, I'll say it is relatively new. We had a school district probably five or six years ago, I feel like, uh, started, uh, with, with Cambridge and, uh, definitely was a very high level. Um, so that ended up going through this process, and then it's on the state-funded course list. Um, so we're, we're confident in that, that the, that the rigor level is there, um, for all of those.

47. 0:26:21

    Thank you.

48. 0:26:23

    Thank you. Senator Howard?

49. 0:26:25

    Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for the presentation. I'm, I'm too learning about the Cambridge portion of it. I'm just gonna repeat something back to make sure I heard you correctly. We currently, for, like core classes, your math, sciences, language, uh, we use at already right now Advanced Placement, IB, and Cambridge, and those things are already weighted and considered in the HOPE Scholarship. Would that be accurate?

50. 0:26:49

    That, that's right. For-

51. 0:26:50

    For all three

52. 0:26:51

    ... for core.

53. 0:26:52

    Core, yes.

54. 0:26:53

    Correct. Core.

55. 0:26:53

    And-

56. 0:26:54

    I, and I think

57. 0:26:55

    ... and I'm, I'm getting nods behind you, so they're-

58. 0:26:57

    From my friend-

59. 0:26:57

    They, they, they're telling me that you're on, on the right track

60. 0:26:59

    ... Georgia Student Finance over here who can confirm that, but, um-

61. 0:27:01

    And just, a- and I know this is repeating, but I wanna make sure I'm clear, and this bill is specifically for those courses that fall under the fine arts umbrella to give it the same weight, um-

62. 0:27:15

    Correct

63. 0:27:16

    ... with AP, Cambridge, IB under fine arts, specifically to add to what's already there.

64. 0:27:21

    Right.

65. 0:27:22

    So we're not sneaking in some kind of new thing like, "Oh, you guys know about AP. You know about Advanced Pla- I mean, you know about IB," and then, "Oh, by the way, oh, there's this thing called Cambridge."

66. 0:27:33

    Right.

67. 0:27:33

    So this is not, this is already happening.

68. 0:27:35

    It's-

69. 0:27:35

    We're just adding the fine arts-

70. 0:27:38

    Fine arts component to it

71. 0:27:39

    ... specifically. Is that accurate?

72. 0:27:40

    Sorry.

73. 0:27:40

    Yes.

74. 0:27:40

    That, that is accurate. And, and can my friends at Georgia Student, uh, confirm that?

75. 0:27:46

    Yeah, and I, I think that's wonderful, and I think we sh-

76. 0:27:48

    For the core area

77. 0:27:48

    ... it should be weighted and put some respect on our fine arts, uh, professionals. So-

78. 0:27:53

    Absolutely

79. 0:27:54

    ... thank you for that.

80. 0:27:54

    Thank you.

81. 0:27:54

    Thank you, Mr. Chair. Senator Hufstetler.

82. 0:27:58

    Thank you. I just had a, uh, a question on the, the weighted. I see you're a score of an A is 4.0 and a B is 3.0. Are we doing-

83. 0:28:07

    Yes.

84. 0:28:07

    Do y'all consider A+ and A- to be weighted? Did you give them an extra boost in the grade point average? I'm, I'm just trying to clarify that part.

85. 0:28:17

    N- no, s- so this would just simply say that if you're an A, depending on how every school system can do their own grading separately, so the, the, the numerical part or-

86. 0:28:27

    Mm-hmm

87. 0:28:28

    ... A, A-, that kind of thing. But whatever equates at the, at the state level to an A is that it gets that weighted-

88. 0:28:35

    Uh-huh

89. 0:28:35

    ... level, where a regular course for HOPE purposes does not get weighted.

90. 0:28:41

    So you could have an A- or an A+ or not? Or are we just saying it's an A?

91. 0:28:45

    If that equl- if that equates to the state A, and I hate to keep deferring to them, but they might be able to speak to that part, um, how that relates. But an A- let's say that's a 91.

92. 0:28:58

    Mm-hmm.

93. 0:28:59

    For across the board, uh, purposes that, that should be an A. Same thing with an 81, that kind of thing. And that's in, that's been in statute for months and months and-

94. 0:29:09

    The, the reason I'm asking is I remember a situation, this was years ago, and it, you know, it may be, it may have been a local issue, I don't know, but somebody had taken a dual enrollment course and had like a 99 average, but yet the college gave them an A because that's what they do, and so they get a 95. And so I'm just trying to wrap my brain around how this works.

95. 0:29:30

    A- and dual enrollment is also weighted, so in that case, that student should have gotten the, the weighted, uh, GPA, whether it was a 91 or a, a 99. It, it would all be the same.

96. 0:29:42

    But is it not true this legislation does not change any of those?

97. 0:29:45

    That's right.

98. 0:29:45

    No.

99. 0:29:45

    That's right. This, this is encoded in, in statute currently.

100. 0:29:49

     Okay. Any further questions from the committee? If not, uh, we're gonna take some public input. Uh, if y'all, uh, Senator Payne, if you would just, uh, relinquish the, the table, and we'll come back for a quick close. Uh, first person who signed up is government something R-A-S or N-A-S. Does anyone know who that might be? It's not a name We'll move on. Sheri Reach. Sheri is with Cambridge International. Sheri, are you available? Thank you. You'll come forward and share with the committee.

101. 0:30:21

     I, I understand that you support this legislation, is that correct?

102. 0:30:23

     Yes, sir, it is. Thank you.

103. 0:30:28

     My name is Sheri Reach. I've had the honor of working with Cambridge for 25 years here in the United States. It was first introduced in Florida back in 1996. So we have been around for a while. We're newer to Georgia. Been very excited to have a few districts working with us in Georgia. Um, I'm here to answer any questions you may have. How can I help?

104. 0:30:47

     My first question is, how many school systems currently utilize the Cambridge curriculum?

105. 0:30:51

     In Georgia?

106. 0:30:52

     Yes.

107. 0:30:52

     Two.

108. 0:30:53

     Two, and who are they?

109. 0:30:54

     Clayton County.

110. 0:30:55

     Okay.

111. 0:30:55

     And also, um, Calloway in, in Troup County.

112. 0:30:58

     Calloway Sch-

113. 0:30:59

     Calloway High School in Troup County

114. 0:31:00

     ... Calloway High School in Troup. So basically relatively small at this time. Is that correct?

115. 0:31:04

     Yes, sir.

116. 0:31:05

     Okay.

117. 0:31:05

     We are currently engaging in conversations with Wheeler County, but we have not actually progressed to the point of them adopting any of our courses.

118. 0:31:13

     Uh, can you differentiate the Cambridge approach to the IB approach?

119. 0:31:19

     They are similar, but yes, sir, I can. Um, one of the things that is... Well, the similarities are that we all have courses that students take, and then there are end-of-course exams that are taken that are written and graded by the institution. They're not done locally. Um, they also have teacher training with IB just like we do. Uh, we're very similar. We have some different types of courses than they do. We have a bit of broader struc- spectrum of courses starting in pre-K going all the way through high school years.

120. 0:31:48

     Okay. My, my last question is, is, uh, Cambridge International, is it affiliated with Cambridge University in England?

121. 0:31:55

     Yes, sir. It is a division of the University of Cambridge in England, and it started 160 years ago, this division.

122. 0:32:01

     Oh, okay.

123. 0:32:01

     The university's been around since 1209.

124. 0:32:03

     Yeah, I think so. I can't remember. Okay. So, uh, Senator Howard.

125. 0:32:07

     Thank you. Um, thank you for the presentation. Also, for, uh, for Georgia Virtual Academy, is there a relationship there at this time?

126. 0:32:15

     You know, I'm not sure-

127. 0:32:15

     'Cause I think-

128. 0:32:15

     ... about that, to be honest with you.

129. 0:32:17

     Yeah.

130. 0:32:17

     We do have Florida Virtual-

131. 0:32:19

     Okay

132. 0:32:19

     ... School, which is in Florida, of course, and they do things all over the country, and they do offer about 12 of our courses, which can lead to our pathway called the AICE Diploma at the end, and they can possibly get additional scholarships if they pass all seven of those exams across all different, um, subject areas.

133. 0:32:36

     Okay. And for a high school to work with your organization, the school system would have to adopt... I'm, I'm asking. Would, would the school system, the, the county schools or the city school system, have to kind of have an official agreement with Cambridge-

134. 0:32:52

     Yes, sir

135. 0:32:52

     ... for that to happen?

136. 0:32:53

     Yes, sir.

137. 0:32:54

     Okay.

138. 0:32:54

     Individual schools in some states are allowed to do that without the blessing, if I, if I may use that word-

139. 0:32:59

     Sure

140. 0:32:59

     ... um, of their district, but for the most part, we go through the district and the school at the same time. So it may be one school that decides to offer it with the permission of their school district. Um, and they many times do, if I may say this, they many times do blend AP, Cambridge, and IB in the same school. That's not uncommon throughout the United States-

141. 0:33:20

     Okay

142. 0:33:20

     ... 'cause there's so many students.

143. 0:33:22

     That's really helpful. My last question, if I may, Mr. Chairman.

144. 0:33:25

     Sure, sure.

145. 0:33:25

     Uh, for those that are homeschooled, do they have access to, um, Cambridge-level courses?

146. 0:33:32

     If the homeschooled student is taking a course through Florida Virtual School, yes, sir, they do. Otherwise, no, sir, they don't.

147. 0:33:39

     Okay.

148. 0:33:39

     Our courses are only offered through schools that are brick-and-mortar or, if approved, an online school. Right now it's just Florida Virtual is our only online institution. Um-

149. 0:33:49

     Okay. That's very helpful. Thank you.

150. 0:33:51

     Thank you. Any further questions? Thank you, Ms. Reach. We appreciate you.

151. 0:33:55

     Thank you so much. We appreciate all of you.

152. 0:33:57

     Uh, next we have Sarah, is it Womack? Womack? And Alan Foles. If you'll both come forward. This is, they're with the Georgia Music Educators Association. Is that correct?

153. 0:34:05

     Yes, sir.

154. 0:34:06

     Good deal. And, uh, I understand that you support the legislation. Is that correct?

155. 0:34:11

     Yes, sir.

156. 0:34:11

     Thank you.

157. 0:34:13

     My name is Alan Fowler, and I serve as the executive director of the Georgia Music Educators Association, and want to thank you on behalf of GMEA for considering this bill, and it's my privilege today to introduce our president-elect, Dr. Sarah Womack.

158. 0:34:26

     Uh, so we support recognizing AP, IB, and Cambridge fine arts courses within the HOPE GPA calculation. These classes follow rigorous academic standards, just like the other weighted courses in the core, um, in the core content, and merit equal consideration. Currently, students who pursue advanced fine arts coursework face a disadvantage because these classes are excluded from GPA weighting. This discourages students from enrolling in courses aligned with their talents and career goals, and unintentionally penalizes those who choose advanced study in the arts.

159. 0:35:01

     Including these courses promotes fairness, supports student choice, and acknowledges that the arts are a vital component of a well-rounded, college-ready education, and we encourage thoughtful consideration of this issue to ensure equitable opportunities for all Georgia students.

160. 0:35:17

     Thank you. Any questions? Thank you for being here.

161. 0:35:20

     Thank you.

162. 0:35:20

     We appreciate what you do.

163. 0:35:21

     Thank you.

164. 0:35:22

     Uh, finally, Sarah Grant. Ms. Grant?

165. 0:35:25

     Yes. Thank you.

166. 0:35:26

     Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Welcome.

167. 0:35:29

     Thank you.

168. 0:35:32

     And again, I understand you support this legislation. Is that correct?

169. 0:35:35

     That's correct.

170. 0:35:35

     Thank you.

171. 0:35:36

     Yes. Thank you all so much for your time today. I'm Sarah Grant, and serve as vice president of education and community engagement for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at the Woodruff Arts Center. Um, I'm also a member of the Georgia Music Educators Association, and, uh, taught for 20 years in public schools, most recently eight years in South Georgia, uh, Lowndes County and Valdosta City Schools. And I want to ta- share two stories that illustrate how this will help our students all across Georgia. Um, one is a personal story of my own daughter, but it relates to thousands of students like her.

172. 0:36:08

     She's a model traditional student, academically strong, active in leadership, deeply committed to her passions. However, her dedication to her music c- program at her school has lowered her GPA. Her other 11 academic AP classes have given her a A of z- 5.0, where her rigorous music class gives her a 4.0. Um, and so this, in contrast to her peers, has lowered her GPA, and her peers have not stayed active in their fine arts programs because they've chosen for that, um, as she's a senior, you know, challenging time right now of competing for scholarships and admittance into schools.

173. 0:36:47

     So, um, we value the arts and have made that choice as a family, as many other people have to do for theirselves. So she's academically and potentially economically disadvantaged because of this. But I also think of a student that I taught in South Georgia, and she, um, is not as traditionally academically inclined. And so it's been harder for her in those academic classes, and has chosen not to take AP, but she excels in visual arts. And so she's also being penalized by having somewhere that she has a place for and will go on and make a difference in with equally rigorous standards, um, but she's not getting a weighted GPA for that, and therefore not as, um, competitive when it comes to her admittance and scholarships.

174. 0:37:36

     So I really, uh, challenge you guys to think about how this helps in both directions. And we know that from a statewide and national data, sustained participation in music and the arts increases attendance, increases, um, their academic achievement, and it increases graduation rates. And the GPA s- GPA race that begins as a freshman determines whether they're gonna stay in these arts, fine arts programs. Um, happen also to have a freshman at home, and so we talk already about, um, how that GPA will affect her in four years.

175. 0:38:11

     So I respectfully ask you to support SB 556 and ensure that advanced fine arts courses are included in the Hope Scholarship GPA calculation for all of these reasons, and to support the fine arts programs and the individual students and families throughout Georgia. Thank you so much.

176. 0:38:28

     Thank you. Any questions for the witness? Wanna thank the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra-

177. 0:38:33

     Thank you

178. 0:38:33

     ... for the work you do in our community and in our state. Thank you. Uh, that concludes all those who have signed up. I w- I would like to offer Mr. Green, Chris Green from Georgia Student Finance, to come and, and speak to this legislation 'cause it impacts Hope.

179. 0:38:53

     Uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, good a- good morning, committee. Uh, Chris Green here on behalf of the Georgia Student Finance Commission. Um, just to address, first of all, agency has no position on the legislation. Um, I, I do think I should mention that it, uh, I think there could be some kind of cost implications. So depending on how many students we're talking about, shifting students from Hope Scholarship eligibility to Zell Miller Scholarship eligibility, and then of course, if they don't currently qualify for Hope, making them eligible for Hope. Um, I don't have any estimates of how many students we might be talking about.

180. 0:39:24

     Um, just to differentiate one thing we've been discussing this morning, so the Hope GPA calculation, absolutely as my colleagues have described, uh, since I think as early as 2007, the state has prescribed by statute that we take every high school s- transcript from public and private high schools. Uh, we remove any weighting that's added by the local school district and apply a standardized weighting to every transcript, uh, 136,000. And so as you can imagine, we rely heavily on this course list with our partners with the DOE.

181. 0:39:54

     Uh, as was correctly stated earlier, the core courses are what's currently included, so English, math, science, social studies, foreign language. Um, and then if I could just mention one thing, the, the discussion around rigor. So my understanding is during the 2011 reforms, rigor was introduced, uh, to the Hope Scholarship GPA calculation. It was actually phased in beginning circa 2016. Uh, at first, a student had to have one rigor credit, then two, then three, and then we got to maximum utilization. They have to have four rigor credits currently.

182. 0:40:27

     And so, um, as the conversation proceeds, just keeping in mind we've got the Hope GPA calculation, any weighting that you want us to add for AP, IB, Cambridge, dual enrollment, uh, and then also whether it satisfies the rigor requirements, uh, for Hope Scholarship eligibility. But again, no position, and thank you for the opportunity.

183. 0:40:45

     Thank you. A- and just to follow up, can you, uh, explain for the committee the concept of rigor and how rigor is identified?

184. 0:40:52

     Yes, sir. So, um, my understanding is, uh, during those difficult conversations in 2011 when you all were looking at, uh, preserving the Hope Scholarship, the research was suggesting that if students were taking, uh, academically rigorous classes in high school, they were more likely to retain the scholarship once they got to post-secondary. And so today, uh, again, it's four credits. They can earn these rigor, uh, from a variety of categories. Uh, so advanced math, think about advanced algebra, trigonometry, um, advanced science, chemistry, physics, biology, foreign language courses.

185. 0:41:28

     Uh, but then also I think our real nexus here is they can satisfy these rigor requirements by taking AP, IB, Cambridge, or dual em- dual enrollment, uh, degree level core courses. Um, so that's really where the academic rigor requirements come from. And I should add, uh, Mr. Chairman, uh, I, I do think there's wide awareness among our high school community. All of our partners understand that there's an institutional GPA and a Hope GPA, and thank you to my colleague that mentioned starting those conversations with students and making sure they know they need to track that Hope GPA, and then they also have their institutional GPA and, and what the difference is.

186. 0:42:02

     All right. Thank you. Any questions from the committee?

187. 0:42:04

     One question here.

188. 0:42:05

     Um, what number is that? 11. Thank you.

189. 0:42:07

     11. Yeah. So, so I heard what you said on you remove all weighting. This doesn't add... Does this add any weighting to it?

190. 0:42:15

     If my understanding from the, from the bill auth- author, if we were to If you were to instruct us to begin including these AP Fine Arts courses in the GPA calculation, uh, yes, uh, they would receive some additional weighting if it's AP, IB, uh, Cambridge, uh, dual enrollment, which is the, the, the nexus of the legislation, right? Um-

191. 0:42:39

     The same as the core classes.

192. 0:42:41

     Okay.

193. 0:42:41

     But, but you're giving some weighting to some-

194. 0:42:44

     I am

195. 0:42:44

     ... some things already.

196. 0:42:45

     Yes, sir. Correct.

197. 0:42:45

     Okay. I was-

198. 0:42:46

     I'm sorry.

199. 0:42:46

     That's what was confusing. You said you removed all the weighting.

200. 0:42:48

     I'm, I'm sorry. W- uh, so, like, you know, uh, county A and county B in Georgia, one local district may award 10 points for students taking one of these; the neighboring county may only award five.

201. 0:42:58

     Okay.

202. 0:42:59

     And so when we receive these transcripts, all of that local weighting comes off, and we weigh everybody with the same-

203. 0:43:05

     I, I'm with you. That's-

204. 0:43:05

     Yes, sir. Thank you for the opportunity to clarify.

205. 0:43:08

     And if it's my understanding, uh, this legislation would qualify IB Fine Arts courses in IB Cambridge and dual, and, um, advanced placement. Would they be rigor-qualifying courses?

206. 0:43:22

     Yes, sir.

207. 0:43:22

     So they would qualify for a, a r- rigor, uh, component. Is that right?

208. 0:43:27

     Yes, sir.

209. 0:43:27

     Okay, thank you.

210. 0:43:28

     Agreed.

211. 0:43:28

     Any further questions? Thank you very much. Uh, I'll ask the senator to briefly close. I think we've exhausted this opportunity.

212. 0:43:38

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman and committee. Uh, just as we explained, I think this just expands things and keeps things o- on an equal playing field for all the kids re- regardless of what path they're going. So-

213. 0:43:50

     Thank you

214. 0:43:50

     ... I just ask for your favorable consent.

215. 0:43:52

     Thank you. What's the will of the committee?

216. 0:43:54

     So moved.

217. 0:43:55

     So moved. We got a due pass from Senator Hickman.

218. 0:43:57

     Second.

219. 0:43:58

     Second from Senator Orrock. Any further discussion? All those in favor of SB556 LC 610436S. Uh, those in favor indicate with the up lifted hand.

220. 0:44:17

     Count eight. Those opposed, same sign. Count zero. Congratulations, Senator. Congratulations to the Department of Education. Due pass.

221. 0:44:26

     Thank you.

222. 0:44:26

     On to rules.

223. 0:44:28

     Thank you, sir.

224. 0:44:28

     No further business, meeting is adjourned.

225. 0:44:34

     To lunch.

226. 0:44:53

     Yeah.