Education Curriculum Subcommittee 2.9.26

If you would like to sign up to speak to either of the bills that will be heard today, there is a sign up sheet on the front table. It is 02:00, so I'm going to call, the meeting of the house curriculum and academic achievement subcommittee to order. Representative Rice, would you mind, opening us up with a word of prayer? What number are you

Dear heavenly father, thank you for this day. Thank you for allowing us to be here as we work on behalf of our future, our children, and, just bless the words, bless our time here together, and help them be productive. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Thank you. Before we get started, do we have any teachers in the in the audience today?

No?

They're all busy busy at work. Do we have any students? If you'll stand up. Let us welcome you. Great.

Thank you for being here. We're always glad to have have some students come and observe the legislative process in action. Thank you members of the committee, for for coming today. We've got a couple of bills, so we're gonna get started. And chairman Erwin, if you are ready, we will be ready for you.

We've got house bill eleven ninety three. And if you when you get settled, if you will give us the LC number, that would be

great. Absolutely.

But thank you, mister chairwoman. When you look down our way, I was kind of open. You would call on me to say the blessing. I thought I might need to pray before I got up here. So, I was proud of our, vice chair and her her prayer there.

And, let me read our LC number to you as requested. It's LC members 492629S. So it's a substitute that we have

for you today.

Thank you. And you can get started whenever you're ready.

Great. First of all, thank you for the opportunity to, be before you with this bill and, the opportunity members to explain it to you. Let me begin. Like we began the press conference that, this committee has taken on improving the rates of literacy in the state of Georgia for our young students. And so I'm very proud of the efforts you have made, the digging in that you have to the topic, understanding not only where we're at, where we're going and what we need to do.

So thank you for that. We will also, remind you that, our our chairwoman here carried House Bill five thirty eight a few sessions ago, and it has set a fantastic precedent for our teachers, our students and our state. And, this is building on that very strong foundation that we put in the state of Georgia. So, Mr. Chairwoman, thank you for that effort and in your hard work that we've seen you do for years on this topic.

Members, this is a mission that we cannot ignore and this is a mission we cannot fail. I'm gonna stay at one more time. This is a mission we cannot ignore and a mission we cannot fail. We must teach our Children to read. We must have the belief that all of our children can read on grade level.

We do a very good job of this in the medical field. We believe we can heal. We believe we can make a difference. We can improve those lives. We need that belief today in teaching our young people how to read.

The bill I'm about to describe to you begins that foundation to ensure that hope is given to those Children when they walk in the door, that they are going to be able to read with their peers. They are going to be able to read with other citizens of this nation at the same rate, same level, and that that could then help them fulfill their dreams. I'm gonna make a statement that I'd like you to listen to because I see many of you, do do this that we all can read. And I bet you today, every person sitting in front of me has read something today and you've used it and it's generated thoughts. In some cases, it's generating dreams and its ability for you to dream even bigger than you do when you don't read.

So think about if we could teach our children to read on grade level, how that improves their learning, but also how it improves their dreaming in what they can accomplish in life and that you would be a part of all of those citizens of Georgia dreaming bigger and dreaming better for this state and this nation. So I'm gonna begin as I cover this with you to tell you that, we're we're given the hope. We can do it. We can teach every student how to read on grade level. We've got to put in a mechanism in place.

It's got to support teachers. It's got to be planned. It's got to be trained. It's got to use, recognize high quality instructional materials. And then it's got to be supportive of the teachers and of the students when they go in the classroom.

I'm going to tell you that none of that is easy. When you were three, four, five years old and you were learning to read, you probably forgotten that it was difficult. So teaching reading is difficult. Learning to read is difficult. So it's gotta be planned.

It's gotta be precise. And then we have to have the effort that we're gonna give that hope. We can do it. We can get them there. Now I'll state to you, as we have stated before, more than half of our students are not reading on grade level.

Matter of fact, some of our students themselves after they graduate how to read and then try to fulfill their dreams. My challenge to you today is let's figure this out so that we can teach them to read on grade level. So when they leave us, the state becomes better and better and better because they become better citizens. Now I will tell you all you would have to do is go into our prisons and our jail and check the reading level of those individuals in there. It is not good.

It's not at an acceptable level. Had they been able to read with that might have changed your life? Very likely could have. Would they might have made better decisions? Very likely could have.

So with with all that, I'm a begin by covering what what I think is, we we've added pages. I believe we're up to 41 pages here in your bill if you look at it. And I hear a lot of us sit here at this microphone, and we state this is a simple bill. You're not gonna hear that from me today. This is the culmination of a lot of your work.

This is the culmination of a lot of traveling, visiting successful places that are teaching literacy throughout the Southeast and then a lot of communication with folks that do the job of trying to teach these children to read. So let me state here that, one of the most important and first things here is we're putting a qualified literacy coach in the public schools and any public school that has grades K through three. It establishes regional literacy coaches and leadership literacy coaches, and they're based at the recess. So they're local comprehensive curriculum based on professional learning and applying the science or reading what we call an education HQ I am the HQ. I am is high quality instructional material, and it's aligned to the science reading.

And we're going to provide that statewide to for free to one of them.

Of

all the HQ I am the highest quality number one, we're gonna provide free to the L. E. A. That local education agency. It encourages families to start in school by age of five and that you're gonna go to kindergarten.

We did not move the age of compulsory attendance, but we are going to encourage. That is a belief that if we start working with them younger, we can help out, and and get them on grade level quicker. New and expanded roles for placement, promotion and retention in kindergarten and first grade establishes the Georgia Literacy Task Force. This task force will select the HQIM, and it's a and the comprehensive professional learning and universal reading screeners. Now, a lot of people ask me the question.

I won't stop for a minute about universal reading screeners and what they are. A universal reader screener is a product that is purchased in the student takes, and it diagnosis where the student is at. Some people say, is that a person we're hiring to put in the classroom next to that student? So it's a screener is what it is, not a person. And then, of course, we're requiring school systems to adopt the unified literacy plan for their system, where it requires ongoing evaluations of what we call the EPP programs, which is the educator preparation programs at our colleges, requires public awareness about literacy initiatives.

Folks, we need to start telling our parents the importance for reading to their children. Members the importance of having a book. This is not the most important product you can read. I will tell you those books in front of you. The good books are the ones that you need to be reading, not just your cell phone.

And by the way, we've got a cell phone bill held by one of the chairman's right up there that, is moving through that has a lot of data about these cell phones. So the public awareness is very important, throughout this entire state. And we have seen that with some of the advancements in states next to us and what they're doing and how they're using their public awareness and how the parents are then able to learn to help to chime in and be a part of this team. Mister chairwoman, what I'd tell you is I can go line by line, but with, members in here and having read these bills and understanding where they're at, I think we might be at a stage where we can, ask questions. And, if you would, in this section right here, let me also say to you that we're in this bill.

We are working with zero through five. That's the Children that are not born all the way to the ones that are coming to us. Members keep this in mind. When a citizen is born here in this state, they don't suddenly at five years old become our responsibility to start teaching them to read. They're our citizens.

They're our students the minute they're born. And if we need to start working with mamas and dads before they're born, we need to do that and try to assist those parents it when their child comes to understand exactly what they need to do. We have because of QB and what we fund think that five they suddenly become our students. I will tell you differently. They are our kids, and they're coming to us.

But if we can help them get ready and prepare to us, we need to. And this bill helps to to set that up. So this is a pivot moment, miss miss chairwoman. This is a moment for us to pivot and not get what we've been getting and to pivot to what is best for our children to teach them to read on grade level in this state.

Thank you, chairman Erwin, and, I am so excited about this. I think that that we've done so many good things over the past few years. I think I I know what what chairman Chokas wants, but I'm gonna call him on him anyway.

And madam chair, at the appropriate time

Okay. I will get back to you. Let's see. I'm trying to think of who is in the in the right order. Fifth are you 15, chairman Dubnick?

Okay.

So now is not the time to second his motion that does shift.

In just a minute.

I know. I, I chairman Irwin, thank you. As I said at the press conference last week, senator Hickman, miss Dale, chairman Irwin, it's been an honor to work on this with you. I I told my children that I don't think I've worked on anything in in, the time that I've been here, that I'm as passionate about as this. I I certainly did not have that on my bingo card of things that I thought god was gonna have me work on when I came here, but I'm willing to stay as long as it takes for us to see this through and to see where we can go with this and and how we can move, the needle.

And and I think, mister chairman, if if I could, could you just make sure everybody on this committee understands when we say that we're putting a reading coach in every school that offers k three, that we're not just finding someone randomly. I just want this committee to hear how the requirements that that we put into place for those reading coaches and for everybody here to understand how qualified those individuals be to to teach our youngest learners to read. Because as I said, the ROI here is the risk of ignoring. If we don't do this, then we're ignoring the problem that's that's already been proliferated too long. But I'm excited to see how this moves the needle.

But I just would love for you to share that, please, sir.

Great. Thank you, chairman. And and thank you very much. We, very supported by, Mr. Burns, by yourself, by many of the committee members, many members in the General Assembly and a lot of conversation.

And then, of course, the experts. So, there was no possible way that we could ignore this. But to talk about those positions of those coaches, it's clearly defined in here the job description of that person and the qualifications they must have to be employed in this role. An example we're going to give you is we want these coaches in the classroom side by side with the teachers. That's where we're going to get the bang for the buck in the coaches.

And those coaches need to have, as one of their qualifications, kindergarten to three experience. They need to be in that grade level, understanding that child and that those children's abilities and weaknesses. So, it is clearly defined of who we want in in there. It has come up to us during our our crafting of this. Are these administrators?

They are not administrators. They are not paid on an administrative role. They are teachers. They will be working with bringing the high quality instructional material and the professional development to the local school for the teachers to have access to. And it's described in there, in this bill what their qualifications are and exactly what they're gonna do.

Does that answer your question, chairman?

Okay. I think representative Adana, are you number two? Yes. Okay. You can go ahead with your question.

Thank you, madam chair, and thank you, mister chair. I definitely, support this bill. I think we've gone too long without the right tools, and I see some things in this bill that really excite me. Especially, I just needed some add additional clarification. In section four, it says local school system shall used to say may, shall offer a full day kindergarten program.

What line? What page?

It's section four line 59.

Yeah. That's line one fifty nine?

Nope. Line 59. Yes.

Page three.

Yeah. Page three. I'm there.

Okay. Alright. So it says all local school systems shall, not may, offer a full day kindergarten program. So that tells me I know with some of the schools, I think there were there were about 16 schools in Gwinnett that did not have kindergarten, and they were identified as failing schools. And I do believe that by having kindergarten, this should definitely rectify that the challenge that we we have with reading.

So I just wanna clarify that this is shall. That means every school will have kindergarten, not May.

The answer is yes. Representative. And it says systems. Okay. All systems will provide kindergarten.

Obviously, in a high school, you wouldn't have kindergarten. But in an elementary school, you have a kindergarten. So if, if that feeder school has a kindergarten in Gwinnett County and the kids have the option to go to that feeder school, then the answer is yes.

Okay.

To you. To your answer. So we are providing kindergarten at all of the feeders, all the systems in the state of Georgia.

Okay. And

the expectation is for that, too. We currently get about 85% of our kids coming to kindergarten, some form of kindergarten. We need 100%. We love to have all of our kids come.

Okay. Madam Chair, can I have a follow-up question? Now Yes. Referring to the placement committee, just for clarification, I know the members identified were,

What line are you on again? We

don't have the line number. I just kinda pulled it out.

And the placement for the task force? Correct. Okay.

I'm not sure what

Go go ahead with your question now.

I just wanna clarify the members of that committee. So there's a principal or designee, parent or guardian, and student's teacher.

Okay. Wait a minute. Now we're on a different that is not the task force. What you're talking about is the placement, committee. Whether or not the child is being retained Yeah.

Or promoted. Okay. Now, of course, that's a that's a different committee there that is chosen when, placement is happening. Alright. Go ahead with your question.

Yeah. Page seven, I believe, mister chairman. Okay. How was the parent or

guardian selected in that process?

Well, you know, of course, the student would have the parent or guardian. And, that's the mom and dad, the foster parents, those people. So it is, that child's guardian. Okay.

Okay.

Thank you. Besides the chairman. Yep. Verification. Thanks.

Okay. Representative Carter.

Thank you, madam chair lady. Thank you, chairman Erwin. First, I am so appreciative that we are really making our children in the state of Georgia their educational priority. Thank you for the literacy coaches because the research has shown that this is what we need. I hate to take took us this long to get here, but it took a couple years even though you've been doing this good work.

So thank you for that. And the clarity, the further clarity about the children, mandatory for Ella for kindergarten. I did see something in here that says that, they could test. If they didn't go to kindergarten, they could test, and they test at first grade level, they can go. So that when when I lit my light before representative was asking it, because I know we have tried to do, some legislation before with mandatory kindergarten.

We know it's it's important. So, that was that was the thing that I wanted to make sure that we were clear about. We do want the children in kindergarten, but if for some reason they do not attend kindergarten and they test at the appropriate level, we won't send them back. They can go to first grade. But if they don't, they will have to attend kindergarten.

That is correct. And what we so what you're reading in the bill, representative, is a process by which those children that come in that have had kindergarten somewhere, they can have a readiness test that they can move them on to first grade. And that gives the educators in the local LEA the opportunity to say, hey. Look. Here, this child is prepared for first grade.

Let's put them in first grade.

I think you made a statement something different than what I was asking. So may I further clarify so I can make sure we're clear? As it reads that this the the kindergartens, the students should attend kindergarten.

That's correct.

So so what I was trying to get clarity is that we're making kindergarten mandatory.

Correct.

Kindergarten.

We are.

However, if a child doesn't go to kindergarten and they are they passed the assessment test, they can go to first grade.

And this is always the confusing end. We did not move the compulsory attendance. Okay. So what we did, we left it at September 1 at six years old. And if they have not attended any place before and they come to us, they're coming to us in kindergarten.

Okay.

Then we could have the option or we would have the ability to test them and move them up based on their readiness.

Okay.

Does that

Yes. That clears it up. Thank you.

And and having put throw in, an educator hat back on, you know, this is a yearly discussion with your community about who's eligible, who's not eligible, who can move up, who can't. And so we have to continue to re educate, the the educators and the citizens on what the compulsory attention attendance law says and how we get kids in kindergarten and first grade.

Thank you. Madam Pro Tem, I'll recognize you.

Thank you, madam chair. And so I just wanted to clarify some language later in the bill line 88. Well, actually starting at 78. So believe correct me if I'm wrong, that you're saying that at the discretion of the school principal or at the request of the parent or guardian, of course, who the parent or guardian that would be listened to in this case, that's specified for many other things when the kid enrolls when a child enrolls in a school, that wouldn't change. But they would be eligible to go on to first grade if they assess I mean, the parents might have been teaching the child, and the child's more than ready for first grade.

They could request, that readiness. But further down in lines 88 through 92, by not changing the year of mandatory schooling from, '6, that a parent who wants their child, although they're eligible to be in first grade, maybe they even appear ready to be in first grade, a parent could have them attend kindergarten first. They would still retain that. Right? Is that true, mister chairman?

They would. And So that is correct.

Furthermore, in lines, this is a change. Lines 93 through a 100, the same would apply for our public pre k. It has been I believe it has been the long time policy of DECAL that parents may choose to enroll their child at either five or four or five in pre k, but we do have some school systems who, have required the child attain the age of four. And if they were five, they were not eligible. I believe my own school system is one of those Fulton County according to DECAL and, Atlanta Public Schools.

This would clarify in law the policy of DECAL, that a parent could choose, say, for example, a summer birthday child, who, technically, you might think would be a considered a five year old, but that child could attend public pre k, but but such a child would only get one year. Couldn't do back to back, you know, two years, one year at four, one year at five. Is that not true, mister chairman?

That's true.

Thank you.

Does that clear up representative, I think? Yeah. I was good. Okay.

Thank you. Representative Olalla Ye.

Thank you, madam chair. Chairman Erwin, thank you so much for this bill. This is not a small feat. I know you've put in yeoman's work, to get us to this point, you and many others. So I just wanna start off by, thanking you for this bill.

You and I both shared a few stories about, raising little ones. I know your your grands are two and four, and my boys are two and four. And so this, without a doubt, just strengthens their pathway, for development and success. Chairman Dubnick was pushing us in this direction earlier, and I wanted, just a little bit more detail just so that I can understand what that, recruitment and selection process for our literacy coaches, will look like. Are are we talking about repurposing, current educators and and shifting them into this this new role if, we're talking about a school that does not already have a literacy coach?

And then I'm I'm just curious. How many new roles are we thinking about creating, out of the the the literacy coach? I know we piloted the the program with with great success, but it's a a big push to get every single elementary school to the point of having a literacy coach present. Is there any rough estimate? I know you all are probably still crunching numbers, but is there any rough estimate that we can go off of?

Great. Thanks, representative. And and thank you. We, you know, we by no means did, all the work these folks behind me. Many folks around us here, all were the ones that did this work, put this together.

It's been a collaborative effort in a, our speaker recognized the importance of this representative and and how it, should be worked and then steered us in that proper direction as as a speaker. So, let let me begin. Legislative council, if you'll look those role lines up for me, let me answer the second part of the questions, then I'll ask you to direct us to those roles in a minute, if you would. Let me let me begin by, you know, you know, again well, I guess maybe let's start with your first question. What what lines are these roles on?

Let's

Two, chairman. Starting line 80

806.

And if you notice, these are minimum qualifications. And the very first one I want to point out to you is the PSC, who has already taken some great strides for for literacy for us. I know the director of the PSC is sitting behind me in there as he has joined in very heavily in this effort with us. Also, it making sure that we have what's in place by our license group and our assessment of our license group of our, EPPs. And, so we are, already making moves.

So that should lead you to believe, representative, that we're going to be training better with the science or reading our homegrown Georgia reading teachers. And we're going to be elevating them up with the instruction, the the quality professional development that we're going to give them and the proper tools in their hands. And, so that that line eight zero eight there will tell you it's underway. And these will be, in my envision, homegrown Georgia teachers that understand the teaching of reading and the science reading. And if you see if it goes on talking about the five years of documented success, classroom teaching, a knowledge of scientific base, reading, research, a minimum duties, and, is number two there of what these coaches have.

And, again, it's limited duty if you go to page 33. And if you notice and I have to keep continually point out, these are not administrators inside the school taking on assistant principal principal role. These are classroom teachers in the classroom. You also asked the numbers of how many we're in the process of pulling that up. We know there is well about 1,350 elementary schools that are going to have grades K through three in some form in there.

Some of them could be K two. And then the next school the kid go to would be three through five. Both of those schools, the K two and the three five, would get a full time coach if they're over 200 students in the school. And some say, well, it's only got one grade level. This does not limit that teacher from working with the fourth and fifth grade teachers.

It is focusing on k three. But if there's a teacher that wants in fourth grade to learn about it, be a part of it, use it, get better with their students, nothing limits it. So there will be, school based literacy coaches at all elementary schools. If you're 200 and you read this, it's a part time and it's based on FTEs. So the smaller schools are gonna get a half.

If if you're through a thousand, you're gonna get one. Don't forget that a lot of systems, are are a few of our systems might be a better number, have already bought into this. And they've been buying and paying for these coaches locally for what's best. As a state, We're chiming in. And then lastly, for the long answer, representative, we have hired, in the eighties, I would have to get the exact number of reading coaches assigned at recess working with teachers right now and they leave the recess and go out to the schools.

Clearly, 80 is not enough to cover the whole state. It was a great beginning with the literacy Council helping direct that work. But those coaches are still going to be in place and they're still going to be a tier of coaches that we have there. I want to stop for a moment since we're talking about recess that that that your your regional education service agency and they provide services to your school systems. So they are local.

They know who's in the school. They know the children. That is why these coaches have been assigned to

the recess to get

out there because they're familiar faces. Assigned to the recess to get out there because they're familiar faces. Then I will tell you there is a another tier of those coaches that we have seen the importance of training our elementary school principals on how important literacy is, how to recognize deficits, how to train teachers and work with teachers, and be in the classroom with the kids helping with the literacy. So it's all hands on deck. So we're gonna have a layer of coaches, one at each, Risa, that will work with those principles to ensure that they understand not just how to be a principal, but how to teach reading inside that classroom of their school that they are directing.

So you're talking two layers at the Risa. You got one working with the administration. That's one at each Risa, 16 of them, by the way. And then there are the next layer is going out training and doing the professional development. It's all defined out in here, just like we did with the school based literacy coach, what that coach's responsibility is gonna be and what their hiring qualifications are.

Thank you. Representative Leptin.

Thank you, madam chair. Hello, chair Erwin.

How are you, representative?

I love reading, so I'm very excited about this. I am looking at lines one sixty six that sort of basically, if a child is deemed to not be on a reading level at kindergarten or first, there's a determination by the principal. There can be an appeal. And then after an app a placement committee shall, you know, prescribe for the child such accelerated, differentiated, or additional instruction as needed to perform at grade level by the conclusion of the subsequent school year. I'm assuming and but we know what happens when one assumes.

I'm assuming that this means in school during school day coaching, that to catch this child up. It is that what I'm thinking? Not like, hey. We suggest you go get a tutor. Or this is is this gonna be, hey.

You're behind. We're gonna be able to get this kid with a coach, you know, one time a week or two times a week by themselves next year. Is that what this is talking about? Or is this like a summer program or after school sort of stuff?

It it can be a summer school program. There is a lot of catch up that can occur during summer school. Systems have been very successful with that

in

the past.

Okay.

But what what I will tell you is this is provided by the state. This wouldn't be go get a tutor.

Yeah.

Yeah. Okay.

The the the we've got expertise to do this.

To do it.

We have seen the depths that that the child has. Mhmm. And what can we do to move that needle for that child

Wonderful.

Before they take their test in third grade so they're on grade level.

Okay. Wonderful. I I wanna just I have a follow-up. I just wanna say again, thank you. I've shared before my daughter struggled with reading, but she wasn't failing her classes.

She was getting all As. In fact, I promise you she wouldn't have passed a screener, but the school was just like, well, she's not failing, so there's nothing we can do. And my husband and I were not in the position to pay for a private tutor at that point. We had to wait a couple years until we could pay for a private tutor because the school was like, we we can't help you. We know she doesn't know her word sounds, her her consonant sounds, but she's not yelling.

So I'm so excited that this could catch kids like that who are doing well enough but aren't actually reading well. My follow-up question is we talked so much about the screeners and coaches and stuff last year that we put, like, we established a foundation, like a layer. Can you clarify what is on top of that layer that we already made that's in this bill? It's it's so thick. What I'm seeing is that we've got this layer, and now there's going to be some leadership infrastructure going all the way up a ladder up from the school system up to the state.

That is correct. Thank you, representative. And, yes. Maybe let's talk global at the top. We've got a director of literacy at the Office of Student Achievement, and that director is going to be overseeing.

That's the top of the umbrella. Okay. And in overseeing all of these efforts. Okay. Then we've got a coordinator working right below that director in the Office of Student Achievement.

And both those roles are defined in here, too, very specifically at what they're gonna do in their qualifications. So we have, those two as far as the leadership that then will oversee down to the recess. And if you remember, recess said there were two levels. So we're getting below the two there at the Office of Student Achievement, And we're down to working with the administrators, those level of coaches and their training and their job. And then below that, you have, the trainers, the court.

We don't call them coordinators, regional, literacy, coaches at the RESA level. And they're going out to the school to train the school based, which is that next based within here. Now, this isn't a successful model that we've seen other states that are currently outrunning us in the effort of literacy do. So we've seen this model works successfully at other states. And so you start at the top director coordinator, then down to the regional leadership coaches to the, regional literacy coaches and then the school based literacy coaches.

Gotcha. So you've got a hierarchy there up and down and information and communication. I think I need to state at this time, representative, that we also have a task force that has put these screeners certain, or they're charged with, making sure that we have high quality instructional materials such as screeners. And they will put that as task force will are assigned of experts and they will choose, that the high quality instructional material by which all of this tiered system I showed you will be using and they will meet regularly. And we have put some of that in place.

But I will tell you that with technology and the understanding of reading, it's changing yearly. So we can't sit on our hands for four or five years and expect it to look like it did as far as good tools that are out there. So this is something that has to be done every year by this task force. They've got to be looking at and they've got to be putting out good material and good tools for our teachers.

Thank you. Thank you so much.

K. Chairman Hilton.

Thank you, madam. Thank you, madam chair. Thank you, mister chairman, speaker John Burns, his beautiful bride. I am thrilled that we have drawn a line in the sand to say the fact that two thirds of our students are not reading at grade level is is unacceptable. And I am so glad that you've brought this to address that.

This is an important day in our state right now. As you may know, I'm I'm a single voter issue on this. And and we've representative Carter, speaker, Pro Tem addressed this issue. So I'm gonna bring it up again just because I've got folks in the audience and a few thousand folks back home who are really interested in this answer. And and I may even bug ledge council.

He's playing solitaire or something over there. I don't know what he's doing.

Yeah. He's working hard. I see.

I hope he's working hard. I got a few bills for him. I'm I'm not I'm not a lawyer, and I don't I don't pretend to be. But as I read this right here, I think this addresses and and I'm I'm looking at and it was been brought up before, line specifically line 91, 92, and then lines 98, 99. And and, mister chairman, as you know, in in my home county, my folks right now are really struggling because they've been told, okay.

You have a child who's five years old, who's in pre k today. That child, all of a sudden, when they turn six, has gotta skip kindergarten and go to first, and my folks are really upset about that. And, you know you know me, I fight just as hard for my people as as you do back home. And so, help me sleep at night. Help them sleep at night.

Does this address their concerns?

Yes. Absolutely. They're going into kindergarten. K. So the the the mud and the water was the, ability to test up.

Yeah. Okay. But they're going into kindergarten.

K.

K. You good? You good now?

I'm good.

You good now? Okay. Representative Howard.

Thank you, madam chairman. Thank you to chairman for for this great work. We've talked offline about about one of my concerns, and I I you may have asked my question a couple of answers ago when it comes to accountability for these coaches, literacy coaches. I I understand the director of literacy and how it comes down to research. But after implementation, how do we measure success of the literacy coaches on a on a individual basis?

How how do we assess that? Will it be Risa? Will it be the principles? Or is there some other mechanism in place that we can know that we are being effective?

We have reporting, requirements in here. Describe, answer the question. You know, we have become very good in education at looking at the the data from our test. And, we are getting better at becoming able to see what the screeners tell us in literacy. So we had put in place inside here the opportunity for, data in these screeners to be passed up to us and, and used to to not only decide where the student is at, but where the school is at and ultimately can be transferred to the principal of the school.

Principal Schools have become very versed on using data and try to make decisions on what they need to work on and what staff development they need. Ledge County Council, have you found a line item for us and looked that over for us?

Screeners, exist in a couple of places in the bill. The first one is starting on the reporting requirements start on lines two ninety one and continue after that to two ninety eight. And then, it's very similar languages repeated again on line on page 37 starting around, line nine forty.

Yeah, I think ninety five ninety six to 95 to 96 and to 97 to 98. Representative will will answer your questions right there that you see that is reported. And, again, educators have become very strong on using data and then trying to improve the efforts of the improve the efforts of the students and overall their school? Good question. Is that answer good enough for you?

Okay. Thank you. We've got a number of people who would like to speak to this bill, and I'm going because we have so many of you and we do have another bill to hear in this commit subcommittee today. I'm going to ask you to keep your remarks to about two minutes. If you can, that would be lovely.

The first person we have up is Margaret Ciccarelli from Paige.

Good afternoon. I'm Margaret Ciccarelli from Paige, the Professional Association of Georgia Educators. We are grateful for this legislation that we believe is responsive to feedback that we have provided to many of y'all, from page surveys that indicate that Georgia educators support literacy initiatives. They supported, representative Ballard's and chairman

Hickman's literacy bills two years

ago, and they found training valuable. Bills two years ago and they found training valuable. However, what they would like assistance with is coaching in the classroom to take that learning and deliver high quality literacy instruction instruction to students. So this bill is very responsive to that, and we think that that will be a a great step to make sure that the training educators are receiving makes the difference in the classroom. So we appreciate that from an appropriations standpoint as well.

We are, creating a collector, at Paige that we can, obtain feedback from educators on the literacy initiative, looking for their positive comments, the questions that they have, and any concerns that they have, we will share that with you throughout the committee process. Again, we are grateful for this and look forward to its evolution as it moves through.

Thank you.

Oh, thank you. Let's see. Beth Haynes.

Thank you for allowing me to speak. I'm Beth Haynes. I am the state leader for Decoding Dyslexia Georgia, and, primarily, I wanna thank you for this bill. Literacy coaches are a critical step, for improving reading instruction in our state. And this program is strong and robust and I think has a lot of all the elements really to succeed.

But the success of the program is going to depend heavily on how well we train and prepare our coaches. Our teachers in the classrooms have to feel supported by. They have to have confidence in these, coaches, and that coaches need to be deeply trained so that these teachers can have confidence in them. They can't feel like it's another level of supervision. They have these coaches are team players and they're in the trenches with the teachers.

That's the support that they are that, as Margaret said, that's what they're asking for and that's what they need. We have states around us and districts and schools in Georgia that are doing this really well. So I hope that we will look to them and follow their lead because there's no reason for us to reinvent the wheel. And we've heard for several years about fears over the shortage of literacy, coach candidates, And it's been addressed a little bit here, but one of the things that we can do a little bit more quickly, I would hope, is not let another teacher prep program in Georgia go another week or month or semester with a program that is not preparing these teachers to teach reading. And there are some that aren't getting good grades, and it's some of our bigger programs.

But it's the general education prep programs that don't have it together yet. But if you look over to their special ed prep programs, they're killing it. So it shouldn't be that hard to try to get everybody on board to be doing this the right way. We would love to see, deep training in the science of reading and structured literacy in any return to work program for teachers. We'd love to see these coaches get their dyslexia endorsement because that would elevate and bolster all of the work that they'll do for kids who are dyslexic or not.

And as we're putting in all in place all of these wonderful measures for our k through three kids, we do hope that we can keep thinking about all of our kids in four through 12 because they deserve hope too. And most of them were taught to read without, any of the measures that we are putting in place now. Just a little comment on the retention program. Not opposed to it in principle or absolutely, but I would hope that we would delay such program until we have substantially improved our classroom reading instruction and intervention. That's it.

Thank you.

Thank you

for your time.

Thank you. Cosby Johnson.

Madam chair, thank you for having us. Chairman, thank you for bringing the bill. We want to say from the city of Brunswick that we are completely in support of this piece of legislation and all of work that has been done. It is incredibly important to local communities, whether they're mayors or county commissioners here or not, that we ensure, that every single child moving through our community is grown and grown with the ability to read. So as you said, mister chairman, they can dream.

On the second piece, I'm up here because I have a mother who is a retired teacher. And during her time of being a retired teacher, she has opened up and worked a literacy program

for our

parks and rec department. Because of that work, having parents at the table, a part of these teams is something that she's been working

on for a long time.

So I wanna say thank you for including that in the bill, and thank you to the first lady of the house for all of her work on this piece of legislation as well.

Thank you.

Thank you. Jesse Long.

Okay.

Wanna start by expressing gratitude for this bill. I'm a proponent of mandating kindergarten, also the son of a retired teacher, and I have a six year old daughter and a four year old son. My daughter's kindergarten year was nothing short of amazing. I consider it fundamental for learning, and I wish the same experience for every child across our state. And as it turns out, my son has a September 1 birthday.

So kindergarten starts the first week of, of August nowadays. Gwinnett County School Board has recently taken the position of placing children who are six directly in the first grade, bypassing the important kindergarten year altogether. I will add that a few miles up their street in in Johns Creek, Fulton County is not enforcing the same policy, and this bill seems to fix that issue. So, again, thank you for that. I believe that nobody knows a child better than their parents.

When their parents are registering a child for the first time in public school in the state of Georgia, the the parent or guardian should have the choice, on on placement. And so, obviously, it's not my preference that my four year old start kindergarten in August and Gwinnett this, this August, you know, almost a full month ahead of his fifth birthday. Doing so would push him into school, before he's fully ready, creating repercussions that could ripple through to high school or longer. And so when you track it years down the road, that's also a 17 year old that's going off to college. So I strongly support mandating kindergarten.

I feel even more strongly about the language in the bill that gives the right to parents, to determine whether, the age of five or six is most appropriate for their for their child. Extra developmental time will make a world of difference for the future of our youngest learners, the future of our state. So thank you again for all your hard work on this.

Thank you. Thank

you. Sam Hoover.

Hey. I'm Sam Hoover. Madam chair and, members of the committee, thanks for your time. This is, this is my son, Liam. Say hi, Liam.

Hi.

Okay. Hi.

Liam's three years old, and, the chairman and, chair Hilton have already mentioned this as well as Jesse. We and and Georgia as parents have had the discretion to put our six year olds into kindergarten, especially those with late birthdays. Liam's birthday is in August. His older sister's is in July. She's in kindergarten right now.

She's kindergarten right now. She's doing great. And then his little brother's at the August. So I have all three children at the, the end of summer, and, our county, Gwinnett County came down in October and said, the message that we all understood and we took away from the county was that they were no longer going to allow this. Now they've softened their position a little bit since then, but as you can imagine, it it worried many of us, who had plans to to do that.

So, we appreciate the language that that's in the bill now. You know, giving parents the discretion to start their their late summer birthdays, especially in, six year olds in into kindergarten. So, it's really important for us and and we just feel that, the the counties, with the current state language, can don't touch that. Can use their discretion and the flavor of the week, so to speak, to interpret the current state language, to say that they they shouldn't allow six year olds to enroll in kindergarten. So we appreciate that very much, and, we support support the bill.

Thank you.

Alright. Thank you.

Say thank you.

Thank you. K. We have, two more people to speak to, to this bill. Ashlyn Case and then Jeremy Hendricks will be next.

Hi, everyone. Thank you so much for the ability to speak to you this afternoon. I'm Ashlyn Case. I appreciate Scott's work and, with our community and this opportunity to speak today. I also really appreciate this legislation, and the change that was made regarding the portions that deal with kindergarten and first grade enrollment limits.

I am the mother, the lucky mother of four sons. I have an eight year old, six year old, five year old, and two year old. Three of those boys have late summer birthdays. I am among thousands of parents across Georgia who have late summer birthday kids who have chosen to give them an extra year before starting kindergarten, allowing them more time to mature and develop. It's an incredibly appropriate and logical choice that's based on extensive research to support this decision, and it's one that only really a parent can make, that they truly understand.

So my two oldest sons began kindergarten as newly six year olds instead of newly five year olds. They are both excelling. They are great readers, and they have confidence in the classroom. And I know it's something that was due to the choice that we had and that we made for them. We made that same choice or that same decision for our third son Ben this school year.

He would have still been four years old at the start, and we knew that he needed more time. Parents across the state advocate for this choice every year and expect that choice because they know whether their child is ready or not. So having clear language at that state level to clearly, and, you know, importantly base it on what we've learned from the recent Gwinnett County policy change, I think is is vital. My family and I, we believe so strongly in, the public school system. And we also understand that children need to be prepared to be independent and ready to sit in a classroom for seven hours in order to learn and excel.

I encourage you all to maintain clear language for an age excuse me, age enrollment flexibility, supporting parent choice, for giving these summer birthday children the gift of time so they may start their school career successfully. Thank you for all of your time and, your work on this very important bill. I appreciate it.

Thank you. Jeremy Hendricks.

Thank you, committee members, for allowing us come to speak today. I have my son, Luca, here. He is a rising kindergartner as well, and we are victims of the Gwinnett County, change that they've had. I know you folks have probably heard about about it. Forgive me as I also kind of modify my remarks as I go.

I had some other ones to ask for changes to the bill, but I gotta say, I was so pleasantly surprised I don't have any changes I need from it. Like, it is amazing, what you are doing and especially in this political climate where we can see everybody get behind one cart and push in the same direction is amazing. I really, really appreciate that. It makes my heart happy as a citizen, I've gotta say, just seeing that happen. Literacy is something we can all get behind.

I am the son of two retired educators. I think we have a lot of educators and children of educators here as well. So that education was instilled in me at a young age. But what we're seeing with Gwinnett County here is they're they're not above using our kids as pawns to play a funding game. We were told basically they made this snap decision because it boils down to more funding for our kids.

So, more or less, our kids would have a hugely detrimental effect to their their schooling, just so they could get a few more dollars in the coffers of Gwinnett County. So I wanna again thank the committee, thank the chairman. Thank you again, representative Hilton, for fighting for us, your constituents. I know there's a lot in this bill that, we all agree with and specifically this part that you're fighting for as well for us. But I definitely definitely wanna thank you all for for the work you're doing for our kids' education.

K. Thank you so much. And I don't see any more questions. So I'm gonna go ahead and call on on chair Machokas again.

Thank you, madam chair. It is my honor to move due pass, HB1193LC492629S.

Okay. We've got a motion due pass and a second. Any further discussion? Okay. Don't see any.

Shall this bill now pass? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed? Okay.

You're on to full committee.

Thank you, member, and thank you for your attentiveness and your study of this, this is, again, something we can't fail at, and something we can't ignore. So, but in closing, if you'd let me, Madam Chair, say this one thing, and I'm all says to you more than once. Imagine doing this job that you're doing, representatives, if you could not read on grade level or as a representative level, I will call it. Would this job be more difficult than it currently is for you? I want you to think about those children that aren't reading on grade level in the classroom.

That is their job. It becomes difficult. I want to point one other thing out. As a superintendent, I do not ever recall a student that was a very good reader ever tell me school was difficult. And let me go reverse.

I do not remember a kid that could not read or struggled reading that didn't tell me school was difficult. So we need to make it where all children are telling their parents in the community school's not that difficult, and I'm dreaming bigger. So thank you.

Thank you so much for bringing this bill. K. We've got one more bill to hear. It's h b three ten by representative Olalier, and he's going to be talking to us about a group of people who read real really well, our college kids who are in teacher prep programs. And when you get situated, if you would give us the LC number that you have.

Happy to. Thank you, madam chair and committee members. Good afternoon. I'm reading, off of the substitute LC492630S.

Okay. That's what we've got.

Alright. Well well, good afternoon again. Presenting house bill three ten, a bill that we heard last year in committee, and this bill is, short and sweet. It's focused on keeping our best and brightest teachers in the pipeline when, they, need support the most. I'll lead off with a figure, 5,358.

And I'll say that figure again, 5,358. That's the number of teacher vacancies in Georgia classrooms as of just a few months ago, December 2. And so Georgia's teacher shortage is is real, and graduating and retaining qualified educators is essential to closing that gap. HB three ten provides up to a $5,000 grant to student teachers with demonstrated financial need, during their unpaid student teacher semester. It also includes a lot of the work that happened between last year and this year was, finding ways to help ensure or create a hook that not only student teachers, would complete the program but stay and enter the profession, within a Georgia, public high school.

And so, the bill also include includes a 2,501 time signing grant. And again, this would be applicable to those same students once they complete their program and begin teaching in a Georgia public school. And so, this program, the bill, goes on to specify, and and and really shrink the zone of, the pilot participants, who those participants would be. This would be a two, three year pilot. It's targeted.

It's accountable. It's capped. Would serve, a maximum of 500 student teachers. On average, we currently, have 3,000 student teachers going through the program, every single year. And so it's a step in the right direction.

And over the past year, I've I've had the pleasure of of having many conversations with student teachers. I know a few, of those student teachers are here today, and they're talented. They're committed. They care, deeply about, education and our children. But the barriers to to to entry are are real as well.

These are full time working students in many cases. They have to pay rent. They have to pay gas. They have to pay tuition. So they're juggling quite a lot, in addition to a full time, unpaid internship which the student teaching program is.

And so, this bill will will lead to better outcomes for our children, and, will lead to more prepared and supported teachers, and, ultimately remove a real barrier, strengthen the teacher pipeline, and improve learning conditions for every student, that they will serve. And so with that, that's the bill. Thank you again, madam chair, for the opportunity to present it, and I'm happy to take any questions.

Madam Pro Tem, I think you pushed your button first. Okay. Was it okay. 16 who's number 16? Okay.

Representative Carter.

Thank you, madam chair lady. At the appropriate time Okay.

Okay. Just a minute.

I love

You you beat chairman Chokas. Look at you. Oh oh, well then. Okay. Madam Pro Tem.

Yes. And thank you for, for your interest in this and in increasing the teacher pipeline. I had a a few concerns that that I would like you to consider. Yep. And and by concerns, I mean, maybe there might be some changes that could make it better.

So we you and I have talked about this. This the House and the legislature have passed, in my time, quite a few grant programs in which we ask our agencies to put together a program, but they're never funded.

Yep.

Which which could be, could happen to this. And so I would wanna make sure that we made it very compelling. And I appreciate that you term limited it and you limited the number. Because if if we did fund 500, that'd be, I think, about 2 and a half million dollars, excluding the grants, which are you intending that it would be up to 500 grants of, the signing bonus grants of 2,500?

If they sign an employment contract and make it to day 30 of that contract.

Okay. So that could be another, I don't know, about half of that. So 3,670,000.00 total if we funded it in the appropriations. So I see that the there are two requirements to qualify for the student teaching grant. One, they have to be eligible to participate in federal Pell Grant programs, so it's income it's means tested.

Correct.

And number two, they have to be I'm not sure we're actively engaged and in good standing, but they have to be actively engaged and in good standing in their in their program. But it, you know, it it it they could be, when you mentioned 5,000, we have a shortage of 5,000 teachers, 5,358. Just from working on these kinda issues in the past, that's not necessarily all over the state. I mean, usually, it's in certain fields, and it's in certain geographical areas. Yeah.

I remember talking with, the professional standards commission on this issue a number of times, and they've told me there's no shortage of certain fields, particularly in large metropolitan areas. But you go to some of the rural areas and you just can't find I mean, you can't find math teachers. You can't find physics teachers anywhere. And that would be something I would suggest, that the committee, if you're doing something long term, that you direct the monies to areas that we actually have a need for and a shortage. That would be one.

And the same with respect to the signing bonus. I mean, if you're going in a field that's in demand, and I'm not sure why you need a signing bonus. I mean, you're gonna get hired. It it seems like it would be better to have non folks who are nonstandard teachers, you know, that are coming in outside of our pipeline to feel to to fill really shortage fields, like math, like physics, like computer science, whatever the area is, as opposed to just leaving it open ended. I I don't have a problem with the means testing, because I think your goal is to help them, you know, be able to get through to the end of their program.

That's correct.

Of course, we are talking at the same time with the governor's needs based scholarship, which may make this not necessary if we do that because that would that or and or maybe it needs to specify you get one or the other, but not both. It doesn't appear, for exam that there's any other limitations other than Pell eligible and in good standing. What if you have a full tuition, board, scholarship to a college? I'm not sure just because you're Pell eligible that you need to, get an additional grant on top of that, layered on top. Because I think a laudable goal is to help people afford to get to the end game.

But, those are just some thoughts I had when I read it over. I I I don't think the concept's fine, but maybe a little more working it, massaging it to make sure, one, that if we do fund it, I think it increases the odds of you getting it funded if it's being directed not just to students who need it, but also to areas that Georgia needs. Anyway, those are just my thoughts that I'd like for you to consider.

I appreciate it. Thank you, Prato.

Representative Lepton.

Thank you, chair. Thank you for bringing the bill. Is this where would the money for this sit?

So the program would be administered by the student finance commission. So the first grant, at up to $5,000 would be administered by the student finance commission. And Okay. They already have staffing set up to, administer and manage, like programs. So we didn't wanna, create any additional kind of staffing costs.

Right. Right.

And then the the the signing grant would be administered by the, Department of Education.

Oh, okay. Okay. And we talked a little bit about this. How did you come up with the signing grants and the and the grants? How how did that come up?

We this there are dozens of other states that have similar programs. And to, madam Pro Tem's point, they layer on top of the stipend for participating and completing the student, teaching portion. They provide, an additional incentive on top of the signing grant for high need areas and high need subjects.

Okay.

And so, again, we we don't have to recreate the will. There are other states that have similar programs that, you know, they've vetted and and tested just the success of, both completion rates for student teachers, but also retention rates for those student teachers who, enter our our classrooms. And we know it's not a matter of just getting them in the classroom, but keeping them Keeping them. In the classroom when the attrition rate is fifty percent, within five years of teaching. And so, the, professional standards commission has, reams of information and research around, how retention rates, greatly increase if, a teacher has gone through a standard, education curricula in college, including that that student teaching portion.

Okay. Great. Thank you. I I

just one more thing. We we pass a lot of things, and not all of them are funded. I think this is a good thing to fund.

Thank you. I do too.

Representative Carter, back to you.

Okay. Thank you. I just needed some some clarifications just because of some of the testimony that was going forward. If I understood the kind of context around this legislation was to provide some compensation for student teachers that, because they're in the classroom, maybe not necessarily able to work outside of that. So was that some part of the motivation for, providing the stipend?

Yes. Both to, help support those student teachers to madame Pro Tem's earlier point complete the program. But, a few years ago, if you look at enrollment data, we have, where are these figures? Let's say roughly 350,000, students enrolled across the university system, 97,000 of which roughly 40% are Pell eligible. They're not even looking at the major because it's cost prohibitive to complete the program.

And so it's not only helping students that are currently majoring in education and have to complete their in classroom practicum, but other students who, could equally be as passionate about wanting to teach, but are looking at that student teach teacher curriculum and saying, you know what? I'm a working student. You know, I work two jobs. I can't complete five hundred hours. I mean, it's a full forty hour a week, full semester program, on top of two jobs.

And I was a Pell grant recipient as a college student. It it covered books and tuition, but, it's a lot more costly today than it was twenty years ago when I was a college student. And so it's not enough. And so, yes, it it would help both, student teachers complete the program, but, I would hope, incentivize and make more attractive the education major for those students who are interested, but may look at the majors being cost prohibitive.

May I, a follow-up to another part of it? One

more, and then we've got some, people to speak to though.

Thank you. Because I'm asking a question, not testifying. The other question, about the, the sign on bonus. But as I listen to it and read through this, it sound like it's a workforce, development opportunity. Is this also an opportunity for us to keep the students that we trained in our school system.

Is that kind of the motivation behind that?

That was the intent. Yes.

Thank you.

I wanna know where you get to be a student teacher and you just work the forty hours a week because I surely remember way more than forty hours a week when I was doing my student teaching. Forty hours in the school and then at least four to five more at home every night. We have a few people to speak to the bill. Robert Aycock from Page, you are first. And Solomon Clemens, you are on deck.

Hey. My name is Robert Aycock, professional associate of Georgia educators, and I would just like to start by briefly thanking representative for bringing this bill, and thank you all for considering it. As he said, the traditional education program, including student teaching, provides a wealth of benefits to the people who go through it, provides highly qualified teachers who actually they've shown have higher retention rates in the long term, so better for the schools as well. Unfortunately, you know, that same traditional path does present some kind of new challenges, with student teaching. If you're a working student, maybe lower income, and you've been working your way through school, the math has been barely mathing, and you reach that student teaching requirement, all of a sudden, you have that full time unpaid thing right there.

You can't work your paying job. The math no longer maths, and it's sometimes where people are not long able to complete the program. We actually got to meet with several students at Georgia State who are going through things right now, and it was heartbreaking to hear, both their passion, but then also the struggles that oftentimes are preventing barriers for them to going into teaching and living out that passion to serve students. And, we think that h p three ten probably spoke a way to support the most at need student teachers while also further, strengthening the educator pipeline by adding, those signing grants. There are unfortunately some people who do complete and graduate EPP programs, who do not go into the program.

And we like to think that those signing grants add kind of like an extra hook and a way to keep that talent in Georgia and keep people in the teaching, field. And most importantly, we think, HB three ten creates a very measured and targeted pilot program and allows us to study the effectiveness of such a program so then we can possibly modify it, change it, whatever needs to be made if we want to continue in the future. And with that, happy to take any questions and just ask for your fable for consideration.

Don't see any questions. Thank you. Thanks. Solomon Clemons.

Good afternoon, members of the committee. I am Solomon Clemens, and I'm a sophomore aspiring educator at Morehouse College. It is an honor to speak on the House Bill three ten and the impact it will have as I approach my senior year where I will step into the classroom as a student teacher. For those unfamiliar, student teaching is a full time responsibility that prevents students from holding jobs. Students from underrepresented communities like myself and first generation college students are forced to choose between financial survival and completing certification requirements.

This limbo serves as a direct barrier to the motivation of prospective educators that plan to empower our future leaders of Georgia. If there's one thing that kids need more of, it's connection. Most importantly, connection with teachers that can understand them holistically. With that being said, unpaid student teaching has disproportionately impacted college students from lower income backgrounds. Many of whom represent the very students that suffer from that lack of connection.

Removing financial barriers ensures that passionate future teachers are not prevented from entering the profession simply because they cannot afford to complete the required student teaching experience. Providing financial support ensures that teaching that the teaching workforce better reflects the communities and students it serves. Our rising generation needs us, and house house bill three ten is a long term investment in our communities and future leaders. Thank you.

Thank you. And our last speaker after this bill, Skyler Nunley.

Hello, everybody. Thank you, representative O'Lalier, for bringing forth the bill and for the committee for hearing it. My name is Skyler Nunley. I, work with the Georgia Association of Educators, and I'm also a former US history teacher that has recently completed student teaching. I say recently very loosely.

It was within the last ten years. But, I really because I don't wanna touch on the facts that have already been addressed, I want to bring up a realistic schedule of student teaching. And I still have the eye bags from eight years ago to prove it. I would wake up at around 5AM. I would get to my school at six to work a before school program for two hours.

I would then travel across town because I was not allowed to participate in student teaching in an area that I was already being paid. I was paid in the school district. I had to go to a different one. So I would do my student teaching. That would last until around 4PM, after which I would sleep, usually in my car sometimes, in the student center for a couple of hours because I then had night classes and commitments that I had to finish.

On odd days, I would then go home, do homework, and then on even days, I would go work a midnight shift at the gas station just so I could be able to not pay for tuition, because I was fortunate enough to have a privilege that most students don't. I have my tuition covered through scholarships. That was simply for me to afford to live, for me to pay for rent, for me to pay for my, excuse me, my expenses, having to be prepared, having to be fed, having to be present at a school that was about 25 miles away, and most of my peers were not able to get the scholarships that I had. I saw them struggling with the same and much higher levels of cost to do the same profession as me, and a bill like House Bill three ten will allow them to get over the finish line, to be able to cover those life expenses, to be able to not focus on survival during student teaching, but actually focus on preparing for the classroom. We heard earlier that, the attrition rates for those who complete a traditional higher ed program are much lower.

And I fear that if we do not start making initiatives like House Bill three

ten, we will continue to deincentivize our higher ed programs of education and continue

fast tracking, looking for 2020. Going to affect our Georgia students. So I would urge you all to consider house bill three ten and to support our student teachers. Thank you.

Thank you. Are there any further questions from the committee? Number 20 five. Is that you, chairman?

Yes, ma'am. Just at the appropriate time.

Okay. Let's see. Got one more blinking light. Number person, weptan. Are you 17?

No. I can't remember numbers. Yeah.

Well, yeah. And they're all falling off up here. So I gotta look at that one to know which one I am.

Is there are there any,

I know we've got a, you know, motion on the table to take up the question. Are you amenable to any sort of friendly amendments to make things to shift things around that, like, narrowing that focus of teachers, or are you happy with the bill as is?

It it depends on the specific amendment, but always open to making the better

Yeah. I don't I don't know how to do this. I'm just asking.

Yeah. Any any specific suggestion or math?

Well, I was thinking of, the Pro Tem's suggestion to narrow the focus of teacher to teachers that are especially high need, I e science, I e math. But from what, we just heard in the in the testimony, it seems like you could be teaching English. It doesn't matter. You're still broke as a joke when you're a, when you're a student teacher.

Yeah. And and without having any data tied to the 5,000 plus vacancies, I I don't wanna address an issue that

may not

Fair enough.

Be there, but I'm I'm open. Yeah.

K. Madam Pro Tem.

I would just suggest that maybe as it goes through the process, you get that data because, professional standards has it. They do it with regard to the retirement bill that was, was it your original bill, I think, that they know at least by RISA, where it's it's it's pretty there's a common thread there. I mean, special needs, math, science. There are some exceptions in some RISA's where maybe they lost their one, you know, teacher in one school, but it it's it's it is knowable. And you mentioned that there's reams of data.

If you could supply us with that, maybe at the next level, the data that you have from other states that provide similar programs, I I would appreciate that as well.

Happy to. Thank you.

Thank you. Representative Carter, are you back to your to your original motion? Are you asking a question? It is. Okay.

You had that motion a long time ago. Okay. Yeah. Thank you.

Tell me, you can take it.

Okay. So we have a motion. Chairman, I wanna use second.

I would like to well, I wanna make sure we're moving on the right one.

Okay.

I'd like to move that we do pass L, HB310LC492630 s.

K. We got a motion. We've got a second. K. Hearing none, all those in favor, say aye.

Aye. Opposed, like, sign. K. Motion passes. You're on to full committee.

Thank you, madam chair. Thank you, committee.

And we are adjourned.