Title 20

(a) No later than December 30, 2019, the Professional Standards Commission shall create a dyslexia endorsement for teachers trained in appropriately recognizing and responding to students with character354 istics of dyslexia and language disorders, such as difficulty with express…

The Professional Standards Commission shall include in its standards for teacher preparation programs for elementary and secondary education instruction on: (1) The definition and characteristics of dyslexia and other disorders; (2) Evidence based interventions and accommodations …

(a) No later than December 30, 2023, the Professional Standards Commission shall create a financial literacy endorsement for teachers trained in the content standards for financial literacy adopted by the State Board of Education pursuant to Code Section 20-2-149.4. (b) The Profess…

(a) All personnel employed by local units of administration, including school superintendents, shall have their performance evaluated annually by appropriately trained evaluators. All such performance evaluation records shall be part of the personnel evaluation file and shall be c…

(a) All teachers, principals, other certificated professional personnel, and other personnel of a local unit of administration shall be employed and assigned by its governing board on the recommendation of its executive officer. Minimum qualifications for employment of all personne…

(a) As used in this Code section, the term: (1) “Clearance certificate” means a certificate issued by the Professional Standards Commission that verifies that an educator has completed fingerprint and criminal background check requirements as specified in this Code section and that th…

(a) The State Board of Education shall establish a schedule of minimum salaries for services rendered which shall be on a ten-month basis and which shall be paid by local units of administration to the various classifications of professional personnel required to be certificated by…

Any person who has been selected as Georgia Teacher of the Year, as determined by the State Board of Education, shall: (1) Be moved up one salary step on the state salary schedule or receive an equivalent percentage rate increase in state salary to become effective on and after t…

(a) As used in this Code section, the term: (1) “High-needs school” means a Georgia public school that has received an unacceptable rating for a period of two or more consecutive years; and (2) “National certification” means certification obtained from the National Board for Profes…

(a)(1) On and after July 1, 2010, and until such date as may be determined by the State Board of Education that mathematics, science, or both are no longer areas in which there is an insufficient supply of teachers, a secondary school teacher in a local school system who is or be…

(a) If any local board of education furloughs teachers, paraprofessionals, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, custodians, support staff, or other nonadministrative positions during any school year, such local board of education shall not use any state funds to provide a salary incre…

(a) The State Board of Education is authorized and directed to devise and implement a pay-for-performance program for rewarding group productivity. By December 31, 1992, and each December 31 thereafter, the State Board of Education shall develop performance criteria which shall b…

The State Board of Education shall establish a salary schedule for school principals that includes a supplement amount for each principal. The amount of the supplement shall be based on the amount appropriated by the General Assembly for this purpose each year divided by the tota…

(a) The General Assembly finds that the driving force behind attracting quality teachers to a school and creating a culture of learning and respect in the school environment is the school leadership, and particularly, the school principal. The General Assembly further finds that te…

Classroom aides and paraprofessionals shall have, while performing assigned duties, the authority of “in loco parentis,” except for the administration of corporal punishment; provided, however, that such aides and paraprofessionals have at least the minimal training or experience…

As a condition for receiving funds under this article, it shall be the duty of each local unit of administration to employ and to utilize the services of substitutes for teachers who are absent. It shall be the duty of the local unit of administration to employ substitutes, inclu…

The State Board of Education is authorized and directed to devise a program to provide professional and staff development stipends sufficient to allow eligible licensed personnel, paraprofessionals, and aides to participate in development programs which will enable such employ381…

(a) Every teacher who is employed in grades kindergarten through five for a period of time of more than one-half of the class periods of the regular school day shall be provided a daily lunch period of not less than 30 consecutive minutes, and such employee shall not be assigned a…

(a) It is affirmed that a local unit of administration may, in its discretion, provide payroll deduction services to any organization, association, or corporation which the local unit of administration determines provides a tangible benefit to the school system or to any of its em…

In the event that a local school system furloughs teachers and other school personnel during any school year, such furlough day shall be on a Monday or Friday or in conjunction with a holiday, unless the local board of education provides otherwise. History. Code 1981, § 20-2-221,…

(a) All public school officials and professional personnel certificated by the Professional Standards Commission shall be provided the opportunity to continue their development throughout their professional careers. The primary purpose of the staff development sponsored or offered…

The State Board of Education shall adopt and prescribe all rules, regulations, and policies required by this article and such other rules, regulations, and policies as may be reasonably necessary or advisable for proper implementation, enforcement, and carrying out of this articl…

(a) The State School Superintendent shall be the executive officer of the State Board of Education and the administrative chief executive officer of the Department of Education. The State School Superintendent is authorized to organize and reorganize the Department of Education a…

The political subdivisions governed by county, independent, and area boards of education in this state established pursuant to law shall be known as “local school systems” for the purposes of this article, except where other specific provisions are made. All local school systems, …

In the event a local unit of administration shall fail to comply with any provision of this article or other school laws; any provision of rules, regulations, policies, standards, or requirements established by the State Board of Education pursuant to this article; or the terms o…

(a) The State Board of Education is authorized to waive specifically identified state rules, regulations, policies, and procedures, or provisions of this chapter, upon the request of a local board of education and in accordance with this Code section. The goal for each waiver shall…

(a) As used in this Code section, the term: (1) “Student” means a student who is or was enrolled in a public school in this state. (2) “Substantial hardship” means a significant, unique, and demonstrable economic, technological, legal, or other type of hardship to the student requ…

(a) The State Board of Education shall provide grants to qualified local units of administration for the purpose of improving the effectiveness of an educational program or service within a school, a cluster of schools, system wide, or regionally, subject to appropriation by the G…

(a) As used in this Code section, the term: (1) “Department” means the Department of Education. (1.1) “High-need subject area” means one of the three content areas for which there are the greatest percentages of unfilled positions for classroom teachers in a RESA service area as d…

(a) As used in this Code section, the term: (1) “After-school program” means any academic program conducted after regular school hours to serve only: (A) Students who have previously dropped out of school; (B) Students who are in a regular day time school who have previously fail…

The State Board of Education shall provide public secondary schools and local school systems with grants, subject to appropriation by the General Assembly and pursuant to applications made at the discretion of such systems. The purpose of such grants shall be to support motor veh…

The State Board of Education shall request funds sufficient to provide grants to qualified public elementary and secondary schools and local school systems, subject to appropriation by the General Assembly. The purpose of such grants shall be to encourage grant recipients to devel…

The State Board of Education shall establish an extended day program for students in grades nine through 12. Subject to appropriation by the General Assembly, funding for extended day services shall be provided to local school systems through grants calculated as follows: (1) Div…

(a) It is declared to be the policy of the State of Georgia to assure that every public school student shall be housed in a facility which is structurally sound and well maintained and which has adequate space and equipment to meet each student’s instructional needs as those need…

(a) The State Board of Education shall establish common minimum facility requirements which each public school facility must meet in order to be certified for use in any component of the educational or recreational program of that school. Such minimum requirements shall include th…

(a) The General Assembly finds that many local school systems in Georgia have relatively weak local tax bases and are unable to raise revenues sufficient to meet their facility needs. The General Assembly further finds that even with current levels of state capital outlay support, …

(a) The State Board of Education is authorized to establish a grant program to incentivize the adoption of digital learning using high speed internet connections across Georgia schools. The grant program shall include funding, subject to appropriations by the General Assembly, fo…

(a) The State Board of Education shall establish a state-wide network of regional educational service agencies for the purposes of: providing shared services designed to improve the effectiveness of educational programs and services to local school systems and state charter schoo…

(a) Each regional educational service agency shall provide the following shared services to member local school systems and state charter schools: (1) Identifying or conducting research related to educational improvements and in planning for the implementation of such improvement…

(a) Each regional educational service agency shall annually develop and submit to the Department of Education for approval, with a copy to the Education Coordinating Council, a regional plan for improvement of educational efficiency and cost effectiveness of its member institutio…

(a) Each regional educational service agency shall be governed by a board of control. On and after July 1, 2000, the school superintendent of each member school system, the president or highest administrator of each member postsecondary institution, and a local public or regional…

(a) Each board of control shall appoint and contract with a director who shall be the executive officer of the regional educational service agency. The director shall be responsible for the administration of programs and services approved by the board of control, including the Ge…

(a) The state board shall be authorized to provide each regional educational service agency with a uniform state-wide needs program grant and a documented local needs program grant, subject to appropriation by the General Assembly. The uniform state-wide needs program grant shall…

(a) The State Board of Education shall adopt a student assessment program consisting of instruments, procedures, and policies necessary to implement the program and shall fund all costs of providing and scoring such instruments, subject to appropriation by the General Assembly. T…

(a) On and after March 30, 2015, students shall no longer be required to earn a passing score on the Georgia High School Graduation Test to earn a high school diploma. (b) A person who is no longer enrolled in a Georgia public school and who previously failed to receive a high sc…

(a) It is the policy of the State of Georgia that the placement or promotion of a student into a grade, class, or program should be based on an assessment of the academic achievement of the student and a determination of the education setting in which the student is most likely t…