Component



Compendium Project

School Law: State of Georgia

| Component |Summary is clear and adequate;|Problem is present |

| |Link works | |

|State statute/s that cover education—web address and |  |  |

|summary of major categories | | |

|State Board of Education (are they elected or appointed, |  |  |

|what is the head of the State Board called and also include| | |

|a web address) | | |

|State Court System— summarize overall structure & include |  |  |

|web address | | |

|U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal in which you reside |  |  |

|Any state court cases or cases settled within your Circuit |  | |

|Court that contested federal, state, or local control of | | |

|education.   | | |

Module 1, Legal Framework of Education

1. State Statute

Georgia state web page that allows gives you a plethora of information on professional training cites.

“people of Georgia established within our state Constitution that "the provision of an adequate public education for the citizens shall be a primary obligation of the State of Georgia." This is a ruling from Title 20.

This is the web page that lists every title 20 ruling that must be followed by state of Georgia. (I understand we are not to use this but I have the government page below that carries you to this page. This Identifies Title 20)

Georgia General Assemble makes rulings for state education system.

in 1998 they made amendments to the 1983 State constitution.

This is the link to the Georgia state constitution revisions were made in 2005.

State Board of Education educational statues and rules that should be followed by each school system.

2. Georgia Department of Education. Information can be found at .

Dr. John D Barge is the State School Superintendent it is an elected position that will be up for reelections in 2014. .

[pic]

Dr. John D. Barge

State School Superintendent

The Georgia Board of Education with the State School Superintendent will provide the statewide leadership necessary to ensure the opportunity for each public school student to be successful.

State board of education

From the above webpage, you can access rulings, web casts, board’s decisions and many more things

Georgia department of education are not just responsible for setting policies for educating students. They are responsible for school reforms, teacher certifications, and distribution of state and federal funds. They have many responsibilities.

3. State Court System: The Georgia court system has five classes of trial-level courts: the magistrate, probate, juvenile, state, and superior courts. In addition, there are approximately 350 municipal courts operating locally. There are two appellate-level courts: the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals.

This is the web page that gives you the information about the different classes of courts.

4. U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal # 11 is the area were I reside. This is the web page that you can find information on the circuit court system and federal court system. .

5. Any state court cases or cases settled within your Circuit Court that contested federal, state, or local control of education.

Cumming v. Board of Education of Richmond County, 175 U.S. 528 [Segregation] 1899, Richmond County, Georgia this was the first historical case that applied to the separate-but-equal doctrine to education

Module 2, Church—State Relations

|Component |Summary is clear and adequate; |Problem is present |

| |Link works | |

|State law that relates to a moment of prayer OR meditation on the|x | |

|books or any other statute that addresses this issue of | | |

|church/state, e.g., tax vouchers being able to be used as any | | |

|school including religious school | | |

|Identify if your state has a Blaine Amendment |yes | |

|Any state court cases or cases settled within your Circuit Court |x | |

|that contested church/state issues | | |

|Other items that were found | | |

1. This is a document put out by ACLU of Ga giving different cases related to church and state. It is meant to be used as a reference for cases so as to be able to research if needed.

Islamic Center of North Fulton, Inc. v. City of Alpharetta, Georgia (U.S.D.C. N.D. Georgia, 2011

A.G.A. Islamic Organization, Inc. v. City of Lilburn, Georgia(U.S.D.C., Northern District of Georgia, 2011)

Williams v. Georgia, 2005 WL 2156135 (N.D.Ga. Aug 11, 2005) (NO. 105-CV-0427) (involving Plaintiff parents seeking a voucher remedy of the state for its hindering their fundamental liberty rights as parents to control the education of their children, through a variety of restrictive policies. School system claims that Plaintiff’s request for funds for children to attend either religious or non-sectarian private schools would require the court to act outside the constitutional limitations of its judicial power



This could fall under several sections. I first put it here because the Indians have there own spiritual beliefs.



This is a news article on Thomaston minister who appeals a federal judge's ruling on guns-in-church. The case ends with the fact that the judge says that Georgia law doesn’t interfere with anyone’s ability to worship. It just agrees with the Supreme Court that says guns are to be ban in “sensitive places” and a church is one of those places.

what is allowed in this code (20-2-1050) is a brief period of reflection and is not a religious initiative.

This page provides the changes made in the 1996 general assemble to the Religious freedom act of 1996.

2. Governor Purdue rolled out is constitutional change that would allow faith-based social service providers to compete for state funds without facing discrimination. The blaine amendment policy.

3. Tax Credit Scholarships (HB 1133)Passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Sonny Perdue on May 14, 2008, the Tax Credit Scholarship program (HB 1133) allows individual corporate citizens to receive an income tax credit for donations to student scholarship organizations (SSOs).  These SSOs will then use these donations to grant scholarships for public school students to attend the qualified private school of their parent's choice. 



MODULE 3

|Component |Summary is clear and adequate; |Problem is present |

| |Link works | |

|The state and/or local law with respect to the use or nonuse of |Yes uses corporal punishment | |

|corporal punishment, seclusion, and restraint by school personnel| | |

|(this item should include what your state says about discipline | | |

|by teachers if corporal punishment is not allowed) | | |

|Does your state have comparative or contributory negligence as a |It is one of 12 states that | |

|defense |follow 50% Bar | |

|Immunity safeguards for school personnel |x | |

|Child abuse and neglect statutes |x | |

|Other items that were found |x | |

Georgia has a Modified Comparative Fault 50 % Bar the code is O.C.G.A. § 51-11-7.

51-12-32 and 51-11-7 are the codes that deal with negligence in Georgia.

20-2-730 and 20-2-731 are the sequence codes for corporal punishment. It is allowed in the state of Georgia but is subject to various restrictions. It is not allowed to be the first line of punishment. An administrator must be in the presence and a written explanation must be given to the parents or guardian as to what the situation was.

The information in this link as well as the information above it explains what Georgia allows for corporal punishment.

Side note: Georgia does allow each school district the choice of whether they are going to participate in corporal punishment or not.

The material is taken directly from the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.)



This code authorizes any principal or teacher employed by the board to administer, in the exercise of his sound discretion, corporal punishment with discretion and understanding of what abuse is.

Physical injury or death of a child caused in some other way other than an accident is considered child abuse.

this is a page discussing the different types of neglect and what neglect is.

This is a web page that is useful for any person living in Georgia it has many different topics. I thought I would add it just for reference.



“Under Georgia law, a public officer or employee may be personally liable only for ministerial acts negligently performed or acts performed with malice or intent to injure. The rationale for this immunity is to preserve the public employee’s independence of action without fear of lawsuits and to prevent a review of his or her judgment in hindsight”. The student did not wearing the appropriate eye protection during the experiment and was injured.

this has to do with the 11th circuit court which Georgia falls in this district. The case is actually in Florida but it is a case dealing with immunity of personal. This case is a Jan Doe who is sexually harassed by a teacher.

Note: I am also putting it in the module 7 under child abuse involving teachers.

this case is involving missing money and searching students.

Module 4, Student Classification

|Component |Summary is clear and adequate; |Problem is present |

| |Link works | |

|Research any statutes or the part of the state constitution that | | |

|looks at equity of opportunity in education which includes school| | |

|financing | | |

|Have been any state court cases or cases settled within your | | |

|Circuit Court that have involved desegregation issues or other | | |

|student classification issues? If yes, provide. | | |

|Research any state statutes that provide guidelines for working | | |

|with ESL children, illegal immigrants, gifted children, disabled | | |

|children, homeless children, gender or any other designated group| | |

|Does your state protect for sexual orientation? |X no also in module 6 | |

|HOUSSE standards for special education teachers |x | |

|Anti-bullying state laws? |x | |

|Other items that were found |x | |

this is an article about how Georgia has made changes immigration law changes.

Many supporters of HB 87 say the new law is needed to protect legal citizens from having to pay for the health and education of illegal immigrants. But opponents of the law said illegal immigrants do contribute to society.



State of Georgia AdA webpage

In 1990, Bush signed ADA into law; it is generally arranged under five separate titles. The law’s clearly stated goals are to promote equal opportunity, full participation, independent living and economic self-sufficiency.

this website gives information contained in the manual supplements the rules and regulations and provides assistance to teachers and administrators who provide instructional services to Georgia’s gifted students. Additionally, parents and other interested parties can use the resource manual as a guide to gifted education in Georgia.



Sunny Purdue signed ant bullying bill in May of 2010 called Senate Bill 250.

this is a rubrics and the standards for Georgia involving HOUSSE.

HOUSSE is an alternative method to assessing teacher’s subject matter competency. The law gives states the latitude to create an evaluation process of subject matter competency, as long as it meets a certain criteria.

This law requires parents to notify the school of they are involved in a bullying incident. Also, the bill directs the state Board of education to develop a model anti-bullying policy that can be used in local schools.

11th Circuit Court has been involved in a few desegregation issues/ cases’ considering 11th circuit includes Alabama, Georgia and Florida. Below the DeKALB COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT v. SCHRENKO



In the 1990s, the DeKalb County School District, the Board of Education, and several individuals sued the State in the federal district court in Atlanta to recover transportation and program costs occurred because of desegregation litigation issues involving the dual system of education. This was an ongoing issue for nearly 40 years.

This grant program helps with the homelessness of any Georgia students.

The McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth addresses the problems that homeless children and youth faces each day when it comes to getting to school. Under this program, State educational agencies must ensure that each homeless child and youth has equal access to an appropriate public education no matter what the age of the child.



Georgia does not protect for sexual orientation. Georgia is one of approximately 25 states that do not offer any such protections.

This document gives the codes for many safety laws concerning the school system in Georgia. The code of conduct/bullying policy is 20-2-751.4 G.

This section explains the basics of how schools are financed in Georgia, how that compares to other states, and issues raised by the funding process. It also discusses how the funds are difficult to manage even in the affluent zip codes. It is noted in this pdf that the understanding where the funds come from is necessary to be able to understand how the finances in the school system works.

Side note:

Public education for the citizens prior to the college or postsecondary level shall be free and shall be provided for by taxation.” (Georgia Constitution 8-1-1)

discusses local taxation for education as well talks about providing grants, loans and other types of assistance for different educational purposes.

Module 5, Students’ Rights

|Component |Summary is clear and adequate; |Problem is present |

| |Link works | |

|Students’ rights involving school attendance, oversight of home | | |

|schooling, user fees, confidentiality of HIV, health concerns | | |

|with attendance (e.g., vaccinations needed), student records, | | |

|school curriculum requirements (testing, for instance), etc. | | |

|Any state statutes relating to students’ rights involving free | | |

|speech (including a school’s ability to censor), confidentiality | | |

|of records, dress code | | |

|Discipline, research your state’s statute relating to suspension,|x | |

|expulsion and any other disciplinary measure (like truancy or | | |

|search and seizure) | | |

|Any state court cases or cases settled within your Circuit Court | | |

|that involved student rights such as freedom of speech, dress, | | |

|discipline including search and seizure. | | |

|Other items that were found | | |

home school requirements are listed along with the code. In this webpage, you will fined the required instructional times and students attendance requirements.



160-5-1-.10 Student Attendance

This is a brief article on how several states including Georgia has linked truancy with loss of licenses for high school students. It states that students which skip school frequently have a tendency to drop out of school which leads to lower yearly incomes as adults.

deals with attendance laws in state of Georgia. Also, it references the code 20-2-720 that deals with the inspection of students' records by parents. In this article, it specifies all the persons involved in making the rules and regulations which relate to student attendance at school.

These are the HIV guidelines administered by the Georgia department of Health.

this article shows HIV confidentiality policy in education and allows for students access to a quality education free from harassment is a right for all children, including those living with HIV. This also gives a legal case that occurred for this policy to be put into place. I am leaving this link as a resource only link. “just in case link”

This is an amazing page. It gives the code for discipline, code of conduct, suspension and expulsion, many other key issues that involve the safety of schools and safety of students, teachers and administration. This is a document from the Department of education and I put this into this compendium so that I could have a quick reference for codes.

this is the Georgia requirements for vaccinations.

this webpage discusses free speech cases not related to education, but are put together by the ACLU of Georgia.

Module 6, Teachers’ Substantive Rights

|Component |Summary is clear and adequate; |Problem is present |

| |Link works | |

|Tenure—how is it defined in your state?  Do your non-tenure | | |

|teachers have any due process rights?  | | |

|Is sexual orientation protected in your state? |No also in module 4 | |

|State law on whistle-blowing?  |x | |

|State textbook selection guidelines? |x | |

|Any state court cases or cases settled within your Circuit Court | | |

|that involved teacher rights. | | |

|Other items that were found | | |

Textbook in Georgia

Georgia textbook selection guidelines

This section is about whistleblower laws in Georgia

Georgia Whistleblower Laws More Information on Whistleblower Laws

It should be noted that in addition to state statutes, there are a number of federal whistleblower provisions which protect employees in much the same way. However, many federal laws include penalties for employers and greater rewards for employees who risk careers and livelihoods by reporting activity that is damaging to the public trust.

Code Section= 45-1-4

Prohibited Employer Activity= No action may be taken or threatened by any public employer with authority to take, direct others to take, recommend or approve as a reprisal for making a complaint or disclosing information to the public employer unless information disclosed with knowledge that it was false or with willful disregard for its truth or falsity

Protection for Public or Private Employees= Public

Remedies= Can have any prohibited action taken by employer set aside in a proceeding in court

This is a web page from the Georgia government discussing amendments made to the code 45-1-4 at the Georgia general assembly.

This section deals with sexual orientation



Georgia does not protect for sexual orientation. Georgia is one of approximately 25 states that do not offer any such protections.

This section is about tenure in Georgia

This is a case study done on tenures at Valdosta state university.

fair dismissal laws is what Georgia follows.

Module 7, Terms and Conditions of Employment

|Component |Summary is clear and adequate; |Problem is present |

| |Link works | |

|Licensure requirements for teachers and administrators | | |

|What are the grounds for dismissing a teacher and the due process| | |

|procedures | | |

|What are the personnel evaluation requirements and procedures | | |

|Are there specific statutes that relate to protections against | | |

|discrimination (sexual orientation you may have covered in Module| | |

|6 | | |

|What is the child abuse and neglect law with respect to teachers'| | |

|and administrator's involvement | | |

|What collective bargaining rights have been established which |Not allowed | |

|relates to any delineation of the powers of teachers' unions  | | |

|What is the timeframe for the process for collective bargaining | | |

|What can be negotiated—are there areas off-limits, for instance? | | |

|Other items that were found | | |

a traditional way to obtain licensure for teachers.

an alternative way to obtain licensure for teachers.

the international route to licensure.

the permit route to licensure.

This is a child abuse case as well.

Grounds for teacher dismissal.

Discipline of teacher on grounds of dismissal.

This code deals with looking to see if the teacher is fully certified and has creditinals during the dismissal process.

This is a PDF of a well put together file on teacher dismissal.

This pdf discusses what states allow collective bargaining, the ones that have stipulations and the ones that do not allow collective bargaining.

reporting child abuse cases code 19-7-5

teacher child abuse case in Catoosa, Ga she won case and is suing for damages.

This is a section out of the handbook that identifies the process by which administration goes by to perform evaluations on teachers. The process is very specific to identify which kind of method they should use based on what kind of teacher they are or how many days/hours they work per school year.



This evaluation process is a critical component of education reform.

The goal in education reform and of teacher evaluation is to make student learning and achievement a priority. It is important that teachers provide quality instruction so that student achievement is demonstrated in testing and there performance because of quality teachers.

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