Bill Text: GA SB307 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Education; enact a bill of rights for Georgia teachers
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-01-13 - Senate Read and Referred [SB307 Detail]
Download: Georgia-2009-SB307-Introduced.html
10 LC 28
4923
Senate
Bill 307
By:
Senators Hill of the 32nd, Rogers of the 21st and Shafer of the 48th
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to elementary and secondary education, so as to enact a bill of rights for
Georgia teachers; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws;
and for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Chapter
2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to elementary
and secondary education, is amended by inserting in Subpart 2 of Part 6 of
Article 6, relating to conditions of employment for the purposes of the "Quality
Basic Education Act," a new Code section to read as follows:
"20-2-221.
Notwithstanding
any other provision of law to the contrary, each certificated teacher serving in
the public schools of Georgia shall have the following rights as a condition of
employment:
(1)
School board members and administrators shall respect the right of a teacher to
exercise independent thought and to express constructive criticism in an
appropriate and professional manner;
(2)
If, in the professional judgment of a teacher, a student needs to be removed
from the regular classroom environment because the student's misconduct is
materially and substantially disrupting the learning processes of the other
students, the administrator shall respect the teacher's professional judgment.
At the minimum, the student shall not be returned to the classroom on that
particular day. The administrator shall not undermine the teacher's authority
in the classroom by questioning the teacher's account of what happened in front
of one or more students;
(3)
A teacher has a right to file a grievance about an evaluation if, in the opinion
of the teacher, the evaluation was unfair, false, or retaliatory for the
exercise of a right granted by this Code section;
(4)
Each teacher shall be afforded the opportunity to participate in an annual
evaluation of each administrator at his or her school. These evaluations shall
be conducted in a way that assures each teacher complete confidentiality and
anonymity. These evaluations shall be forwarded to the superintendent who in
turn shall send copies of all the evaluations to each school board
member;
(5)
The teacher of the year at each school shall be nominated and selected solely by
the anonymous votes of the teachers at the school;
(6)
A teacher shall be permitted to have an individual of the teacher's choosing
present in any disciplinary proceeding or conference; a teacher shall, except in
extraordinary circumstances, be provided with reasonable advance notice of such
proceeding or conference; and a teacher shall be allowed to record the
conference or proceeding; and
(7)
If a local board of education shall fail to hold a hearing and render a decision
as required under Part 11 of Article 17 of this chapter within the required time
frames, then the complaint shall be considered settled in favor of the
complainant and the last requested relief shall be granted. The State School
Superintendent shall enforce this paragraph upon appeal by the complainant
within 60 working days of either the expiration of the maximum time allowed to
the local board of education by law or written notice of refusal of the local
board of education to hold a hearing for any reason. The State School
Superintendent shall take all steps necessary including, without limitation, the
withholding of state funds to the local board of education until such time as
the local board of education fully and completely grants the relief awarded
under this paragraph. In the event that the local board of education initially
grants the relief as required in this paragraph and subsequently acts in a
manner contrary to such relief, the State School Superintendent shall retain
jurisdiction, responsibility, and authority to enforce the relief as specified
in this paragraph. The time frames may only be extended by mutual agreement in
writing by the parties. In the event that the school system is closed for a
number of days due to weather or other emergency, the days in all timelines may
be extended only in an equal or lesser number of days by written notification by
either party within five days of the reopening of the school
system."
SECTION
2.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.