All students deserve excellent and equitable education opportunities. From school buildings to state capitols, IDRA has been busy at work with Georgian families, students and education leaders to advocate smart, fair and effective policies for the state of Georgia.
IDRA supports families, communities, and students – particularly students from families with limited incomes, students of color, English learners, and others – who demand access to great, well-funded schools. We advocate sustainable policies that accurately identify the cost of education for all students and fund all schools fairly.
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IDRA’s Georgia Policy Priority Recommendations for this 2024 session. Meet our Georgia team.
Learn more about IDRA’s policy recommendations for Georgia.
Ensure Fair Funding for All Students
- Fully fund the Quality Basic Education Formula (QBE)
- Expand the QBE formula to include additional funding for students living in poverty
- Oppose all efforts to divert public funding to private education institutions, especially through vouchers
End Harmful Discipline
- Commission a school discipline study committee
- Expand pre-suspension and expulsion MTSS availability to all students,
- Prohibit corporal punishment
Promote Culturally Sustaining Schools that Welcome and Serve all Students
- Ensure that students receive a culturally-responsive and sustaining education that emphasizes the contributions and perspectives of historically marginalized communities
Resources
Georgia Education Policy Updates
Georgia Education Policy Update – Pre-Crossover Day Update, February 28, 2024
General Assembly 2023 Wrap Up – Community Voices were Strong
Alert! Georgia Education Policy Update – Action Alert: Help keep DEI standards for teachers, June 8, 2023
Alert! Georgia Education Policy Update – Action Alert: Help keep DEI standards for teachers, May 11, 2023
Georgia Education Policy Update: General Assembly Wrap Up – Find out what happened with education bills, April 20, 2023
Georgia Education Policy Update – Advocacy News – Week of March 20, 2023
Georgia Education Policy Update – Advocacy News – Week of February 27, 2023
Changing Policy
Advocacy Success: AP African American Studies Approved in Georgia! – As Predicted, “Divisive Concepts” Law Led to Censorship Attempt, August 7, 2024
Georgia Students Blocked from AP African American Studies, August 2024
My Siblings Deserve Better, Fully Funded Schools – IDRA Testimony Submitted by Jordan Madden to the Senate Education and Youth Committee, in support of SB 284/HB 668, March 20, 2024
Voucher Bill Harms Georgia’s Public School Students – Statement by IDRA and GYJC Opposing Senate Bill 233, March 20, 2024
Supporting Public Schools is the Best Way to Create Boundless Opportunities for Students – IDRA Testimony submitted to the House Education Subcommittee on Policy Subcommittee in opposition to House Bill 1221, February 20, 2024
Transgender Students Deserve Affirmation and Support Not Exclusion and Marginalization – IDRA Testimony against Senate Bill 438, submitted by Mikayla Arciaga, M.A.Ed., to the Georgia Senate Education and Youth Subcommittee, February 20, 2024
Removing Linguistic Barriers for Parents Will Improve Outcomes for Multilingual Learners – Testimony in Support of House Bill 127 (2023) Presented by Mikayla Arciaga, M.A.Ed., to the Georgia House Education Subcommittee on Curriculum, February 12, 2024
A Policy Agenda to Support Black Students, IDRA, February 2024
What is in Georgia’s Classroom Censorship Law
See What Does Georgia’s House Bill 1084 Do?, our one-pager with a breakdown of the law and its components
Georgia Education Policy Update: General Assembly Wrap Up – Community voices were strong, April 8, 2022
• See Previous Policy Comments and Testimony: 2022 and 2023
Engaging Communities
Join the Southern Education Equity Network online!
How to Push for AP African American Studies, August 2024
IDRA, ACLU of Georgia and the Southern Poverty Law Center held a press conference when the Governor signed the law. Watch press conference video.
Georgia Education Policy Update – Urgent action needed today!, March 28, 2022
Georgia Education Policy Update: Advocacy News This Week, March 23, 2022
Coalition letter against Georgia HB 60 that would divert taxpayer dollars away from our state’s most underserved public schools and into private schools, with limited evidence that attending private schools improves academic achievement, February 2, 2022
Georgia Education Policy Update: Advocacy News This Week, February 2, 2022
Georgia Education Policy Update – Advocacy News – Week of January 31, 2022
Georgia Coalition Against Classroom Censorship Statement Opposing House Bill 888, House Bill 1084, Senate Bill 375 & Senate Bill 377, February 1, 2022
Communicating Effectively
IDRA joined with other civil rights organizations to demand that transgender students across Georgia be protected by their education leaders. On Wednesday, May 4, 2022, the Georgia High School Sports Association’s Executive Committee voted 61-0-1 to prohibit transgender students in our k12 public schools from participating in gendered sports teams that do not align with their gender assigned at birth. This decision impacts transgender, nonbinary, and LGBTQ+ students in your school district among many others. We are demanding that leaders across Georgia who have policies that are supportive of LGBTQ+ students join other athletic representatives in the GHSA and vote to reverse this policy this month. A version of this letter went out last week to the following school districts: Atlanta PS, Clayton County PS, Cobb County SD, DeKalb County SD, Fulton County S, Gwinnett County PS, and Savannah-Chatham County PSS.
Watch live stream of press conference featuring students who were denied the chance to testify against classroom censorship (HB 1084), March 29, 2022
Press Conference Alert: Georgia Youth Silenced by Legislators Speak Out on HB 1084 in Press Conference at Georgia State Capitol – HB 1084 defines race and racism as “divisive concepts” and bans discussion from Georgia K-12 classrooms. Students from all across Georgia were denied testimony in the public hearing. March 28, 2022
Georgia Students Need their Legislators to Make Smart Decisions – Stories about classroom censorship, corporal punishment, and more!, IDRA eNews, January 27, 2022
Priorities and Recommendations for the 2022 Georgia Legislative Session, by Terrence Wilson, J.D., & Mikayla Arciaga, M.A.Ed., November-December 2021
Knowledge is Power is IDRA’s national resource for educators and advocates to help you do your work for equity and excellence in education in the midst of classroom censorship policies.
