LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
AS ADOPTED BY DELEGATES TO THE SPRING REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY ON: April 21, 2024 THE GOAL OF GAE IS TO IMPROVE THE LEARNING CONDITIONS FOR OUR STUDENTS THROUGH THE ENACTMENT OF THE FOLLOWING LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES:
Lisa Morgan, GAE President
IMPROVE SALARIES SIGNIFICANTLY
• Establish minimum beginning teacher salary of $50,000 • Ensure that salary increases (including step increases) extend to 30 years of service • Apply any salary increases to the state salary schedule
• Secure an 8 percent raise for all Education Support Professionals • Secure a state pay scale for education support professionals that includes steps for years of service
ENHANCE EDUCATION PROGRAMS
• Provide necessary and equitable funding to ensure quality education for all students in the state of Georgia • Fully staff schools to provide for vital programs, e.g., drop-out prevention, art, music, P.E., mentoring, counseling services, career, technical, and agricultural education programs, and others • Restore classes to class-size formula and prohibit use of class-size waivers • Prevent all voucher initiatives and privatization of public schools
• Ensure public school facility and bus transportation safety by providing preventative programs and more authority to educators • Ensure that all education funding is restricted to public school programs and services
• Ensure universal access to fully funded Pre-K • Maintain full funding for HOPE Scholarship • Establish a needs-based HOPE Scholarship
SUPPORT EDUCATORS
• Provide a living wage for all public school employees • Provide a fully certified educator for every teaching position • Protect the current state minimum salary schedule for teachers, including increases for educational attainment and/or experience • Provide quality, affordable, comprehensive healthcare benefits and services to active and retired public school employees
• Improve retirement benefits for all public school employees, and maintain the defined benefit plan • Secure collective bargaining rights for all public school employees • Ensure manageable and safe load sizes on school bus transportation • Secure safe public schools by opposing any legislation allowing school personnel, other than trained resource officers, to be armed • Secure paid student teaching practicums for Aspiring Educators.
PROTECT EDUCATORS
• Enact and enforce fair evaluation systems including the right to appeal to a mutually agreed upon neutral third party • Secure an effective and enforceable grievance procedure for all public school employees • Secure fair dismissal procedures for all public school employees • Secure employment contracts for Education Support Professionals
• Eliminate Strategic Waivers School Systems usage of waivers for class size, fair dismissal, state salary schedule, and certification (except on a case-by-case basis to attract applicants for CTAE-like positions) • Hold local boards of education accountable for all local waivers • Prohibit pay-for-performance plans
STRENGTHEN EDUCATORS
• Provide public school employees a greater voice in decision-making to improve public education • Improve working conditions for public school employees, including, but not limited to, the elimination of waivers • Ensure that nationally certified professionals are compensated at the level commensurate with their certification
• Provide comprehensive induction/mentoring for all beginning public school employees and provide additional pay for their respective mentors • Ensure instructional decisions about curriculum are made by certified educational professionals in order to facilitate an honest and empathetic education for all students in K-12
30 | KNOW • Volume 22 Issue 2
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator