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RCPS 2018 Legislative Priorities
Posted on 11/27/2017
The Rockdale County Board of Education adopted on November 16, 2017 the 2018 Legislative Priorities, presented below, as an effective tool for system employees and stakeholders to use when promoting our system's needs to local legislators in order to assist them in making sound decisions in relation to public education.

ADVOCATE FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION

➢ Support the Vision for Public Education as the vehicle to enhance and promote public education in the state of Georgia. www.visionforpubliced.org
➢ Oppose vouchers, tax credits, and all other legislation which reduces state funding of public schools.


LOCAL CONTROL AND FLEXIBILITY

➢ Oppose any legislation that attempts to override the constitutional authority of our locally elected Boards of Education to make educational decisions deemed best for our local community.


EDUCATION FUNDING


➢ Cease austerity reductions and restore full funding to public education - $96.6 M not funded to RCPS since 2003.
➢ Restore health insurance funding for classified (non-teaching) employees - $37.2 M not funded to RCPS since 2012. Monthly cost has more than tripled during this time to over $945 per month per classified employee.

Support a Reformed State Funding Formula for Public Education that:
▪ Provides equitable resources for high challenge populations (i.e., economically disadvantaged, students with disabilities, and English language learners).
▪ Provides funding that keeps pace with inflation and supports the current cost of maintenance and operations.
▪ Fully funds student transportation.
▪ Preserves the state salary schedule with local flexibility.
▪ Preserves the full funding structure for training and experience.
▪ Continues to provide equalization funding to support districts with lower tax digest.
▪ Sustains the current Teacher Retirement System.


TEACHING AND LEARNING


Support a Fair and Equitable Accountability System:
➢ A universally consistent evaluation system for all teachers, leaders, and contributing professionals.
➢ Utilize a growth/progress model for student achievement using multiple measures for student and teacher performance.
➢ Utilize a system that recognizes the uniqueness of each school district (i.e. special populations, socioeconomics).
➢ Timely assessment results should provide specific student performance data that pinpoint and identify academic strengths and weaknesses at the standard and element levels.

Support Advanced Technology for Schools and Students:
➢ Professional development to support the integration of the technology in every classroom.
➢ Support the transformation from paper to digital textbooks and resources.

Student Data Collection and Security:
➢ Support the efficient and secure collection, analysis and storage, and when appropriate, distribution of
student information as an essential component to improve the education of students.