What are educators, advocates fighting for as GA lawmakers get to work? What we know
The Georgia General Assembly opens its legislative session next week, and education groups are encouraging lawmakers to address major concerns teachers raised in a statewide survey.
The Professional Association of Georgia Educators is pushing for more state money to meet the needs of educators and students in areas such as mental health, campus safety and teacher shortages in K-12 public schools.
PAGE conducted a survey in October 2024, and over 3,200 Georgia teachers from 170 school districts participated. The top three workforce challenges identified by educators in the poll were unmanageable workload, student behavior and low pay, Claire Suggs, PAGE senior education policy analyst, said Wednesday at a virtual media event.
In the survey, almost half of educators said they don’t feel supported by their elected officials. Some also said policymakers fail to understand the daily demands of teaching and that their professional experiences are excluded in policy decisions.
Alongside other groups such as the Georgia School Boards Association and the Georgia Association of Educational Leaders, PAGE recently presented a letter to Gov. Brian Kemp’s Office of Planning and Budget to request additional funding in the following areas.
Kemp’s office will release his budget recommendations for the 2026 fiscal year sometime this month.
Mental health and school safety
Mental health in school settings was an issue before the pandemic, but the need for student mental health services has become overwhelmingly evident, Suggs said.
PAGE urges lawmakers to modify the state’s current professional funding ratio formulas so that school districts can hire more full-time mental health specialists, which can strengthen school safety.
“We are sorry to report that there are a number of school districts in Georgia that don’t receive enough funding for even one school social worker,” said Margaret Ciccarelli, director of legislative services for PAGE.
Georgia’s current funding ratio model pays one school counselor per every 450 students, but this leaves 65 districts without enough money for one full-time school social worker or psychologist, according to the recommendation letter Georgia education groups presented to the governor.
Advocates recommend funding at least one full-time school social worker in every district and lowering the counselor-to-student ratio to 1:400.
School safety has been a long-standing issue, made more urgent by the recent Apalachee High School shooting in Barrow County, Suggs said.
PAGE’s survey found a relationship between students’ behavioral and mental health needs and teachers’ concerns about school safety. Educators who reported more student behavioral or mental health issues were more worried about school safety, Suggs added.
Teacher retention
About 21% of all Georgia teachers with 20 or fewer years of experience said they are unlikely to stay in education for another five years, Suggs said.
As many school districts are coping with persistent teacher shortages, PAGE is calling for lawmakers to holistically invest in the state’s educator retention by increasing state funding per paraprofessional to $25,000 and restoring HOPE financial aid programs for educators.
In 2022, lawmakers passed House Bill 385 to help the shortage problem by welcoming retired teachers to fill full-time positions in areas identified as high-need by Regional Education Service Agencies.
But some districts can’t take advantage of the bill because their high-need areas do not align with their designated RESA high-need areas. Certain subjects like English, social studies, and elementary education still face shortages.
HB 385 will expire in June 2026, and advocates are calling for lawmakers to remove the end date from the act, as well as add more high-need educator designations for needed areas.
Other critical issues
State funding for teacher training is limited, but PAGE leaders believe lawmakers should restore it to help improve literacy reform. According to the survey, most teachers did not receive any support during literacy training.
Teachers and school leaders need support to properly implement the new Georgia Early Literacy Act, education advocates say. They suggest lawmakers review professional development needs to ensure the state’s funding matches the cost of high-quality training.
They also urge the state to address funding shortages for substitute teachers and instructional materials.
Substitute teacher funding has been ignored since the mid-1980s, Ciccarelli said.
Another priority for advocacy groups is restoring the state’s Health Benefit Plan for non-certified staff, such as substitute teachers, bus drivers and nutrition workers, Suggs said. Since 2012, the state has stopped contributing to this plan for non-certified staff. The cost of coverage has risen significantly and will reach $1,580 per month in 2025, totaling $18,960 annually in fiscal year 2026, according to the letter.
Advocates recommend renewing the partnership between local districts and the state to provide health insurance, covering 25% of the monthly cost for all districts, and up to 50% for low-income districts.