Georgia Education Policy Update: General Assembly Wrap Up – Community voices were strong, April 8, 2022
Testimony
Students Deserve an Equitable, Fully Funded Public School System – IDRA Testimony Submitted to the Georgia Senate Study Committee to Review Education Funding Mechanisms on August 19, 2022 – See video
Georgia Classroom Censorship Bills Analysis, February 1, 2022
Families and Students Deserve Authentic Engagements as Partners Rather than Adversarial School Environments – IDRA Testimony against House Bill 1178, submitted by Mikayla Arciaga to the Georgia Senate Education and Youth Committee, March 23, 2022
Students Deserve to Attend Fully Funded Public Schools That Affirm and Sustain All Aspects of their Identity – IDRA Testimony Against Senate Bill 601, Submitted by Terrence Wilson, J.D., to the Georgia Senate Education & Youth Committee on March 8, 2022
Senate Bill 377 Threatens Cuts to School Resources for Students to Thrive – IDRA Testimony Against SB 377 in the Georgia General Assembly, presented by Terrence Wilson, J.D. to the Senate Education & Youth Committee, February 14, 2022 – See video
Transgender Students Deserve Affirmation and Support Not Exclusion and Marginalization – IDRA Testimony against Senate Bill 435, submitted by Terrence Wilson, J.D., to the Georgia Senate Education and Youth Committee, February 9, 2022 – See video
SB 226 Will Prohibit Books for Students From Marginalized Communities – IDRA Testimony against SB 226 in the Georgia General Assembly, presented by Terrence Wilson, J.D. to the House Judiciary Non-Civil Subcommittee, February 9, 2022 – See video
Schools Should Value Student’s Lived Experiences, Not Censor Them – IDRA Testimony against HB 1084 in the Georgia General Assembly, presented by Mikayla Arciaga, M.A.Ed, to the House Education Academic Innovation Subcommittee, February 9, 2022 – See video
Students Deserve to Attend Fully-Funded Public Schools That Affirm and Sustain All Aspects of their Identity – IDRA Testimony Against House Bill 999, Submitted to the Georgia House Education Committee on February 1, 2022 – See video
Students Deserve Access to Diverse Curricula that Supports and Sustains All Aspects of their Identity – IDRA Testimony Against Senate Bill 226, Submitted to the Georgia House Judiciary Non-Civil Sub-Committee on January 25, 2022 – See video
News
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
