ATLANTA (March 12, 2009) – The Senate voted today to pass Sen. Gail Buckner’s (D-Morrow) Senate Bill 36 that requires local boards of education to adopt and annually review a code of ethics.
“Sadly there are a few who are involved in the educational process that do not understand the legal role of serving on the school board,” said Sen. Buckner. “As we have seen, a dysfunctional school board can lead to the loss of a school system’s accreditation. Board of education members must be held accountable for their actions in order to protect our children’s education from being compromised.”
Clayton County school board members found themselves in the middle of an ethical controversy when their schools were the first in the nation to lose accreditation in 40 years, after the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools voted in March to revoke Clayton’s accreditation. This threatened the eligibility of 50,000 students to attend college and receive scholarship money. After a hearing with an administrative law judge, the governor announced the immediate removal of four school board members who had violated board policies. Elsewhere in Georgia, 10 to 15 percent of schools are under accreditation review.
Sen. Buckner’s legislation ensures that board members are held accountable to ethics laws by requiring the board to review the laws each year. Any changes to the code must be announced at regular meetings of the board, resulting in a more transparent process.
For more information on the bill, please visit www.senate.ga.gov and do a legislative search for SB 36.
Sen. Gail Buckner represents the 44th Senate District, which includes portions of Clayton and Henry counties. She can be reached by phone at 404.463.5260 or email at gail.buckner@senate.ga.gov.
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release:
March 12, 2009
For Information Contact:
Raegan Weber, Director
Kallarin Richards, Senior Communications Specialist
kallarin.richards@senate.ga.gov
404.656.0028