ATLANTA (March 26, 2010) – The Georgia Senate today voted in favor of protecting teachers’ salaries by passing Senate Bill 515, the Educators Salary Protection Act, by a margin of 35-11. The measure, sponsored by Senator Preston Smith (R-Rome), seeks to protect Georgia teachers from additional furlough days.
“By passing this bill, the Senate took a crucial step today to protect teachers from unnecessary furloughs. This is not an attempt to control local school boards; rather it says to teachers that we value their service,” said Smith. “Our children’s future success and achievements are greatly enhanced when they have the support of their teachers. These individuals provide an invaluable service to Georgia’s children, and they deserve any support we can give them.”
The proposal prevents school systems with more than six percent of unencumbered funds in its reserve accounts from furloughing teachers, when funding is readily available to prevent the furloughs. The state has exhausted a reserve account of almost $1.8 billion over the last two years. Most of the reserve funding went to education spending.
Education spending in Georgia increased 34 percent between 2004 and 2010. The FY 2004 budget included $8.59 Billion for education spending. The FY 2010 General Budget contained $11.47 Billion for education spending.
Sen. Preston Smith serves as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. He represents the 52nd Senate District which includes Floyd County and portions of Bartow and Gordon counties. He may be reached by phone at 404.656.0034 or by e-mail at preston.smith@senate.ga.gov.
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release:
March 26, 2010
For Information Contact:
Raegan Weber, Director
Kallarin Richards, Senior Communications Specialist
kallarin.richards@senate.ga.gov
404.656.0028