Junior League of Atlanta
Political Affairs Action Alert
Background
During the 2005 session important education legislation, Senate Bill 618 (“SB 618”), was passed and signed into law, amending O.C.G.A. Section 20-2-133. Previously, Georgia law allowed local school systems to deny educational services to foster children for up to 60 days from the date the child began residing within the local school system. SB 618 corrected this problem and brought Georgia’s law into compliance with Federal law. Now when foster children move into a new school system they may obtain educational services from the local school systems immediately.
SB 618 now allows over 1000 foster children to get the educational services that every other child has a right to receive, a public education. Most of these foster children are severely emotionally disturbed, have learning disabilities, and are behind educationally. Many of the costs associated with their education are currently borne by the facility where they reside, not the state.
The Problem
The state provides funding through the Quality Basic Education formula to the local school systems to educate these children, but, generally, these grants fund only about 60% of the cost of educating these children, even though the law allows for 100% funding. SB 618 holds harmless the local school systems from any deficit created by the requirement to fund the costs of educating these foster children.
Advocacy
Our advocacy should be about fully funding the educational services grant provided these children. It is the State’s obligation, according to the Constitution of the State of Georgia, to see that these children receive a free, adequate public education. Please write, email and/or call the Governor, the Speaker of the House, the Chairs of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, and your Congressman about your concerns. You can obtain contact information for all Georgia legislators by clicking on either http://www.vote-smart.org/index.htm or the Junior League Political Affairs Committee website at http://www.jlatlanta.org/community/advocacy.htm. Below is a sample letter, please be sure to include all of your contact information when sending.
Sample Letter
Dear ____________:
On behalf of the Junior League of Atlanta, and as a concerned citizen, I am writing to express the importance of funding the education grant in O.C.G.A. Section 20-2-133(b)(5) and to request your support in the upcoming legislative session to ensure that appropriate funds are allocated for this grant. Funding this grant is crucial to adequately educating children placed in residential facilities by the State of Georgia and will alleviate an undue burden being placed upon the residential facilities who continue to educate these children despite the lack of state funding.
Currently, there are approximately thirty (30) residential facilities in which the Department of Human Resources, the Division of Family and Children Services, and to a limited extent, the Department of Juvenile Justice, places children. The thirty residential facilities are located within twenty-five (25) local school systems in the State of Georgia. State agencies place children in residential facilities throughout the state, thus, it makes sense to fully fund the children’s education from the state level rather than to burden the local taxpayers living in these twenty-five school systems. These children are currently enrolled pursuant to O.C.G.A. Section 20-2-133(b)(1) and earn FTE funds under O.C.G.A. Section 20-2-161. However, this does not cover the full cost of their education. It is the State’s obligation, according to the Constitution of the State of Georgia, to see that these children receive a free, adequate public education. Art. 8, Sec. 1, Para 1.
The educational needs of these children have been ignored for years. By funding the grant in Section (b)(5) of O.C.G.A. of 20-2-133, you would be taking the appropriate responsibility and oversight vis-à-vis some of the State’s neediest children – foster children -- placed in residential therapeutic facilities. Thanks to Senator Moody sponsoring Senate Bill 618 in 2005, these children are now enrolled in the local school systems where their residential facilities are located and receive state FTE funds, but, the next step, funding the grant, must be taken.
I appreciate your time in addressing this important concern.
Very truly yours,
_________________________
