As Crossover Day nears, fate of efforts to revamp education uncertain

For Coastal Georgia Republican lawmakers sponsoring legislation to revamp the state’s education system, it’s white-knuckle time.

The deadline for legislation to pass out of either the House or Senate in the current session of the state legislature is Thursday at midnight.

Failure to clear that hurdle — known as Crossover Day — means a bill has little chance to reach Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk and be signed into law. It must start over when a new session of the General Assembly convenes in January.

For Coastal Georgia senators Ben Watson (Savannah), Billy Hickman (Statesboro) and Mike Hodges (Brunswick), that means the pressure is on.

Like other GOP lawmakers elsewhere in Georgia and nationwide, the three are seeking to reshape how sexuality and religion are addressed in public schools.

One bill, backed by Hickman and Watson, would allow school librarians to be criminally prosecuted for “knowingly” distributing materials deemed harmful to minors.

Another bill, also sponsored by Hickman and Watson, would require schools to send an email whenever a child borrows school library material if a parent chooses.

Still another education-related bill, also supported by Hodges (R-Brunswick), would sever ties between the American Library Association and Georgia’s library system. The three also are sponsoring a bill that would allow the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms.  

Finally, another school-related bill — this one sponsored by Hodges and Hickman — would allow schools to hire chaplains — or bring them in as volunteers — to do the work of counselors. 

One controversial education-related bill in the Senate that appears likely not to survive past Crossover Day is a school-measure that would allow students in some of Georgia’s lowest-performing schools to apply for a $6,000 voucher to attend private school. 

While Gov. Brian Kemp and other powerful lawmakers support the measure, most Georgia voters oppose it, according to the results of an opinion poll published in January. 

Even if any of the Senate bills were passed by a full vote of the chamber and thus remain alive after Crossover Day, it’s unclear whether they’ll be approved by the traditionally more moderate state House.

Still, there’s political value in sponsoring the bills, especially for Watson, who faces a primary challenge in May from the even more conservative Beth Majeroni. They provide him with the opportunity to brandish his conservative credentials.

On the House side, Coastal Georgia Republicans have been less aggressive in sponsoring education- and sexuality-related bills. But one bill is being pushed to the floor for a vote this week that is certain to draw attention.

It would require school districts to provide “multiple occupancy restrooms and changing areas in public schools to be designated for exclusive use by males or females” and designate a gender-neutral bathroom — a measure that LGBTQ+ advocates say would create needless hardship for transgender students. 

A Republican conversation

In the haste by lawmakers to meet the Crossover Day deadline, Coastal Georgia Democrats have little say, whether the subject is education or otherwise. It’s mostly a Republican conversation.

Democrats are a minority in both chambers of the General Assembly, so this week’s traditional bustle is a sobering reminder of their political and institutional weakness.

For Coastal Georgia, the imbalance is stark: Only one of the region’s four-member delegation in the state Senate — and only five of its 22-member delegation in the House — are Democrats.

That means that as the majority, Republicans control the committees and processes through which bills reach the floor of the House or Senate for a vote. As of Sunday, 69 Republican-sponsored bills were on the Senate floor for consideration, according to state Sen. Sally Harrell (D-Atlanta).

The number of Democrat-sponsored bills? Zero.

In her weekly newsletter, Harrell also described how, under the deadline pressure last week, Senate rules were discarded. Committee agendas weren’t posted at least 24 hours ahead of committee meetings, as required, and bills didn’t show up until just before meetings, she said.