ATLANTA – Today, Speaker Jon Burns (R-Newington) and Speaker Pro Tempore Jan Jones (R-Milton) held a press conference to announce recommendations for significant investments in Pre-K education to expand access and increase teacher pay.
“Education really is the foundation for our state’s success, and over the past few years, we’ve made tremendous strides to improve on and invest in education in our state,” said Speaker Burns. “But, one area that has not received enough attention is our Pre-K system. That’s why this past summer, I asked Pro Tem Jones to look at ways to expand access to Pre-K in our state, invest more resources and improve outcomes—and I’m excited for them to announce their findings. We talk a lot about educational opportunities in this building. It’s my belief one of the best predictors of educational success is having a strong foundation at the Pre-K level—and that’s why I’m proud of the work we’re doing to expand access and invest in early childhood education.”
“I appreciated the opportunity to lead the working group appointed by Speaker Burns,” said Pro Tem Jones. “We focused on enhancing our Pre-K program to better serve Georgia’s students. Additionally, we sought to support the workforce development benefits of providing students and parents with reliable, safe and educationally enriching options.”
The recommendations include:
Reducing the overall maximum class size from 22 to 20;
Increasing salaries for lead and assistant teachers, as well as aligning the lead and assistant teachers’ salary schedules more closely with the state-funded portion of K-12 teachers’ and paraprofessionals’ salaries;
Increasing start-up funds for materials and furnishings to open a classroom from the current $8,000 stipend to $30,000, as well as increasing transportation funding, which has previously been almost non-existent;
Providing funding for the capital costs associated with opening new or renovated Pre-K classrooms in public school systems and lease-equivalent payments for private Pre-K providers; and recommending legislation to allow local school systems to count Pre-K classes in future capital construction requests in the state budget;
Recommending the state pay a lease-equivalent amount to private childcare providers for Pre-K classes rather than direct capital construction costs; the state does not currently reimburse private or public providers for any costs associated with construction of Pre-K classrooms.
To view the full report from the House Working Group on Early Childhood Education, please click here.
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Speaker Jon Burns (R-Newington) is Georgia’s 75th Speaker of the House of Representatives. He represents the 159th legislative district of Georgia that includes Screven County and portions of Effingham and Bulloch Counties.
Representative Jan Jones represents the citizens of District 47, which includes portions of Cherokee and Fulton counties. She was elected to the House of Representatives in 2002 and currently serves as the House Speaker Pro-Tempore. She also serves on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Education and the Education, Ethics, Reapportionment and Redistricting, Regulated Industries and Technology and Infrastructure Innovation committees and as an Ex-Officio member of the Rules Committee.