Senator Butch Miller (R-Gainesville) proposed amending the Georgia Constitution to give each resident of a school district the right to claim an ad valorem tax exemption for school district taxes under certain circumstances.
This, assuming the State Board of Education declares that the school district in question “has substantially deviated from the board’s approved course curriculum.”
Miller proposed amending the Georgia Constitution this month, just in time for this year’s session of the Georgia General Assembly.
Miller and his staff did not return The Georgia Star News’ repeated requests for comment this week.
Resolutions are statements of opinions and, unlike bills, would not have the force of law behind them.
According to Ballotpedia, Georgia legislators can propose an amendment in either the state house of representatives or the state senate. Two-thirds of the membership of each chamber must approve the proposed amendment before they send it to the state’s voters. The governor of Georgia may not veto acts of the legislature that propose amendments or call for conventions.
Voters may only vote on proposed amendments during general elections in even-numbered years.
State Representative Brad Thomas (R-Holly Springs) last week filed a bill that he said would, if enacted into law, prohibit Georgia public school officials from teaching Critical Race Theory (CRT) and the 1619 Project. Thomas said his bill “would prohibit curriculum that could be considered discriminatory on the basis of race from being taught in public schools.”
Thomas’ bill also includes a transparency requirement that would allow all parents to view the educational materials given to Georgia students.
New York Times writer Nikole Hannah-Jones created The 1619 Project, which promotes the idea that America’s “true founding” occurred when slaves arrived in the colonies. The 1619 Project frames the history of the country around race and slavery.
As for CRT, members of the Georgia Board of Education voted last June to formally oppose teaching it in the state’s K-12 classrooms. Board members, according to their resolution, described beliefs such as CRT as “concepts that impute fault, blame, a tendency to oppress others, or the need to feel guilt or anguish to persons solely because of their race or sex.”
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star and The Georgia Star News. Follow Chris on Facebook, Twitter, Parler, and GETTR. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Butch Miller” by Butch Miller. Background Photo “Classroom” by Wokandapix.
