The Georgia Department of Education has unveiled an ambitious legislative agenda for 2026 focused on school safety, teacher pay raises, and classroom reforms—driven in part by a deadly high school shooting that left four dead in 2024.
Among the top priorities: funding for a school police officer in every K-12 public school and a proposed $10,000 salary increase for teachers and staff over five years. The department also seeks to give all educators a guaranteed “duty free lunch” or compensate those who supervise students during that time.
Superintendent Richard Woods emphasized the importance of these changes, citing a statewide goal to improve educational outcomes and student safety. “These priorities reflect our continued commitment to students, educators, and local communities,” Woods stated. He expressed optimism about working with Governor Brian Kemp and the General Assembly to push the reforms forward.
Other legislative goals include extending automatic pay step increases for teachers beyond 21 years of service and restoring raises for those who earn leadership degrees. The plan also seeks to assign a statewide attendance officer and expand “cellphone distraction-free” policies to include grades 9 through 12.
The proposal follows the tragic 2024 school shooting at Apalachee High School, where a student shot and killed two teachers and two students. Gov. Kemp praised the rapid response of two on-site school resource officers who apprehended the shooter within two minutes. “Those two school resource officers saved many lives,” Kemp said during his 2025 State of the State address.
Georgia’s education system serves 1.7 million public school students and holds the largest slice of the state budget at $13.7 billion—over a third of total spending. Georgia’s average teacher salary of $67,641 ranked 23rd nationally in 2023.
With record-high graduation rates and above-average SAT and ACT scores, state leaders hope these new proposals will help keep Georgia’s education system competitive and secure.
