The Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC) is scheduled to vote on May 11, 2023, to remove language for diversity, equity, and inclusion language from requirements for educator training. The Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC) was established in 1991 to assume full responsibility for the preparation, certification, and professional conduct of certified personnel employed in Georgia public schools. Currently, the commission has 18 serving commissioners ranging from teachers to local board of education members.
The proposed rules 505-3-.01 and 505.-3..05 focus on removing language such as “diverse” for language like “different” and changing “diverse cultural contexts” to “unique contexts of children and families.” Within reading and literacy specialists programs, passages that speak to diversity are crossed out entirely. Instead of language that “confronts and alters institutional biases,” the proposed rules will have language on creating a “welcoming school community.”
If these changes are voted on, they will take effect on July 1, 2023.