Quality Basic Education Act; allow for students in ninth and tenth grade to complete the high school graduation financial literacy course requirement
HB 1114 amends Georgia’s Quality Basic Education Act to create statewide content standards and required instruction in digital literacy and financial literacy for public school students. For digital literacy, the bill directs the State Board of Education to adopt grade-level standards for kindergarten through 12th grade covering online safety, responsible internet use, evaluating digital information, digital communication, basic device skills, productivity tools, and data management. Beginning in the 2027-2028 school year, local school systems must provide grade-appropriate digital literacy instruction, which may be integrated into existing courses. The Department of Education must also develop model programs, publish recommended curricula and materials, and issue an annual report on the reach and impact of online safety education.
The bill would expand state education requirements by adding mandatory digital literacy instruction across K-12 and by strengthening financial literacy instruction from kindergarten through 12th grade. It revises the existing high school financial literacy graduation requirement so students may complete the half-credit course in grades 9 through 12, and it adds detailed standards on budgeting, credit, saving, digital finance, consumer protection, and gambling risks. It also bars public schools from partnering with, accepting donations from, or using instructional materials from gambling enterprises, and authorizes the Department of Education to provide technical assistance and optional resources. Separately, it requires the Department of Education, in collaboration with public safety and natural resources agencies, to develop and distribute firearm safe-storage materials for schools and families.
The bill appears to have broad overall support, as reflected in the House’s unanimous passage and the Senate’s eventual passage by substitute after an amendment. The Senate vote to table remaining legislation was close, suggesting some procedural friction, but the final substitute passed comfortably. The bill’s emphasis on student safety, practical life skills, and online harms likely contributed to generally favorable sentiment.
The main points of contention appear to be the bill’s scope and the policy choices embedded in the curriculum requirements. The digital literacy provisions go beyond basic internet safety to include artificial intelligence, social media effects, misinformation, cyberbullying, trafficking, and age verification, which may raise concerns about implementation burden or curriculum content. The financial literacy section’s explicit focus on gambling risks and its prohibition on school relationships with gambling-related entities could be seen as either a necessary consumer-protection measure or an overbroad restriction on outside materials and partnerships. The addition of firearm safe-storage materials may also be a sensitive issue for some lawmakers, though the available vote history suggests the bill ultimately retained enough support to advance.