State Rep.

Kathy Cox joined her colleagues on the floor of the Georgia General Assembly

Monday, prepared to introduce several new bills and fulfill her duties

on the Education, Industry, and Health and Ecology committees.

Among her first

orders of business was the nomination of Rep. Lynn Westmoreland to be

minority leader, a colleague she calls "very personable" and

someone who is "open to new ideas."

Cox, who is

entering her second term of office representing District 105, lives in

Peachtree City with her husband, John, and two sons, and teaches social

studies at McIntosh High School.

This term,

Cox predicts there will be a reassessment on several key issues contained

in House Bill 1187, the A+ Education Reform Act, which was passed in the

Legislature last year.

One of those

items will be getting parapros, or teachers' aides, back in the classroom.

"There will also be a real emphasis on accountability and school

construction," Cox said.

She is particularly

concerned about the gradual implementation of of HB 1187 and how it will

affect students in the classroom.

A bill to encourage

driver's education is one of several pieces of legislation Cox plans to

introduce in the months ahead. "We need to find ways to facilitate

public and private partnerships," she said. One tenet of the bill

will call for a tax credit for employers of teenage drivers who pay for

driver education classes for their young employees.

Cox sees water

quality and quantity as being a contentious area of debate in the months

ahead. "This will affect the whole state. The Flint River Basin is

one of the areas targeted for the whole coordinated effort," she

said.

The Flint River

is a source for Fayette County's water supply. According to Cox, "In

terms of quality, Fayette County has a pretty good track record."

In terms of quantity, the amount drawn from the river can have an impact

as far away as Albany. The impact future development may have on water

quantity and quality are two issues facing heated debate, she noted.

Cox also plans

to introduce a child protection bill, which would provide an intermediate

level of protection for children in possible danger.

"Georgia

does not have a child endangerment statute," Cox said. She wants

to draft a measure to hold parents or guardians accountable for the welfare

of a child.

Cox gave an

example of the Atlanta grandmother who forgot her young grandson was in

her car and proceeded to leave him in an overheated car last summer, ultimately

resulting in the child's death.

"Clearly,

there is a gap in this state in not protecting our children," Cox

said.