Round two of

Gov. Roy Barnes' education reform package is now on the table, and legislators

are sorting through it to see what they like and what they don't.

Much of House

Bill 656, which Barnes introduced last week, is good, according to Rep.

Kathy Cox, a deputy House minority whip during the current session. It

corrects some problems in last year's bill, she said.

The new legislation

provides funding for paraprofessionals in kindergarten and extends the

Early Intervention Program, which helps students who are falling behind

their classmates. Currently available in kindergarten through third grade,

the program would reach up to fifth grade under the new bill.

Barnes has

also taken a Republican idea eliminating social promotion and embraced

it, according to Cox. Starting in 2002, the state would require students

in the third, fifth and eighth grades to achieve minimum scores on specified

tests to be promoted. Some provisions for special education students is

in the new legislation, along with an appeals process, Cox said.

While agreeing

with it for the most part, she is concerned that provisions are made to

provide services for students who cannot be promoted. She believes that

programs like Early Intervention and others, including an extra 20 days

of school per year for some students who need it to move up, will help.

The one part

of Barnes' bill that Cox is not pleased with is the proposed elimination

of exploratories in middle schools.

The current

middle school model, Cox says, gives 4.5 hours per day for core academics

and allows other time for exploratories art, music and other such classes

that students can be exposed to. Barnes has proposed extending the core

academic time to five hours per day, reducing common planning time for

teachers from 85 minutes to 55, and eliminating state funds for exploratories.

"If a

school system wants to maintain something like that, they'll have to do

it on their own" if Barnes has his way, Cox said.

The Republican

representative from Peachtree City, a teacher at Sandy Creek High School,

was selected for this term by longtime minority whip Earl Earhardt to

serve as one of about seven deputies. Her duties mainly consist of communicating

between House leadership and other members about pending legislation and

whatever legislators are working on, she said.