Rule 506-2-.01 - Organization(1) The Commission. (a) Membership. 1.Composition. The Commission is composed of seventeen members as follows: four elementary school teachers, four secondary school teachers, one elementary school principal, one secondary school principal, two Local Superintendents, one representative of the State Department, and four professional educators who shall represent the educational profession at large.2.Qualifications. To be eligible for appointment as a member of the Commission, a person shall be a citizen of the United States and a resident of this State; be certified by the Professional Standards Commission for teaching in this State; except for the representative of the State Department, be employed in the public schools of this State at the time of appointment; and except for the representative of the State Department, have been employed as an educator in the public schools of this State for at least five years immediately preceding his or her appointment.3.Nomination. A panel of three nominees of each position on the Commission shall be submitted to the State Superintendent by the recognized state-wide professional educational organizations. From this submitted list of nominees, the State Superintendent shall recommend the appointment of an educator for membership on the Commission to the Georgia Board of Education, which shall appoint such nominee to the Commission for a term of three years. A Commissioner shall be eligible for reappointment, but no person shall serve on the Commission for more than two full terms.4.Oath. Immediately after appointment and before entering into their official duties, each member of the Commission shall take or subscribe to the following oath: I, ________________, a citizen of the United States and a resident of this State, and being an employee of ______________________ and the recipient of public funds for services as such employee, do solemnly swear or affirm that I am not the holder of any unaccounted for public money due this State; that I am not the holder of any office of trust under the government of the United States except postmaster, nor any one of the states, nor of any foreign state; that I am otherwise qualified to hold the office of member of the Professional Practices Commission according to the Constitution and laws of Georgia; that I will faithfully and impartially perform all the duties of office to which I have been appointed; that I will serve to the best of my ability the public interest in improving the teaching profession in Georgia, ever keeping the welfare and general good of students before me. I will observe and support the Constitution of the United States and the State of Georgia and all laws, rules, and regulations attendant thereon; and I will, in the performance of the office, commit myself to judge my colleagues and be judged by them in accordance with the provisions of law, regulation, and the rules of the Georgia Professional Practices Commission. So help me God.
5.Compensation. The members of the Commission receive no compensation for their services but shall be reimbursed for their actual and necessary expenses, as provided by law, incurred in the performance of their official duties and for mileage at the same rate as State officials and employees. A member of the Commission who is an employee of the State Department or of a local board shall be permitted to attend Commission meetings and perform other Commission duties without loss of income or other benefits. A Local Board which employs a member of the Commission and employs a person to replace such member during his or her performance of Commission duties or incurs other additional expenses as a result of such performance shall be reimbursed for the actual amount of expenses so incurred.6.Privileged Utterances. When acting in good faith in the course of their duties at meetings or hearings of the Commission, members shall be privileged in their utterances.7.Removal and Vacancies. The Commission may remove any Commissioner from office of neglect of duty, incompetency, or revocation or suspension of his or her certificate issued by the Professional Standards Commission or when such Commissioner ceases to be employed full-time as an educator in the capacity and position from which he or she was appointed. After such removal, or in the event of a vacancy due to death, resignation, or for any other reason, the State Board shall appoint a successor in the same manner as the predecessor was appointed to serve the unexpired term.(b)Officers. The members of the Commission shall elect from their number a Chairperson and a Vice-Chairperson both of whom shall serve two-year terms. The Chairperson shall preside at all meetings of the Commission and shall not vote in any matters except in the event of a tie. In the absence of the Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson shall preside and function as appropriate at any necessary meetings which the Chairperson would normally attend. The Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson shall be members of the Executive Committee.(c)Executive Committee. The Executive Committee shall be composed of five members; namely, the Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson, and three Commissioners, all of whom shall serve two-year Committee terms. Executive Committee members shall be elected by the members of the Commission in the last regularly scheduled Commission meeting of each calendar year. Staggered terms on the Executive Committee shall be provided. The responsibilities of the Executive Committee include, but are not limited to, making findings of probable cause in certain case investigations and making recommendations to the Commission concerning policy, budget matters, official opinions, agenda of meetings and giving appropriate consideration to all matters and case work coming before the Commission.(d)Standing Committees. For the purposes of efficiently carrying out its duties, the Commission shall be divided into committees as deemed necessary, and two shall be designated as Standing Committees. The Chairperson and the membership of the committees shall be appointed by the Chairperson of the Commission. It will be the duty of the committees to make recommendations to the Commission on matters referred to the committees by the Chairperson of the Commission. The following committees shall be Standing Committees:1.Interpretation Committee. The Interpretation Committee shall be composed of five members.2.Review Committee. The Review Committee shall be composed of three members and an alternate.(e) Meetings. 1.Time, Place and Date of Regular Meetings. The Commission conducts four regular meetings each calendar year or the second Friday of the months of March, July, October and December in the Offices of the Professional Practices Commission, Suite 2010, Building 20, Executive Park West, N.E., Atlanta, Georgia 30329. All regular meetings begin at the hour of 10:00 a.m. and are preceded by a meeting of the Executive Committee which meets at the same location at the hour of 8:30 a.m.2.Open Meetings Requirements. The Commission shall post notice of any meeting conducted by the Commission or its committees at its regular meeting place and will give due notice for any changes in regular meetings except under special circumstances which call for an emergency meeting. An agenda detailing the subjects acted upon and naming the members present at the meetings will be provided and made available to the public within two business days of adjournment of every meeting. Minutes will be promptly recorded and made available to the public once approved but no later than immediately after the next meeting.(2) The Executive Director and Staff of the Commission.(a)The Executive Director. The Commission shall employ an Executive Director who shall serve as the chief executive officer of the Commission. The Executive Director shall be an unclassified member of the State Merit System and shall be a member of the Employee's Retirement System of Georgia. All employer contributions to the retirement system and for social security for the Executive Director shall be paid from funds appropriated for the operation of the Commission. The Executive Director's initial year of employment shall be on a working test status, after which severance of work services by the employer shall occur only for just cause as determined by the Commission through the utilization of similar procedures detailed in O.C.G.A Sections 20-2-940, et seq.(b)The Staff. The Executive Director shall employ, subject to confirmation by the Executive Committee, such professional and clerical staffs may be necessary to administer and carry out the responsibilities and functions of the Commission. The professional and clerical staff shall have such titles and duties as may be assigned by the Executive Director and shall be members of the unclassified service of the State Merit System. The staff shall be members of the Employee's Retirement System of Georgia. All employer contributions to the Retirement System and for social security of such employees shall be paid from the funds appropriated for the operation of the Commission. All professional and clerical staff shall be on a working test during initial year of employment, after which termination of the employment relationship by the employer shall occur only for just cause as determined by the Commission through the utilization of similar procedures detailed in O.C.G.A. Sections 20-2-940, et seq.(c)Officers. The Executive Director of the Commission shall make provision for appropriate professional offices for himself/herself and the staff of the Commission. These offices are currently located at Suite 2010, Building 20, Executive Park West, N.E., Atlanta, Georgia 30329.(d)Consultants. The Executive Director may employ such consultants as he/she may deem fit for the execution of the responsibilities and functions of the Commission.(e)Hearing Officers. The Executive Director may employ such members of the State Bar of Georgia to serve as hearing officers as he/she may deemed fit for the execution of the responsibilities and functions of the Commission.(3)Relationship of the Commission to the State Board. The Commission, although appointed by the State Board on the recommendation of the State Superintendent, s an entirely separate and distinct governmental body designed to establish and uphold ethical and professional standards within the teaching profession. The Commission is assigned to the Georgia Department of Education for administrative purposes only. As such, the Commission is authorized to exercise its quasi-judicial, rule-making, or policy-making functions independently of the State Department without approval or control of the State Department; to prepare its budget and submit its budgetary request through the State Department; and to employ its own personnel. The State Department shall provide record-keeping, reporting, and related administrative and clerical functions for the Commission; and include in the departmental budget the Commission's budgetary requests as a separate part of the budget and exactly as prepared and submitted to the State Department by the Commission. The assignment of the Commission to the State Department for administrative purposes means only that the State Department shall be that department through which the Commission deals with the State. The Commission retains its separate identity as an instrumentality of the State. The State Department is authorized, only with the approval of the Commission, to perform for the Commission such functions as it requests.(4)Funding and Receipt of Gifts and Grants. The funds necessary to carry out the duties and responsibilities of the Commission shall come from funds appropriated to the Commission by the General Assembly of Georgia or otherwise made available to the Commission. The Commission may accept gifts or grants of funds or property or services from other source.(5)Rules and Regulations. The Commission is authorized to adopt such rules and regulations as it deems necessary. Its rules and regulations shall be adopted pursuant to and in conformity with the applicable provisions of the Georgia Administrative Procedure Act. The Commission shall, by regulation, adopt standards of performance and a code of ethics for educators.Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 506-2-.01
O.C.G.A. Secs. 20-2-790, et seq.; 50-14-1, et seq.; 20-2-200(a), 988(a).
Original Rule entitled "Organization" was f. May 5, 1989; eff. May 25, 1989.Amended: F. Apr. 7, 1994; eff. Apr. 27, 1994.