State senators on the special committee studying the impacts of social media and artificial intelligence on children said they will file bipartisan legislation to regulate tech use in schools. 

Senators on the committee said they will recommend extending the state’s cellphone ban to high school students, limiting the use of AI in schools to administrative tasks only, and strengthening recess and learning through play recommendations. 

State Sen. Ed Setzler said the regulations would help parents.

“The best we have among us feel powerless in the face of the conditions that exist today in our culture,” he said. “To do nothing about that, to turn a blind eye to that, is to be derelict in our duties.”

State Sen. Sally Harrell, the co-chair of the committee, said that legislation will also include regulations around technology that makes video games addictive. 

“They’re fighting a losing battle because what these the products these children are using are so incredibly addictive that if you try to intervene as a parent it causes all kinds of issues between the child parent relationship that can get quite painful,” she said. 

Senators also discussed privacy laws around social media and AI. They’re recommending legislation to minimize how technology companies can use minors’ data, and prohibit them from using minors’ geolocation data. 

Regulating AI chat bots was another top priority, senators said. They plan to recommend that minors be unable to access chatbots, and they want stronger privacy laws about using someone’s likeness in an AI chatbot. 

Committee members also discussed an idea that would link children’s phones with their parents’ phones, requiring the child to get parental approval before opening an app. 

Senators can introduce the legislation in January at the start of the legislative session.

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University officials honored the former president and first lady at a renaming ceremony inside the school of public policy Thursday. 

The Carters’ grandson and Georgia Tech alum Josh Carter said the renaming is an honor for his family. He hopes students at the newly-named school will keep his grandparents’ legacy in mind.

“When you have that humanitarian focus and you craft public policies with that focus, you’re going to improve society,” he said. “So as long as this school keeps my grandparents as a North Star, we’re going have some amazing leaders come out of this building.”

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy Chair Cassidy Sugimoto said that she’s proud of the multi-year renaming project. 

“It amplifies what we do,” she said. “Having the name of the Carters on our school reminds students of why we should be here, the kind of principles that we should espouse as we build pathways to policy careers.”

Former President Carter studied at Georgia Tech in 1942 before transferring to the Naval Academy.

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Thousands of federal workers in Georgia will need to figure out how to make ends meet while they are going without a paycheck until the federal government reopens. 

The federal government shut down at midnight Wednesday after Democrats and Republicans in Congress failed to reach an agreement to fund the government that included significant cuts to the Affordable Care Act.

Many workers, like Peter Farrugia, who works in the chief operating officer’s office at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, say they are living paycheck to paycheck. Still, Farrugia said he is behind the shutdown.

“Personally speaking, I’m supportive of a government shutdown if it means that the American public, millions of Americans, don’t get taken off into their health care,” he said. 

One option for workers going without a paycheck could be filing for unemployment insurance, Georgia Labor Commissioner Barbara Rivera Holmes said. 

“There are certainly personal decisions that furloughed workers will have to make, but it’s important for us,” she said. “Share that there are resources available.”

Assistance for filing for unemployment insurance is available on the Georgia Department of Labor website. 

The employees will have to pay the benefits back once the shutdown ends and they receive backpay, but the benefits can help them make ends meet while they are not being paid.

The Department of Labor can also help connect job-seekers with private sector positions in the state.

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Deputy Superintendent for Assessment and Accountability Alison Timberlake said proficiency rates improved for most subjects.

“Results increased or held steady on 13 of the 20 assessments we administer in English language arts, mathematics, science and social studies,” she said.

The number of students reading at or above grade level increased, but the overall English language arts assessment yielded more mixed results. 

Meanwhile, math test results showed improvement from 2024 to 2025 in all grades other than third grade, which showed a 1% decrease. Officials attribute the improvement to the implementation of new standards. Social studies and science results showed the most consistent improvement. 

Georgia Milestone tests are given to public school students from third grade through high school to assess proficiency in the subject at the end of the year or course. 

The Department of Education (DOE) is hoping to build on this year’s gains by providing training to teachers on the science of reading and a free universal reading screener to all school districts. The new reading initiatives are part of a recent push from the state legislature to dedicate more resources to literacy. 

The DOE is also continuing to place literacy coaches in high-need schools. The program began last year, and schools with the coaches saw student improvements in reading screeners. 

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Duncan’s official switch could signal that he no longer has hope in the Republican Party, University of Georgia professor Charles Bullock said, and that message could resonate with other political moderates.

“It’s not going to have any impact on Trump followers, but on individuals who generally still think of themselves as Republicans, but have a hard time supporting for Donald Trump or providing support for, obviously, candidates closely associated with Donald Trump, they might then cue off of what Geoff Duncan has done here,” he said. 

The former lieutenant governor publicly backed Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024 and criticized President Donald Trump while still identifying himself as a Republican. 

Duncan was elected lieutenant governor in 2018 as a Republican and did not run for reelection in 2022. The state Republican Party expelled him at the beginning of this year.

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