Sixteen pieces of legislation affecting public education in Georgia were passed by the General Assembly in the 1997 session. Eleven of the 16 are notable, and are discussed in this article. They include: (1) House Bill 567, the School Safety Act of 1997, which makes juvenile court records available to the schools and establishes alternative schools; (2) House Bill 180, Requirements for Transferring Students, which includes the exchange of information about student status in grade 7 or higher; (3) House Bill 681, the Teenage Driver Responsibility Act, which includes release of student information from the school system to the Department of Public Safety; (4) House Bill 383, Middle School Requirements, with an amendment allowing school security personnel to carry weapons; (5) House Bill 214, Flag Instruction; (6) Senate Bill 50, After School Program for Middle School Age Children; (7) Senate Resolution 72, a Driver Education Study Committee; (8) Senate Bill 25, State Superintendent Qualifications; (9) House Bill 165, Homestead Option Sales Tax; (10) Senate Bill 16, Plains High School Named Official State School; and (11) House Resolution 362, Civic Day Proclaimed. Education bills that are still under consideration can be grouped into the following categories: accountability, student attendance, certification requirements, charter schools, school choice, curriculum funding and quality-based education, school safety and the student code of conduct, home schooling, classroom size, taxation, and transportation. Georgia, in spite of recent educational improvements, still lags behind on a number of national comparisons. The state's educational standing in the future will have much to do with its continued success in boosting achievement of poor children who have usually not been served well by the schools they attend. (SLD)