THE ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION — A Senate version of legislation that seeks to control classroom discussions of race would no longer affect Georgia’s public colleges and universities. In addition, K-12 school districts would no longer face financial penalties for violating the provisions in Senate Bill 377. The Senate Education and Youth Committee made those amendments Monday before advancing the bill in a 5-4 vote. The legislation now goes to the Senate Rules Committee before a possible vote on the Senate floor. In its new form, it would apply only to K-12 classrooms and to training for state government employees. Last week, the Georgia House of Representatives adopted House Bill 1084 with similar classroom prohibitions. The bills come in the wake of national outrage over the notion that teachers are promoting the college-level academic concept known as critical race theory, which is used to examine the effect of racism on society. Critics say the legislation would hinder the teaching of history, but the bills’ sponsors say that is not their intent.