Georgia Senate again pushes $6,000 school voucher bill
Georgia Senate Republicans are again pushing a plan to give $6,000 educational vouchers to many students, part of a nationwide push for what supporters call education savings accounts following the COVID-19 pandemic. The movement is fueled in part by fights over race-related education and how to address gender issues in schools.
The Senate Education and Youth Committee voted 6-5 on Tuesday to pass Senate Bill 233, sending it to the full Senate for more debate. The bill must pass the Senate by Monday for the state House to take it up, or it will likely die for 2023.
Buzz Brockway, a former Republican state House member and chairman of the State Charter Schools Commission, told lawmakers that about 500,000 Georgia students attend schools graded “D” or “F” by the state.
“Those are the kids that need our help, and they need this bill,” said Brockway, who works for the Georgia Center for Opportunity, a poverty-fighting group.