NEWS & OPINIONS
Georgia’s Failing Future
“Children of today are the leaders of tomorrow and education is a very important weapon to prepare children for their future roles as leaders of the community.” – Nelson Mandela The Georgia Department of Labor recently released a list of the state’s chronically...
Was Trump and Clinton’s Campaign Silence Regarding Family Fragmentation Golden?
In a recent project spearheaded by the Center of the American Experiment, Georgia Center for Opportunity's President and CEO, Randy Hicks, tackled the one topic even politicians and religious leaders are shying away from - family fragmentation. The written symposium...
It’s the End of Session, Will Legislators Help Struggling Students?
A large majority of Georgians support expanding school choice in the state, including more than 80 percent of African-Americans and Latinos. The numbers are astounding, and for good reasons. Georgia’s students continue to struggle in national measures of academic...
ESAs Could Ease Overcrowding in Georgia Public Schools
Education savings accounts could help Georgia lawmakers ease overcrowding in public schools, an ongoing challenge for some school districts. Legislators are considering bills that would allow students to use an account to choose how and where they learn, modeled after...
Choosing Between Family or Welfare Benefits
We know that to avoid poverty, it is essential to get a high school diploma, maintain a steady job, and marry before having children (see research from the Brookings Institution and Harvard University on these points). Not only are they key to avoiding poverty, upward...
Disappearing Act: How an Entire Class is Fading From America
While lower, middle and upperclass can be defined in various ways, a State of the States report, defined lower class as those who did not complete high school; middle class (or moderately-educated, as referred to in the report) as those who graduated high school but...
National Marriage Week – Celebrating the Indispensable Institution
National Marriage Week will be celebrated next week, just in time for Valentine's Day. The celebration is now in its eighth year and seeks to foster collaboration around the country to "strengthen individual marriages, reduce the divorce rate, and build a culture that...
Trending Today USA with Rusty Humphries: GCO’s Jamie Lord Discusses School Choice
GCO's Director of Government Affairs discusses school choice in Georgia with Rusty Humphries, host of Trending Today USA. For more information visit Georgia Parents Alliance or learn more through the GCO website.
New Report From Mississippi Finds High Levels of Satisfaction for ESA Families
Research evidence loves company. Consistent findings from different populations mean the results are less likely to be an accident and more likely to demonstrate a trend. A new report from Mississippi finds that parents using education savings accounts report high...
Private School Scholarships Save Money for Georgia Taxpayers
New research from EdChoice finds that Georgia’s scholarships for K-12 private school students have saved the state between $12 million and $85 million since 2011. Nearly two-dozen states have similar tax credit scholarship programs that allow individuals or businesses...
Be Careful What You Ask For
In 1952, Patrick Skene Catling wrote The Chocolate Touch, a retelling of the King Midas fable that reminds us we can have too much of a good thing. In Catling’s story, the main character finds that everything he eats turns to chocolate (with King Midas, everything he...
When Giving a Helping Hand Hurts – Part 2
Computational model exposes severe problems with the welfare system Previously, it was shown how a single mom with two kids in Gwinnett County could lose welfare program benefits by earning more money. This explained why $9 + $1 can equal negative $6,000. The Gwinnett...
MEDIA MENTIONS
Buzz Brockway joins GCO as VP of Public Policy
PEACHTREE CORNERS – On Tuesday, the Georgia Center for Opportunity (GCO) announced that Buzz Brockway, an outgoing state representative from Lawrenceville, has joined the group’s executive leadership team as Vice President of Public Policy. Since being elected to the...
2018 Georgia Legislator Scorecard on School Choice Now Available
When it comes to expanding educational choice for all students and families in Georgia, our state has a lot to celebrate this year. During the last legislative session, lawmakers took some crucial strides to help kids trapped in failing schools or stuck in classrooms...
GCO releases report card grading lawmakers on school choice support
33 state lawmakers recognized for outstanding support of school choice in 2018 PEACHTREE CORNERS – On Wednesday, the Georgia Center for Opportunity (GCO) released their 2018 Legislator Report Card, a scorecard recognizing state lawmakers according to their voting...
GCO welcomes Bill Rodgers as VP of new Employment Division
PEACHTREE CORNERS – On Wednesday, the Georgia Center for Opportunity (GCO) announced that Bill Rodgers, a seasoned C-level business executive with experience as a key leader of Fortune 500 companies like Johnson Controls and Waste Management, would oversee the...
Gwinnett Daily Post covers GCO event aimed at increasing college completion rates
Last week, the Georgia Center for Opportunity partnered with the Community Foundation for Northeast Georgia to host “Staying the Course in College”—a half-day community conversation at Gwinnett Technical College on the importance of completing college. Check out more...
New Study on Black Men Shows Improvement in Achieving American Dream
There’s an old saying that a rising tide lifts all boats. This seems to be true in today’s booming economy—with low unemployment rates at the state and national levels translating into historical lows in communities that often lag behind. For example, economic...
Tight job market calls for creative educational solutions
By now, you’ve probably seen the headlines and read the stories—America’s economy is booming. Just last month the national unemployment figures came in for May and the rate dipped to 3.8%—a level that ties a half-century low dating to 1969, and which economists...
Congress should end marriage penalties in the tax code and welfare system
By Erik Randolph, GCO Contributing Scholar Last December, President Trump signed into law changes to the federal income tax. One of the supposed achievements was the elimination of the marriage penalty. This is not entirely correct. I recently analyzed marriage...
