NEWS & OPINIONS
Randy Hicks Addresses Compassionate, Commonsense Welfare Reform on FoxNews.com
President Trump recently signed an order aiming to streamline welfare in the U.S., which is leading lawmakers to take a deeper look at the many programs that make up the complex system. It's a positive first step, as the current structure reinforces dependency and...
The federal government is tackling welfare reform, and Georgia needs to follow
You’ve probably heard the old adage, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day … Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” And while this nugget of age-old wisdom seems like common-sense compassion to most folks, in reality most governmental welfare...
Session Wraps With Two Key Victories for School Choice
Expanded education options will soon be available to thousands of Georgia families, thanks to two measures approved in the closing hours of the General Assembly’s session last week. The last-minute approvals came at a time when school-choice advocates were losing hope...
Time is Running Out to Expand Tax Credit Scholarships
As Georgia’s 2018 legislative session marches to a close this week, will lawmakers act to expand Georgia’s Tax Credit Scholarship Program? Legislation pending in the state Senate, if passed, would yield huge benefits for families in desperate need of educational...
School Choice Expands the ‘Success Sequence’
According to scholars, America is increasingly becoming a society polarized between higher- and lower-income people. Whereas until recently a majority of Americans were considered middle class, now good jobs for those who only have a high school diploma are rapidly...
Will Georgia continue to be a leader in school choice?
With more than 17,000 students enrolled in scholarship programs, Georgia is a leader in educational opportunity, according to the 2016-2017 School Choice Yearbook put out by the American Federation for Children (AFC). In fact, the Peach State is seventh in the country...
Report: Atlanta’s charter schools are more cost-effective than traditional public schools
Do public charter schools deliver results in a more cost-effective way compared to traditional public schools? That’s the question addressed by a recent research report from the University of Arkansas (PDF download). The answer, it turns out, is unequivocally yes....
Will Georgia become the seventh state to pass Education Savings Accounts?
On Monday, lawmakers in the Georgia House Ways and Means Committee overwhelmingly passed House Bill 482, a measure that would make Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) a reality in the Peach State. Representatives Paul Battles (R- Cartersville), Allen Peake (R- Macon),...
The Marriage Toolbox
It’s National Marriage Week, so it’s a great time to take an inventory of your marriage. Here are some tools to help you more fully engage with your spouse and help strengthen your marriage. Do you know your love language? If not, or it’s been awhile, take the online...
Marriage is the Greatest Weapon of Our Time
Since the 1970s the marriage rate has gone from 80 percent of adults being married down to 52 percent. This rapid decline in marriage has caused an upward spike in the number of single parents living in poverty. How do we as a community combat this negative spiral...
A “bullet-proof” school choice bill
Georgia lawmakers are poised to consider several bills that would make education savings accounts (ESAs) a reality for students in our state. ESAs empower families with the option of leaving their local public school and choosing an educational option that better fits...
Two major school choice bills to keep an eye on for the 2018 legislative session
With much ceremony, the Georgia General Assembly kicked off the 2018 legislative session last week. Thanks to election-year buzz, candidates have fueled talk of big education reforms that could see needed movement. Because this session is expected to fly by, we have...
MEDIA MENTIONS
New federal budget report boosts $15-an-hour minimum wage | GEORGIA RECORDER
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office in a report Monday found a gradual increase to a $15 federal minimum wage by 2025 would reduce poverty, add $54 billion to the deficit over a decade and increase pay for millions of low-income workers. The report could help...
Broadband expansion gives Gov. Kemp rural toehold | 11ALIVE
Internet access in rural areas has been a problem for years – the pandemic only magnified the challenges. The issue could make or break Kemp's re-election next year... "It's tied directly into economic development," said former state Rep. Buzz Brockway, who now...
Study: Education savings account program in Georgia could result in nearly $16B in long-term benefits | CROSSVILLE CHRONICLE
Giving parents the ability to choose what school their children attend could save Georgia taxpayers money and generate billions of dollars in economic benefits, according to a new study. Released this week by conservative think tank the Georgia Public Policy...
Study: Education savings account program in Georgia could result in nearly $16B in long-term benefits | THE CENTER SQUARE
Giving parents the ability to choose what school their children attend could save Georgia taxpayers money and generate billions of dollars in economic benefits, according to a new study. Released this week by conservative think tank the Georgia Public Policy...
Welcoming Dr. Cayanna Good to the Georgia Center for Opportunity board of directors
Welcoming Dr. Cayanna Good to the Georgia Center for Opportunity board of directors The Georgia Center for Opportunity team is thrilled to announce that Dr. Cayanna Good, assistant commissioner of adult education for the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG), has...
Infrastructure investment essential to economic mobility | THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE
Georgians believe strong political leadership on transportation issues is a critical component of our economic success. According to polling from the Georgia Transportation Alliance, 93% of Georgians use automobiles as their primary source of transportation, 43%...
A true second chance | THE LAGRANGE DAILY NEWS
In July 2020, I wrote a column about Senate Bill 288 (SB 288). At the time, the governor ended up signing the bill that can help many Georgians remove the stigma of having a criminal conviction... More than 4 million Georgia residents had a criminal record in 2016,...
Agency puts families first in new effort to build resilience | AJC
Just before the COVID-19 pandemic would come to bear down upon us, DePriest Waddy was sitting in his office at Families First when a mother and father stopped in with their two young sons in tow. There’s no polite way to put this, but they were a mess... They won’t do...
