Georgia unveils its newest private school choice program

by Kimberly Sawatka | Nov 22, 2024

Georgia news, in the news, current events, Georgia happenings, GA happenings

Georgia unveils its newest private school choice program

The Georgia Promise Scholarship was passed by the state General Assembly earlier this year. According to pro-school choice organization EdChoice, it joins two other private school choice programs in the state.

Eligible families can use the funds for private school tuition and fees, required textbooks, tutoring services, curriculum, physician/therapist services, transportation services and other approved expenses. Participating students must have attended a public school in the 2024-25 school year or be entering kindergarten for the 2025-26 school year.

Public school students will not be eligible to use the scholarship funding for tutoring.

Participating schools must be located in Georgia and:
* Be accredited.
* Be in operation for at least a year or submit financial documents.
* Comply with federal antidiscrimination policies.
* Test students annually and report assessment data.

According to the Georgia Center for Opportunity, a nonprofit that supports access to education for all, funding for the scholarship program is capped at 1% of public school funding and is expected to serve an estimated 21,000-22,000 students at most.

Read the full article here

Everything to Know About Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) in Georgia

by Georgia Center for Opportunity | Jun 3, 2024

Education savings accounts in Georgia empower parents to customize their child's education.

Everything to Know About Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) in Georgia

Key Points

Education plays a powerful role in breaking the cycle of poverty and helping children lead healthy, flourishing lives. Education savings accounts in Georgia are a solution to help more kids get the benefits of a quality education.
Georgia’s education savings account program is the Promise Scholarship. Starting in fall 2025, it will give eligible families $6,500 scholarships to access the education option that best meets their child’s needs.
Education savings accounts, or ESAs, in Georgia can have several positive impacts on communities, including better support for public schools, less crime, and greater upward mobility.

Education is an essential building block for a healthy, flourishing life. It has the power to break the cycle of poverty that can persist across generations.

When children from impoverished backgrounds receive a quality education, they’re more likely to escape poverty themselves and provide better opportunities for future generations.

Good education goes hand-in-hand with many other positive outcomes—like better jobs, higher personal income, valuable relationships, better physical health, and a longer life.

We all want these good things for children in our communities. Education savings accounts are one solution that Georgia can use to increase opportunity and prosperity for students who need it most.

What are education savings accounts?

Education savings accounts, also called ESAs, give parents a portion of state education funding that they can use to tailor their child’s education if traditional public school isn’t a good fit.

ESA programs expand education opportunity by giving parents greater flexibility and freedom in education choices. Whether a family prefers homeschooling, private schooling, or other alternatives, ESAs let parents access the best type of education for their child’s unique needs and interests.

The Georgia Promise Scholarship helps students in low-performing public schools access education options for their needs.

Get Started With Georgia’s ESA Program: The Georgia Promise Scholarship

Georgia is getting ready to launch Promise Scholarships in the fall of 2025. If you’re interested in enrolling your child, make sure you’re signed up to hear about next steps.

Get on the List for Updates

How do ESAs work?

To create education savings accounts programs, states must first pass a law. States then take a portion of what they would have spent on the student’s public school education and put it into a state-administered account.

Parents can use these funds for a range of education expenses—tuition, tutoring, homeschooling curriculum, educational therapies, online programs, or even a combination of educational services. States require parents to complete an application process to switch to an ESA.

What do families get from education savings accounts in Georgia?

Flexibility: ESAs let parents customize their kid’s education.
Financial Support: ESAs allow states to expand access to options that families may not be able to afford otherwise.
Empowerment: Parents can take charge of their child’s education journey with confidence.
Diverse Options: Parents can explore various educational paths that suit their child’s needs and interests.

What is Georgia’s ESA program?

Created in 2024, Georgia’s ESA program is the Georgia Promise Scholarship. It provides state-funded scholarship accounts that give eligible families $6,500 per student for each school year.

The program will be available starting in the 2025-2026 school year, and it will be limited to students in the lowest-performing public schools.

Georgia’s Promise Scholarship Explained
Find out what the program is, how it works, and which students will be eligible.

See the Promise Scholarship FAQs

Who do education savings account help in Georgia?

ESAs are for all kinds of students. Whether a child is struggling in school or has special learning needs, ESAs can help. Georgia’s ESA program, the Promise Scholarship, is specifically designed to help families who may not have the resources to access better opportunities.

Students in Underperforming Schools

Thousands of Georgia kids are stuck in public schools that have received a failing grade from the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement. To help these kids in particular, the Promise Scholarship will be for students in the bottom 25% of Georgia’s public schools. With an ESA, these students can access higher-quality education options that prepare them for successful careers and fulfilling lives.

Low-Income Students

Choosing a different school or educational path has often been a privilege for wealthier families. What about families that struggle to make ends meet?

With an ESA, low-income families can consider schooling options that may be out of reach otherwise. The Georgia Promise Scholarship makes sure these students are helped first. Available scholarships will go to families below 400% of the federal poverty level (around $120,000/year for a family of four). Any leftover funding can then serve students above that threshold.

Students With Special Needs

ESA programs are a lifeline for students who need support beyond what their local public school can provide. ESAs make it possible to access schools that are set up to help students who have unique learning needs and disabilities. ESA funds can also help pay for other essential resources like tutoring, therapies, and learning technologies.

Homeschooling Families

ESAs don’t just cover school tuition. They can pay for curriculum, online programs, and supplies, giving parents the option to fully customize their child’s education. This flexibility means that ESAs can help families who want to homeschool as an alternative to public or private schools.

What kind of impact could ESAs have on communities in Georgia?

Since Georgia’s ESA program, the Georgia Promise Scholarship, is new, it will be a few years before we know its exact impact on our communities. But we can get an idea from other states that have ESAs, including a couple of Georgia’s neighbors.

Better support for public schools: In 2011, Arizona became the first state to adopt ESAs. The state soon found that the program was helping to redirect state and federal dollars back to public schools where it could be used for teacher pay and operational needs.
Better outcomes for low-income students: Created in 2019, Florida’s ESA program is now the largest in the country. A November 2023 study of Florida’s education system looked at the impact of growing school choice. It found students of lower socioeconomic backgrounds—including those who stayed in public schools—experienced some of the greatest benefits.

Better economic opportunity and healthier societies: Tennessee is still working to expand its ESA program, but a study from the Beacon Center of Tennessee found that a statewide program could have incredible social impact. Their model predicted that Tennessee could have more high school graduates, higher overall personal income, less criminal activity and fewer felons, and $2.9 billion in economic benefits.

Do parents want education savings accounts in Georgia?

Overall, Americans are worried about the direction of public K-12 education.

Half of Americans think it’s moving in the wrong direction.
82% of teachers say the state of public K-12 education has worsened in the last five years.
Only 46% of school parents in Georgia think K-12 education is on the right track in the state of Georgia.

It’s not surprising, then, that Georgia parents are open to more school choice policies: 76% of Georgia school parents say they’re in favor of an ESA program.

A majority of school parents in Georgia think it's a good idea to have education savings accounts in Georgia.

What are common concerns about education savings accounts in Georgia?

Concern: ESAs take funding away from public schools.

Georgia communities don’t have to worry about this because state lawmakers are not using public school funding for the Georgia Promise Scholarship. Promise Scholarship funding is also not allowed to exceed 1% of public school funding. This set-up means public school funding is fully protected.

In general, more research is showing that, when states invest in school choice programs like ESAs, public schools benefit financially and academically. They have more per-pupil funding, less budgetary pressure, and better student outcomes.

Concern: ESAs favor wealthy families and don’t help kids who actually need the opportunity.

Quality education is a building block of a healthy, flourishing life, regardless of a family’s financial situation. ESAs are a tool states can use to ensure there’s more equality when it comes to education opportunities.

Even if an ESA program is universal—where every student is eligible—the students who gain the most opportunities are those most in need. Here in Georgia, our ESA program, the Promise Scholarship, limits eligibility to students in low-income households to make sure they get helped first.

Concern: ESAs are just another private school voucher.

Education savings accounts can be used for private school tuition but also for much more! Unlike private school scholarships, ESAs can be used for a wider range of education expenses—including tuition, tutoring, online programs, education therapies, curriculum, and textbooks.

Concern: ESAs don’t help families in rural areas.

Rural areas may not have as many schools to choose from, but thanks to the flexibility of ESAs, this doesn’t have to be a reason for states to avoid ESA programs.

Take Tanya Schlegel’s story, for example. Tanya is a mom of two kids with special needs living in rural Georgia. Despite her best efforts to work with the local public school, it just isn’t equipped to give special needs students the help they need. An ESA would give her the resources to homeschool and access specialized therapies so that her kids can have the type of education that matches their needs.

Georgia ESAs: Quick Facts

Georgia is one of 16 states with an ESA program.
10 states have universal ESA programs, meaning all students are eligible. Georgia is not yet one of them.
Georgia’s ESAs are worth $6,500 per student per school year.
76% of school parents in Georgia support ESAs.

Interested in Georgia’s ESA program?

Go here to sign up for updates as the Georgia Promise Scholarship gets up and running.

Other Schooling Options in Georgia

GCO applauds signing of Promise Scholarships bill, says more work needs to be done

by David Bass | Apr 23, 2024

GCO applauds signing of Promise Scholarships bill, says more work needs to be done

PEACHTREE CORNERS, GA—Today, the Georgia Center for Opportunity (GCO) applauded Gov. Brian Kemp and the Georgia legislature for ushering into law the Promise Scholarships bill that will bring much-needed relief to the over half-a-million low- and middle-income kids stuck in low-performing schools.

“We are thankful to Gov. Kemp and the many House and Senate lawmakers who recognized the urgency of the moment and advanced a bill to provide much-needed opportunity to bolster academic options,” said Buzz Brockway, GCO’s vice president of public policy. “Passing Promise Scholarships is a momentous milestone for tens of thousands of Georgia kids struggling in a system that doesn’t work for them. It recognizes that Georgia is a diverse state with a diverse set of needs for education. After years of work, this bill is a positive step toward shaping an education system that honors every child’s unique situation and prevents a lack of quality education from locking children and communities into poverty.”

Senate Bill 233 will make students from the lowest performing 25% of public schools eligible to receive $6,500 a year set aside in an account. Parents can then use the funds to cover approved educational expenses, including private school tuition, books, uniforms, and even transportation.

SB 233 also gives first priority to students from families below 400% of the federal poverty level — around $120,000 a year for a family of four. Students above that threshold will be allowed to participate if funds are left over after the lower-income students are served.

Promise Scholarships will serve an estimated 21,500 kids when the program goes live for the 2025-2026 school year.

Georgia now joins a growing list of states offering educational options for all students. In the Southeast, Alabama, Florida, and North Carolina have recently enacted universal Education Savings Account programs, while South Carolina is in the process of creating a universal program in the coming years.

“The urgency to create an education lifeline for kids can’t be overstated. Education is a basic need. Lack of access to quality options is a major cause of many of the ills in our society, including putting a cap on upward mobility. A lack of quality education locks children into poverty and prevents communities from thriving,” said Brockway.

Although GCO praised passage of Promise Scholarships, Randy Hicks, GCO’s president and CEO, cautioned that the bill is just a first step.

“Unfortunately, the final compromise bill was watered down in a number of ways that will limit its reach,” said Hicks. “Funding for Promise Scholarships is capped to 1% of public school funding and there is a 10-year sunset on the entire program. It’s a positive step that over 20,000 students will be eligible for educational freedom, that number is a drop in the bucket compared to the need. We will continue building on this foundation for the future so that all of Georgia’s schoolchildren have options.”

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Georgia Center for Opportunity (GCO) is independent, non-partisan, and solutions-focused. Our team is dedicated to creating opportunities for a quality education, fulfilling work, and a healthy family life for all Georgians. To achieve our mission, we research ways to help remove barriers to opportunity in each of these pathways, promote our solutions to policymakers and the public, and help effective and innovative social enterprises deliver results in their communities.

Learn More about SB233

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Georgia Passes Promise Scholarships and Expands Education Opportunity

by Buzz Brockway | Apr 23, 2024

Georgia's new education choice program, the Georgia Promise Scholarship, expands education opportunities for kids in low-performing public schools

Georgia Passes Promise Scholarships and Expands Education Opportunity

Key Points

Georgia lawmakers and Gov. Kemp have officially passed Senate Bill 233, which creates a new education option called the Georgia Promise Scholarship program.
Promise Scholarships will help students in low-performing public schools. Eligible students can receive $6,500 scholarships to access different education options that match their needs.
The program is a positive first step toward an education system that works for every Georgia kid. To make an even bigger difference, lawmakers should work toward opening up the program to all Georgia students.

On April 23, 2024, Governor Brian Kemp signed SB 233, the Georgia Promise Scholarship Act, into law. This education savings account program—the first of its kind in Georgia—will give parents access to $6,500 state-funded scholarships that they can use to afford the education option best suited to their child’s needs.

The Promise Scholarship Program empowers parents to give their kids quality education and brighter futures

Promise Scholarships will be state-administered, state-funded accounts that give parents $6,500 per year and per student to use for approved education expenses. The program will be available beginning in the 2025-2026 school year.

Parents can use these scholarships for a variety of education costs, including:

Tuition and fees for private schools, online classes, college courses, and vocational programs
Tutoring services
Curriculum and textbooks
Educational therapies
Technology, including adaptive or assistive technologies for students with special needs
Transportation costs

Because of this flexibility, Promise Scholarships allow parents to consider a wide range of options—from homeschooling to private schools to other unique combinations of education services.

“The best gift we can give our next generation is a quality education that opens the doors for new opportunities.” — Randy Hicks, GCO President & CEO

Promise Scholarship eligibility focuses on low- and middle-income students

SB 233 limits Promise Scholarship access to students enrolled in the bottom 25% of Georgia’s public schools, as ranked by the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement.

First priority will also be given to students from families below 400% of the federal poverty level—around $120,000 a year for a family of four. Students above that threshold will be allowed to participate if funds are left over after the lower-income students are served.

These parameters—plus the funding cap that SB 233 puts on the program—means that Promise Scholarships will serve an estimated 21,000-22,000 kids out of half a million that are stuck in low-performing public schools.

See all the student eligibility requirements here.

The Georgia Promise Scholarship is an important step for updating our education system

SB 233 is a good step toward giving Georgia families access to high-quality, diverse education options. With more education options, students will have even better opportunities to get an education that’s tailored to their needs and sets them up for success in today’s fast-changing world. But if Georgia is serious about investing in our communities, we must keep working to close the education opportunity gap for all of Georgia’s kids.

By passing SB 233, Georgia is catching up to neighboring states like Alabama, Florida, North Carolina that have already adopted education savings account programs.

While Georgia is starting out with narrow student eligibility, these other states are opting for universal ESA programs, opening access to all students. Georgia will need to be open to this model if we want to give our own students the best possible academic outcomes and opportunities for a flourishing life.

Thank you to Gov. Kemp and the lawmakers who recognized the urgency of the moment and passed Promise Scholarships to strengthen the key building block of education for thousands of kids across the state. It’s a momentous step toward a system where every child has access to quality education and a good life, regardless of income, race, zip code, or other life circumstances.

Learn more about the Georgia Promise Scholarship

The Georgia Promise Scholarship Act (SB 233): Questions and Answers (Georgia Center for Opportunity)

What is the Georgia Promise Scholarship? (Georgia Public Policy Foundation)

The Georgia Promise Scholarship (SB 233): What Private Schools Need to Know (Georgia Center for Opportunity)

Georgia Students Need More Schooling Choices (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Governor’s Signature on School Choice Bill Is Good First Step (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Georgia Governor Signs Bill to Launch ‘Promise Scholarships’ (Washington Examiner)

Promise Scholarships Cross Major Hurdle

by Corey Burres | Mar 14, 2024

Promise Scholarships would give Georgia students stuck in failing schools the opportunity to access schooling options better suited to their needs.

Promise Scholarships Cross Major Hurdle

Key Points

On March 14, 2024, the Georgia House voted 91-82 to pass Promise Scholarships (Senate Bill 233: The Georgia Promise Scholarship Act). The bill was confirmed in the Senate and signed into law on April 23, 2024.
SB 233 will create a much-needed education option for students zoned for a school ranked in the bottom 25% of public schools.
The Georgia House added parameters to the bill that reduce accessibility and set the bill to expire after 10 years. These issues will need to be addressed moving forward so that every child can have better opportunities to access quality education in Georgia.

On March 14, 2024, the Georgia House voted 91-82 to pass Promise Scholarships (Senate Bill 233: The Georgia Promise Scholarship Act). This bill is an important first step in extending an education lifeline to low- and middle-income kids in under-performing schools. While there is still much more to do as we press toward universal school access, we are thankful to the many House lawmakers who put the needs of kids above politics to advance this measure.

What’s in the Promise Scholarship Bill?

With these Promise Scholarships, students in the lowest performing 25% of public schools will be eligible to have $6,500 a year set aside in an account. These are the funds the state would have spent for their public school education. Under this bill, parents can direct the funds to cover approved educational expenses, including private school tuition, books, uniforms, and even transportation.

SB 233 also gives first priority to students from families below 400% of the federal poverty level—around $120,000 a year for a family of four. Students above that threshold will be allowed to participate if funds are left over after lower-income students are served.

To give public schools time to plan and adjust, public school districts will still receive state funding for a period of two years to cover any students leaving to participate in the program.

“Our job is not decide for every family but to support them in making the best choice for their child.” — Gov. Brian Kemp, 2024 State of the State Address

“Our job is not decide for every family but to support them in making the best choice for their child.”
— Gov. Brian Kemp, 2024 State of the State Address

Limits to Promise Scholarships

While we are thankful that the bill moved forward in the 2024 legislative session, the version of SB 233 passed by the House is watered down in significant ways:

It restricts eligibility and access: The bill caps the amount of revenue available to fund Promise Scholarships to not exceed 1% of public school funding. Even if parent demand maxes out the program, this amount only covers an estimated 21,000-22,000 kids. That’s 0.012% of Georgia’s public school student population, and only a fraction of the 500,000+ kids that are stuck in the bottom 25% of public schools.

It applies expiration dates: Unless a future legislative body evaluates the program and chooses to extend it, the Georgia Promise Scholarship program will expire in 10 years. In that decade, lawmakers will still have to vote annually to fund the program. These measures add a layer of uncertainty that makes it difficult to secure a future of success and opportunity for our kids.

A view of the Georgia State Capitol Building, a symbol of political and historical significance in Atlanta, Georgia

Curious how your representative voted on SB 233?
Georgia’s General Assembly puts the voting records online. Go to the legislature’s website to see the breakdown of support among state representatives.

See the Promise Scholarship votes

Student success is at the heart of Promise Scholarships

The passage of SB 233 can’t come soon enough. Georgia is now surrounded by states that are aggressively and urgently addressing the needs of the future generations by adopting education savings accounts, or ESAs, that are open to all students. Alabama, Florida, and North Carolina have recently enacted universal programs, while South Carolina is in the process of creating a universal program in the coming years.

ESAs, particularly universal ones, are good policy because kids need quicker solutions for accessing education options that will work best for them. We can’t wait on reforms that will take years or even decades to take hold. As we’ve seen before, increased funding is no guarantee that poor performing public schools will improve, much less improve quickly.

Every semester, our K-12 students have academic milestones they are supposed to hit. And we know that when they don’t achieve these goals, they are more likely to fall further and further behind their peers, putting themselves and their futures at risk.

SB 233 provides immediate help by making Promise Scholarships available beginning with the school year in 2025.

Education is a building block of a flourishing life. Without access to quality education in Georgia, our kids and our communities will continue down a path where success and opportunity are not open to everyone in the state. An increasing number of families are looking for alternatives, and we must work to provide opportunities that meets the needs of all students, not just a few.

It’s time for Georgia lawmakers to lead and pass legislation like the Promise Scholarships

by Kimberly Sawatka | Mar 7, 2024

Media statement, in the news, Georgia news, ga news

It’s time for Georgia lawmakers to lead and pass legislation like the Promise Scholarships

The Alabama legislature has passed a bill that phases in universal Education Savings Accounts over time. It now goes to the desk of Gov. Kay Ivey for her signature. The ESA will be worth up to $7,000 for each student to be used for approved educational expenses.

The Georgia Center for Opportunity’s (GCO) take: “Georgia is now on the cusp of being surrounded by states with universal school choice, or near universal school choice,” said Buzz Brockway, GCO’s vice president of public policy. “That means our state is now an outlier in the southeast when it comes to educational options. We shouldn’t be satisfied to maintain a status quo on this issue that leaves thousands of schoolchildren behind each year. It’s time for Georgia lawmakers to lead and pass legislation like the Promise Scholarships bill that expand educational opportunities across the state to students and families trapped in a system that doesn’t work for them.”

For more on the ways ESAs would help kids in Georgia, check out these resources: