by Georgia Center for Opportunity | Jan 19, 2018
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 our eye on a couple of key school choice bills that could shuffle through the process quickly.
Here are two important pieces of legislation that we hope will (finally) get the traction they deserve in the State House and Senate.
Tax Credit Scholarship Expansion
No child should be denied the opportunity to seek out the education they need because of an arbitrary government roadblock, but that’s exactly what’s happening to thousands of Georgia students.
The state currently offers limited access to a popular tax credit scholarship, allowing only a small number of families an opportunity to seek out the right education for their children. However, a low cap on donated funds has meant that generous contributors- and students the program is supposed to serve- have been turned away by the state because of over-demand.
Lawmakers are said to be considering raising the program’s $58 million ceiling, which would lift barriers for many more Georgia children. Because the kids waiting in line for scholarships can’t afford another year in the wrong classroom, we’re urging the legislature to waste no time in passing an expansion of the tax credit scholarship bill.
Education Savings Accounts
Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) aim to provide needed flexibility and customized education options for Georgia parents. Similar to Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) or Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), under an ESA, the state would put money into a restricted account for education expenses that parents would control.
While there are several versions of the legislation that seek to fit the needs of different families-such as those in the military or those with children who have disabilities- the passage of nearly any of these bills would make a big impact in the lives of many Georgia parents.
The Georgia Center for Opportunity is committed to removing barriers for our state’s kids so that they receive the education they need. While the legislature will have their hands full, we hope they agree that bills benefitting children and their families should stand out among their highest priorities. To follow the progress of these bills with us, check back on our blog or subscribe to the GCO’s newsletter.
by Georgia Center for Opportunity | Nov 22, 2017
As lawmakers prepare to head back to the Capitol in January, Georgians have now received a glimpse of some issues that might move the needle in the 2018 election cycle. A new study released by the Georgia College Department of Government and Sociology finds that parents are increasingly looking toward school choice options as approval for public schools is suffering.
When asked about their level of satisfaction with public education, only 9.9 percent of respondents said they were strongly satisfied with public schools. However, a staggering 30.3 percent of respondents said they were “very dissatisfied” with their kids’ school.
However, parents seem to see a clear alternative. According to the report, 59.8 percent of respondents expressed support for charter schools.
The Georgia State survey is another clear indication that Georgians want more educational options for parents. In January, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution released a poll finding that 61 percent of voters supported school choice legislation. In May of 2016, a whopping 75 percent of GOP primary voters said they believed the state should empower parents through school choice.
Elected officials will be faced with significant legislation in the 2018 session that could enable greater access to quality public education. Bills that would create Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) and expand the popular Tax Credit Scholarship program will be up for consideration.
You can view the full report here.
by Georgia Center for Opportunity | Sep 29, 2017
Earlier this month, Apple made waves by introducing the iPhone 10. Since being unveiled, the updated smartphone and several other new products have received praise as the latest credit to Steve Jobs’ tech legacy.
Years following his death, Americans still remember the Apple founder’s dedication to forward progress. While he is regarded as a visionary leader in the tech industry, many are unaware that his contribution to education innovation has also created lasting interest.
Jobs, adopted into a blue-collar family, long touted the importance of robust school choice.
“Equal opportunity to me, more than anything, means a great education,” Jobs once said in a 1995 interview with the Smithsonian Institution.
“I believe very strongly that if the country gave each parent a voucher for $4,400 that they could spend at any accredited school, several things would happen,” he later said. “Number one, schools would start marketing themselves like crazy to get students. Secondly, I think you’d see a lot of new schools starting…. I believe that they would do far better than any of our public schools would. The third thing you’d see is… the quality of schools again, just in a competitive marketplace, start to rise.”
His dream for unlocking potential in the education system didn’t stop there.
Prior to his death, Jobs began exploring options to digitize classrooms and make expensive learning materials, like updated textbooks, more affordable and accessible through technology. Imagining learning environments with greater flexibility and creativity, he also advocated for less bureaucracy and more teacher autonomy over curriculum.
Like with the newest version of his iPhone, Jobs may not have lived long enough to see his dream of educational choice for all become a reality, but his ideas continue to inspire leadership and progress toward a day when each child has meaningful education options.
by Georgia Center for Opportunity | Aug 22, 2017
Advocates for school choice have long argued that charters encourage higher performance among all public schools. But is it possible that local students could benefit from the presence of a charter school even if they never go to school there? According to a recent study, the answer is yes.
In New York City, Temple University Professor Sandra Cordes found that the establishment of charter schools had a positive impact on the educational quality of the area.
According to Cordes’ research, charters drove up overall reading and math scores of traditional public schools, and also reduced the number of students held back a grade by as much as 20 to 40 percent.
In an interview with the Atlantic, Cordes explained that competition was the main catalyst for improvement.
“I think having that close a proximity might really get administrators to get their act together,” she said.
Parents could also see the difference in their kids. Moms and dads surveyed as part of the study claimed seeing “significantly higher student engagement.”
Cordes’ findings are soon to be published in the journal Education Finance and Policy. You can read her peer-reviewed study here, or check out the Atlantic article here.
by gaopp | Aug 10, 2017
As children across the state are returning for a new school year, Georgia’s legislators are being featured on digital ads because they voted in favor of school choice.
The Georgia Center for Opportunity released a Legislative Report Card earlier in the summer which assigned letter grades to state lawmakers according to their support for school choice legislation appearing before them during the 2017 session.
Those who have strong records in favor of giving students and families more education options are now the recipients of digital ads thanking them for putting students first. The digital ads are running over the course of the next two weeks within each senators’ and house members’ district.
School choice has proven itself not to be a party issue, as lawmakers from both parties support parental choice options. Those with “A” grades featured in the ads are: John Albers (R-Roswell), Mike Glanton (D- Jonesboro), Marty Harbin (R-Tyrone), Hunter Hill (R-Atlanta), Burt Jones (R-Jackson), William Ligon (R-Brunswick), Josh McKoon (R-Columbus), Fran Millar (R-Atlanta), Chuck Payne (R-Dalton), David Shafer (R-Duluth), Jesse Stone (R- Waynesboro), Valencia Stovall (D-Forest Park), and Michael Williams (R-Cumming).
by Georgia Center for Opportunity | May 25, 2017
Earlier this month New York Times columnist David Leonhardt joined the nationwide conversation with his article — “School Vouchers Aren’t Working, but Choice Is”—tackling the crucial issues of charter schools and vouchers in the broader school choice debate.
Mr. Leonhardt is right on point when he writes that charter schools “have the potential to help a lot of poor children in the immediate future.” Indeed, school-age kids have no time to spare when it comes to academics. Falling behind a few months in any grade can put them permanently behind.
Unfortunately, while we praise Mr. Leonhardt for acknowledging the many triumphs of charter schools, his analysis of the success of parental choice vouchers, which grant tax dollars to families to allow their children to attend private schools, falls short of the mark.
There are several glaring shortcomings with the study cited by Mr. Leonhardt. Conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, the study examined voucher use among public schools in the District of Columbia. Mr. Leonhardt uses the study’s findings to repeat a number of myths surrounding the question of parental choice vouchers.
First, Mr. Leonhardt praises random lottery selection for public charter schools and claims a major flaw in voucher programs is the ability of private schools to choose only the best students. But he fails to acknowledge that the voucher students examined in the Department of Education study received vouchers by winning a random lottery as well—the same way students get into public charter schools.
Secondly, the study only measured student performance after one year. Anytime a child shifts to a new education environment, the initial disruption frequently stunts test scores in the short term—partly due to a more rigorous curriculum and higher standards than the school they came from.
Students generally don’t switch schools unless there is a need, so those receiving vouchers or other forms of choice are usually already playing catch-up academically—and are doing so in a new school environment.
Along the same lines, the study compared apples to oranges by failing to track and evaluate these students before they switched to a new school via a voucher. Many students seek a different school environment—be it a public charter school or a private school through a voucher—because they aren’t learning well in their current environment.
Academic performance is best measured over a longer period of time. At a minimum, students should fully transition to a new school climate before measurements take place. In order to reach an accurate conclusion, a study would need to measure the same students before receiving a voucher and after—not just comparing to a control group that remained in public schools.
And finally, this point is crucial to remember: The D.C. voucher program is only one of many across the nation. So the research must be reviewed as a whole before declaring the whole idea of school choice vouchers a failure.
We commend Mr. Leonhardt for acknowledging the numerous successes of charter schools in helping students and families. And we applaud him for encouraging opponents of school choice “to look at the full evidence with an open mind.” But we also encourage Mr. Leonhardt to take his own advice by keeping an open mind on private-school choice through vouchers, even as he urges progressives to do the same with public charter schools.
All of us would do well to remember that education policy is not a zero-sum game. We need to stay focused on what kids need most—immediate access to a quality education.
