Senate Bill 233, The Georgia Promise Scholarship Act, passed the Senate Education Committee

Senate Bill 233, The Georgia Promise Scholarship Act, passed the Senate Education Committee

Education media statement header

Senate Bill 233, The Georgia Promise Scholarship Act, passed the Senate Education Committee

 

Senate Bill 233, The Georgia Promise Scholarship Act, passed the Senate Education Committee today in a 6-5 vote. Funded by the state in the amount of $6,000 per student for each school year, Promise Scholarships would allow families to find the right fit for their students’ education. Scholarships could be used on any approved education expense, such as private school tuition, tutoring, homeschool curriculum, virtual classes, college classes, therapies (for kids with special needs), technology, and more.

Georgia Center for Opportunity’s (GCO) take: “Too many times, education access in Georgia is limited to families of means, but every child deserves access to a quality education. Promise Scholarships would help create this opportunity,” said Buzz Brockway, vice president of public policy for GCO. “Public education is the right choice for most families, but for a growing minority of students, an alternative is what’s best. We can, and should, support all options.” 

March 2023 Update on SB 233, The Georgia Promise Scholarship Act: 

  • Georgia Senators passed Senate Bill 233 after a floor vote on February 26, 2023. The bill must pass the House of Representatives before the end of March 2023 to receive the Governor’s signature and become law.
  • The bill was amended by the Senate to limit eligibility to students in the bottom-performing quartile of public schools (F-graded schools and some D-graded schools), based on the Georgia Department of Education’s evaluation. 
  • Funded by the state in the amount of $6,000 per student for each school year, Promise Scholarships would allow parents of students in failing schools to seek out a better education option for their kids. 
  • While the most effective education savings account programs are universal (open to every public school student), the Promise Scholarship Act is an important and positive step toward shaping an education system that gives every Georgia kid better access to quality education. 

 

Have more questions about SB 233? Check out our full explainer on The Georgia Promise Scholarship Act.

 

“Public education is the right choice for most families, but for a growing minority of students, an alternative is what’s best. We can, and should, support all options.”

“Public education is the right choice for most families, but for a growing minority of students, an alternative is what’s best. We can, and should, support all options.”

Georgia Senate again pushes $6,000 school voucher bill

Georgia Senate again pushes $6,000 school voucher bill

In The News

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.

Georgia Senate again pushes $6,000 school voucher bill

Georgia Senate again pushes $6,000 school voucher bill

In The News

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.

GCO applauds introduction of Promise Scholarship bill

GCO applauds introduction of Promise Scholarship bill

Education media statement header

GCO applauds introduction of Promise Scholarship bill

The Georgia Center For Opportunity is thrilled to support new legislation introduced in the Georgia General Assembly creating Promise Scholarship Accounts. Georgia State Senator Greg Dolezal is the primary sponsor of Senate Bill 233, The Georgia Promise Scholarship Act.

Funded by the state in the amount of $6,000 per student for each school
year, Promise Scholarships would allow families to find the right fit for their students’ education. Scholarships could be used on any approved education expense, such as private school tuition, tutoring, homeschool curriculum, virtual classes, college classes, therapies (for kids with special needs), technology, and more.

“A quality education levels the playing field for all Georgians,” said Buzz Brockway, GCO’s vice president of public policy. “Promise Scholarships would do that by giving eligible students the unique educational experiences that they need. All kids deserve a chance, including students who may need additional help or require a different learning environment. This bill gives a lifeline to students who are not currently served well by their local public school while having no impact on public school funding levels.”

“Our education system should ensure that all students have access to quality education, no matter their race, past mistakes, or circumstances of their birth.

This bill would be a huge step in that direction for kids in our state,” Brockway added.

 

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Buzz media statment
Georgia Senate again pushes $6,000 school voucher bill

Georgia lawmaker proposes state-funded education savings accounts

In The News

Georgia lawmaker proposes state-funded education savings accounts

Proposed legislation would allow Georgians to create state-funded education savings accounts.

Under Senate Bill 233, taxpayers would fund $6,000 per student per school year. Students could use that money to defray “qualified” education costs, including private school tuition.

The Georgia Center for Opportunity similarly lauded the measure, saying a “quality education levels the playing field for all Georgians.”

“Promise Scholarships would do that by giving eligible students the unique educational experiences that they need,” Buzz Brockway, GCO’s vice president of public policy, said in a statement. “All kids deserve a chance, including students who may need additional help or require a different learning environment. This bill gives a lifeline to students who are not currently served well by their local public school while having no impact on public school funding levels.

Georgia Senate again pushes $6,000 school voucher bill

Opinion: Increase choice as public schools can’t meet all kids’ needs

In The News

Opinion: Increase choice as public schools can’t meet all kids’ needs

OpEd Written by Corey Burres, VP of Communication

Unedited Title: Public Schools Are At the Heart of School Choice

As states like Utah and Iowa pass sweeping school choice legislation, it is important to understand no one is trying to defund public schools. The millions of American parents pleading with legislators across the country to open up educational options for their kids are not secretly hoping public schools go away. It’s a partisan myth that is dividing us on education and resulting in burnout and frustration for everyone.

I grew up riding the big yellow bus to my local public school. My kids spent most of their education in public schools. I’m thankful for public schools and the teachers who work so hard to educate and enlighten our children.

Public schools are immeasurably valuable.

It’s my respect for that value that makes me question why so many have politicized fear around educational concepts like school choice, charter schools and scholarship programs. We must face the fact that our education system is overwhelmed. There is no possible way an area public school can meet the diverse needs of every single student.

Yet that is exactly what many expect of them. We expect that public schools will be able to address the learning needs of kids with a wide array of abilities, physical and emotional needs and unique home and personal challenges. You can understand why teachers are leaving the profession in droves.

Imagine going to work with a lesson plan and knowing that five of your students will struggle because they have a diagnosed or undiagnosed learning disability, another five will have ADHD and struggle to focus and another five will be facing home issues and food insecurity. A teacher’s lesson plan is expected to get each of these different students to the same level of success. Add in that we are asking teachers to instruct or guide moral standards and you have a recipe for frustration and burnout.

But it’s not just about teachers. It’s about the kids getting a quality education. Let me be clear, quality education is not an input solely determined by great teaching but an output of what is learned. You can have the greatest teacher, but if the child isn’t learning, they aren’t receiving a quality education. Many years ago, I worked on filming a documentary on education called “Flunked.”

Then, like now, the United States was falling behind internationally, and we wanted to see if there were any schools doing something different. We traveled up and down the West Coast talking with schools that served low-income, inner-city students, schools in rural areas and others that focused on performing arts. As a young parent, it was fascinating and inspiring to see what was available.

Sadly, as I returned home, I faced a different reality for my family. The teacher assigned to my then-5-year-old daughter told my wife and I that our daughter was likely to be bored and not challenged. The local school simply couldn’t provide what she needed, and we were forced to find alternatives.

Thankfully, we had family and others who helped us collect the money necessary to get her into an option that would challenge her. Eventually, we moved and were able to get her back into a public school where she thrived.

But what about the many kids and parents who have no opportunity because they can’t afford it or live in the wrong district? Is quality education only promised to those who can pay up or live in the right ZIP code?

We are stressing public schools by expecting them to be all things to all kids and we are failing to deliver quality education. Even as school choice options become more mainstream across the country, we’re still clinging to the fear of public schools going away. Even the fear that public schools will suddenly be defunded is a myth with per-student funding actually going up over the last decade despite more options being available.

We need to look to innovation in education and stop fearing change. Keep public schools at the center while decreasing the stress on the system by creating alternatives. After all, what we all want is a great education for our kids.

Originally posted by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution