Facing Difficulties Due to Criminal Background

by Kimberly Sawatka | Jun 5, 2023

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

Facing Difficulties Due to Criminal Background

A bipartisan group of lawmakers made their case for school choice in Georgia, saying parents should have the opportunity to choose better schools for their children.

During this year’s session, Georgia lawmakers killed Senate Bill 233, the Georgia Promise Scholarship Act, a measure to create state-funded education savings accounts. Nearly all Democrats and a few Republicans voted against the measure.

It called for taxpayers to cover the cost of scholarships up to $6,500 per student per school year. The proposal would have allowed the families to use the money to defray “qualified” education costs, such as private school tuition.

Last week, the Georgia Center for Opportunity lamented Georgia lawmakers’ missed chance to expand educational opportunities for Peach State students with the failure of SB 233.

Read the full article here

Add South Carolina and Indiana to the list of states enacting nearly universal educational opportunity

by David Bass | Jun 2, 2023

Add South Carolina and Indiana to the list of states enacting nearly universal educational opportunity

Key Points

Indiana passed a scholarship program that will allow any family below 400% of the amount required to qualify for the federal free and reduced-price lunch program to access education scholarships.
South Carolina expanded their scholarship program with similar guidelines to those in Indiana.
Georgia failed to pass a transformative education scholarship program that would have positively impacted the lowest performing communities in the state.

The year isn’t even halfway over, and six states have already enacted laws that create universal educational access for all students in 2023.

In total, Iowa, Utah, Arkansas, Florida, and now South Carolina and Indiana have enacted either universal—or nearly universal—educational opportunity this year. That’s on top of Arizona and West Virginia, which did so in 2021 or 2022.

Each state has its own version of a scholarship or educational savings account that the state funds for children’s needs outside of traditional public school. For example, these types of accounts send a portion of each student’s public school dollars to allow the child to attend a private school of their family’s choice. In some cases, families who choose to homeschool their children can use the funds for educational expenses.

Indiana

Indiana is the most recent state to join that list. That state’s scholarship program will now be available to any family below 400% of the amount required to qualify for the federal free and reduced-price lunch program. That translates to a salary of around $222,000 a year for a family of four.

Previously, requirements were in place that further limited the program, such as it only being open to families with students previously enrolled in a public school or to children in the foster care system. Under the new law, only an estimated 3.5% of Indiana’s families won’t qualify for this option.

The Georgia Center for Opportunity led a state-wide campaign to educate parents and legislators on the positive impact that choice brings to public education.

South Carolina

Meanwhile, South Carolina governor Henry McMaster recently signed a bill into law that eventually expands that state’s scholarship program to families at or below 200% of F&R priced lunch as well. The program is more limited in scope than Indiana’s. It will only be available to 5,000 students the first year, 10,000 the second year, and 15,000 students the third year.

South Carolina’s program allows for the establishment of Educational Scholarship Trust Funds. Funds deposited in these accounts can be used not only for expanded school choice, but may also be used for special needs therapies, such as physical therapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy. Tutors and transportation may also be included for families caring for special needs students.

So, what happened in Georgia?

If the Georgia Legislative Session had passed Senate Bill 233, also known as the Georgia Promise Scholarship Act, it would have put $6,500 per student back into parents’ pockets so they could fund the best educational approaches for their children. The funds would have been eligible for use as private school tuition and public school alternatives, such as homeschooling.

According to the Georgia Department of Education, families who qualified would have had students enrolled into the lower 25% of schools in Georgia. This amounted to roughly 400,000 students.

SB 233 was a strong bill, passing the Senate with unanimous Republican support and going on to the House. Despite receiving no support from Senate Democrats, it’s excellent news that the bill made it so far through legislative proceedings.

The House vote proved to be tougher, with bipartisan representatives voting against it. Rep. Mesha Mainor of Atlanta was the lone Democrat in the House to vote in favor. On its final day of session, SB 233 was only six votes short of the 91 it needed to pass.

The good news is that the Georgia Promise Scholarship Act is eligible for reconsideration during the 2024 legislative session.

Looking to what’s next

Public schools are not the problem. We love and support public schools—they will remain the right and best choice for the vast majority of Georgia families. But we can love, support, and move public schools forward while expanding education into new areas.

Public education is a foundational and vital part of the success of American society, but an increasing number of families are looking toward alternatives—and their choices are just as valid. We must work to deliver quality education to all students, which means finding ways to support families who take a different schooling path. While many will access their education through public schools, not all kids are a perfect fit for that system, and they cannot be left behind.

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

by Rebecca Primis | Mar 14, 2023

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

Key Points

Georgia Senators have passed a bill (Senate Bill 233) that would create Promise Scholarship Accounts. The bill is headed to the House for a vote.
Funded by the state in the amount of $6,000 per student for each school year, Promise Scholarships would allow parents to find the right education option for their kids.
Eligibility is limited to kids 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.

The Georgia Senate has passed Senate Bill 233, the Georgia Promise Scholarship Act, which would expand education options in Georgia by creating education savings accounts. Georgia has a widespread problem of underperforming public schools and a growing parent demand for more education choice and flexibility. Promise Scholarships are a much-needed solution for expanding quality education for Georgia kids. Here’s what parents and voters need to know about Promise Scholarships.

What is SB 233, the Georgia Promise Scholarship Act?

The Georgia Promise Scholarship Act (SB 233) is a type of education choice program for parents and families. It creates promise scholarships, which are state-administered, state-funded accounts that would give families $6,000 per year and per student to use for approved education expenses. Another common name for this type of program is “education savings accounts.”

How would Georgia Promise Scholarship Accounts work?

Promise Scholarship Accounts would give families $6,000 per year and per student to use for approved education expenses. The state would set aside these funds into an account the parent can direct toward the education option(s) that best supports their child’s unique learning needs.

How is the Promise Scholarship amount determined?

Georgia Promise Scholarship amounts are set at $6,000, which is approximately the average per-pupil amount that the state sends to local school districts, based on Georgia’s current student funding formula.

What could Georgia parents do with a Promise Scholarship Account?

Unlike Georgia’s other school choice programs, Promise Scholarship Accounts give parents the flexibility to buy multiple education products and services to personalize their child’s education. Parents can use accounts to pay one or more qualifying education expenses:

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

Who can apply for a Promise Scholarship?

To apply and qualify, parents must be Georgia residents, and the student must be enrolled in a Georgia public school that the Georgia Department of Education ranks in the bottom quartile of school performance based on their annual assessment (schools receiving a “D” or “F” grade from the state). Children who are eligible for kindergarten or pre-kindergarten can also apply. Once eligible, a child remains eligible through the 12th grade.

Parents must agree to use the accounts only for qualifying educational expenses, and they cannot enroll their child in a local school system school, charter school, or a state charter school while participating in the program.

Do you qualify?
Use our interactive map to see which schools are in the lowest 25% of Georgia’s public schools.

Why does Georgia need the Promise Scholarship Act?

Georgia has a widespread problem of underperforming or failing public schools. Based on our state’s own evaluation of public school performance, at least 500,000 kids are stuck in schools that receive a D or F grade from the Georgia Department of Education.

Georgia, like many states, is experiencing a parent movement for more education choice and flexibility as frustration with a one-size-fits-all school system has grown since the pandemic. This program would give parents seeking alternatives more opportunity to customize their child’s education when the local public school is not the best fit.

The program would also benefit parents who are satisfied with their local public school. States with robust education choice programs achieve better outcomes for all students, including those in the public school system. Education savings account programs, in particular, have a track record of empowering public schools to improve their budgets, as well as student achievement.

Are Georgia Promise Scholarships the same thing as school vouchers?

No, Promise Scholarships and vouchers are two different types of parental choice programs. This question is a common one because critics of education savings accounts often call them “private school scholarships” or “vouchers by another name.” However, both descriptions are inaccurate and misleading.

School vouchers allow parents to use public education dollars for private school tuition only. Education savings accounts can be used for a wider range of education expenses, and they allow parents more flexibility to pay for multiple education services and products if desired.

Are Georgia Promise Scholarships the same thing as 529 plans?

No. With a 529 plan, the parents are responsible for contributing money to the account in order to save for their child’s education expenses. Promise Scholarships would be state-funded and would not require parents to contribute any of their own money. Parents can choose to use a Promise Scholarship Account for education savings, such as saving for college tuition, but the account doesn’t have the same tax benefits that 529 plans do.

The program is a major step toward expanding access to quality education for every kid in Georgia.

Do other states have education savings accounts?

Yes, ten states have adopted some form of an education savings account program: Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia. As of March 2023, Arkansas became the eleventh state to adopt ESAs.

In addition to Georgia, these other states are considering education savings account programs in 2023:

Idaho: Idaho’s Senate Education Committee passed a bill that would create an education savings account program for Idaho families. The bill is now headed to the Senate floor for debate and a potential vote.
Oklahoma: Governor Kevin Stitt recently endorsed education savings accounts to give Oklahoma parents at least $5,000 per child for schooling options. Two pieces of related legislation have been filed in the state senate.
South Carolina: The South Carolina Senate passed a proposal to create education savings accounts that would give up to 15,000 students $6,000 for tuition, transportation, textbooks, and internet access. The bill is now headed to the House of Representatives.
Texas: Governor Greg Abbott has made school choice a priority for the 2023 legislative session, and he’s calling for the state to adopt education savings accounts to increase parental choice.

Will SB 233 and Promise Scholarships take money away from Georgia’s public schools?

No. In fact, it’s possible for Georgia to fund both public schools and school choice programs at the same time. Promise Scholarships would give a portion of state per-pupil funding to parents. Remaining education dollars go back to public schools and can even lead to an increase in spending per-pupil public school spending.

That has been the case in Arizona, which has one of the longest-running and most inclusive ESA programs. Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Accounts award a total of $250 million ($7,000 per student), which amounts to 1.7% of the total $14.8 billion going to Arizona public schools in 2022-2023. Furthermore, for every ESA participant, approximately $600 is going back to Arizona’s public schools for teacher pay and other essential expenses.

Plus, while ESAs will be a good solution for certain families, many parents will continue to access education through their local public school. That means states will still need to prioritize sufficient funding for public schools.

Will the Promise Scholarship Act (SB 233) help low-income families?

Yes. One benefit of Education Savings Account programs is that they are one of the most equitable education choice methods out there. They give students from low-income families more opportunities to access schooling options that are often only available to families with greater financial resources.

Will the Promise Scholarship Act (SB 233) hurt homeschooling families?

No. There are no provisions in the proposed law that would prevent homeschooling families from continuing this schooling option. Instead, SB 233 could make homeschooling an even more feasible option because families who qualify could use an account to pay for curriculum, courses, tutoring, or other educational resources that would enhance their homeschooling experience.

Related Resources

Georgia students need more schooling choices (Georgia Center for Opportunity)

Now is the time to expand educational freedom in Georgia (Georgia Center for Opportunity)

The Public School Benefits of Education Savings Accounts (Goldwater Institute)

Why homeschool families should support ESAs or at least not oppose them (Goldwater Institute)

Seizing on Parents’ Frustration, GOP Governors Push for Education Savings Accounts (The74)

New survey finds majority of nation’s teachers and parents favor Education Savings Accounts (yes. every kid.)

GCO applauds introduction of Promise Scholarship bill

by David Bass | Feb 23, 2023

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.

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

by Kimberly Sawatka | Feb 15, 2023

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

New survey shows spike in misbehavior among K-12 students

by David Bass | Feb 7, 2023

New survey shows spike in misbehavior among K-12 students

Key Points

A new survey puts forward more evidence of increased social and behavioral problems among students in K-12 public schools arising from the pandemic.
Georgia parents need more education options for their children.
GCO is working to bring a new curriculum, called Raising Highly Capable Kidz (RHCK), to schools, nonprofits, churches, and other outlets across the state.

We’ve paid a lot of attention to learning loss arising from school shutdowns during the pandemic, and rightly so. The results of the latest Nation’s Report Card from the U.S. Department of Education, for example, show test scores in reading and math in public schools at their lowest levels in decades.

But there is another side to the cost of school closures that doesn’t get as much attention — the social side. Now, a new survey puts forward more evidence of increased social and behavioral problems among students in K-12 public schools arising from the pandemic.

According to the annual School Pulse Panel published by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute for Education Sciences, more than eight in 10 public schools “have seen stunted behavioral and socioemotional development in their students because of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The survey went on to find that “minor offenses, such as tardiness and classroom disruptions, are the most frequently cited illicit behaviors that have increased in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Here are some notable excerpts from the survey:

84% of surveyed public school leaders said the pandemic had “negatively impacted the behavioral development of students” in their schools
30% reported an increase in bullying as a result of the pandemic
33% reported physical attacks between students
36% reported threats of physical attacks or fights between students
49% reported a jump in student “rowdiness outside of the classroom (e.g., hallways, lunchroom)”
56% reported “classroom disruptions from student misconduct”
42% reported “use of cell phones, computers, other electronics when not permitted”
24% reported vandalism
11% of public schools reported an increase in physical attacks on teachers or staff members influenced by the pandemic
13% reported threats to injure a teacher or staff member
36% reported verbal abuse of teachers or staff members.

The Raising Highly Capable Kids model is built on an evidence-based program that teaches 40 developmental assets that reduce risky behavior in kids and teens. We are looking for partners to help bring this to our community.

Where to go from here

So, what are we supposed to do with this information? Here are three takeaways.

Learning loss is only part of the equation

We must remember that other factors are also at play beyond learning less when determining strategies to help students recover. Isolation, increased screen time, chance of physical or emotional abuse, substance abuse, and general anxiety over the direction of society are just some of the factors in play here. And the sad reality is that many of these negative trend lines were already in place for young people prior to the pandemic. The pandemic simply revealed and worsened them.

Georgia needs more options

The struggles students are facing in public schools underscores the need for a diverse menu of educational options, open and available to all families regardless of income or zip code. Every student deserves an education customized to his or her individual needs and aptitudes. This is why tools like an Education Scholarship Account are so important. An ESA in Georgia would empower parents to pick the best educational option — or the best assortment of educational tools — for their unique student.

In the last session of the Georgia Legislature, lawmakers fell short of passing ESAs in the form of Promise Scholarships, which would have allotted $6,000 a year for families to choose alternative educational approaches. The Georgia Center for Opportunity team is hopeful things will be different this session and that ESAs will finally become a reality.

Students in traditional public schools need help, too

Even as educational options expand in Georgia, the fact remains that most families will still choose their locally zoned public school. These students need help, too. That’s why GCO is working to bring a new curriculum, called Raising Highly Capable Kidz (RHCK), to schools, nonprofits, churches, and other outlets across the state. RHCK is a 13-week evidence-based parenting program developed to build stronger families by empowering parents with the confidence, tools, and skills they need to raise healthy, caring, and responsible children. The course works through 40 key development assets to help kids.

The GCO team will be working to roll out the RHCK curriculum across Georgia in the coming weeks and months, so stay tuned for more!