SCHOOL CHOICE IN GEORGIA
What does School Choice look like in Georgia?
Every child is different—which is why families should have a variety of options for educating their children. The goal of school choice is to ensure families have quality educational options regardless of their income, zip code, or the educational needs of their student.
Whether a student is best served by a traditional public school, public charter school, private school, online education, homeschool, or hybrid school, school choice ensures every student in every situation is given the tools to learn and grow.
What is the Georgia Center for Opportunity doing to strengthen school choice in our state?
The Georgia Center for Opportunity has been involved in the school choice movement for more than a decade. In recent years, we helped create and secure the passage of the Georgia Promise Scholarship, as well as Georgia’s Special Needs Scholarships and Tuition Tax Credit programs. In 2012, our work was instrumental in getting the Georgia Charter School Amendment passed along with much of the legislation enabling the following scholarships and programs.
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What school choice options are available to your family?

Public School Transfers
Georgia enables any student attending public school in the state to transfer to another public school that better suits their needs.

Charter Schools
Charter schools are public schools that provide educators and families more freedom and flexibility to best serve students’ needs.

Tax Credit Scholarships
The Georgia Tax Credit Scholarship Program provides Georgia students funds to attend any eligible private school in the state.

Special Needs Scholarships
Too often, families of special needs students can struggle under the increased costs of educating their child. To help ease some of that pain, Georgia’s special needs scholarship program provides special needs families the financial assistance to attend the public or private school that best serves their student.

Georgia Promise Scholarships
Georgia’s newest school choice program gives eligible families up to $6,500 per year to afford the best education option for their child. Families can use funds for a variety of approved education expenses, including tuition, tutoring, curriculum, and more.

Homeschooling in Georgia
Georgia protects the rights of families to homeschool their students as long as they file a Declaration of Intent with the Georgia Department of Education and meet certain instructional and testing requirements. Learn more about the requirements for homeschooling and resources available for homeschool families.
Additional School Choice Resources

A Guide to Georgia’s K-12 Education Options
The Georgia Center for Opportunity has produced a School Choice Handbook to give families a complete guide for their school choice options for Public Charter Schools, Special Needs Scholarships, Tax Credit Scholarships, and Public School Transfers. In this handbook you will find helpful information on how to apply for the above options and where to find additional resources online.

Education Savings Accounts in Georgia: Everything Families Need to Know
Education Savings Account programs (ESAs) provide state-funded accounts that families can use to pay for the educational needs of their students. Georgia’s ESA program is called the Georgia Promise Scholarship.
Parents can use an ESA to direct the money the state would have spent on their child to attend their local public school to pay for things like private school tuition, tutors, adaptive technology, therapy, and specialized curriculums. ESAs allow families to truly customize an education that best meets each child’s needs.
Georgia Education News
Georgia ranks 14th on new school choice index—but that’s not a win yet
A new index measuring families’ access to school choice nationwide shows Georgia has our work cut out for us to catch up to Florida, Alabama, and other states leading on education opportunity.
School list available for Georgia Promise Scholarship eligibility
The Georgia Promise Scholarship school list is now available. Families zoned for schools on this list meet the attendance zone requirement to apply for the program.
Promise Scholarships become a reality in 2025. Here’s what families and communities need to know.
Big changes are on the horizon for education in Georgia. Starting in the 2025-2026 school year, thousands of families will have greater access to flexible education options through the new Promise Scholarship.