Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp Champions Educational Opportunity in State of the State Address, Calls for Unity on Promise Scholarship

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp used a significant portion of his State of the State address today to urge lawmakers to expand educational opportunity in the new session. Kemp said:

Many members in both chambers have worked hard on this important issue and I want to thank and applaud them for their efforts.
Some prefer the term school choice or educational freedom, some call them vouchers.

In my opinion, what each of those terms or slogans fail to mention is the child. At the end of the day, our first and foremost consideration should be the future of that student.

Our job is not to decide for each family, but to support them in making the best choice for their child.

This week, as we begin the second year of another biennial of the General Assembly, I believe we have run out of “next years.”

I firmly believe we can take an all-of-the-above approach to education… whether it’s public, private, homeschooling, charter, or otherwise.

It is time for all parties to get around a table and agree on the best path forward to provide our kids the best educational opportunities we can – because that’s what we were elected to do.

To that end, my office and I look forward to working with the members and leadership of both chambers to get a bill passed and signed into law this session.

The Georgia Center for Opportunity’s (GCO) take: “Gov. Kemp is exactly right — the time for educational opportunity is now, and Promise Scholarships are the best step forward to accomplish it,” said Buzz Brockway, vice president of public policy for GCO. “With the governor, we applaud the courageous lawmakers who have championed Promise Scholarships in the House and Senate, and we encourage those who are still holding out on their support to consider what’s best for children, not what’s best for a system. We look forward to working with the governor and legislative leaders to make Promise Scholarships a reality this session.”