Communities that Foster Upward Mobility
Today, poor children in America have a limited shot at moving up the economic ladder into the middle or upper class. A study in 2012 by the Pew Charitable Trust shows that "[t]hose born at the top and bottom of the income ladder are likely to stay there as adults.”...
Religious Freedom Next Year and Beyond
I recently attended a conference that included a number of participants who have thought deeply about religious freedom and have acted effectively in its defense. Naturally, everyone was talking about the high-profile legislative battle in Indiana. That got me...
C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Great War
The John Jay Institute and Georgia Center for Opportunity co-hosted a lecture held at Whitefield Academy in Mableton, GA, last Thursday titled "C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Great War." The lecture was given by Dr. Joseph Loconte, an Associate Professor of...
Why Do People Leave Prison with So Much Debt?
This is the second entry in a series of posts highlighting GCO’s report, A High Price to Pay: Recommendations for Minimizing Debt’s Role in Driving Recidivism Rates. The first entry provided an overview of the report, as well as a recent update to one of the...
From Welfare to Opportunity
Georgia Center for Opportunity's President Randy Hicks and the Heritage Foundation's Jennifer Marshall discuss the issues of poverty and family fragmentation, as well as potential local and state solutions to combat these issues during a special luncheon hosted by GCO...
New Matching Gift Challenge
We’re excited to announce that a few generous donors teamed with our board of directors to create a pool of $80,000 in matching funds. With this in effect, every donation given to GCO up to that amount or until June 30th will be instantly matched, dollar-for-dollar....
Debt as a Barrier to Reentry: Jonathan O’Neill’s Story
Jonathan O’Neill, a humble and soft-spoken man, is 46 years old and the father of fourteen children. He has been incarcerated since 2012 and currently resides at a transitional center where he works and takes various classes to prepare for his release that is set for...
Capitol Update – April 1, 2015
We are happy to provide you with this update on some of the bills that GCO is following this session. Should you have any questions or comments, please email Eric Cochling. House Bill 243 - Education Savings Accounts - sponsored by Rep. Mark Hamilton, R-Cumming The...
Religious Liberty and “Big Business”
This past week, Indiana enacted a religious freedom law much like the one that remains under consideration here in Georgia. Despite Governor Mike Pence’s assurances that the bill has nothing to do with discrimination, there was a swift—and very negative—reaction on...
The Religious Liberty Endgame
I have been following the legislative peregrinations of Georgia’s religious liberty (notice that, unlike the Atlanta newspaper, I don’t use “scare quotes” to describe it) legislation with a great deal of interest and concern. There are just a few days left in this...
