Mississippi

The Georgia Early Literacy Act is a new bill to improve literacy rates and support stronger readers.

Key Points

The Georgia General Assembly has passed a bill that will lay the groundwork for improving literacy rates among the state’s students.
Major measures in the bill include requiring literacy coaches in schools, making kindergarten mandatory, assessing students’ reading skills more often, and expanding the use of curriculums based on the science of reading.
By becoming stronger readers, Georgia’s students will be more successful in school and better prepared for rewarding work, financial stability, and meaningful community engagement as adults.

The Georgia Early Literacy Act of 2026 (House Bill 1193) is poised to make a powerful impact on students across the state. Legislators drafted the bill to help increase literacy rates among young Georgians and prepare them for higher levels of learning and greater success in life.

Georgia’s literacy statistics are undeniably troubling—62% of the state’s third graders aren’t reading proficiently. Georgia’s proficiency percentage is just slightly above the average reading level in the United States. The Nation’s Report Card, which tracks how well students across the country are reading in fourth grade, recently showed that 69% of American fourth graders aren’t reading proficiently. And proficiency is a key indicator of children’s progress and readiness for more advanced work.

Third grade also marks a critical point in a student’s academic development. Between third and fourth grade, children should be transitioning from learning to read to using reading to learn. If students fall behind in reading during this crucial period, they can start to have a hard time in other school subjects, too. This struggle often takes a big toll on children as they grow up, and it can limit economic opportunities later on.

But with support from organizations like the Georgia Center for Opportunity (GCO), state legislators are paving the way for children to overcome challenges with literacy. This will empower them to thrive in their academic development and build flourishing lives for themselves and their families in the future.

“GCO applauds the state’s General Assembly for passing the Georgia Early Literacy Act of 2026. This important legislation helps Georgia make sure that students read proficiently so they can excel in school and reach their full potential in life.”

Buzz Brockway, Vice President of Policy, Georgia Center for Opportunity

What Are the Core Requirements in This Bill?

Policymakers have included several key measures in the new literacy bill to help the youngest Georgians become skilled readers.

Literacy Coaches in Every School: All schools that serve students in kindergarten through third grade will be required to hire literacy coaches—educators with expertise in teaching reading. The coaches will support teachers through lesson planning, co-teaching, and mentoring.

Mandatory Kindergarten Enrollment: Students will be required to attend kindergarten before starting first grade (exemptions are possible if students pass the assessment described below). The bill will also encourage families to enroll their children in school or establish a home study program beginning at age 5. These measures should strengthen children’s foundational reading skills early on.

First Grade Readiness Assessments: Schools will test students before they start first grade to make sure they’re academically prepared. If a kindergartener isn’t reading on grade level, the school will design a plan to help them.

Expanded Use of Science of Reading Curriculums: Schools will continue to expand the use of materials grounded in the science of reading, a field of research that focuses on how students develop reading skills. Teachers will no longer be able to use the older three-cueing system, which encourages students to guess words.

Have Other States Passed Similar Laws?

Yes. Mississippi, in particular, has set the standard for effective literacy legislation. Recent reforms in that state include:

Placing literacy coaches in the lowest-performing schools to guide reading teachers
Regularly screening students in grades K-3 for challenges with reading and creating plans to help children who are struggling
Requiring third graders to demonstrate reading proficiency before starting fourth grade
Training teachers to shift to an approach based on the science of reading

As a result of the strong focus on literacy, Mississippi’s fourth grade reading proficiency scores went from 49th place in the nation in 2013 to ninth place in 2024. Georgia and many other states have taken notice of this significant improvement and have modeled legislation after Mississippi’s laws.

When Will the New Requirements Take Effect?

Governor Brian Kemp is expected to sign the Georgia Early Literacy Act once the 2026 legislative session ends. After it becomes law:

Schools will likely have literacy coaches on staff by the 2028-2029 school year.
Mandatory kindergarten enrollment and enhanced readiness assessments will go into effect for the 2027-2028 school year.
Every K-3 classroom will use only state-approved materials aligned with the science of reading by July 1, 2027.

What Is the Science of Reading?

The science of reading is a field of research focused on how the brain learns to read and how to teach reading. It promotes proven practices that support students of all abilities. These practices involve several essential elements:

Phonemic Awareness: the ability to hear and identify individual sounds in spoken words
Phonics: the relationship between letters and the sounds they represent
Fluency: the ability to read texts smoothly, accurately, and with the right expression
Vocabulary: an understanding of what words mean and how to say and use them correctly
Comprehension: the ability to understand, interpret, and analyze texts

What’s the Difference Between Reading on Grade Level and Reading Proficiently?

People often use these two phrases interchangeably, but they actually mean different things.

Reading on Grade Level: A student who reads on grade level can figure out words and follow a basic plot, but they might still struggle to analyze more complex texts. This is the minimum expected skill level for a child in a specific grade.

Reading Proficiently: A proficient reader has a higher-level skill set, including the ability to analyze more challenging material and to think critically about it. Reading proficiently makes it easier for students to use reading for learning as they develop academically.

This difference is important for understanding literacy rates in Georgia. The state’s Department of Education reports that 65% of third grade students are reading at or above grade level, but the Georgia Council on Literacy has shown that only 38% of the state’s third grade students are reading proficiently.

How Can Increasing Reading Proficiency Open Doors to Opportunity?

The state legislature passed the Georgia Early Literacy Act in March of 2026 with unanimous bipartisan support. The strong approval of the bill confirms that Georgia’s policymakers have made literacy a priority.

This attention to literacy will make a meaningful difference for many Georgians. Research has shown that children who aren’t proficient in reading by third grade are four times as likely to drop out of school before getting their high school diploma. And without that degree, access to higher levels of education, fulfilling jobs, and economic opportunities is more limited. For students who come from vulnerable families, struggles with reading can also make it harder to escape poverty.

Through the Literacy Act, Georgia legislators aim to remove barriers for children and encourage them to follow brighter paths to promising futures. By becoming stronger readers, Georgia’s students will be more successful in school. They’ll also learn to think more critically about the world around them. Their advanced skills will then lead young people toward more rewarding work and economic mobility as adults, and they’ll be able to positively impact their communities. The bill has the power to make all this possible, with literacy as the key that unlocks the door to these life-changing opportunities.

Additional Resources:

Literacy Bill, Cellphone Ban Among Education Bills Approved by Georgia House
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

With End of Session Near, Georgia Lawmakers Tackle Childhood Literacy
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Assessing the Economic Gains of Eradicating Illiteracy Nationally and Regionally in the United States
Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy

Your Home for GA Dyslexia Resources
Decoding Dyslexia GA

The State of Literacy in Georgia
Deloitte

Family Resources: Supporting Your Child’s Reading Development
Georgia Department of Education

The Incredible Importance of Teaching Children to Read
Georgia Municipal Association

Lawmakers Push Plan to Lift Georgia’s Lagging Literacy Rates
Georgia Recorder

Student Literacy Overhaul Poised for Georgia Governor’s Signature After Compromise
Georgia Recorder

How Education Impacts Chicago Poverty
Illinois Policy Institute

10 Ways to Support Your Child’s Literacy at Home
National Center on Improving Literacy

Unemployment Rates for People 25 Years and Older by Educational Attainment
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

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

Buzz Brockway in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Originally published November 25, 2025

In their pitch to voters, the 2026 candidates for Georgia governor have mentioned they are likely to address tax reform, health care, jobs, immigration, child care and housing issues.

But none have mentioned a priority that is not only connected to those issues but has a significant impact on the well-being of millions of Georgia families — welfare reform. And with new federal work requirements set to take effect, policymakers will no longer be able to overlook Georgia’s public assistance programs.

With more than 1 million Georgians struggling to make ends meet, reforms to the safety net should be a top priority for Georgia’s next leader.

These low-income residents turn to Georgia’s safety net programs for help, including Medicaid for health insurance, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for food support and Section 8 for housing assistance.

System fails to move people out of poverty

Both Republicans and Democrats agree these programs are a critical support system for disadvantaged communities.

But disagreement tends to emerge over whether welfare truly serves these people — helping them move from reliance on public assistance to independence and a more fulfilling life.

On that measure, welfare is failing — and its shortfall should capture the attention of Georgia’s next governor.

Not only does Georgia’s welfare system — like nearly all states’ — fail at its stated goal of moving people out of poverty, but it also compels recipients to stay dependent, keeping them in a cycle of poverty that so often defines generations of low-income Americans.

Welfare discourages recipients from getting married before having children and from working — troubling given those factors align with two of the three indicators in the Success Sequence, a series of life milestones that research has shown are the keys to happier lives, stable families and upward mobility (the other factor is obtaining a high school degree).

Georgia’s next governor would do well to recognize that the implications of this flawed system extend beyond just welfare recipients. It has a significant impact on the state’s budget and economy.

Low labor participation rate is a warning

Social safety net programs, particularly Medicaid, are often the biggest expenses in a state’s budget. While the federal government partially funds welfare programs, the states are responsible for a significant share of the costs and are responsible for managing the system. With these high costs, policymakers should assess whether the billions spent on welfare is moving people out of poverty or keeping them on the economic sidelines.

And then there’s the direct impact on Georgia’s workforce. Georgia’s labor force participation rate, or the number of working-age people employed or looking for a job, is 60.6%. Or put another way, nearly 40% of Georgians, many of them prime-age men, who can work are choosing not to.

A low labor force participation rate is a warning sign for the state’s economic health. Every nondisabled Georgian who opts out of work isn’t just losing income — our state loses tax revenue, businesses lose workers and communities lose engaged citizens who are the foundation of thriving neighborhoods.

Georgia’s next governor should ask, then, why the state’s welfare programs fail to connect beneficiaries to resources they need to help them find a stable job. Unemployment is one of the primary reasons individuals seek assistance in the first place.

And yet when someone in Georgia turns to the welfare system for support, they are not connected to work. Workforce development programs exist, but they oddly operate separately than the social safety net.

Follow other states in integrating workforce aims with welfare

Fortunately, policymakers in Georgia have a road map to turn to called “One Door to Work,” which integrates workforce development with welfare. Under this policy, people who access the safety net for help are connected to one caseworker who not only helps them meet their immediate needs but connects them with resources to find a job. Utah passed this reform in the 1990s and now boasts the lowest numbers of people on Medicaid and food stamps — along with consistently low unemployment rates.

Louisiana passed One Door legislation in June. Mississippi created a task force to explore the reform. And Arkansas also recently approved an audit of its workforce and safety net programs to identify needed changes. Georgia should follow the lead of its southern neighbors to the West.

Welfare reform isn’t a second-tier issue. It’s central to sustaining Georgia’s current trajectory as a leader in economic opportunity. Georgia’s One Door gives the next governor a way to strengthen families, expand the workforce and set the state on a path to growth.

Read the full article here.

Buzz Brockway is the vice president of public policy at the Georgia Center for Opportunity.

2025 Header Images (1)

As August ushers in a new school year, nearly two million students are headed back to Georgia’s 2,300 public schools. How are Georgia schools doing when it comes to preparing kids for work and life? Here are a few key measures of education in Georgia that parents and communities should know as students return to the classroom.

Learning in Georgia

Results from the latest Georgia Milestones Assessment show students are still struggling with math and reading. In math, 54% of third-graders and 56% of eighth-graders were below proficiency.

In reading, 45% of eighth-graders were at grade level or above. Third-graders are even further behind—only 38% met proficiency in reading. While that number is up from 36% in 2020, it’s still below pre-pandemic levels. In 2019, 42% of third-graders were reading at grade-level or above.

Demographic data from the Milestones Assessment shows Black and Hispanic third-graders are struggling most when it comes to reading.

Reading proficiency by third grade is a crucial milestone for Georgia’s students. Not only is it necessary for learning in later grades, but it’s also an indicator of future stability and economic opportunity. That’s because literacy is closely linked to high school completion and participation in the workforce.

Children who can’t read proficiently by third grade are more likely to drop out of high school, have lower earning potential, and experience higher rates of poverty and unemployment.

The median annual earnings of adults ages 25 to 35 who had not completed high school was $6,300 less than those with a high school diploma.

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows a 6.2% unemployment rate for people with no high school diploma. It drops to 4.2% for high school graduates and 2.8% for those with an associate’s degree.

The poverty rate for those with no high school diploma is 25.1%, compared to 13.1% for those who have finished high school. In Georgia, where an estimated 1.4 million people live in poverty, 25% would roughly equate to 350,000 people.

A literacy study from the Annie E. Casey Foundation sums up what’s at stake for kids in Georgia and the country if reading proficiency continues to slide:

“The bottom line is that if we don’t get dramatically more children on track as proficient readers, the United States will lose a growing and essential proportion of its human capital to poverty, and the price will be paid not only by individual children and families, but by the entire country.”

Enrollment

Georgia public schools enrolled 1,736,730 students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, according to the Georgia Department of Education’s spring 2025 enrollment count. That number marks a drop of 10,964 students from spring 2024.

As Georgia has taken steps to expand education opportunities, more families are embracing new schooling options to find the best education fit for their kids. Homeschooling is on the rise, and over 15,000 families applied to Georgia’s newest school choice program, the Promise Scholarship, between March 2 and June 30.

Students missing school

Georgia, like many states, is battling a crisis of chronic absenteeism. These are students missing 10% or more of school days—a situation that puts kids further behind in academic progress and raises the high school dropout risk.

Chronic absenteeism and its risks tend to be higher among students from low-income families, students of color, and students with disabilities.

In Georgia, absenteeism skyrocketed between 2020 and 2021 in the wake of pandemic school closures. In 2019, 12.1% of students had been chronically missing school. By 2021, that number had jumped to 20.1%. Only recently, in 2025, did the percentage dip below 20% for the first time in four years.

Public school spending

On average, Georgia spends $14,660 on K-12 education per pupil. Pre-kindergarten and K-12 education spending accounts for 38% of the state budget, making it Georgia’s biggest line item. In 2025, the state budget included $13.3 billion for Georgia’s public schools, which was a $1.4 billion increase from 2024.

Despite these amounts, state funding is only a portion of overall revenue for public schools. Local taxes are the biggest source of education dollars, and a small percentage comes from federal funding.

New education laws in place this year

Georgia lawmakers passed a handful of education-related bills in 2025 that will impact schools as of this academic year.

The Georgia Literacy Act stops the use of an instructional reading method called “three-cueuing,” which research has shown to be ineffective. Instead, the law ensures teachers are trained in the science of reading—the evidence-based methods that have proven most successful for teaching reading.

This is a hopeful step for Georgia students, especially in light of results that similar reforms have had in other states. ExcelinEd specifically noted the astonishing transformation in Mississippi: “Mississippi’s fourth-grade Black students have risen to third in the nation in both reading and math, and Hispanic and low-income students have claimed the top spots in reading and second place in math nationwide.”

In addition to addressing literacy, Georgia lawmakers have also taken steps to improve school learning environments. Starting this year, a new cell phone law will put stricter limits on student phone use during school hours. The goal is to cut down on distractions and help students stay engaged in the classroom.

What’s next for education in Georgia?

Georgia’s education measures are more than data. Behind the numbers are real children who will be the next generation of mothers, fathers, business owners, employees, and voters in our state. A quality education is necessary for giving them strong, opportunity-filled futures.

Solutions to boost math and reading proficiency and address chronic absenteeism can strengthen Georgia’s public schools. These are worthwhile steps to support students whose best—and often only—education option is the local public school.

At the same time, Georgia leaders should be doing everything possible to remove financial and social barriers to quality education and empowering students and families to access the school of their choice. Prioritizing more opportunities over limited choices is the best way to prevent a lack of quality education from locking Georgia’s kids and communities into poverty.

Image Credit: Canva

Oatey, Better work Gwinnett, Buford community

BETTER WORK Gwinnett recently partnered with Oatey, a company that provides high-quality products for the residential and commercial plumbing industries. In this Q&A, we explore the ways Oatey is making a positive difference in the community and how BETTER WORK is playing a key role in accomplishing that goal.

1. What prompted you to partner with BETTER WORK Gwinnett?

Oatey decided to partner with BETTER WORK for several reasons. The main reason is to actively engage in community outreach in the Buford, Georgia area and seek ways to increase Oatey’s presence and connect with local organizations. Furthermore, Oatey is also looking to diversify its recruitment channels beyond traditional job-posting sites, like Indeed or LinkedIn, to find candidates for open positions.

With these goals in mind, we conducted research that led us to BETTER WORK to connect us with job seekers in the Gwinnett County area. BETTER WORK works specifically with those who face common barriers to employment, such as language, transportation, or criminal background. By partnering with BETTER WORK, we aim to strengthen our ties with the community and find new avenues for recruiting candidates for our vacancies.

2. What are some of the ways you’ve been able to successfully work with BETTER WORK Gwinnett so far?

We have already taken several successful steps in working with them and have shared our open positions with BETTER WORK Gwinnett, which has led to a few applicants from their system. Although it is still early in the partnership (one month), this has been a positive start and a great opportunity for Oatey to broaden our recruitment efforts and reach out to potential candidates in a unique way.

By collaborating with BETTER WORK Gwinnett, we hope to continue to strengthen the partnership and find more qualified candidates for our open positions.

3. What are some of the biggest obstacles employers are facing in Gwinnett County right now?

One of the primary obstacles that Gwinnett County employers are currently facing is a labor shortage, creating a lot of competition for talent and compensation.

However, companies like Oatey are finding ways to mitigate this challenge by offering a very attractive work environment and policies, such as flexible attendance policies and shifts, which draws in job seekers looking for work-life balance.

For instance, we recently introduced a new attendance policy focusing on building relationships between associates and supervisors. Under the new system, associates can make up missed hours at more flexible times or take approved time off without using their PTO.

This approach provides associates with greater work-life balance, while ensuring the company still receives the help it requires. By offering policies that help associates navigate life outside of work, employers like Oatey can stand out in a competitive job market and retain valuable workers.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Oatey increased shift pay for hourly associates with the aim of attracting and retaining candidates who work off shifts, such as second shift.

Oatey’s friendly and family-oriented company culture also sets us apart from larger corporations. It has created a positive atmosphere where people can feel comfortable and relaxed while working. One of our employees even brought in a turkey necks, rice, and cornbread meal for a large group of us. It was a nice surprise, and everybody enjoyed it. We also had a barbecue event last month, where employees from different shifts mingled and enjoyed each other’s company.

4. What are the biggest roadblocks to employment for workers right now?

One of the biggest roadblocks to employment is a lack of education; specifically, a high school diploma or GED.

Many employers require these basic educational qualifications as a prerequisite for employment. Unfortunately, this requirement can prevent otherwise qualified candidates from securing jobs.

However, there are resources available to help job seekers overcome this hurdle. Institutions like Gwinnett Technical College offer GED courses and testing, including free GED preparation classes, scholarships to assist with GED Testing, and more.

“We have hired individuals who have spent time in prison, and have had a positive experience with them.”

5. Can you share an example of a success story of how a job has helped someone succeed in life?

We recently hired a gentleman who relocated from Mississippi. Since starting at Oatey, he has learned new skills on machines like the FedEx machine and forklifts to increase his earning potential.

With this income, he was able to purchase a new vehicle after his car broke down, which would have been a significant challenge without steady employment, especially right after relocating. A secure job has provided him with the financial stability to support himself and care for his needs.

6. It’s my understanding that you are willing to consider applicants who were formerly incarcerated. What made you open to that and what has the experience been like?

Regarding our policy on hiring individuals with a criminal background, we are willing to consider such applicants. However, we still have a rigorous screening process and certain requirements in place.

We have hired individuals who have spent time in prison, and have had a positive experience with them.

In conclusion, our company is open to hiring individuals with a criminal past, provided they meet our screening requirements, and demonstrate that they have learned from their past mistakes and are committed to improving themselves. We understand that everyone’s circumstances are different.

Seeing Black History Month through the eyes of 114-year-old Gertrude Baines

To celebrate Black History Month, let me take you back to November 2008.

The morning of the election—an election that would make history with the victory of Barack Obama, first African-American president in U.S. history—a small headline appeared on websites and in papers: “At 114, a daughter of former slaves votes for Obama.”

Gertrude Baines celebrating 115 years Gertrude’s story really typified the reasons why. She was born less than thirty years after the conclusion of the Civil War, during the presidential administration of Grover Cleveland—at a time when African Americans were often kept from voting and subjected to unspeakable abuses. Her life had overlapped those of many of America’s (and history’s) great black leaders, like Frederick Douglass (he died about six weeks prior to Baines’ first birthday), W.E.B. Dubois, Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

She had lived through some important milestones in the fight for civil rights and equal opportunity. She was 53 when Jackie Robinson jogged onto the diamond at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, 60 when the Brown v. Board of Education ruling was handed down, and 61 when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus.

She has also been witness to some of the most shameful moments in our nation’s history. She was 61 when 14-year-old Emmett Till was brutally murdered in Money, Mississippi, 69 when four black children lost their lives in a Birmingham church bombing, and just two days shy of her 74th birthday when Dr. King was assassinated. (Please take note: those are just the high profile abuses she witnessed as a senior citizen.)

Gertrude’s story reminds me of how exceptional and amazing American democracy is. How many other countries have elected ethnic minorities to lead them? Generally speaking, elsewhere in the world, such transitions don’t happen without military coups and civil wars. The fact is, America is exceptional in large part because of the many people of color who helped rise above and form it that way.

President Barack Obama taking his oath of office in January 20, 2009.

Can you imagine Gertrude’s parents ever having said to her, “One day you will cast your vote for a black man who will win the presidency”? I suspect they never could have imagined it. And yet, on November 4th of 2008, Barack Obama became America’s president-elect. And it was not by court order, legislative edict or military force, but by popular vote. The majority of American voters—black, white, Asian, Hispanic, etc.—chose him to be their leader.

The fact is, America is exceptional.

It’s worth pointing out that this is a trajectory we have been on for decades as evidenced by the fact that people of various ethnic backgrounds have been elected or appointed to become governors, lawmakers, cabinet secretaries, judges and so on.

We celebrate that this Black History Month.

Admittedly, I’m just a white guy from Orange County, California, now living happily in Atlanta. My ability to understand the plight of minorities in the U.S. is obviously limited. But I am a human. And I am able to recognize suffering, heartache and inhumanity when I see it. So I am also able to recognize both the source and manifestation of profound joy felt by millions of African Americans – and people of African descent worldwide—in seeing Barack Obama elected to the White House in 2008.

While that was a great moment, so much more remains to be done to ensure that everyone, of every color and ethnic background, has a legitimate opportunity to flourish. We’ve come a long way—but we have a long way still to go.

Gertrude Baines passed away in September 2009 at the remarkable age of 115—at the time, the oldest living person in the world. What a lifetime of progress she saw toward the realization of the American ideal—laid out (but not always carried out) by our visionary and courageous founders: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…”

And that’s why we at GCO we will be celebrating those who have contributed so much to our nation—those from the African-American community who, like Gertrude, remind us of what is great about this country.

By Contributing Scholar: Jonathan Butcher

As a teacher, Julie Young knew her grandson was going to need help outside of the classroom. He had been diagnosed with dyslexia, and he struggled to “retain anything he saw on paper,” Julie said.

Julie and her family live in Arizona, where students with special needs are among the children eligible for education savings accounts. Julie applied for an account and saw results almost immediately.

She used the account to enroll him in occupational therapy, and “within a matter of weeks, I noticed a huge improvement,” Julie says. “His OT helped him memorize his multiplication tables by using silly songs. Every day he made gains in areas that never seemed to stick before,” she says.

With an education savings account, the state deposits a portion of a child’s funds from the state education formula into a private account that parents use to buy education products and services for their children. Lawmakers in six states have enacted such laws, including Georgia’s neighbors: Florida, Tennessee, and Mississippi (Nevada and North Carolina legislators have also passed legislation).

The accounts are distinct from private school scholarships because parents and students can select multiple learning options simultaneously. It’s not unusual for account holders to find a personal tutor for their child, enroll their student in education therapy services, and pay for instructional materials to be used at home. Research from Arizona finds that approximately one-third of account holders use education savings accounts for a set of learning options. More than 40 percent of Florida account holders do so.

Parents want to be able to challenge their students and are prepared to customize their child’s learning experience. One Arizona mom explained that doctors had diagnosed her son as being on the autism spectrum, and despite special services in a district school, he had not learned to talk. After using an account to select a speech therapist of their choosing, “Nathan has learned to talk and he loves learning to spell and even reading books… He’s using complete sentences and even asking and answering questions on a regular basis.”

In Florida, a mom of three adopted children and two biological children uses an account (called Gardiner Scholarships) for her adopted daughter, Elizabeth, to buy instructional materials for use in the home. In an interview, the mom said, “I could reinforce what was and wasn’t happening in the classroom.” Today, Elizabeth has returned to a district school, and her mom says she “wouldn’t be where we are without the intense therapies that I was able to do because of the Gardiner scholarship.”

Now Georgia lawmakers are considering a proposal that would make accounts available to children with special needs, students from low income families, adopted children, students in active duty military families, and children who have been bullied in school.

Experiences from other states demonstrate that students from all walks of life can benefit from the accounts. Arizona lawmakers enacted the nation’s first law in 2011 for children with special needs but have expanded student eligibility since. By the 2015-2016 school year, approximately 40 percent of account holders were children that met other eligibility criteria: 15 percent of account holders were students previously assigned to failing schools; 11 percent were children from military families; 8 percent were adopted students; and 6 percent were Native American students living on tribal lands.

As for Julie, an education savings account has allowed her to set new goals for her grandson. “My grandson understands his limitations,” she says. “He has a long road to go before all of his basic skills are mastered, but I feel confident that so long as we can… [meet] his individual needs, he will succeed in anything he chooses to do.”

Every Georgia parent or loved one wants to have the same vision for success for their child. The education savings account proposal puts these aspirations within reach for thousands of students across the state. Every family wants to have an opportunity like this.

Education savings accounts could help Georgia lawmakers ease overcrowding in public schools, an ongoing challenge for some school districts. Legislators are considering bills that would allow students to use an account to choose how and where they learn, modeled after the accounts in Arizona, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Nevada.

Under the proposed legislation, and as described on this blog, the state deposits a portion of a child’s funds from the state formula into a private account that parents use to buy educational products and services for their children. Parents can choose different learning options like online classes, personal tutors, and private school tuition simultaneously, customizing a child’s education to meet their needs.

Some Georgia parents have complained of surging enrollment in public schools in recent years. Between 2014 and 2016, Georgia public school enrollment increased 7 percent or 117,000 students, according to state and federal sources. Decatur’s increases have been dramatic: District schools experienced a 123 percent increase over the past decade. Recent reports of overcrowding have also come from Horry County, Dalton, and DeKalb. In some cases, students have been forced to sit on the floor of school buses on the way to school due to class reassignments.

In Dalton, a Daily Citizen headline said residents are imploring lawmakers to “do something” about student overcrowding. Data from states where lawmakers have enacted education savings accounts demonstrate that student participation can help relieve the pressure on schools that see rapid enrollment growth. In Arizona, 3,500 are using accounts today (approximately 1 percent of the eligible student population). In Florida, 7,000 students are using the accounts. These modest figures can help with overcrowding issues.

Estimates that 156,000 Georgia students would use the accounts after 3 years and cost taxpayers $700 million bears no resemblance to student participation or funding in other states where students are using the accounts. This estimate is equivalent to having all the students leave DeKalb County and Atlanta Public Schools.

Even Georgia’s existing private school choice options which have been in place for many years have not grown this fast. Georgia’s private school scholarships for children with special needs have been available for nearly a decade, and fewer than 4,000 students are using a scholarship. Another Georgia private school scholarship offering is available to nearly all state students, and 13,000 children are using a scholarship (less than 1 percent of students in the state)—a figure that has held steady since 2012.

Meanwhile, lawmakers should consider how education savings accounts can be an efficient use of taxpayer money. According to the legislation, each Georgia account would be worth $4,500. The average student attending a traditional public school in Georgia is funded at $10,300. Average per student funding figures indicate Decatur’s 4,662 students—an all-time high—require more than $48 million from taxpayers annually. Their education savings accounts would use less than half this amount.

Estimates that education savings accounts would syphon students and funds from Georgia schools do not correspond with existing evidence. But the accounts can be a solution for Georgia lawmakers to moderate crowded classrooms while also providing families more educational options.

For more information about ESAs in Georgia, click here.

Research evidence loves company. Consistent findings from different populations mean the results are less likely to be an accident and more likely to demonstrate a trend.

A new report from Mississippi finds that parents using education savings accounts report high levels of satisfaction, consistent with surveys of a similar law in Arizona. Ninety-one percent of respondents reported some level of satisfaction with Mississippi’s accounts, and 98 percent of respondents reported being either “very satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” with their educational choices after using an account. Seventy-one percent of parents in the survey reported being “very satisfied” with their choices.

Similar to accounts in Arizona, Florida, and Tennessee, the education savings accounts in Mississippi allow parents to buy educational products and services for their children using a portion of their child’s funds from the state funding formula. Parents can make multiple purchases simultaneously according to their student’s needs.

Mississippi lawmakers gave parents of children with special needs this flexible option in 2015 after years of criticism of state services for these students. Empower MS’s Brett Kittredge says, “It was clear that many of Mississippi’s most vulnerable children were being left behind and this pattern would only continue unless policymakers took action.” In 2014, the Jackson Clarion-Ledger reported that just 23 percent of Mississippi children with special needs graduated from a state high school.

Kittredge explains how Mississippi’s accounts are helping children like Lana Beard, who doctors diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome and visual perception disorder. The accounts helped the Beard’s access a school that has specialized services for children like Lana when her assigned district school was no longer the right fit. Her parents used the account to help cover tuition and services at the new school.

Thousands of families across Arizona and Florida have similar stories. In some cases, families use an account to help pay for personal tutors, online classes, home educational needs, and even college savings plans. In Arizona, where students from failing schools and military families are eligible for the accounts, along with children with special needs, approximately one-third of participants are using their account for more than one learning option.

In 2013, researchers from EdChoice and the Goldwater Institute studied the nation’s first education savings accounts in Arizona and also found parents were pleased with their choice to leave an assigned public school and use an account. All parents in the survey reported some level of satisfaction, and 71 percent of participants were “very satisfied,” even among the families that were satisfied with their child’s previous public school. Focus group research conducted by the Goldwater Institute has also found similar satisfaction levels.

Georgia policymakers preparing for the 2017 legislative session should use the growing research evidence on parent satisfaction with education savings accounts to support efforts to give state families similar options.

Even though Mississippi’s program is still in its infancy, Kittredge reports the number of applicants for the accounts in 2016-17 exceeded the state’s cap of 425. He says families are now on a waiting list for a chance to participate next year.

“Parents are the ultimate accountability rating,” Kittredge says. “That is why we believe understanding parental satisfaction with [education savings accounts] is so important in judging this program.”

Jonathan Butcher is a contributing scholar at GCO in addition to his role as the education director at the Goldwater Institute and senior fellow at the Beacon Center of Tennessee.

Last week, the Virginia senate passed what could become the nation’s sixth education savings account law, pending a governor’s signature. HB 389 would allow children with special needs to apply for an account. With an account, Virginia would deposit a portion of a child’s funds from the state formula in a private bank account that parents would use to buy educational products and services for their children.

Virginia’s proposal is similar to laws enacted in Arizona, Nevada, Florida, Tennessee, and Mississippi. Education savings accounts in these states allow families to use a child’s account to customize a child’s learning experience with online classes, private school tuition, curricular materials like textbooks, and, critically for children with special needs, educational therapy like speech and occupational therapy.

In Virginia, 13 percent of students—some 161,000 children—have special needs and could use an account to find educational services to help them succeed. As this blog has explained previously, Arizona families are hiring individual tutors to help children with autism, students who were struggling to learn basic skills prior to using an account. Others are combining public school extracurricular activities with home-based instruction, which gives children the chance to interact with their peers and learn in a setting that meets their needs. Such opportunities give hope to children and their parents.

Education savings accounts also provide lawmakers with a solution for large, statewide policy issues looming on the horizon.

Research from Matthew Ladner, Ph.D. at the Foundation for Excellence in Education finds that Virginia and Georgia have something in common: High age-dependency ratios. For Virginia, their score of +19 means the state has a “high percentage of people out of the workforce and a relatively small percentage of people trying to cover the costs of their education, retirement, and health care.”

The U.S. Census projects that Virginia’s public school enrollment will increase by 300,000 students over the next 15 years while the population of adults over 65 will almost double. The expansion in these two sectors will put a strain on taxpayer-funded services in education and health care.

Georgia finds itself in a similar position. Georgia’s +16 score is slightly below the national average of +17, but still points to a future where fewer people are pulling the cart of social programs and increasing numbers are sitting in the cart. The Census estimates Georgia’s student population will increase by a half-million students, while its elderly population will increase by nearly 1 million.

Education savings accounts and other private school choice options like tax credit scholarships (already available in Virginia and Georgia) will help ease the pressure on taxpayers who would be asked to pay for new district school buildings and public school staff. Parental choice in education comes at a significant discount compared to district school services. In Arizona, education savings accounts for children with special needs are worth 90 percent of what is spent on these children in traditional schools while, on average, mainstream students’ accounts amount to 50-60 percent of what taxpayers spend per child in district schools.

Virginia and Georgia badly need solutions like these. Education savings accounts improve the quality of life for participating families and can provide students with choices as the demands for public services increase.

Jonathan Butcher is education director at the Goldwater Institute and senior fellow at the Beacon Center of Tennessee.

A few weeks ago, Wired magazine editor Joe Pugliese told readers a story that should sound familiar to anyone who followed the careers of computer icons Bill Gates and Steve Jobs: Pugliese almost didn’t finish college because life outside the classroom was more interesting.
“By the time I was 20 I had found full-time work as a designer, and I was serially ditching class in favor of time at the office,” Pugliese wrote in the September issue. “Prerequisites and lecture halls seemed like a distraction from the place where I knew I was learning the most—the real word.”

Today, students across the globe can learn in more ways than we can count, from books to YouTube videos to free online classes hosted by Harvard and MIT to computers installed on the sidewalk (even Wired magazine has partnered with the University of Southern California to create a graduate program). To better prepare every child for a successful future, parents, lawmakers, and educators need a new definition for what it means to learn. And one classroom might not be enough for a student.

Had Pugliese’s teachers recognized he was bored, clearly they would have tried to make their lessons more useful for the “real world.” No educator wants his students to be unprepared for life. Horace Mann inscribed the mission of generations of educators when he called education the “great equalizer of the conditions of men,” a phrase U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan would repeat some 150 years later.

Yet how can education fulfill this noble treatise if schools can’t keep students in the classroom, or the very least, interested in the classroom?

Today, public education’s challenge is not just to limit the number of students dropping out of school, though that is critical. The percentage of students dropping out has been nearly cut in half since 1990, from 12 percent to 7 percent.

The implications of this decrease are profound. For example, black men of working-age (20 to 34) without a high school diploma are more likely to be in prison than employed, according to Pew research. A diploma may have far-reaching effects for these men.

But just attending school or even finishing high school isn’t enough. Students need to be challenged and inspired by learning experiences that meet their needs so that they can have a chance at the American Dream.

Education savings accounts provide parents and their children with the flexibility to choose from multiple learning options at the same time. As this blog has explained, education savings accounts, now law in five states, are bank accounts complete with debit cards that allow families to buy educational products and services for their children.

In Arizona, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Nevada, eligible families have more educational options than just their child’s assigned public school. The state deposits funding in each account, and families can pay for personal tutors, textbooks and curricular materials like science kits, online classes, private school tuition, and college classes. Families can even save money from year to year.

In Arizona, the Howard family uses Nathan’s account to pay for tutoring services and private school tuition. The Visser family educates Jordan at home, swiping his education savings account card with different vendors in order to combine therapy services and educational instruction. The McMurray family uses the accounts to participate in extracurricular activities offered by a public school. Research finds that more than one-third of accountholders use their education savings account for multiple learning options.

This is the future of learning. For some students, it may just be a new school. Or a tutor to help them keep up with their classmates. For others, it could mean enrolling in classes offered on the other side of the world or using an iPad—with a data plan—to learn math with an app.

Education savings accounts allow for one or all of these options. Every Georgia child should have access to the future of learning.

Jonathan Butcher is education director at the Goldwater Institute and senior fellow with the Beacon Center of Tennessee.

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Key Points

What Are the Core Requirements in This Bill?

Have Other States Passed Similar Laws?

When Will the New Requirements Take Effect?

What Is the Science of Reading?

What’s the Difference Between Reading on Grade Level and Reading Proficiently?

How Can Increasing Reading Proficiency Open Doors to Opportunity?

Additional Resources:

Learning in Georgia

Enrollment

Students missing school

Public school spending

New education laws in place this year

What’s next for education in Georgia?

Seeing Black History Month through the eyes of 114-year-old Gertrude Baines

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Key Points

What Are the Core Requirements in This Bill?

Have Other States Passed Similar Laws?

When Will the New Requirements Take Effect?

What Is the Science of Reading?

What’s the Difference Between Reading on Grade Level and Reading Proficiently?

How Can Increasing Reading Proficiency Open Doors to Opportunity?

Additional Resources:

System fails to move people out of poverty

Low labor participation rate is a warning

Follow other states in integrating workforce aims with welfare

Learning in Georgia

Enrollment

Students missing school

Public school spending

New education laws in place this year

What’s next for education in Georgia?

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Seeing Black History Month through the eyes of 114-year-old Gertrude Baines

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