Georgia moves closer to school choice scholarships to help students in lowest performing schools

A Georgia state House committee okayed a bill on Tuesday that will give students in low-performing schools up to $6,500 to attend the school of their choice.

“This will be an excellent investment by the state to have improved outcomes,” said Republican Sen. Greg Dolezal, who is sponsoring the measure in the state Senate, according to the AP.

The proposal would allow students from the bottom 25% of schools, as measured by the state’s academic rating system, to apply after they have been enrolled for more than one semester.

Georgia has about 1.7 million enrolled public school students.

The AP estimates that with 1% participation, the scholarship program would cost $110 million. Earlier this month, the state House approved an annual $13.1 billion K-12 public education budget.

SB 233 would require students who use the scholarship funds to be tested from 3rd to 8th grade, and again, once in high school, using the same test to measure public school student performance, said the AP. 

The GOP controls the Georgia state House 101 votes to 79, but until recently, rural Republicans in statehouses around the country have been reluctant to approve such school choice measures.

The public unions in rural school districts typically are the largest group of organized opposition that state legislators from such districts face. 

But this year, several GOP-led states, such as Texas, Iowa and Utah, with large rural components that have traditionally resisted voucher programs, have moved forward with school choice, as the public school system continues to implode nationwide.  

The Atlanta Public Schools (APS) system is a prime example of the failing system.

Nearly 70% of APS 3rd-8th graders are performing below grade level in English, while 74% are behind in math, according to local ABC News 15. APS also had the lowest average SAT score among Atlanta’s metropolitan districts in the fall.

The poor APS report prompted a group of angry parents to petition the school board for some immediate changes last month.

“Let the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education know WE WANT NEW SENIOR LEADERSHIP – including a new superintendent and senior cabinet – to change the trajectory for our kids and implement aggressive strategies that will increase growth and help ALL students achieve,” said the petition. 

Parents said that the focus in schools is not on academic performance as it should be.  

Dolezal said the solution is to give parents better academic choices.

“I know that all of us love our kids, and I know if I were to ask all of you, do you think you can make the best decision for your child, every one of you would say yes,” Dolezal told his colleagues, according to the Georgia Recorder.

“Let’s trust the rest of Georgia parents to do the same,” with the scholarship program, he added.