ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Republicans powered a voucher plan funding private school tuition and homeschooling through the state House on Thursday, nearing a goal that has long eluded the state’s school choice advocates as GOP leaders overcame longstanding skepticism from some rural members of their party
The House voted 91-82 for Senate Bill 233, passing it with one vote to spare. The same bill failed last year when 16 Republicans voted against it. Thursday, seven Republicans and one Democrat who opposed the measure last year flipped to support it.
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The vote sends the bill back to the Senate for what could be a single up-or-down vote on final passage. Republican Gov. Brian Kemp backs the voucher plan, including devoting a substantial portion of his State of the State speech to advocating for it. And Republican House Speaker Jon Burns of Newington began to forcefully advocate for the bill after spending the summer on the sidelines.
“We are going to empower our parents to make the best educational decisions for their children and give them the tools to succeed for generations to come!” Burns said in a statement after Thursday’s vote.
The bill would provide $6,500 education savings accounts to students attending public schools that rank in Georgia’s bottom 25% for academic achievement. That money could be spent on private school tuition, home schooling supplies, therapy, tutoring or even early college courses for high school students.
It differs from last year’s failed measure, having been combined with a number of other education initiatives. But opponents argue it would subtract resources from public schools, with school districts losing state aid as children depart, even as other students will remain behind.
Rep Vance Smith of Pine Mountain, one of eight House Republicans who continued to oppose the bill, said lawmakers should instead seek to solve…
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