ATLANTA – The state Senate Monday approved a bill that would provide Georgia students residing in low-performing school districts $6,000 to spend on private school tuition.
“This is a money-follows-the-child bill,” said Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, who sponsored the “Georgia Promise Scholarship Act.” “[It] levels the playing field for parents who want to get their kids out of the lower 25% of all schools in the state.”
While the original bill would have applied to most students in Georgia, Dolezal added a last-minute amendment limiting the scholarship to just those residing in the attendance zones of the lowest-performing 25% schools in the state.
The bill essentially allows the redistribution of state funding from public to private schools, Dolezal said. Districts would be able to hold on to the local funding portion of each student’s education bill, which would, Dolezal said, increase the amount of funding available to local districts.
The bill would not apply to those who are already studying in private schools or being homeschooled.
Parents who wish to spend the money at private or virtual schools would be able to do so. They would also be able to spend the money on home-schooling and other expenses such as tutoring by a certified educator, curriculum purchase costs, and transportation to and from schools.
“The parent never has access to the money directly – it’s all administered by a third party,” said Dolezal. The $6,000 would not be considered taxable income and the funds would be limited to eligible educational expenses.
The bill passed on a 33-23 party line vote, drawing vehement criticism from Senate Democrats.
“Private school vouchers undermine public schools by diverting desperately needed resources away from the public school system, which serves all students, to fund…
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