State launches website for new school vouchers program [Georgia]

Capitol Beat ^ | 11/18/24 | Dave Williams

[CFW]

ATLANTA – The state is laying the groundwork for a private-school vouchers program by launching a website with details on the initiative.

The new site, mygeorgiapromise.org, includes information on the Georgia Promise Scholarship, which the Republican-controlled General Assembly created this year to provide eligible K-12 students in lower-performing schools up to $6,500 in annual funding for private school tuition, tutoring services, and other qualified expenses.

“Mygeorgiapromise.org will make it easy for families, schools, and providers to learn about eligibility and the application process as we work toward the program launch in July 2025,” said Mitch Seabaugh, the program’s senior vice president.

The Georgia Education Savings Authority has partnered with Odyssey, an experienced technology provider, to create a user-centric financial services platform for families to use the vouchers.

The program is open to students who reside in a public school attendance zone that is in the lower 25% of all public schools in the state for at least one academic year or are a rising kindergarten student. Parents must have been Georgia residents for at least a year, with exceptions for active-duty military personnel.

[snip]

But Democrats argued the bill will divert money from public schools while not truly serving the needs of students from low-income families. Among other things, opponents said $6,500 is not nearly enough to pay the tuition at most private schools.

[CFW]

Note that Democrats are not concerned with the quality of education but rather whether tax dollars will be diverted from Democrat coffers.

And yes, these funds can be used for home-schooling. However, I hope they don't use this is a back-door to placing regulations on home-schooling families.

[FLT-bird]

Make vouchers universal, not just for students at underperforming public schools.

The more states that adopt school choice, the more it will defang the teachers’ union, the more it will disempower the cultural marxists with their DEI/Tranny/Gaia Worshiping agenda and the more K-12 students will get a decent education.

[Tired of Taxes]

This forum has changed drastically, so I know I have the minority opinion here now. But, someone has to make this point:

This idea will only invite more government intrusion into private schools and homeschooling. We live in a state with pretty much no homeschool regulations. The homeschool community here was enormous and well-organized. We protested against every Dem attempt at legislation. And, whenever a Republican lawmaker offered a tax deduction, we said no thanks because we knew that even a tax deduction would open the door to state intrusion.