Children of active duty military parents would be able to obtain one of Georgia’s new private education tuition subsidies without having to first attend an underperforming public school, under a measure adopted by the Georgia Senate Tuesday.
The state began taking applications this month for the new Georgia Promise Scholarship Act, a $6,500 annual private education subsidy, commonly known as a voucher, which was passed into law last year.
The program requires that students, except for rising kindergartners, first attend a public school performing in the bottom 25% in order to participate.
Senate Bill 124, which passed by a 37-16 vote, would waive that requirement for military families. They move frequently, so this legislation makes these kids eligible for private tuition help from the state, said the chief sponsor, Sen. Shawn Still, R-Johns Creek.
SB 124 is similar to a measure that the Senate’s Republican majority passed last week.
Under Senate Bill 152, the natural-born and adopted children of parents who have fostered a child at any point in the prior decade would be exempt from the requirement that their child attend a low-performing school.
Qualifying households under SB 152 would also be exempt from the voucher program’s income thresholds. The program prioritizes households earning 400% or less above the federal poverty line when the number of funded slots is running out.
Military families wouldn’t get that income exemption under SB 124.
One of the main critiques of the vouchers is that they will largely be used by wealthier households that can afford the difference between the $6,500 subsidy and full tuition, which often exceeds $10,000. The voucher money comes from the same state funding stream that pays for public schools, so Democrats have reasoned that the program will lead to budget cuts at public schools.
No Democrat voted last week for SB 152, the foster bill, but five crossed the aisle Tuesday to vote with Republicans for SB 124 and the exemption for military families.