ATLANTA (AP) — Two months of recalculating made little difference in a list of Georgia's lowest performing schools, meaning more than 400,000 students will have a chance to apply for $6,500 vouchers to pay for private school tuition or home-schooling expenses.
The Governor's Office of Student Achievement released the new list on Friday, after releasing and then removing two previous lists in December. The new list made only a handful of additions and deletions.
Students zoned for the lowest performing 25% of schools under Georgia’s academic rating system are eligible to apply for what the law calls “promise scholarships.”
The Georgia Education Savings Authority, a body created by the law, interpreted the measure to say any students in such a school’s attendance zone are eligible, even if they don’t attend that school. For example, if a middle school is on the list, elementary and high school students who live in that zone can also apply.
An Associated Press analysis finds every student in 65 of Georgia's 180 traditional school districts are eligible to apply, including every student in Augusta's Richmond County and in Macon’s Bibb County districts. Most of the districts where all students are eligible are small and rural, though.
A majority of students in the DeKalb County, Clayton County and Atlanta districts will also be able to apply, the AP finds.
House Education Committee Chair Chris Erwin of Homer is among Republicans who said the interpretation that all students in an attendance zone are eligible isn't what lawmakers intended.
He said Tuesday that he's still considering introducing a bill in the current legislative session to limit eligibility only to students who would attend the low-performing schools, and not other schools in the attendance zone. However, it's unclear whether the more pro-voucher Senate would agree to such a measure.
The list was released just before the first application period of March 1 to April 15. The authority plans additional application periods during June and September. However, application deadlines for many private schools for the 2025-2026 academic year have already passed. Students could be admitted if they applied before they were certain of eligibility, or if schools allow late applications.
The law capped spending at 1% of the funding formula for public schools, or $141 million. That could provide more than 22,000 vouchers. Republican Gov. Brian Kemp recommended spending that much, but lawmakers haven't yet decided on the amount.
The law requires that Georgia fully fund its public schools before any money is allotted to vouchers. The money for vouchers is appropriated separately, on top of public school funding.
Georgia has 1.75 million public school students. Broad eligibility means applications could far exceed the spending limit, creating pressure to raise it. Already, Republican Lt. Gov. Burt Jones has endorsed a proposal to make all foster children eligible.
Voucher programs are ballooning nationwide. Many supporters want all students to be eligible, regardless of school performance or family income. States that have adopted such universal vouchers, such as Arizona, Florida, Iowa and Ohio, reported more applications than expected, causing costs to bulge.
Georgia's law is more limited. Only children zoned for a low-performing school who have been enrolled for two semesters or who are incoming kindergartners can apply. If more students apply than there are vouchers available, students from households with incomes of less than four times the federal poverty level are prioritized. That's about $100,000 for a family of three. If there are still too many applications, a random statewide drawing decides who gets the money.
The money can be spent on private school tuition, textbooks, transportation, home-schooling supplies, therapy, tutoring or early college courses for high school students.
The House approved the program with no votes to spare this spring after seven rural Republicans and a Democrat flipped under pressure from Gov. Brian Kemp, House Speaker Jon Burns of Newington and other Republicans.
The list had to be reworked twice after officials determined they would exclude some schools, including charter schools and alternative schools.
