Georgia House speaker aims to persuade resistant Republicans in voucher push
9 months, 1 week ago

Georgia House speaker aims to persuade resistant Republicans in voucher push

Associated Press  

ATLANTA — Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns is leaning into the push to pass a voucher plan funding private school tuition and home schooling, looking to change the minds of fellow Republican skeptics. The bill would provide $6,500 education savings accounts to students attending public schools that rank in Georgia’s bottom 25% for academic achievement. Those include writing current teacher pay raises into Georgia’s K-12 school funding formula, letting public school prekindergarten programs qualify for state aid to construct and furnish buildings, letting students enroll in other public school districts that will accept them and increasing tax credits for gifts to public schools. “I’m upset that we can’t create even a bottom-level standard of quality for private schools,” said Stephen Owens, the education director at the liberal leaning Georgia Budget and Policy Institute.

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Georgia moves forward in creating voucher program for private and home schools
1 month ago

Georgia moves forward in creating voucher program for private and home schools

Associated Press  

ATLANTA — A new Georgia program that will give up to $6,500 a year to some families to pay for private school tuition or home-schooling expenses will begin accepting applications in early 2025, but lawmakers must still determine how many vouchers the state will pay for. The law provides $6,500 education savings accounts to students zoned for any public school …

Georgia official seeks more school safety money after Apalachee High shooting
3 months, 1 week ago

Georgia official seeks more school safety money after Apalachee High shooting

Associated Press  

ATLANTA — Georgia’s state school superintendent says he wants the state to spend more money to guarantee security officers and wearable panic alert buttons after a school shooting killed four at Apalachee High School northeast of Atlanta. Woods’ call for information sharing reflects the fact that Colt and his father were questioned in 2023 by a Jackson County sheriff’s deputy …

North Carolina GOP leaders reach spending deal to clear private school voucher waitlist
3 months, 2 weeks ago

North Carolina GOP leaders reach spending deal to clear private school voucher waitlist

Associated Press  

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina’s Republican House and Senate leaders said Friday that they have agreed with each other on a supplemental spending proposal that includes hundreds of millions of dollars to eliminate the state’s waitlist for private school vouchers. The proposal sets aside an additional $463 million for this school year and next for the state’s Opportunity Scholarship Program …

Georgia’s largest school district won’t teach Black studies course without state approval
4 months, 3 weeks ago

Georgia’s largest school district won’t teach Black studies course without state approval

Associated Press  

ATLANTA — Georgia’s largest school district announced Tuesday that it won’t teach a new Advanced Placement course in African American Studies, saying the state Department of Education’s refusal to approve the course means its students would be cheated out of credit for the difficulty of the work. Woods attempted to compromise last week by saying local districts could draw state …

North Carolina Republicans seek hundreds of millions of dollars more for school vouchers
7 months, 3 weeks ago

North Carolina Republicans seek hundreds of millions of dollars more for school vouchers

Associated Press  

RALEIGH, N.C. — Addressing a sharp increase in private-school grant applications, North Carolina Republicans advanced legislation on Wednesday to spend hundreds of millions of dollars now to eliminate a large waiting list this fall for Opportunity Scholarships and to permanently meet expected higher demand. The Senate Appropriations Committee voted for legislation that would spend another $248 million in the coming …

$6,500 school vouchers coming to Georgia as bill gets final passage and heads to governor
8 months ago

$6,500 school vouchers coming to Georgia as bill gets final passage and heads to governor

Associated Press  

ATLANTA — Proclaiming that “education is truly the great equalizer,” Gov Brian Kemp signed a law on Tuesday that will give up to $6,500 a year to some Georgia families to pay for private school tuition or home-schooling expenses. Kemp portrayed Senate Bill 233, the Georgia Promise Scholarship, as part of an “all of the above” strategy that also supports …

Tennessee Gov. Lee admits defeat in school voucher push
8 months ago

Tennessee Gov. Lee admits defeat in school voucher push

Associated Press  

GALLATIN, Tenn. — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee conceded defeat Monday in his push to enact universal school vouchers this year, acknowledging there was not a “path forward” after months of Republican infighting. I feel confident it will be, but we couldn’t put the final pieces together this year.” According to the National Education Association, the largest U.S. teachers union, 11 …

$6,500 school vouchers coming to Georgia as bill gets final passage and heads to governor
9 months ago

$6,500 school vouchers coming to Georgia as bill gets final passage and heads to governor

Associated Press  

ATLANTA — Georgia senators gave final approval Wednesday to a plan to create a $6,500 voucher funding for private school tuition and home schooling, sending the measure to Gov. The bill would provide $6,500 education savings accounts to students attending public schools that rank in Georgia’s bottom 25% for academic achievement. They also say private schools don’t have to accept …

Georgia school voucher bill narrowly clears longtime obstacle with state House passage
9 months, 1 week ago

Georgia school voucher bill narrowly clears longtime obstacle with state House passage

Associated Press  

ATLANTA — Georgia Republicans powered a voucher plan funding private school tuition and home schooling 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 …

Alabama lawmakers have approved a school choice program
9 months, 2 weeks ago

Alabama lawmakers have approved a school choice program

Associated Press  

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Thursday signed legislation creating a program similar to school vouchers that would provide eligible families with as much as $7,000 to help pay for private school and $2,000 for homeschooling expenses. The state, he added, should “focus on the students and not so much institutions.” The legislation will allow eligible families to …

School voucher ideas expose deep GOP divisions in Tennessee Legislature
9 months, 3 weeks ago

School voucher ideas expose deep GOP divisions in Tennessee Legislature

Associated Press  

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — With a supermajority grip over the Tennessee Statehouse, there are very few things Republicans can’t push through even with the harshest of criticism and public opposition. Yet, after weeks of working behind closed doors on a sweeping school voucher plan that would give coveted public dollars to many more families to spend on private schools, deep divisions …

Some Georgia Republicans who sank an education voucher bill in 2023 aren’t changing their minds
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Some Georgia Republicans who sank an education voucher bill in 2023 aren’t changing their minds

Associated Press  

ATLANTA — On the last day of Georgia’s 2023 legislative session, 16 mostly rural House Republicans defied pressure from Gov. “I’m just not ready to give up on public education as we know it right now,” said Rep. J. Collins of Villa Rica, who added that “taking away money from public education is not the answer.” The Georgia push is …

Tennessee governor unveils push for statewide school voucher expansion, no income limitations
1 year ago

Tennessee governor unveils push for statewide school voucher expansion, no income limitations

Associated Press  

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Tuesday backed a plan to expand beyond a three-county school voucher program for low-income kids by offering public money for private schooling statewide, regardless of family income. The current program awards eligible families around $8,100 in public tax dollars to help cover private school tuition and other preapproved expenses for up to …

Teachers’ advocates challenge private school voucher program in South Carolina
1 year, 1 month ago

Teachers’ advocates challenge private school voucher program in South Carolina

Associated Press  

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A group of South Carolina parents and teachers’ advocates filed a challenge Thursday to a new Republican-backed law allowing taxpayer dollars to help families pay for private schools. The South Carolina Education Association and state chapter of the NAACP want the state’s highest court to toss out the program that they said runs afoul of a prohibition …

Parents like private school vouchers so much that demand is exceeding budgets in some states
1 year, 1 month ago

Parents like private school vouchers so much that demand is exceeding budgets in some states

Associated Press  

In some states, higher-income families can now use taxpayer money to cover private school tuition -- and more people than projected are taking the offer, which might force scrambles to shore up state budgets. It’s especially an issue in states like Arizona and Iowa, where at least some families whose children were already in private school can now take advantage …

Georgia budget to pay full tuition for college scholarships
1 year, 8 months ago

Georgia budget to pay full tuition for college scholarships

Associated Press  

ATLANTA — Georgia lawmakers are agreeing to a state budget that will pay full tuition for all college students receiving a HOPE Scholarship while boosting pay for all state and university employees and public school teachers. Brian Kemp’s plans to pay full tuition for everyone receiving a HOPE college scholarship and to give all state employees and public school teachers …

Georgia House GOP members break ranks to doom voucher bill
1 year, 8 months ago

Georgia House GOP members break ranks to doom voucher bill

Associated Press  

ATLANTA — Rural Georgia Republicans defied lobbying from Gov. Brian Kemp and conservative groups on Wednesday to vote down a proposed state voucher plan funding private school tuition and home schooling. But don’t pretend that it will benefit them and don’t pretend that it won’t cost a lot of money, and don’t pretend that we can afford it.” Supporters argued …

Public money for private school tuition bill advances
1 year, 9 months ago

Public money for private school tuition bill advances

Associated Press  

— Nebraska could join 48 other states in offering public money for private school tuition under a bill advanced by the state Legislature on Wednesday, even as some lawmakers expressed concern about taxpayer dollars going to private schools allowed to turn away students based on religious tenets. Rather than appropriating taxpayer dollars directly toward private school vouchers, the bill would …

Arkansas House panel endorses Sanders’ education overhaul
1 year, 9 months ago

Arkansas House panel endorses Sanders’ education overhaul

Associated Press  

— An Arkansas House panel on Wednesday endorsed Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ plan to overhaul the state’s education system and create a voucher program directing public money toward private schooling. “This is the beginning of our commitment as a state to put students first, and to look everyone in the eye and say Arkansas will continue to lead in …

Georgia senators seek shorter school health cost phase-in
1 year, 10 months ago

Georgia senators seek shorter school health cost phase-in

Associated Press  

ATLANTA — Georgia senators want to spend less on subsidizing local school district health costs than the House, seeking a more rapid phase-in of a big health insurance premium increase that districts would pay. The House proposed giving the benefit plan another $100 million in state money and stretching the premium increase over three years. House lawmakers had proposed spending …

Georgia House aims to ease health insurance costs on schools
1 year, 10 months ago

Georgia House aims to ease health insurance costs on schools

Associated Press  

ATLANTA — House budget writers in Georgia want to shift $100 million into the state employee health plan to reduce the sting of health insurance premium increases for public school districts. The Republican governor’s $1 billion plan to give property tax rebates to homeowners would cost $100 million less than Kemp previously estimated, said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Matt Hatchett. …

Florida House speaker wants to expand school voucher program
1 year, 11 months ago

Florida House speaker wants to expand school voucher program

Associated Press  

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida would make every student eligible for vouchers to attend private school with taxpayer money under proposed legislation House Speaker Paul Renner said Thursday will be a priority for the session that begins in March. The bill could greatly expand the state’s current voucher programs, but would give priority to low-income and special needs students ahead of …

New Arizona governor wants to undo school voucher expansion
1 year, 11 months ago

New Arizona governor wants to undo school voucher expansion

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs wants to undo a massive expansion of a school voucher program championed last year by her GOP predecessor and other Republicans that lets students apply to use public money for private-school tuition and other education costs. In releasing its budget proposals Friday, the governor’s office said the expansion is siphoning money from underfunded …

Foes of Arizona school vouchers file to block huge expansion
2 years, 3 months ago

Foes of Arizona school vouchers file to block huge expansion

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — Public school advocates who oppose a massive expansion of Arizona’s private school voucher system enacted by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed into law by Republican Gov. “But we have enough that we feel confident that with the validity of our signatures we can turn in and get through the processing and get it on the ballot.” Voucher opponents …

House speaker says school voucher bill won’t get hearing
2 years, 10 months ago

House speaker says school voucher bill won’t get hearing

Associated Press  

OKLAHOMA CITY — A proposal endorsed by Oklahoma’s governor and Senate leader to allow public school funding to follow students to private schools or home schools won’t be heard in the House, Speaker Charles McCall said Thursday. “I don’t plan to hear that bill this year, and I’ve communicated that,” McCall, R-Atoka, told reporters at a legislative forum hosted by …

SC House considering its own private school voucher bill
2 years, 10 months ago

SC House considering its own private school voucher bill

Associated Press  

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Leaders in the South Carolina House appear to be pushing their own bill to give poorer parents money to pay tuition at private schools. Unlike some other voucher programs, the money wouldn’t come out of the state budget for public schools, instead being pulled from a contingency fund, House Ways and Means Chairman Murrell Smith said. Rep. …

Republicans want input from education voucher bill opponents
2 years, 10 months ago

Republicans want input from education voucher bill opponents

Associated Press  

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The leader of Republicans in the South Carolina Senate said one of his main goals this session is to pass a bill that would allow some parents to get public money to spend on private schools. Economists who estimate how much bills could cost issued a fiscal impact statement saying if every eligible student participates, the program …

Republicans seek to spotlight politics of schools in Georgia
2 years, 11 months ago

Republicans seek to spotlight politics of schools in Georgia

Associated Press  

ATLANTA — Social conservatives are looking to push education policy to the forefront when Georgia lawmakers begin meeting Monday, driven by a national tumult over the pandemic and race. But conservatives also want to give parents a greater ability to examine school curricula, restrict sex education, ban transgender girls from playing high school sports and guarantee religious freedom for students. …

Florida Gov. DeSantis expands private school voucher program
3 years, 7 months ago

Florida Gov. DeSantis expands private school voucher program

Associated Press  

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida’s school voucher program will be significantly expanded after Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Tuesday that increases eligibility to attend private schools at public expense. “But when you talk about low-income families, working families — they may not have the luxury of being able to get their kid in the school of their choice without …

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