We now have three bills in the General Assembly expanding vouchers in Georgia. Talk to your legislator about these bills, especially if they are on the Committee with the bill. They've heard our opposition, but they need to hear from people back home. So email, text, call, or however you communicate with your legislator, please do it. Get your communities involved! Things will move quickly the next two weeks. Be respectful, use our points to create your message. When you just forward or copy or paste, it does not have the same impact as your own words. You can find out who your legislators are at the My Voter page. SB 47 expands the current special needs voucher to: - Students with a 504 plan OR a formal diagnosis from a licensed physician or psychologist relating to one or more conditions to be identified by the State Board which must include at least the 21 identified in the bill
- Those who received preschool special education services the previous year
- Students adopted or placed in permanent guardianship from foster care within the previous year
There is no fiscal note for the bill so it is unknown how much more money the state is obligating for this voucher. In 2019-20, there were 5,203 students receiving a voucher at a cost of $35.6 million. Although these students are funded at a level for the services they need, there is no requirement that those services be provided to the students in the private school. When the parent accepts the voucher, they waive their rights under IDEA and Section 504. There is no requirement that a student be re-evaluated for continued eligibility under IDEA or 504, once a student is eligible they can continue to receive the voucher until graduation. There has been no evaluation of the program to determine effectiveness for the students. There needs to be more transparency about the cost of the program. Special needs students are funded at a higher rate than others due to the services needed. A student going into the voucher program remains funded at that level throughout their time in the program. The voucher is the full QBE funding whereas a school district would have received less to educate the same child. SB 47 has had one hearing in Senate Education & Youth. It is on the agenda for Monday at 3:30. It will probably be on the Senate floor for a vote next week. Click on the Committee link for contact information. HB 60 would create an additional voucher but of a different type. "Educational savings accounts" would put state funding in an account the parent would use for specific qualified expenses. Click on the link to see the list. A limited number of students could get this voucher, although that could of course be changed in future years. Students who could qualify are mostly similar to those in SB 47: - Students with a family income below 200% of the federal poverty level (about $52,000 for a family of four)
- Those adopted from foster care
- Those with a parent who is an active duty military service member stationed in GA within the previous year
- Those with an IEP, a formal diagnosis from a licensed physician or psychologist or a 504 plan relating to one or more conditions which shall be identified by the State Board but must include at least the 21 conditions listed in the bill
- Students whose public school is in a district which is not currently offering the option to receive 100% of instruction in person for a semester or more
- All these students would have to be currently enrolled in a GA public school.
The account funds could be used for a private school, postsecondary, tutoring, home school curriculum etc. Up to 50% of the funds could roll over each year. When the student graduates, the leftover total could be used for tuition at a postsecondary institution in GA. How much will they get? Students with an IEP would be funded as they are for the special needs voucher -- full QBE which gives them more to take somewhere else to be educated than the state would send to a school district to educate them since there is no local deduction. Other students would receive 100% of the statewide average which is far more than the district would receive. According to the most recent revenue report on the Department of Education website, the state average is $6,095. No regular education student brings that much to a district under QBE, even before a local deduction. The amount of these vouchers is subtracted from the resident district's QBE earnings. Somebody will be paying more for these students, is it the state or the state and the district? That is not clear and there is no fiscal note. There is a Parent Review Committee to assist in determining whether certain expenses qualify and to hear appeals from private schools not accepted into the program. Accountability and transparency issues with the bill are similar to those we've seen in other voucher proposals. This program would be under the Student Finance Commission. If the state wants to go down this road with either HB 60 or SB 47, the voucher amount should be the same as a local district would receive for the same student. The funding should be handled completely at the state level rather than subtracting it from a district's revenue. HB 60 had one hearing in the full House Education Committee. Chair Matt Dubnik asked that written comments be sent in, so when it is scheduled again it is likely to be for a vote. Click the link for contact information for the members of the Committee. Finally, HB 142 would raise the cap on income tax credits for donations to student scholarship organizations for vouchers to private schools. In 2018, the cap was raised from $58 million to $100 million through 2028 then is supposed to revert to $58 million. A recent performance audit had several recommendations for changes to the program. HB 142 would raise the cap to $150 million through 2028. Will we ever reach a cap supporters will be satisfied with? HB 142 is in the Income Tax Subcommittee of House Ways and Means. It had its first hearing earlier this week. Click on the link for contact information for members of the Subcommittee. Crossover Day is quickly approaching, so there will be plenty of pressure to move these bills forward. Speak up! |