STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. — A bill advancing in the legislature would provide state funded supplements for private school tuition. Critics said it would undermine funding for public schools.
For decades, Republicans have advanced what they call "school choice." This bill would give that to thousands of Georgia parents, at a cost to public schools.
Arikka Fayne said her 5-year-old is getting a good education at Stone Mountain Elementary School, a DeKalb County public school.
"It’s OK for a public school," she said after picking the kindergartener up from school Tuesday. "He has a great teacher, actually" though she added the family also faced challenges with issues surrounding bullying in the early weeks of school.
She wants to explore private school too, but the cost seems prohibitive.
Under a bill that just passed the state Senate, she and some other public school parents could get the state to pay at least a portion of private school tuition.
State Sen. Greg Dolezal (R-Cumming) introduced the bill to give $6,000 vouchers to parents with children in school at the state’s lowest-performing schools. About 25% of Georgia's public schools would be eligible.
Kindergarten teacher Lisa Morgan, president of the Georgia Association of Educators, opposes the bill – saying underperforming schools are typically wracked with poverty and other struggles.
"I have experience in a school that was deemed 'failing,'" Morgan said. "They face additional struggles. And rather than help all of those students, legislators seem to want a very small minority of those students to leave our schools."
State Sen. Derek Mallow (D-Savannah) argued against the bill Monday. "I'll tell you colleagues today, this bill, this ain't it. This doesn’t address the needs in education. This only perpetuates the gaps we’ve already seen exists," he told the Senate. A few minutes later, the bill passed.
For Fayne, it provides a bit of hope.
"I’m very interested in learning more about private school" and the voucher plan, she said.
To become law, the school choice bill would have to quickly gain momentum in the House – and pass in the next 11 legislative days.