Georgia Promise Scholarship Details Still Being Ironed Out
By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor
Readers might remember the announcement that came out in mid-December about the Georgia Promise Scholarship which was established by Georgia Senate Bill 233. While Dade County students qualified for the scholarship according to the original list, an updated list has not yet been posted on the program’s website, mygeorgiapromise.org.
The Sentinel spoke with Josh Ingle (Dade County Schools superintendent) and Mike Cameron (Georgia House of Representatives District One) about the issue, with Ingle explaining his dissatisfaction with the way the program has been launched and Cameron expressing his support of the bill and hopes that the kinks will be worked out quickly.
As a refresher, the scholarship provides up to $6,500 per eligible student who is currently at a low-performing school to use toward private school tuition, tutoring services, and other qualified education expenses.
First, noting that he can’t speak for the entire board, Ingle explained the suddenness of the announcement of the scholarship The day before Thanksgiving 2024, he received an email from the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) with a list of the bottom performing 25 percent of Georgia schools—Dade County High School was on the list.
The new program came completely out of the blue for Ingle. “There’d been absolutely zero communication prior to that. I think it caught a lot of superintendents by surprise.”
Things became muddled when the first list disappeared and was replaced by a second. Then, the second list also disappeared, and the program’s website has yet to post a finalized list. Ingle said, “My takeaway is, the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.”
One hand is GOSA, and the other is the Georgia Department of Education. Of the former, Ingle explained, “They send a few emails out each year, but we don’t get much communication from them. Our go-to people are the Department of Education or Northwest Georgia RESA (Regional Education Service Agencies).”
However, Cameron suspects that the Department of Education was slow in getting testing/performance information to GOSA, hence the confused lists and lack of clarity. According to Cameron, those opposed to the program used the lack of accurate information to discount the entire program.
The governor’s office hasn’t explained how the bottom 25 percent was calculated, but some have guessed that the office looked at schools’ College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI). Given that the state used CCRPI for the purpose of 2013’s House Bill 283, it’s very possible that it was used again in this case.
However, Ingle said, “My team and I, we question their methodology because elementary and middle schools have four components in CCRPI, while high schools have five. That fifth component is the graduation rate. We felt that throwing that data in, averaging it, and dividing by two is not an accurate comparison.”
Ingle expressed his concerns to Cameron and Chris Erwin (District 32 House of Representatives and retired superintendent). Erwin indicated to Ingle that he’d been communicating with GOSA.
Ingle did not know where the funding for the program will come from. He said, “Our legislators have said that it won’t impact our budget, but I don’t know where they came up with the money to begin the vouchers.”
He noted that while this bill may not directly impact the school system’s budget, any decrease in enrollment does negatively impact funding. If families take advantage of the vouchers, enrollment will decrease.
Cameron reported that the state will fund the vouchers, but the details are still being worked out. His latest information was that Governor Brian Kemp is allocating money in this year’s bill for the vouchers.
Another complication is that this program may not help all Dade County residents because the only eligible school where the vouchers can be used is Oakwood Christian Academy in Chickamauga—a 45-minute drive from Davis Elementary School and 30-minute drive from New Salem. The vouchers can’t cross state lines, taking all of the Chattanooga private schools and any Alabama schools out of the equation. Cameron is aware that this is the case.
Ingle also addressed the complication of the “attendance zones” wording which was used in the bill. He said, “Based on my conversations with Chris and Mike, I think their intent of the law was that if a school shows up on the list, vouchers should only be available for children attending that particular school—not other schools in the district.”
However, the interpretation of the bill has been that because Dade only has one high school and because all students in Dade County live within the attendance zone for DCHS, all Dade students are eligible for the vouchers.
Cameron confirmed Ingle’s statement, saying, “It was not our intent that it would apply to all students in the district.”
Ingle said, “I think this was one of those, ‘Let’s get the plane in the air, and we’ll build it as we go’ situations.”
The Sentinel also asked Ingle about his views on school choice in general. He said, “I 100 percent support parents doing what’s best for their children. What I do not support is diverting public tax dollars from public education to the private sector.”
Using a personal example, he explained that he and his wife sent three of their four children to Dade schools, but the oldest of the four graduated from Chattanooga Christian School. “We had to do what was best for him. That’s where he thrived, but there was no school voucher. It was at the expense of his mom and dad.”
Ingle’s biggest concern is that even if public funds are used for various private education options, these options are not held to the same standards—at least by the government. (One could argue that the parents footing the bill of private education do hold these schools to high standards.)
In Ingle’s words, “With public schools, there are accountability measures and standards that we are held to. With private schools, there’s no state-wide testing. There’s a lack of accountability. I do not support my tax dollars and your tax dollars being diverted to some other educational program where they’re not held to the same standard as public schools.”
This doesn’t quite apply to the Georgia Promise Scholarship because it appears that these funds aren’t being diverted away from public education, but they are public funds.
Also, the program does have requirements about which schools the vouchers can be used for. In addition to being in Georgia, eligible schools must be accredited by a recognized accrediting agency; have been in operation for one school year or submit a financial information report; comply with federal anti-discrimination laws, health and safety codes applicable to private schools, and any other applicable state laws; and test students on an annual basis and report test results to the Georgia Education Savings Authority (GESA).
Further explaining the testing requirements, the website reads, “Participating schools are required to annually administer a nationally norm-referenced test approved by GESA or a state-wide assessment only to participating students.”
Going beyond tuition, the vouchers also can be used for tutoring, curriculum, textbooks, occupational therapy, speech-language therapy, physical therapy, and transportation to service providers.
Cameron explained that he voted for the bill and is in favor of competitive options within education. He’s particularly concerned about third grade reading levels, which are low in his district, and he’s worried about how these students will succeed and function in the world when they aren’t learning the basics now.
Of low-performing schools, he said, “Those kids have no chance unless they get out of where they’re at,” and he sees vouchers as one way to give kids the best education possible.
He noted that some Republicans representing rural areas didn’t support the bill at first, but they later changed their minds. He also said it was inevitable that many superintendents wouldn’t favor the program.
The Sentinel asked if Cameron feels that $6,500 is enough to enable a family to afford private school options. He said, “It’s probably not enough, but it gives them something.” Personally, he would like to see Georgia follow Florida’s lead by offering universal vouchers.
If any parents of students currently enrolled in Dade County Schools are hoping to send their children to Oakwood Christian Academy next year, keep an eye on mygeorgiapromise.org for an updated list of eligible attendance zones. The application is not yet posted, but the website says it will open on March 1.
