The Georgia Governor’s Office of Student Achievement has released an updated list of low-performing schools, making more than 400,000 students eligible for a new private school voucher program.
The list determines which students are eligible for the Promise Schools voucher program, which will give up to $6,500 to families to pay for private school tuition or home-school expenses. Gov. Brian Kemp signed the voucher bill into law last year.
This is the third version of the list released by the state in the last three months. Two previous lists were published in November and December and quickly withdrawn to validate additional data, according to the office.
The new list made a small number of additions and deletions but still includes 31 Atlanta Public Schools, 44 DeKalb County Schools, and nine Fulton County Schools. See the full list below.
Voucher-eligible students must be zoned for a public school in the bottom 25% for academic achievement. The student must also have attended a low-performing public school for at least two consecutive semesters or entering kindergarten.
The student’s parent or parents must have been a Georgia resident for at least a year unless they are on active duty in the military. Priority will go to families who earn less than four times the federal poverty level.
However, there is now concern about the interpretation of the new law, according to the Associated Press.
The Georgia Education Savings Authority, a body created by the law signed by Kemp, 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.
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, AP reported.
Homer said he’s 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. Whether that will clear both branches of the legislature is unknown.
The first application period for the Promise Schools voucher program is March 1 to April 15.
