Georgia senators are giving final approval to $6,500 vouchers funding for private school tuition and home schooling, sending the measure to Gov. Brian Kemp for his signature. Senators voted 33-21 along party lines on Wednesday to approve changes that the House made last week to Senate Bill 233.
An education voucher bill lost in Georgia's state House in 2023 because 16 Republicans voted against it. Supporters have spent months lobbying to reverse enough votes to win the proposal's passage. But as Georgia lawmakers return Monday, some GOP naysayers haven't budged.
Since 2008, more than a half billion dollars has been diverted from state tax coffers to private schools through a tax credit program designed by lawmakers to promote school choice.
Unlike many other states with similar programs, Georgia does little to regulate the performance or practices of schools that receive tax-credit scholarships. Moreover, the schools are free from many of the restrictions imposed on public schools to prevent them from excluding gay and trans students, The Current has found.
