Education Alternative On Ballot In Georgia Governor’s Race
This week’s Courier Herald column:
The issue at hand that most directly led to the matchup at the top of Georgia’s ballot next week is education. Specifically, it is the funding through tax credits of Georgia’s Student Scholarship Organizations (SSOs) and two former candidates’ actions.
Clay Tippins, a political newcomer who ran in Georgia’s Republican primary for Governor, taped Lt. Governor Casey Cagle in a conversation over Cagle’s support to expand the maximum amount that can be donated to SSOs in Georgia per year. The backlash seemed to freeze the Cagle team while Kemp used the vacuum to consolidate support during the runoff, with President Trump’s endorsement sealing the deal for Kemp’s nomination.
Little has been said from the Republican side about SSO’s since, though supporters of various school choice programs have largely aligned behind Kemp. That’s largely because Democratic Nominee Abrams isn’t exactly a fan of school choice.
In fact, Abrams has a long history of opposing any sort of school choice. She opposed the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship program, which now allows 4,500 students with special needs to attend a school that better works for them through a voucher worth up to the cost of the educational program that a student would have received in public school. Abrams has been a consistent voice in opposition to charter schools and has voted against nearly every charter school bill. in fact, during this campaign for Governor, she’s noted her opposition to the State Charter School Commission and the charter amendment in 2012. When the Georgia Charter Schools Association sent out a questionnaire to all Governor, Lieutenant Governor and School Superintendent candidates, Abrams is the only nominee to decline to publicly state her position on public charter schools.
When it comes to the popular Student Scholarship Program, Abrams message is blunt. She has pledged to eliminate the program. She claims they divert public funds to vouchers to attend private schools.
Yes, but no. There’s a lot more to this story, and the math is in the state’s, the local school districts’, the parents’, and the taxpayers’ favor.
SSO’s are funded through donations for which individuals and corporations receive a full credit against their state income taxes for their donations. These funds then provide scholarships for students to attend private schools, with an average scholarship in the range of $4,000.
Abrams and critics want you to see the $4,000 as money taken from public schools. They would prefer that you not also think about the average per pupil spending in a Georgia Public School is north of $9,500. No money for SSOs is deducted from either local tax revenues paid by property taxes or E-SPLOSTs. All of that money remains in the local system, which is then divided by even fewer students.
That means more tax dollars per student for those that remain in the public schools. A recent non-partisan study of Florida’s similar system estimates that the state saved about $1.49 for every dollar donated to a Student Scholarship Organization.
Most of the private schools involved offer tuition assistance and additional scholarships to low income students. The money donated to SSO’s is often leveraged with other funds to provide a free or ultra-low cost education alternative to families whose alternative is to remain trapped in a failing school.
Opponents also would have you believe that these scholarships are sending privileged kids to elite schools that would be attending private schools anyway. The reality is that the vast majority of scholarship recipients are low or middle income. For the dollars involved are more suited to schools like Atlanta’s Christo Rey – a Jesuit school with a student body comprised with 96% students of color and has an average family income of $35,000. Because of the Student Scholarship Program and their financial aid model, it only costs the student’s family between $350 to $2,500 per year.
Currently, over 14,000 Georgia students are using these Student Scholarships to escape a school that didn’t meet their needs but would be their only education alternative were it not for this tax credit program. Stacey Abrams pledges to end this program, take away this option, and return these students to schools that are failing, where the student was being bullied, or that simply didn’t work for them.
The decision to focus exclusively on a bureaucracy-centered education model is not what is best for taxpayers. It’s certainly not what is best for a family when they are told their “free” public education is only available at a substandard school down the street.
About Author
Charlie
Founder of GeorgiaPol.com; Now weekly columnist Very interested in Georgia and Georginas. Interest in politics is waning daily.
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I went to the website, this is the first thing I saw:
“Welcome Faith First Schools, Students, Parents and Donors”
http://www.georgiasso.us/
So basically supporting church schools. What happened to separation of church and state?
” In 1789 the Georgia Constitution was amended as follows: “Article IV. Section 10. No person within this state shall, upon any pretense, be deprived of the inestimable privilege of worshipping God in any manner agreeable to his own conscience, nor be compelled to attend any place of worship contrary to his own faith and judgment; nor shall he ever be obliged to pay tithes, taxes, or any other rate, for the building or repairing any place of worship, or for the maintenance of any minister or ministry, contrary to what he believes to be right, or hath voluntarily engaged to do. No one religious society shall ever be established in this state, in preference to another; nor shall any person be denied the enjoyment of any civil right merely on account of his religious principles.”
My issue is I can not control where my donated dollars to the SSO will end up. I refuse to donate money to a school that will teach it’s students religious values I personally do not believe in, or in some cases, to distain my own. Instead, I donate money and time directly to the private and public schools of my choice.
I don’t care how you slice it. It is public tax dollars being shunted to private, mostly religious organizations.
On top of this, a Democrat elected governor with a Republican super majority legislature wouldn’t be able to touch it anyway.
Yeah, the economic argument doesn’t get to the religious issue.
If the private schools were guaranteed to be non-sectarian, and the scholarships were 100% means-tested, I’d feel differently.
I do care deeply about students with special needs, however, and schools do need more resources. Why not give tax breaks for donations to dedicated public school funds which funds get distributed to public schools with such needs?
Is there a link to any public data supporting the numbers this article?
So when Kemp arms the school custodians, would these schools have to comply too?
A 100% scholarship tax credit, just as the 100% rural hospital tax credit, is bad public policy.
I only want to pay for the nuclear weapons that my family will use personally.
Does this surprise anyone?
Eisenhower in his farewell speech warned us against the “military-industrial complex”. He was worried it would exert undue influence on public policy. Has it? Maybe somewhat but he totally missed a much larger and much more influential group I call it the “public education industrial complex.” Its influence is far greater than any other group in the country and it is by far the largest employer in the US. Public educations influence was and is brought to bear to suppress any form of public funds being used for anything other than public schools. The charter schools fight we had in Georgia shows just how vicious this fight can become. Education choice won but just barely.
But where is the child in all this?
It is painfully obvious what is best for the child is not even a consideration in this fight. The only consideration is money. Money, money and more money and that is all it’s about. It’s about increasing the size of the “public education industrial complex” only. There are those that don’t want their money to go to “religious” education charter schools or any other religious school but if the child is thriving in that environment what difference does it make? Isn’t this about the child and the desires of the child’s family and not someone’s idea of indoctrination?
What we need is more school choice not less.
I have said in the past if you allow government to issue shoes for everyone in the US everyone would get a size 10. Do you want an educations system that is one size fits all? Where does this leave children that don’t thrive in that environment? Only as unfortunate statistics? We can do better, much better. In Cherokee County the shrill cry that the state was seriously harming public education was loud but what really happened due to new competition the public school system set up more alternate classes and at least started a conversation about more choice in the public school system however not much else. Competition works. It works in the business world, service world, and works in education. If you want to see innovation competition is how you get there.
My choice is clear. Education is a 1st tier issue for me. It is my belief we need more choice not less and anyone who runs on less choice will not get my vote.
what is best for the child is not even a consideration in this fight.
Not true. The battle is between those that say “what is best for my child” and those that say “what is best for all children” (in other words, when your child gets the best, what happens to the ones left behind?)
I am very sympathetic to parents who want the best for their kids. But this issue has two parts and any solution that only tries to deal with one part is not the correct solution.
“There is no “profit” to be made from public education.”
As I don’t have time for a proper response to this statement, I would just ask you sit there and think about how ignorant and ridiculous this statement is.
ACP, this was easy to Google, and completely negates your statement…
“Pearson, one of the giants of the for-profit industry that looms over public education, produces just about every product a student, teacher or school administrator in Texas might need. From textbooks to data management, professional development programs to testing systems, Pearson has it all—and all of it has a price. For statewide testing in Texas alone, the company holds a five-year contract worth nearly $500 million to create and administer exams. If students should fail those tests, Pearson offers a series of remedial-learning products to help them pass. Meanwhile, kids are likely to use textbooks from Pearson-owned publishing houses like Prentice Hall and Pearson Longman. Students who want to take virtual classes may well find themselves in a course subcontracted to Pearson. And if the student drops out, Pearson partners with the American Council on Education to offer the GED exam for a profit.”
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2011/09/08/education-inc-how-private-companies-profit-public-schools#
I’m not misreading your comment. I’m just not making assumptions to what you mean as opposed to what you have written. You clearly stated that “There is no “public education industrial complex” because public education is not an industry. There is no “profit” to be made from public education.” But, you also just stated “the goal is to educate children, not fill an endowment or exact a return on investment.”… isn’t the education of a child that will go out into other industries, or even the industry of education, a return on investment. Will their tax dollars not return to the educational system at some point, and hopefully at a higher level than before?
That’s the problem with people making blanket statements about things not existing, when there is opposing information stating that in fact, that it does exist. It’s easy to get nitpicky at that point.
What people mean to say, and what they actually say are an issue when people try not to assume about their motives or understanding of subjects.
But, not to nitpick, but this statement is just as ignorant: “‘Competition’ may work in the business world, but it doesn’t work in education.”
Maybe you haven’t been exposed to the private schools of Atlanta that charge in excess of $25k a year for education. Waiting lists, exceptional academics and athletics… competition amongst these institutions have created some amazing programs to educate children (in both academics and worldly matters), as well as added to communities that they do outreach to through volunteering.
“and have the Catbacker stickers” that explains a lot… so, if competition does not work in education why did you send your children to Westminister and pay a severe premium rather than Lovett, Pace, or Woodward?
So, either you went Westminster because your parents saw it as a competitive edge for you and you donate because you are alumni, or you currently send money there because you wish your children to go there for the same competitive edge and by donating you will get preferred placement… right?
So, you don’t believe that the presence of Westminster, Lovett, Pace, and Trinity had anything to do with the new North Atlanta campus and the quality of classes being offered there compared to other schools in the City of Atlanta? You don’t think that the private schools have caused the public schools in the area to step up their game in order to keep some of the students that could go either way? Does this competition for those students not help the students already in these public schools?
Subjective, but from the mouths of Principal Howard and others the NYT interviewed:
“He and other educators say that the new school building is an opportunity to show that a large, urban public high school can be a viable alternative to the rising tide of charter schools, voucher systems and private education.
The goal is to move the school from its graduation rate of about 61 percent — a rate so low it helped lead to the ouster of top administrators last fall — to 90 percent.
The amenities should help. There are a performing arts complex, a broadcast and video center, a cafeteria that looks like a food court, and a rifle range for the shooting team and military programs. The gymnasium can seat 1,800 people.
In the classroom, the school offers an extensive list of advanced placement, international studies and business courses.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/07/education/a-147-million-signal-of-faith-in-atlantas-public-schools.html
Other links directly related to the feeling of being competitive with private schools:
“Rewa Berry, whose son will be a senior at North Atlanta High, said it will allow the public school system to compete with private schools for students. She liked the 3-D art classroom and a student broadcasting center.”
https://www.myajc.com/news/local/high-rise-atlanta-high-school-comes-with-steep-cost/ID2WBvBeBA98IcOkNmYx4K/
Also subjective, but from the About page for North Atlanta:
“The North Atlanta community is one of the few in the United States to offer a comprehensive IB experience from Kindergarten through 12th grade.”
Why would there be an IB program at this school, as opposed to other areas of Atlanta?
All of these links show a wish to increase student achievement by offering amenities and higher level classes to keep higher achieving students from fleeing toward private education.
Isn’t the essential question “Why (in theory) do charter schools work? ” If it works, why can’t we do that system-wide?
Some System do… You can have a charter system under state law.
They have increased the graduation rate to nearly 93% since opening, in 2015 it was 81.5%, and in 2012 (the year before it opened) it was 61%. I’d say that is quite an achievement.
In 2014 their AP students scored three or higher on 61% of the tests taken (5% than the state average). They also administered 383 tests that year, up from 77 in 2013. There were gains in 7 out of 8 testing areas. These are achievements.
The recognized IB program nationwide did not start until 1968, and it started in 1982 in North Fulton, which was later merged with North Atlanta, so it didn’t just happen.
The point is that they could have kept a failing school in the neighborhood and continued to lose students to the private schools, or they could step up their game (one would say “compete”) by bringing in better facilities, better class offerings, and go head to head with the schools around them. It seems to have worked out for the students as well.
This whole argument seems to have gone into the weeds.
Picking between a private school in a wealthy neighborhood and a public school in that wealthy neighborhood isn’t really where the problem is. There, you have parents with resources, and organization, and motivation, and expectations. There are ways to make improvements because there are resources. Besides, most of the worst performing APS schools are elementaries. My belief is that they struggle because:
Many of these parents can’t/won’t/don’t participate much in their kids lives. My wife teaches at a Title 1 school, and many parents seem to consider school as just day care. Many of these parents have big struggles in their daily lives and researching the pros and cons of various school choices/opportunities is not going to make the to-do list.
The process of hiring administrators is flawed. Our standards are not high enough, the pay is (mostly) not high enough, and it often is biased by race, or connections, or just inept vetting.
There has to be a better way to deal with troublesome/disruptive kids. I understand the desire to teach them in an equal environment to other kids, but it really does significantly detract from the ability to teach a whole class. (And are disruptive kids getting more prevalent?) I think this is a federal issue though.
Politicians have to STOP saying things like “government can’t do anything right”, and “public schools don’t work”. We have to have faith and commitment, not mistrust and undermining.
So, to summarize:
Parents have to believe and care.
Leaders have to support, not disparage.
Yeah, to look at Buckhead schools compared to the rest of the city and ask “what do these schools have that the others do not?” and come up with “school choice” as the answer is to miss the very big boulder in front of you. Those schools have money (through PTA and foundations) that other schools don’t have because the parents who live there have money. The kids who go to those schools have resources because their parents have resources. IMO good schools come down to two major things — money and good leadership. You need the first to get the second. Everything else flows from there.
“So, you don’t believe that the presence of Westminster, Lovett, Pace, and Trinity had anything to do with the new North Atlanta campus and the quality of classes being offered there compared to other schools in the City of Atlanta? ”
How long have Westminster, Lovett, Pace and Trinity been there? A long ass time to be making any connection between their existence and any recent improvements. I think any improvements to NAHS have more to do with district wide efforts and the general wealth of the district. Also North Atlanta is not the only cluster in APS that offers IB.
I resemble this comment. As I have mentioned a few times before, most of my clients are tax payer funded entities. I literally figure out how the client can spend a specific set of line items in their yearly and five year budgets – ALL funded by your taxpayer funded dollars and SPLOST (County, Education, Transportation etc….) income so the client can get the best bang for their bucks. I do this for private clients also.
It would probably work better to just provide your counter example or explain why you think it’s ignorant. The examples above of for-profit companies providing standardized tests and text books are good examples. IMO they miss the point, but still good examples.
As a semi-related side note to the topic, could you do a posting on the ESPLOST amendment on next weeks ballet. If I was (and might still be) confused over the wording vs. actual intent, so will others.
Raleigh,
Why is Education a 1st tier issue in your world and what do you do personally to help the issue? (I’m not being snarky, that is real actual question)
An actually question? Wow sure I’ll answer. Our kids are our future I’ve been watching Public education since I was in the program here in North Georgia. My kids were in the PE system and now my grandkids. I can tell you from what I’ve seen it as we say in the south ain’t was it was when I attended school.
What did I do to help. I was a vocational advisor representing my trade to students for several years in Cherokee until Dr.P eliminated the program. Through work I volunteered with JA (Junior Achievement) with an adopted school. Working with 3rd graders was lots of fun. And I’ve done all the other extra things a parent would normally do. Was Involved in Boy Scouts (not part of the PE system) and my Son did get his Eagle, barley with 2 weeks to spare before his 18th birthday. I have a special place for Scouting in my heart. I have a daughter in North Georgia College with a 3.94 GPA going after her paralegal degree and after that she plans to go on . Actually I don’t know why this is relevant other that to prove to you I cared but I care.. Now that I’m starring at retirement I let my kids who have kids of their own carry more of the weight but once I retire maybe I can do some of those things I want to do once the career years are behind me. Hope I answered your question.
Thanks for the reply.
For me, I find your answers relative, for it establishes where your point of view is coming from and your priority for education. All of us here come from different experiences and or perspectives. Knowing a little about why the state of education makes you angry tells me and other know why its important to you.
As I have noted a little higher in these replies and in other posts, through my profession I see Education not as a parent but as an invited guest of a school systems (private and public) looking out into the part of education children will grow and learning in, while the adults fight over what they each passionately believe a child or a whole group of children need, and who is going to pay for it. In short, I am part of the Educational Industrial Complex you raged over.
Here is my perspective.
My passion for helping a children learn and creating spaces and programs in which a child can thrive is deep. As a person who could not have her own children, I have strived to make sure other peoples children (including those in Cherokee County on a few occasions) have the chances to do so.
When you stated, “It is painfully obvious what is best for the child is not even a consideration in this fight. The only consideration is money. Money, money and more money and that is all it’s about.” it felt like a dagger in my soul. My life’s work is to take in consideration what best for tens of thousands of children in as my ways and options possible. Every option I research, every choice I give to a school system, a daycare, a college, a rec department, ect..that involve even a single child, is based on the needs of all children. They are also based on the needs of an under valued teacher, a school system swimming in red tape that it has to be navigate to have the funds to educate a child, the needs of a single set of parents who fight for what their child needs (and some times what they or the child wants) in a system that demands individual treatment for every child while treating all children equally under the eyes of the law – all as another set of parents standing next to first set wants what is best for their child, even if it diminishes the chances and/or choices for someone elses child including yours.
I assure you I don’t do this for money. I could make much more working in a different speciality within my profession. I can make more doing the same thing in a different state that would need me much less then the systems here do. I could be a lobbyist, or an academic. But I do what I do because public education is important, it matters its needed.
I also have a personal line I don’t cross. Public taxpayer dollars should never be used for a private religious based school. My (or any one else) tax dollars should not pay for funding a faith I personally do not believe in. I have deep respect for many religions. I also have contempt for a few others – I’m talking about you Scientology.
Public education is far more then the size of the shoe if not every one gets a pair of shoes in the first place. It’s more then compititon. Sometimes compition works, it creates the winners. Yet by default, it also creates losers. Additionally one need to now what they are competing for. Some children need a highly structured academic contest. Some need a dance off. or a robotics cage match, or a wood carving contest. Another needs to show their art in collaboration of others. While some need to race. The irony is, all things being equal, the difference between wining a race and losing a race can be something as small as have the best shoes and the money to buy them. Some times it’s being taught has to run in the shoes you were give.
So it comes down to making sure a school system has choices. The more choices, the more costs involved.
Join the discussion…
Ellynn,
Looks like my post had the desired affect and generated conversation. I hear you, my post did single out Public education as a whole but to give you a little bit more of my perspective I have always said get the administration and the bureaucracy out of the way of teachers teaching. I know that’s a broad statement but I feel it is a true statement. Yes, we need ways of measuring performance and progress but we should let teachers rule their classrooms to a large degree. They are the one with the most intimate knowledge on how to reach the kids they are with every day. Now I have seen great teachers, good teachers, and a few bad teachers but that a life’s lesion, isn’t it? In my career, I’ve had the same as managers. So don’t let that dagger cut to deep. Having passionate dedicated teachers is what’s good about public and private education.
As far as tax dollars being used in private religious based schools. Well some of our most prestigious universities started as or still are theology schools. Again, if we have lots of school choice if the child thrives I have a hard time saying no. Hey I’m a Baptist so you already know how bad that is (Attempt at humor here ?)