Students across Georgia are enjoying Thanksgiving break. For many families, their schools are one of the things that makes them grateful this week — even if the kids may not admit it.
Other families may not feel the same way. Maybe their child is struggling. Maybe they’re feeling ignored, or getting unwanted attention from a bully. Maybe their high expectations aren’t being met. Maybe their school just isn’t a good fit.
For those families, hope is around the corner.
Georgia’s Promise Scholarship program just took a few crucial steps toward being available to thousands of students for the next school year. Families who would prefer to make a different choice for next fall may want to look into how they could use the $6,500 scholarship to turn their hope into a reality.
They can start at a new website: MyGeorgiaPromise.org. There, they can find a family handbook that helps explain how the scholarship might work for them.
A few basic points: First, despite the “voucher” label commonly applied to the program, it’s much more versatile than that. Yes, the scholarship can be used to pay for tuition at a private school, and many recipients will choose to use it that way. But unlike a true voucher, that’s not the only use.
Families can also apply the funds toward homeschooling expenses, or to pay for a non-public virtual education, a tutor or certain services from a licensed therapist or physician. Perhaps the most promise awaits families who use the funds to truly customize their child’s education, drawing from a variety of high-quality resources.
(Some information about the rules for service providers is also now available at the new website, in the private school handbook.)
Second, students only qualify if they are enrolled in a public school for a period that roughly equals a full academic year and agree to withdraw from it. This requirement is waived for students eligible for kindergarten.
There are other requirements as well. For instance, while there is no income cap, there is a preference for families earning less than 400% of the federal poverty level in the event there are more applicants than available scholarships.
This year, that works out to $77,460 annual income for a family of three, or $124,800 for a family of four. But if the program isn’t oversubscribed, income won’t be a factor.
There’s also a school performance factor. Unfortunately, and unlike similar programs in a growing number of states, not all students in Georgia are eligible for this opportunity. That’s still a goal to pursue.
For now, students are eligible if they live in the attendance zone of a school ranked in the bottom 25% of the state by performance. The list of those schools is due to be released by Dec. 1. When that list becomes available, the Family Handbook reminds us: “If you reside in the attendance zone of at least one school on the list, you meet the attendance zone requirement.”
This makes perfect sense for families. Why? For one example, it means elementary school students can claim the scholarship if they are zoned for a middle school on the list, allowing them to enter an educational setting that will be better for them in the long run. It also could help families zoned for a chronically low-performing school keep all their children together, if that’s what they want.
Applications for Promise Scholarships will open in early 2025, so now is the time for families to start exploring their options if their children need something different from what they’re getting today.
There’s nothing more important for your children’s future than their education. For my own family, one of the things I’m most grateful for is the public charter school my kids attend.
Every child deserves such an education. We can all be thankful that Georgia is making that possible for more families.