SB 233 robs the poorest students in Georgia's poorest schools of the funding they need. That funding is siphoned off to pay for the private school education of more privileged children.
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If just 5% of eligible families participate, public school students and schools will lose $300 million in funding each year.
Under the bill, for every dollar in per pupil funding for public schools, two dollars are given away to subsidize private school students.
SB 233 gives false hope to working families. The amount of the voucher, $6,500, isn’t nearly enough to pay for most private schools, for which tuition may be as high as $50,000. As one writer stated: “To poor families confronted with such prices, a voucher isn’t a lifeline, it’s a taunt.”
Vouchers are not a lifeline for working families, they are a handout to upper class parents.
SB 233 pays parents of home-schooled children $6,500 per child. According to a pro-homeschooling website, the cost to homeschool a child per school year is $500 to $1,500, not $6,500.
Where vouchers have been enacted, fraud follows. An Arizona audit showed $1 billion in fraudulent misuse of voucher dollars spent on “educational expenses,” like horseback-riding and tennis lessons, home gyms, and museum tours in Europe.
SB 233 is wrong for Georgia's students and working families.
