Spend state money on students, regardless of types of school they attend

By NEIL SULLIVAN

Recently, I shared my family’s experience with school vouchers (SB10) for children with individual educational plans (IEP). There is a bill in the Georgia Senate (SB233) that would provide each child in Georgia the opportunity to have a $6,500 voucher toward a school of their choice.

In 2023, the average Georgia pupil received an average of $6,466 from the State of Georgia for their public school education.

First, it is important to note that the Georgia guarantees an adequate basic education at public expense in its Constitution. It says that “Public education for the citizens prior to the college or postsecondary level shall be free and shall be provided for by taxation.”

Reasonable people may argue that this provision, broadly interpreted, would provide for public funding of each student’s education and not necessarily a one size fits all school system. After all, private school students can still earn the HOPE scholarship even though they are “outside the system.”

In 2023 there were approximately 58,000 students in Georgia’s private schools, nearly 5,000 of which were from Fayette-Coweta. I cannot find a reliable estimate of the home school population, but using 10,000-20,000 across Georgia doesn’t seem unreasonable.

Can Georgia claim to meet its constitutional obligation of providing adequate basic education when 60,000-80,000 students do not receive state funds? Especially when you consider that children who choose Charter schools instead of county schools receive on average twice as many state funds?

In round numbers the cost to our state education budget would be between $400-million-to-$500 million, which seems like a large number until you realize it is approximately 3% of the education budget

While some are seeking to invest our budget surplus to use our schools to combat poverty or invest in renewable school transportation options, an investment into educational vouchers may stimulate options for children across the state as new and different options become available.

In the 15 years since Georgia began investing in charter schools, many different types have risen to offer different paths. In a world where parents can invest their money alongside their child’s state educational voucher, the opportunity could be huge for our state and her children.

Some will argue that vouchers are not “fair” because it gives resources to those who already have plenty and others would not have the same opportunities because they lack resources.

However, we ask our schools to service the three R’s — reading, (w)riting and (a)rithmatic. I do not think our school money should be used for redistribution, realigning, nor reordering. Let’s just try doing school well.

To be clear, we have excellent public schools in Fayette and Coweta. If some children take a voucher to try something different that would decrease state funding, but could also result in the local funds being spread over fewer children, creating a win for most.

Some will argue that we need to have every dollar in public education, but with charter schools we don’t today. We should focus on getting our children the education options that will serve them best.

[Neil Sullivan is a finance/accounting executive and CPA. He has lived in Peachtree City over 20 years with his wife Jennifer, a Fayette County History teacher and son Jackson, a sophomore at Erskine College. He has been active in public school related issues in Fayette County, leading three E-SPLOST initiatives as chairman of Fayette Citizens for Children. He has appeared previously on these pages in letters to the editor.]