A new bill signed into law in April by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is set to provide state-funded scholarships to eligible Georgia families who may be in the market for alternatives to traditional public schools.
The Georgia Promise Scholarship Act, or SB 233, allows the state to set up self-directed accounts with as much as $6,500 per student for families to pay for qualified alternative school expenses like private school tuition, homeschooling materials or transportation.
Black Georgians are uniquely positioned to benefit from the bill. Many will qualify under the criteria, which grant access to funds for students in schools ranked in the bottom 25% of Georgia’s College and Career Ready Performance Index for at least two consecutive years. In Atlanta Public Schools, where over 70% of students are economically disadvantaged, eligibility will extend to students in 12 predominantly Black school zones.
In order to receive the funds, students must have attended the school for two consecutive semesters or be entering kindergarten. Parents must also be a Georgia resident for at least one year unless they are active-duty military.
But some education advocates worry that the diversion of funds from the state’s complicated funding formula stands to hurt already critically underfunded schools, while supporters argue the funds are a major step toward aiding families who want to find ways to better center Black students’ needs outside of overwhelmed public systems.
Capital B Atlanta reached out to Black parents, educators, and education advocates to wade into the polarizing new law and get their perspectives on how the act could affect Black families, and where they land on the issue of school choice.
Here’s what they had to say.
Leonardo “Leo” Smith, Westminster Schools Parent
Leonardo “Leo” Smith said he sacrificed a lot to send his kids to private school. He gave up golfing, passed on replacing his 2002 Ford Focus with a newer model car, and started a small garden to cut back on the cost of fresh produce, all to afford the nearly $40,000 tuition bill for his two kids to attend the Westminster Schools in Vinings.
But it was well worth it; he says the pair, Grace and Luke, are thriving. That’s why he supports the new law, because he thinks it will help alleviate financial pressures for Black families who are interested in exploring alternative education options beyond their local public school systems.
“A lot of the Black community would be impacted by this thing, which can give real money for you to decide what’s best for your kids,” Smith said.
There has been some skepticism about how far $6,500 can go for Black parents who are actually interested in taking the private school route, given the high cost of tuition. The average private school tuition in Atlanta is around $17,000 a year, according to The Private School Review. And in its current text, the bill states that students who already receive some form of scholarship, tuition grant, or other benefit from a student scholarship organization to attend private schools will be ineligible to receive the funds.
But, Smith said that for many families, $6,500 can be a great start toward a higher quality education. He also pushed back on the notion that Black parents should stay faithful to public schools rather than invest in private options and should prioritize the quality of education they want their kids to get.
“Say you need a liver transplant. … Would you feel ashamed if you took your money and gave it to the private practitioner instead of the public clinic?” Smith said. “You’re not going to have somebody guilt trip you into doing something that is status quo just because it benefits those people working for the public.”
Richard Dunn, Midtown High and Woodard Academy parent
Richard Dunn agrees that parents should make the best decision they can for the sake of their child’s education. But, as a father of four and a graduate of Douglass High School, Dunn said he has seen both sides of the coin and that public schools can also provide a top-tier learning environment. He has three children who have attended APS and said his youngest now attends a private school.
Dunn says his choice for his children’s education is driven by their individual needs and interests.
“As a parent, it made more sense for me to put my kids in school specifically to where they were motivated to thrive,” Dunn said. “That’s why I’m a proponent of putting kids in the proper environment where they need to be. … I’m not anti-voucher program because some of our kids need to go to private school for various reasons.”
Davida Huntley, Washington High alumni parent
For Davida Huntley, the voucher law is an irresponsible move by lawmakers because of the lack of clarity around eligibility and the initial rollout of the program. She worries about funds being misused.
“It’s just like another PPP [Paycheck Protection Program] fraud nightmare waiting to happen, where you give people access to funding and you give it with very vague requirements,” Huntley told Capital B Atlanta. Huntley’s son, Sean, graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in southwest Atlanta in 2022. Huntley also attended Washington and is a fourth-generation graduate.
Her biggest concern with the voucher is that it will divert much-needed funds from Black neighborhood schools. Huntley says she believes the state should invest more time and money into improving those schools and the neighborhoods around them.
“Those funds should be intentionally driven into those communities, not just a school, because triage should happen in the community at the family level.”
Monica Hall, founder and principal of Thrive Christian Academy
Monica Hall says SB 233 allows parents the opportunity to make critical decisions in deciding the best education environments for their kids, even if that means keeping that environment home-based. Hall is the founder and principal of Thrive Christian Academy, a faith-based prep and K-12 private school in Tucker.
She says $6,500 can go a long way for low-income parents who are looking for affordable private schools like Thrive. Annually, Thrive’s cost ranges from $7,000 to $8,500 per year, which breaks down to $167- $202 a week.
“I don’t see SB 233 as an attack on the public school system, but I do see it as a resource,” Hall said. “Where if needed, you can tap into it to use it to the best educational advantage of your student and whether that’s for tutoring, whether it’s for homeschooling, whether it’s for developing a micro school.”
Hall wants to be clear on her stance that she isn’t anti-public education. Instead, she says she simply is a supporter of giving everyone the opportunity to change the trajectory of their educational outcomes, especially in situations where the local schools are unable to provide proper service.
“I am an advocate for parents having the ability, regardless of your income, to make the best academic and educational decisions for their students,” Hall told Capital B Atlanta. “If the school around the corner is not the best fit for my student, as a tax-paying parent, I should be able to choose and make an informed decision on the best setting for the success of my student.”
Darian Burns, Southern Education Foundation policy analyst
Darian Burns, a legislative and public policy analyst for the Southern Education Foundation, stands on the side of concern. Burns said that Black families should consider the legacy of school choice and how, historically, school voucher programs have been a tool to promote segregation following the Brown v. Board of Education decision 70 years ago.
“In order to resist desegregation, states, particularly in the South, started opening white private segregation academies so that they could still operate, segregated,” Burns said. “The history of how these voucher programs were started are often left out of today’s conversations. After Brown, Georgia ended up spending $218,000 on private school vouchers that were going to students who were mostly white to attend private schools.”
Burns said supporters of the bill will claim that the goal is to empower parents, but the reality is, when families accept this state-funded money, they waive federal protections under Title VI and IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Both Title VI and IV play a crucial role in promoting equality and preventing discrimination in a wide range of federally funded programs and activities, including public schools.
But, private schools in Georgia are not necessarily governed by the same federal protections which, according to Burns, gives them the ability to deny funding wraparound services like the Individualized Education Plan (IEP). An IEP is a personalized plan developed for students with disabilities, outlining their specific educational goals, services, and accommodations.
“The choice doesn’t ultimately lie with the parent or the student, it lies with the private school itself,” Burns says. “The language is vague in the legislation. … You’re gonna go to that private school and that private school does not want to offer you those services. They don’t have to, and what happens with that funding?”
Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified Monica Hall. Also, this story has been updated to correct the date of Davida Huntley’s son’s high school graduation. He graduated in 2022.
