Director of Education

Dr. Stephen Owens

Dr. Stephen Owens is the education director at the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. Stephen advocates for diverse, inclusive and excellent public schools through research and data analysis.

Prior to joining GBPI in 2018, Stephen was a research and data analyst at the Georgia Department of Education. He created data visualizations to help district and state policymakers better understand school outcomes, assisted in the creation of Georgia’s plan to implement federal education legislation (the Every Student Succeeds Act), and produced analyses that shaped public policy for Georgia’s schools.

Stephen graduated from the University of Georgia, where he holds a doctorate with a focus on education policy. His dissertation centered on state-level agenda formation.

Recent Posts by Stephen

Class backpack 2021 K-12 Education

School Vouchers: Myth vs. Fact

Debates around school funding and the best use of public dollars are rife with confusion. Discussion around school ...
Teacher and student Blog

Testimony on Senate Bill 47

Dear Chairman Payne and Members of the Georgia Senate Committee on Education and Youth:  By way of introduction my name is Stephen Owens, and ...
lotteryfunded Budget and Taxes

Overview: 2022 Fiscal Year Budget for Lottery-Funded Programs

    Co-authored by Jennifer Lee, Senior Policy Analyst and Stephen Owens, Ph.D, Senior Policy Analyst Gov. Brian ...
k12overview Budget and Taxes

Overview: 2022 Fiscal Year Budget for K-12 Education

    Gov. Kemp’s budget proposal for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 provides Georgia’s public schools $10.2 billion, a ...
Teacher and student Bill Analysis

Hundreds of Millions of Dollars at Stake for a Failed Policy | Bill Analysis: House Bill 60 (LC 49 0301)

    Update on Feb. 25, 2021: A new substitute for House Bill 60 (LC 49 0460S) lowers ...
web-imgprimer Blog

Resources on School Vouchers

Current Status: In the 2022 Legislative Session, lawmakers may consider House Bill 60 and House Bill 142, two ...
header-k12 K-12 Education

State of Education Funding (2021)

This report offers an assessment of the state of education funding in Georgia by analyzing how it compares ...
primer6 Fact Sheets

Ficha informativa: Inglés para hablantes de otros idiomas

web Fact Sheets

Fact Sheet: English for Speakers of Other Languages

    Thank you to Latin American Association & Center for Pan Asian Community Services for translation services ...
ESOL 2020 cover K-12 Education

English Learners Deserve More: An Analysis of Georgia’s Education for Speakers of Other Languages

    Thank you to Latin American Association & Center for Pan Asian Community Services for translation services ...
Superintendent survey cover Blog

Difficult Choices Made Worse by Budget Cuts: Results from GBPI’s 2020 School District Survey

    Each year, the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute sends a survey to every public school superintendent ...
Education cover 2021 Budget Primer

Georgia Education Budget Primer for State Fiscal Year 2021

Georgia’s 2021 Education Budget Georgia lawmakers cut $1 billion from the state’s budget for the Department of Education. ...

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