Blog Budget and Taxes Jennifer Owens Crossover Day Recap: Senate Approves Expanding Record Restriction Before Session is Suspended March 16, 2020 / April 28, 2020 by Jennifer Owens Crossover Day 2020, the deadline by which bills must pass their legislative chamber of origination in order to be considered by the other chamber this session, was marked by much more than the usual flurry of last-minute deals, supplemental rules calendars, forceful requests to reconsider bills that fail floor votes and unending streams of unhealthy […] Read more » Budget budget and taxes Caps Crossover Day Education flat tax medicaid record restriction
Bill Analysis K-12 Education Stephen Owens Potential Voucher Expansion Leaves Students and Parents at a Loss February 28, 2020 / April 28, 2020 by Stephen Owens Bill Analysis: Senate Bill 386 (LC 49 0125) Established in 2007, the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship (GSNS) is a voucher that allows parents of students with disabilities to pay for private education programs using money previously allocated for public schooling. The voucher is available to students with an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) who have attended […] Read more » 504 plans Education K-12 vouchers
Fact Sheets K-12 Education Learning the Basics Stephen Owens Video What Are School Vouchers? February 12, 2020 / October 13, 2026 by Stephen Owens Download PDF Vouchers Overview Georgia legislators have debated educational vouchers since the 1950s.[1] A school voucher is an amount of money provided by the state government to parents for use for private educational programs, such as tuition at private schools. There are two basic ways the state can finance school vouchers. Tax-credit vouchers Taxpayers can […] Read more » Education K-12 school vouchers vouchers
Higher Education Jennifer Lee Reports Overview: Georgia’s 2021 Fiscal Year Budget for Higher Education January 29, 2020 / October 13, 2026 by Jennifer Lee Download PDF Governor Brian Kemp’s proposed 2021 budget allocates $2.58 billion for the Board of Regents and $373 million for the Technical College System of Georgia. This budget includes money for enrollment growth and a $1,000 raise for full-time employees earning $40,000 or less. University System of Georgia The proposed 2021 budget increase of $10 […] Read more » Budget college Dual Enrollment Education
K-12 Education Reports Stephen Owens Overview: Georgia’s 2021 Fiscal Year Budget for K-12 Education January 28, 2020 / October 13, 2026 by Stephen Owens Download PDF Governor Kemp’s budget proposal for fiscal year (FY) 2021 provides Georgia’s public schools $10.9 billion, a $272 million increase above current funding. The largest single addition provides funding for pay raises for teachers and some non-certified school personnel that make less than $40,000 per year. Costs tied to student enrollment growth make up the bulk of the remaining additional dollars. Although Georgia’s mechanism for financing public […] Read more » Budget Education K-12 QBE Quality Basic Education
Bill Analysis Higher Education Jennifer Lee K-12 Education Reports Dual Enrollment Restrictions Designed to Limit Cost Growth January 20, 2020 / October 13, 2026 by Jennifer Lee Download PDF Bill Analysis: House Bill 444 (LC 49 0063S) Dual Enrollment acts as a crucial onramp to college for more than 50,000 Georgia students. As Dual Enrollment is set up in Georgia, the state pays colleges fixed amounts for tuition, mandatory fees and books so that high school students can take college courses without […] Read more » Bill Analysis Dual Enrollment Education Higher Education K-12
Blog K-12 Education Stephen Owens Reject Policies that Make Education Less Fair Across Georgia January 16, 2020 / April 28, 2020 by Stephen Owens Last fall we published a report exploring the connection between Georgia’s legacy of slavery and Jim Crow and its impact on the educational opportunities and resources for students living in the state’s “Black Belt.” The Black Belt refers to a region of the state where slave labor was concentrated. Since 1865, Jim Crow segregation and […] Read more » Charter Schools Education Education Savings Account Georgia K-12 testing TRS vouchers
K-12 Education Reports Stephen Owens State of Education Funding in Georgia (2020) January 9, 2020 / October 13, 2026 by Stephen Owens Download PDF Georgia’s public schools are funded through a law passed in 1985 called the Quality Basic Education Act, or QBE. This report offers an assessment of the state of education funding in Georgia by analyzing how it compares to prior years and other states and exploring what areas are due for review or revision. […] Read more » Education K-12 QBE Quality Basic Education
Higher Education Jennifer Lee K-12 Education Reports Dual Enrollment Requires Sustainable Funding to Promote High School and College Success November 14, 2019 / October 13, 2026 by Jennifer Lee | 1 Comment on Dual Enrollment Requires Sustainable Funding to Promote High School and College Success Download PDF Overview Dual Enrollment presents an opportunity to better prepare students for success in both high school and college. Soon most jobs will require some level of postsecondary education.[1] Dual Enrollment prepares students for the transition between secondary and postsecondary education and helps students get to and through their chosen higher education paths and […] Read more » Dual Enrollment Education Higher Education
K-12 Education Stephen Owens Georgia’s K-12 Equalization Grants Explained August 29, 2019 / March 23, 2021 by Stephen Owens The state of Georgia has a constitutional obligation to provide every child with an “adequate public education.”[1] Over the past 50 years, almost every state’s funding laws have been created or changed in response to lawsuits alleging that schools are either not funded enough (adequacy challenges) or not funded fairly (equity challenges). Georgia lawmakers enacted […] Read more » Education equalization equalization grants K-12
