Georgia’s new program to subsidize private education has helped more than 8,000 children move from public schools with low test score averages to educational organizations predominantly affiliated with Christian churches, data from the Georgia Education Savings Authority shows.
About $5.4 million of the $7.1 million distributed by the state authority at the start of the fall school semester went to 286 private schools serving 85 counties and nine cities, according to a data investigation by The Current GA and Georgia Recorder.
The remaining cash — $1.7 million — went to 153 companies, including giant retailer Amazon, that sell school supplies such as computers, tablets and books, records show.
As many as 8,600 private students make up the first cohort receiving the Georgia Promise Scholarship, the program approved in spring 2024 by the Republican-led state legislature and Gov. Brian Kemp. Eligible children must live in areas served by the lowest-performing 25% of the state’s public schools.
Under the program’s guidelines, families receive $6,500 per year for each child to pay for the switch to a private school or homeschool or other educational supports. Parents receive the money through an online state portal, where they then allocate the dollars to an approved private school or to a company to purchase educational materials or services.