The new president of the Georgia Association of Educators is reviving her predecessor’s call for a half-cent state sales tax hike to fund education and adding a push for higher tobacco taxes.
In an interview, Calvine Rollins, who replaced Jeff Hubbard, wouldn’t estimate how much the taxes would raise.
“But I do know for a fact that it would generate … enough to see our teachers not be furloughed any more, and it would definitely help the class sizes decrease,” she said. The money would be earmarked solely for education, she said.
Austerity cuts to education funding that started in 2003 have totaled almost $2 billion over the past seven years, she said. Fresh funding could offset some of those losses before further cuts scuttle recent positive strides in academic performance, she said.
She said the sales tax increase would expire in five years unless lawmakers enacted an extension. She did not say whether the tobacco tax would be permanent.