Twiggs, Wilkinson public school students may be eligible for $6,500 toward private school tuition

Students who currently attend some public schools in Twiggs and Wilkinson counties may be eligible for up to $6,500 to go toward private school tuition or homeschooling resources, according to a recently-released document from the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement.

Four local schools — Twiggs County Middle School, Twiggs County High School, Wilkinson County Elementary School and Wilkinson County Middle School — were determined by the office to be among the worst-performing 25% of Georgia public schools. 

Because those schools were identified, any student within the attendance zone is eligible to apply for the scholarship, not just current students of the four schools. Students who will be entering kindergarten for the 2025-2026 academic year are also eligible.

The application portal is expected to open early in 2025. Funding will become available after July 1, 2025. 

There is also a requirement for parents to have lived in Georgia for at least one year unless they are active duty military.

For the first year of the program, in the event that more students apply than can be accommodated, students will receive priority consideration if their family income is under 400% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). For a family of four, the 2024 FPL is $31,200, so that family would have to bring in less than $124,800 to be prioritized. 

Currently, the Georgia Center for Opportunity estimates it can serve around 21,000 students.

“It can be life-changing for these students,” Kyle Wingfield, president and CEO of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, told 11Alive. “Any parent knows their child is unlike any other child. Different children need different things educationally. Expecting any one public school to provide everything every child needs is maybe a little unrealistic. This allows that family to make the choice that will be best for their child.”

The Georgia Promise Scholarship Act was signed into law by Governor Brian Kemp on April 23, but it had been hotly debated for years prior. It was shut down in the state legislature last year by Democrats and Republicans alike in a 89-85 vote — just one Democrat voted in favor of the measure.

While some people applaud the initiative to provide better educational opportunities for students, others criticize the legislation for encouraging students to leave underperforming schools rather than trying to address the challenges the school districts are facing.

Another criticism is that $6,500 per year is not enough to cover private school tuition, so low-income families still wouldn’t be able to afford it anyways. The figure was chosen because it is approximately the average per-pupil amount that the state sends to local school districts, according to the Georgia Center for Opportunity, a non-partisan policy research and solution delivery organization that is in favor of the scholarship.

“What makes us think that poor and disadvantaged families are going to be able to take advantage of this?” asked Rep. Mary Frances Williams, a Marietta Democrat, last year. “It’s OK if you don’t care about that. But don’t pretend that it will benefit them and don’t pretend that it won’t cost a lot of money, and don’t pretend that we can afford it.”

The funds can be put toward certain education expenses, including tuition and related costs (i.e. textbooks), tutoring services, homeschooling curriculum and materials, therapeutic services (i.e. for occupational, behavioral, physical or speech-language therapies), transportation and other expenses approved by a majority of a parent review committee.

Once students have been accepted into the scholarship program, they will stay in it until they graduate high school, go back to a public school, turn 20 years old (for special education students, that age cap is instead 21) or move out of Georgia.

Similar to some other legislation, there is an expiration date on the program, but legislators can vote to extend it. The current act will expire in 10 years, according to the Georgia Center for Opportunity, and lawmakers will need to vote annually to fund the program.