Georgia House, Senate resolve dispute on how much money should go toward school choice

After days of negotiation, the Georgia House and Senate reached a resolution on the state’s fiscal year 2026 budget last week, in turn reaching an agreement on how much funding Georgia will give a new private school voucher program.

Both legislative chambers previously disagreed on the financial allocations for the Georgia Promise Scholarship, which the Georgia Assembly created last year. But on the last legislative session day, lawmakers compromised and signed off on a final budget that aligns with Gov. Brian Kemp’s initial recommendation of $141 million, the maximum amount allowed for the scholarship program by law.

With its maximized funding restored, the school choice program will support approximately 22,000 students in the attendance zones of low-performing public schools. The program will provide families up to $6,500 for K-12 homeschooling or private expenses.

Eligible students may use the grants for private school tuition, tutoring services or other qualified education expenses.

Over half of Bibb County public schools were identified on the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement final list of underperforming schools. Students at those schools are potentially eligible for the money.

When the House proposed a nearly $100 million slash in program funds that would decrease the number of students that the law promised to support for alternative school options, a Middle Georgia parents shared with The Telegraph her concerns about potentially disrupted plans for the 2025-26 academic year.

But now, school choice advocates are relieved, and they’re encouraging families to take advantage of the scholarship.

Shalandra Parker is the founder and executive director of Seal Preparatory Academy in Macon, one of the sixteen private schools in Middle Georgia that have been approved to participate in the scholarship program. She said she’s excited about the lawmakers’ compromise.

“I’m glad that they made the decision to fully fund (the program) as intended because it’ll give students, especially those with special needs, the opportunity to receive personalized learning in micro-school settings,” Parker said.

Parker said the scholarship program can help students with individualized education plans, as they can be mishandled in public schools, she said.

“I wish people would take time to explore and research how the services provided by these schools will help their children and effectively meet their needs,” she added, after briefly highlighting school choice critics’ concerns about the program.

The Georgia Student Finance Commission reported that it received at least 7,000 applications for the program within just two weeks of its opening.

The number of applications has increased to 10,000, Sen. Greg Dolezal (R-Cumming) said last week during a House education committee that discussed Senate Bill 152, which proposes foster parents to have priority access to the state’s school voucher program for their biological and adopted children.

The Georgia Promise Scholarship’s first application cycle will remain open until April 15. There will be three more application windows this year.

The budget, which outlines the spending of $37.8 billion, now heads to Kemp’s desk for approval. The budget will take effect on July 1.