$6,500 school vouchers coming to Georgia as bill gets final passage

ATLANTA — Proclaiming that “education is truly the great equalizer,” Gov. Brian Kemp signed a law on Tuesday that will give up to $6,500 a year to some Georgia families to pay for private school tuition or home-schooling expenses.

It’s a victory for the Republican governor, whose support helped push a bill across the finish line that failed in 2023, delivering a priority that had eluded conservative activists for years. The achievement burnishes Kemp’s conservative credentials if he runs for the U.S. Senate or president in the future. The Georgia effort is part of a nationwide GOP wave favoring education savings accounts.

Kemp signed other education-related bills Tuesday, including one requiring parents to give permission before children younger than 16 could create social media accounts. Similar measures have been blocked in other states by legal challenges.

Kemp portrayed Senate Bill 233, the Georgia Promise Scholarship, as part of an “all of the above” strategy that also supports traditional public schools, noting teacher pay raises, increased school security spending and efforts to help children read better. But he said parents should take the lead in deciding how children learn.

“We know it’s not the government’s role to dictate to families what the best choice is for their child,” Kemp said. “It is our job to support them in making that decision.”

Opponents argue the voucher program will subtract resources from public schools, even as other students remain behind.