Damn GOP legislation & agenda (& guilty parents). Shut it down! Private school tuition loophole exploited - Taxpayers help cover private school costs
James Salzer and Nancy Badertscher have knocked it out of the ballpark with some great investigative reporting in the ajc:
A loophole in Georgia law is letting some kids in private schools get taxpayer-subsidized scholarships that were created to help children in struggling public schools.
Some public school systems are reporting that private-school parents are showing up to fill out paperwork to enroll their kids in public schools solely to qualify for the scholarships.
They say parents have told them their children have no intention of actually attending classes in the public school. But enrolling makes them eligible for the scholarship.
Officials at two local private schools contacted by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution acknowledged that some of their students are using the loophole to get scholarship money to cut their tuition costs.
Public school officials aren’t sure how many students at other private schools are doing the same thing. Without knowing, public schools may have assigned teachers, classrooms and other resources to children who won’t attend.
Critics of the program say it has essentially turned into a way for state taxpayers to subsidize children already attending private schools.
“There is definitely a loophole in the law, and they are taking full advantage of it,” said William Cason, superintendent of the public school system in Valdosta. “It just seems to me to be dishonest.”
John Newcomer, a member of the Horizon Christian Academy board in Cumming, called the scholarship program “a way for us to get some of the tax dollars that are taken from us.”
The school’s May newsletter promoted it as “a way for you to have state funds pay your child’s tuition.”
“The state kind of implemented a voucher system in disguise,” Newcomer said.
Republican leaders like [House Rules Chairman Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs)] sold the program as a way to give parents with children in bad public schools the financial help they need to be able to send their kids to private schools.
Public education and teacher groups opposed the program because they feared it would open the door to taxpayer-funded private school vouchers.
It is unclear how many private school parents around the state are using the scholarship loophole.
Public school officials in Forsyth and Barrow counties and Valdosta told the AJC they have had private school students sign up or ask to sign up just so they can qualify for the private school scholarships.
Ehrhart scoffed at reports of private school families using the loophole to get the scholarship.
“That sounds like left-wingers who don’t like the program,” he said.
Ehrhart, who sits on the board of Marietta’s Dominion Christian High School, said the purpose of the law was not to give scholarship money to students already attending private schools unless they first attended a public school.
He said it’s legal for private school parents to use the loophole, but he added that any that are doing so are “an anomaly. There is no conspiracy there.”
Another law providing for private school scholarships for students with disabilities requires those children to attend a public school for a year before becoming eligible, according to the state Department of Education.
Georgia has been down the road of private school scholarships or vouchers before. In 1961, state officials passed a law to provide vouchers to parents who wanted their kids out of desegregated public schools. Hundreds of students received the vouchers, but it fell into disuse after reviews showed many of the parents getting the tuition help had previously been sending their children to private schools.
Tim Callahan of the Professional Association of Georgia Educators teacher group said his organization always saw the recent scholarship law as a “boondoggle to subsidize students already going to private schools.
“I think our opposition was warranted then, and this just underscores it,” he said.
A loophole in Georgia law is letting some kids in private schools get taxpayer-subsidized scholarships that were created to help children in struggling public schools.
Some public school systems are reporting that private-school parents are showing up to fill out paperwork to enroll their kids in public schools solely to qualify for the scholarships.
They say parents have told them their children have no intention of actually attending classes in the public school. But enrolling makes them eligible for the scholarship.
Officials at two local private schools contacted by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution acknowledged that some of their students are using the loophole to get scholarship money to cut their tuition costs.
Public school officials aren’t sure how many students at other private schools are doing the same thing. Without knowing, public schools may have assigned teachers, classrooms and other resources to children who won’t attend.
Critics of the program say it has essentially turned into a way for state taxpayers to subsidize children already attending private schools.
“There is definitely a loophole in the law, and they are taking full advantage of it,” said William Cason, superintendent of the public school system in Valdosta. “It just seems to me to be dishonest.”
John Newcomer, a member of the Horizon Christian Academy board in Cumming, called the scholarship program “a way for us to get some of the tax dollars that are taken from us.”
The school’s May newsletter promoted it as “a way for you to have state funds pay your child’s tuition.”
“The state kind of implemented a voucher system in disguise,” Newcomer said.
Republican leaders like [House Rules Chairman Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs)] sold the program as a way to give parents with children in bad public schools the financial help they need to be able to send their kids to private schools.
Public education and teacher groups opposed the program because they feared it would open the door to taxpayer-funded private school vouchers.
It is unclear how many private school parents around the state are using the scholarship loophole.
Public school officials in Forsyth and Barrow counties and Valdosta told the AJC they have had private school students sign up or ask to sign up just so they can qualify for the private school scholarships.
Ehrhart scoffed at reports of private school families using the loophole to get the scholarship.
“That sounds like left-wingers who don’t like the program,” he said.
Ehrhart, who sits on the board of Marietta’s Dominion Christian High School, said the purpose of the law was not to give scholarship money to students already attending private schools unless they first attended a public school.
He said it’s legal for private school parents to use the loophole, but he added that any that are doing so are “an anomaly. There is no conspiracy there.”
Another law providing for private school scholarships for students with disabilities requires those children to attend a public school for a year before becoming eligible, according to the state Department of Education.
Georgia has been down the road of private school scholarships or vouchers before. In 1961, state officials passed a law to provide vouchers to parents who wanted their kids out of desegregated public schools. Hundreds of students received the vouchers, but it fell into disuse after reviews showed many of the parents getting the tuition help had previously been sending their children to private schools.
Tim Callahan of the Professional Association of Georgia Educators teacher group said his organization always saw the recent scholarship law as a “boondoggle to subsidize students already going to private schools.
“I think our opposition was warranted then, and this just underscores it,” he said.
posted by Sid Cottingham | 8:18 PM
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