Georgia

Top GOP Georgia lawmakers flex muscle in latest school voucher push • Georgia Recorder

Published

9 months ago

March 13, 2024

Top GOP Georgia lawmakers flex muscle in latest school voucher push • Georgia Recorder

An expansion to Georgia’s school voucher program is getting another shot this year after passing the House Education Committee on party lines Wednesday.

The latest form of the bill would allow parents to accept $6,500 to pull their children out of a public school with low performance metrics and enroll them in private school or teach them at home. Expanding vouchers has been a dream of conservatives in Georgia for a while now, who say a free market approach benefits students who are not well served by their local public school district.

That conservative priority came close to becoming reality last year when a voucher plan passed the state Senate, but it failed when a handful of House Republicans joined nearly all Democrats in voting against it. Opponents say vouchers transfer money from school districts in need of more funding and send it to private enterprises that are not accountable to public scrutiny, and that $6,500 does not cover tuition at reputable private schools, so the vouchers will only act as a discount to families that can already afford it.

“This does not empower parents at all to choose where their children go to school,” said Lisa Morgan, president of the Georgia Association of Educators. “It empowers private schools to make those choices. Private schools are not required in any sense to accept a student who has one of these vouchers. The private school still can discriminate on the basis of disability. The private school can still discriminate on any number of characteristics of the student. The parents are not empowered here. The private schools have a choice, and that’s what we need everyone to understand.”

The bill’s chances of becoming law appear higher this year with the support of the House’s highest-ranked member, Speaker Jon Burns, who made an appearance at Wednesday’s committee meeting to boost the bill.

Burns said Wednesday’s meeting was his first time at an Education Committee, and he made it clear he wants the bill to move forward.

“I would like for our House to send a clear signal that we will not let our children continue to be trapped in a failing school, that we’re taking a stand, give the parents of Georgia better options, and we are unlocking doors to the future for the children across this state,” he said.

“I hope when y ‘all’s discussion finishes, this committee will make a decision to move this bill forward,” he added.

Gov. Brian Kemp has also shown strong support for vouchers. Kemp told reporters Tuesday that he has been “patiently awaiting the House’s work” on the bill. The governor pressed lawmakers to pass a school voucher bill earlier this session in his State of the State address, saying then that “I believe we have run out of ‘next years’” to get it done.

“It’s my hope that we’ll get that done this year, and yes, we will be aggressively pushing for that once we know what the House’s posture’s going to be,” Kemp said Tuesday.

Another top Republican, Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones, presented the bill to the committee with many changes over last year’s.

The bill would make teacher pay raises approved over the past few years permanent. It would allow public schools to use state capital construction dollars to build or renovate Pre-K facilities.

It creates a new body called the Georgia Education Savings Authority to administer school voucher programs, and, similar to a bill that passed the Senate last month, it creates rules for students to transfer between public school districts.

It still applies to students zoned into the lowest-performing 25% of schools, but Jones said she added a provision giving priority to students whose parents earn less than 400% of the federal poverty line, or $120,000 a year for a family of four in 2024.

Jones also added a cap to the program of 1% of the cost of the Quality Basic Education formula used to determine the state’s school funding share, equaling more than $100 million. Education accounts for about a third of the state’s $30 billion-plus

Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder

annual budget.

Speaking to the Recorder after the vote, Jones said she’s quite confident the House will pass the bill.

Why?

“20 years of vote counting,” she said with a laugh.

Republicans on the committee were effusive in their praise of the bill, including Atlanta Rep. Mesha Mainor, who switched parties last year after she faced heavy criticism for backing vouchers.

“I loved the bill last year, I love it now,” she said. “It meets the needs of so many different families.”

Democrats were more circumspect. Powder Springs Rep. David Wilkerson said they had little time to review the 39-page document.

“While the majority party, as the speaker alluded to, may have had 350 days actually to review this bill, we’ve had probably 35 minutes,” he said.

Democrats proposed two amendments, one to require private schools that receive state money to accept all candidates and one to require that all teachers in participating schools be professionally certified. The committee voted against the amendments on a party line basis.

Voucher supporters say the plan would not harm public school budgets. That’s because schools get money both from the state and local taxes. Supporters say the $6,500 would cancel out the state share of funds, but schools would still collect local taxes for students who take advantage of the program.

Opponents say that doesn’t add up because schools would be out $6,500 for each student, but they can’t lower the salary of a teacher whose class size decreases, and fewer students doesn’t translate to less cost to heat or cool a building or transport children to and from the school.

A poll commissioned by the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute and University of Georgia School of Public and International Affairs Survey Research Center suggests Georgia voters and parents aren’t wild about vouchers.

Pollsters asked registered Georgia voters how the state should support students in underperforming schools, giving them the options to give parents $6,500 to pay for private school tuition, provide schools with more state support or increase choice options like dual enrollment or charter schools.

A plurality of voters, 43.7% said schools should get more state support, 29.4% said more school choice options and 14.8% preferred the $6,500 vouchers.

Voucher support increased somewhat when pollsters asked respondents with school-aged children which policy would be best for their family. Among parents, 22.6% said $6,500 vouchers would be best for them, 39.8% said they want more state support, and 31% favor increased choice options.

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Georgia

Georgia's Outgoing President Urges EU to Use More Leverage to Back Protesters

Published

7 hours ago

December 18, 2024

Press Room

Georgia's Outgoing President Urges EU to Use More Leverage to Back Protesters

BRUSSELS (AP) — Georgia’s outgoing president on Wednesday appealed to the European Union to press her country’s pro-Russia government to hold a new election amid a police crackdown on peaceful opposition protesters. Tens of thousands of people have filled the streets regularly in recent weeks since …

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Georgia man sentenced to five years for assaulting officers in Capitol Riot

Published

15 hours ago

December 17, 2024

Press Room

Georgia man sentenced to five years for assaulting officers in Capitol Riot

article

WASHINGTON – A Georgia man was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison for assaulting law enforcement officers and other offenses committed during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.

Michael Bradley, 50, of Forsyth, was convicted of multiple felony and misdemeanor charges for his role in disrupting a joint session of Congress that was convened to certify the 2020 presidential election results.

U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton sentenced Bradley to 60 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $2,000 fine. Bradley was found guilty of civil disorder; assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers; entering and remaining in a restricted building with a deadly weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct with a deadly weapon; and engaging in physical violence with a deadly weapon.

Events on Jan. 6, 2021

Court documents and trial evidence revealed that Bradley joined rioters at the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace Tunnel, a hotspot for violent clashes with law enforcement. Between 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., Bradley was seen carrying a baton in a holster on his hip as he approached the tunnel.

At approximately 4:27 p.m., Bradley raised the baton and moved toward officers in an apparent attempt to strike. Officers used a chemical spray to repel him, prompting his temporary retreat. Moments later, Bradley returned to the tunnel and swung his baton at officers at least twice before leaving the area.

CCTV and third-party video captured Bradley’s actions, which prosecutors described as part of a larger violent effort by rioters to overwhelm police and disrupt congressional proceedings.

Michael Bradley’s arrest and prosecution

Bradley was arrested by FBI agents on Sept. 7, 2023, in Forsyth. He had been identified as suspect No. 154 in the FBI’s “Be on the Lookout” (BOLO) campaign, which sought public assistance in identifying individuals involved in the Capitol attack.

Since the Capitol breach, more than 1,572 individuals across nearly all 50 states have been charged with crimes related to the attack, including over 590 accused of assaulting or impeding law enforcement, according to the Justice Department. The investigation remains ongoing.

The FBI continues to seek information on unidentified suspects. Tips can be submitted at 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or tips.fbi.gov.

The Source: All information and images in this article was provided by the U.S. Department of Justice. This story is being reported out of Atlanta.

Capitol RiotNewsCrime and Public SafetyWashington, D.C.Georgia

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Georgia

What we learned in Grand Canyon basketball losses to Georgia, Louisiana Tech

Published

23 hours ago

December 17, 2024

Press Room

What we learned in Grand Canyon basketball losses to Georgia, Louisiana Tech

Grand Canyon lost a chance to make a big statement during its trip through the South.

The Lopes (6-4) had won four straight with their full team, after getting center Duke Brennan back from an injury.

But in a 73-68 loss to Georgia (9-1) on Saturday, followed by a 74-66 loss to Louisiana Tech on Monday, their biggest star, WAC Preseason Player of the Year Tyon Grant-Foster, had his two worst games since joining the Lopes last year and leading them to an historic 30-win season.

He shot a combined 2 for 25 in the losses, missing all 13 3-pointers he took. This is baffling for last year’s WAC Player of the Year, who averaged 20 points in his first college season in two years, leading the Lopes to their first NCAA Tournament win last season.

To make matters worse Monday night at Louisiana Tech (10-2), guard Ray Harrison was only 1 of 10 shooting, making just 1 of 7 3-pointers, two days after he led GCU with 16 points, making 2 of 4 3s, against Georgia.

Here are takeaways from this two-game swing as the Lopes look to recover Thursday night at home against 0-12 Chicago State. That will be followed by a 2 p.m. home game Sunday against Saint Louis:

Shooting woes

It wasn’t just Grant-Foster who struggled. The Lopes made only 7 of 27 3-pointers against Georgia and 2 of 27 from behind the arc against Louisiana Tech.

This was supposed to be a roster built to make 3-pointers. JaKobe Coles came from TCU, where he was a 42% shooter from 3. Coles was 1 of 5 from 3-point range against Georgia and 1 of 3 against Louisiana Tech. He led the Lopes with 19 points on 7 of 13 field-goal shooting against Louisiana Tech.

Both Coles and Grant-Foster missed open 3s in the final minute of the Georgia game. If either of them knock down a 3, it could have been a different outcome.

In the 75-68 home loss to UC Davis, the Lopes made just 4 of 25 3-pointers. Even against NAIA Life Pacific, a team the Lopes beat 100-52 before hitting the road, they made only 8 of 28 3-pointers.

On the season, Harrison has made 11 of 40 3-pointers (27.5%) and Grant-Foster 6 of 39 (15%). Last season, Grant-Foster, who made his living at the free-throw line, drawing fouls on quick moves to the basket, made 33% of his 3s (50 of 151), the second-best shooting percentage from the arc on the team, behind Gabe McGlothan (39.8%).

Against Louisiana Tech, the Lopes were within two points with 2:13 left, but got outscored 6-0 in the end.

“Sometimes the ball just doesn’t go in for him,” coach Bryce Drew said in the postgame GCU radio interview about Grant-Foster, who missed the first two games this season. “It’s not going in right now. There’s other parts of his game that he can do. I thought at Georgia he did a great job getting six steals.

“He’s a much better player than he’s playing. My job as a coach is we’ve got to get it out of him. We’ve been trying different things in the last month, and we’re going to keep trying more things to get him back on track.”

Scheduling

Because the WAC and Conference USA were locked into a contract to have non-conference games against each other, GCU had to go to Louisiana Tech in this home-and-home series. Last year, GCU pulled out a 73-70 win over Louisiana Tech at home. This game happened to fall two days after facing Georgia against a pro-Bulldogs crowd at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

“The scheduling has been very difficult,” Drew said. “We would never ever played this game where we played it. It’s the Conference USA challenge with the WAC, so we had this game. We had a chance to play Georgia, a top-40 team, in Atlanta. We didn’t want to turn that game down.”

But Drew added he didn’t want to use the Georgia game as an excuse.

“I’ve got to do a better job in the future with scheduling,” he said. “It’s super hard to get games. Doing a back-to-back basically after a super physical Georgia game, and, for 40 minutes, I think you saw the legs come out a little bit on some of our 3-point shooting.”

Brennan not backing down

The overall play of 6-foot-10 Brennan has been a bright spot since his return from a shoulder injury that caused him to miss the first four games.

Brennan had 13 points on 5 of 6 shootings and pulled down seven rebounds against Louisiana Tech. He got big man Daniel Batcho to pick up two fouls and head to the bench after Louisiana Tech jumped out to a 13-2 lead.

GCU pulled ahead of Louisiana Tech late in the first half, but that couldn’t be sustained, as Batcho returned and finished with 19 points and seven rebounds without picking up another foul. Sean Newman Jr., had his season-average nine assists to go with 25 points.

Brennan had 10 points and eight rebounds against a big Georgia team that blocked nine GCU shots. Earlier this season, Brennan played well in the 78-71 Stanford win with 14 points and eight rebounds, going against Maxime Raynaud (29 points, 11 rebounds).

Georgia center Somto Cyril had 12 points, eight rebounds and five blocks against GCU.

“We’ve played three really good centers so far, and you look at those, and they’re as good as any center in the country,” Drew said. “Hopefully, we’re done playing that size and length for a while.

“Obviously, Saint Louis (Sunday’s home opponent) has a good center (Robbie Avila) but he’s a different kind of center. This stuff is going to make us better. It’s going to make our bigs better, our guards better, finishing, and also show what we need to work on in practice to get better.”

Richard Obert has been covering high school sports since the 1980s for The Arizona Republic. He also covers Grand Canyon University athletics and the Arizona Rattlers. To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert

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