ATLANTA — The Governor’s Office of Student Achievement has released its list of the state’s low-performing schools for 2024. The list also determines which students are eligible for the Promise Schools voucher program.
Earlier this year, Gov. Brian Kemp signed Senate Bill 233 into law. The Promise Schools voucher program will give up to $6,500 to some families to pay for private school tuition, home-school expenses or other education related expenses.
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Students who are eligible must be zoned for a public school in the bottom 25% for academic achievement. The Governor’s Office of Student Achievement posted the initial list on Nov. 27, but updated it after the office “became aware of outliers in the CCRPI calculation.”
Here is the new and revised list posted this week.
2024 Georgia Promise Schools List by WSB-TV on Scribd
What are the other qualifications besides a student’s current school performance?
The student must also have attended the public school for at least two consecutive semesters or entering kindergarten. The student’s parent or parents must have been a Georgia resident for at least a year unless they are on active duty in the military.
The law also states that priority goes to families who earn less than four times the federal property level. In 2023, the Department of Health and Human Services said $120,000 a year for a family of four.
The Georgia Promise program says it will accept applications from parents in early 2025.
There has been a mix of support and opposition to the new voucher program.
Channel 2 Action News received the following statement form Lisa Morgan, president of the Georgia Association of Educators.
“As expected, the schools on the list are primarily in areas with a high number of minority students and/or families experiencing poverty. If lawmakers truly want to support these students, families, and schools, they should focus on providing them the necessary resources to address the challenges they face. Providing a poverty weight in the state funding formula, increasing the number of counselors and social workers, reducing the class sizes and providing teachers with unencumbered planning time are all steps that would allow teachers to provide instruction more closely focused on individual student needs. Offering false ‘promise’ in the form of vouchers fails all our students, schools, and communities. Our public funds should remain dedicated solely to our public schools.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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