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

By JEFF AMY
Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia senators are giving final approval to $6,500 vouchers funding for private school tuition and home schooling, sending the measure to Gov. Brian Kemp for his signature. Senators voted 33-21 along party lines on Wednesday to approve changes that the House made last week to Senate Bill 233. House approval had long eluded the state’s school choice advocates.  Kemp backs the voucher plan, advocating for it in his State of the State speech. The bill would provide $6,500 education savings accounts to students attending public schools that rank in Georgia’s bottom 25% for academic achievement. Students from households with incomes of less than four times the federal poverty level would prioritized.