Kemp signs Georgia school voucher bill amid controversy

ATLANTA - With the signing of The Promise Scholarship Act into law comes the promise of a brighter future for thousands of Georgia children. 

The school voucher bill legislation is part of a slew of education bills by Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law on Tuesday. 

Kemp told reporters covering the bill signing ceremony, "Been working in this building for a long time. Legislators who aren't even here have worked on school choice legislation, so very exciting today." 

It will provide $6,500 per student to families zoned for public schools in the lowest performing 25 percent of the state, to send the student to a private school. 

"Really helping our kids in failing schools, that is really what it is all about, is about making sure we have choice in education, and we are supporting parents in making the best choice for their child to get them in the best place that they can be to be successful," Kemp explained. 

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Parents now have more educational options, but at what price? 

"This bill will divert much needed public resources from our state's 1.7 million public school students in order to cover private school tuition and other expenses for a small select few," said IDRA spokesperson Mikayla Arciaga. 

Critics of private school vouchers held a news conference via Zoom following Kemp's signing ceremony. They say the new law will prove detrimental to the state's public schools. 

"We've shared extensively our concerns about how voucher programs, particularly the Promise Scholarship Act outlined in SB 233, are not the investment that is needed to serve our most vulnerable students.  We've seen that vouchers don't necessarily improve students' academic performance." 

The new law will be in effect for the 2025-26 school year.