Education Savings Account Act Submitted to State House by Cumming Lawmaker

A Cumming member of the Georgia House of Representatives is the chief sponsor of a bill which would allow parents to help cover the costs of private school by placing their child’s share of state education funding into a private education savings account.

H.B. 243, or the ”Education Savings Account Act” was submitted to the house hopper on Wednesday by Rep. Mark Hamilton (R-Cumming). The bill states that any parent who wished to enroll their child in a private education program could request that the Office of Student Achievement, “deposit into an education savings account an amount equivalent to the costs of the educational program that would have been provided for such student...if he or she were enrolled in and attending school in the resident school system.”

The education savings account (ESA) could be used to cover the costs of tuition, textbooks, private tutoring, or fees for taking nationally-recognized standardized tests, according to the bill’s language. ESA’s could also be used to help pay for postsecondary education.

In order for a child to be eligible for an ESA, he or she must be a Georgia resident who either attended a state public school during the last semester or would be eligible to enroll in kindergarten or first grade. Additionally, only 0.5 percent of the state’s student population could take advantage of an ESA program during the 2015-16 school year, or one percent from 2016 on.

A public school that would “lose” a student to an ESA program would keep the student on the books for the purposes of federal funding, but would not impact the school’s accountability metrics, the bill states.

The language of the bill states that the Office of Student Achievement will pay out to ESAs on a quarterly basis, but could take up to three percent of the payments for covering administrative costs. Each parent who has a student enrolled in an ESA will receive a detailed explanation of what the account can and cannot pay for.

According to the bill, any parent who receives ESA funds for the education of their child or children must ensure that they are taught English, language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science, and must affirm that their child or children took part in all English and language arts nationally standardized tests provided at their new school.

Three years after the program begins, the Office of Student Achievement will assemble a report detailing the ”aggregate test results and associated learning gains” made by ESA students, the bill says.

Arizona and Florida have enacted similar legislation, and Rep. Hamilton told WSB-TV Wednesday that he hopes Georgia will soon be following suit. Rep. Calvin Smyre (D-Columbus), who was interviewed by WSB-TV, said he agreed with the plan in principle, but wanted to ensure the legislation would not damage the state’s public education system.

Co-sponsors of H.B. 243 are representatives Mike Dudgeon (R-Johns Creek), Jay Powell (R-Camilla), Mike Glanton (D-Jonesboro), Ed Setzler (R-Acworth), and Ron Stephens (R-Savannah). The bill has yet to receive a first reading, and awaits assignment to a house committee. Learn more about how a bill becomes a law in Georgia here.

Read H.B. 243 in its entirety below:

HB243