Problems with Senate Bill 233: A 🧵

First, let's talk dollars. The voucher provides $6,000 per student while Georgia general education public high school students only get $4,365. This voucher acts to prioritize discriminatory private schools over Georgia public schools. #GaPol Next, we know that vouchers take money away that's desperately needed to maintain and improve public schools. Georgia does not provide any funding to educate students in poverty, no money for wifi or security either. Districts just have to ✨find✨ that money somewhere.

The Senate Ed and Youth committee will hear a new voucher bill (SB 233) today. I’ve sat in QUITE A FEW of these hearings over the years. Imma try and guess some of the pro-voucher talking points before the meeting. Chime in if I miss any. “This bill will empower parents to find the school that is best for their child.” Disregard that this same argument could’ve been made in the 1950s in favor of segregation—this bill does nothing to ensure that parents have accurate information of the quality of a private school

The actuary (experts that measure the health of pensions) for Georgia's teacher retirement system just suggested something at the May TRS meeting that would just a few years ago would have caused quite a stir, but now might not register!

Let's take a dive into pensions! THREAD Ok, so if teachers work 10+ years in Georgia public schools then they're offered a pension upon retirement: a percentage of their highest pay depending on how long they worked in the school. The amount will continue until you pass away, and it increases every year for inflation!

Our children's public schools have taken a $950 million cut during a worldwide pandemic

$10.2 billion cut over the last 19 years

So of course lawmakers have filed HB 60, a voucher to divert hundreds of millions of dollars more to private schools #GaPol
legis.ga.gov/legislation/58… $543 million. That's what the Department of Audits and Accounts calculated a voucher like this would cost the state once fully implemented.

While kids are going to fast food parking lots to do their homework because they don't have internet at home.

Here’s a quick 🧵on the version of the budget that just passed out of Senate Approps #GaPol 1/8

Highlights:
-$1.05 billion cut from public school formula
-$25m taken out to pay for more school counselors
-$15m cut from pupil transportation
-$10.6m transferred from GOSA to GaDOE First, this budget would put us back into the worst years of austerity. 80-90% of school budgets are for salary/benefits so budget cuts are often furloughs and/or firings. $1 billion will go a long way in some districts in wiping out that teacher pay raise from last year. 2/8