A free and competitive marketplace of education choices that rewards innovation, efficiency and quality, one in which the funding follows the child, will provide families with the education that best meets their child’s needs. Priorities should include student-centered education, public charter schools, special-needs scholarships, tuition tax credit scholarships, online learning environments and a focus on high-school diplomas in the corrections system.

Education

Give Georgia’s Students Choices, Not Excuses

There’s enough pie for everyone to have a slice, despite the zero-summers’ protests. Now we have evidence they have it exactly backward: School choice can actually lower public school districts’ costs by more than the amount they stand to lose in funding due to choice programs.
Education

AJC.com Publishes Op-ed on ESAs by Foundation’s Kyle Wingfield

Maureen Downey’s “Get Schooled” blog on AJC.com published, “Opinion: New study suggests vouchers may help Georgia public schools,” an op-ed by Kyle Wingfield, president of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, on March 3, 2019. The op-ed is published below. Access the…

Economy, Education

Baby Steps in Teacher Pension Reform

They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. The implication is that the first step won’t be the last. That’s the right way to think about House Bill 109, which is intended to address the increasingly worrisome debt for Georgia’s teacher pension system.
Education

Issue Analysis: The Economics of Building a Voucher or ESA Program in Georgia

Study examine effect of a voucher program on Georgia's county public school districts.
Education, Government Accountability, Health Care

2019: Continue a Course of Bold Policies

A new governor, a new lieutenant governor, a host of new committee chairs – there are numerous reasons the 2019 legislative session is full of intrigue. Add to them Georgia’s growing political competitiveness, the possibility of a national recession sooner rather than later, and some truly important challenges, and there should be plenty of urgency, too.
Education, Government Accountability, Health Care

Atlanta Journal-Constitution Publishes Foundation Op-Ed on Legislature 2019

A new governor, a new lieutenant governor, a host of new committee chairs – there are numerous reasons the 2019 legislative session is full of intrigue. Add to them Georgia’s growing political competitiveness, the possibility of a national recession sooner rather than later, and some truly important challenges, and there should be plenty of urgency, too.
Education

Faces Behind School Choice are as Diverse as the Options Ahead

The events and activities underscore the need for choice in children’s education: No two children are alike. They learn in different ways, in different environments and at different paces, and their opportunity to achieve shouldn’t be limited by ZIP code or their parents’ paycheck.
Education

Five Facts Favoring Education Choice in Georgia

With the turnover under the Gold Dome, however, policymakers risk losing the lessons learned – the hard-won institutional knowledge – that reinforce the need for choice for Georgia’s families. In November’s elections, Democrats took 14 seats held by Republican legislators, shrinking the GOP majority. Republicans picked up three, giving the Democrats a net gain of 11.
Education

Pearl Harbor Day: A Reminder to Remember

The fires of patriotism must be tended.It was a quiet Sunday morning in beautiful Oahu, Hawaii. Without warning, the peaceful residents in paradise awakened in shock and terror as all hell broke loose around them.
Education

Georgia 2020: Educational Choice for All Students

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Education

Teacher Pension Debt Undermines Public Education in Georgia

The money needs to come from somewhere.
Economy, Education

Georgia’s Teacher Pension Plan Faces Significant Financial Risk

The Teachers Retirement System (TRS) of Georgia alarmed legislators and stakeholders when it requested over $588 million in increased contributions in the 2017 and 2018 legislative sessions combined, largely the result of missed actuarial assumptions.
Education

Georgia’s Teachers Retirement System

Georgia TRS: Historic Solvency Analysis and Prospects for The Future 

By Jen Sidorova and Anil Niraula

Project Directors: Leonard Gilroy, Reason Foundation Kyle Wingfield, Georgia Public Policy Foundation

The Teachers Retirement System of Georgia (TRS) surprised many during the 2017 legislative session by requesting an…

Education

What Goes Into Education Rankings Affects What Comes Out

By Benita M. Dodd

In 2017, U.S. World and News Report’s ranking of the best states to live featured not a single Southern state in the top 10. Georgia, at No. 32 overall, finished at No. 31 in the education rankings;…

Criminal Justice, Economy, Education, Health Care, Regulation Reform

2018 Forum Focuses on Georgia’s Imminent Challenges

Policy experts take on education, health care, criminal justice and pensions.
Education

Savannah Morning News Champions Teacher Pension Reform

For those entering the profession today, the pension model comes with guaranteed risk.
Education

School Choice Progress Far from ‘Bad Policy’

If this is a scheme to sink public education, then, it’s a lousy one.
Education

Schools Ease the ChalleNGe of Georgia’s At-Risk Youth

By Benita M. Dodd

Dr. Roger Lotson (left) looks on as his cadets at the Georgia Youth ChalleNGe Academy at Fort Stewart, near Savannah, share their experiences with visitors.

Eighty percent of Georgia’s students graduate from high school. What happens…

Education

Embrace Student Loan Debt, Don’t Erase It

By Jeffrey Dorfman

Jeffrey Dorfman

The total of all student loan debt just hit $1.5 trillion, so prepare for a slew of stories telling you how student loan debt is out-of-control and we must reform the program to avoid a crisis.

Ignore…

Education

Founder of Georgia’s First Start-Up Charter School Shares Recipe for Success

May 7-11 is National Charter Schools Week; 2018 marks 20 years of Georgia's start-up charter law.