“It’s tough to make predictions,” the humorously sagacious Yogi Berra famously observed, “especially about the future.”
But there’s one kind of prediction you can take to the bank so long as you bet against it. I’m talking about predictions of doom and gloom about school-choice programs.
Such predictions were made when Georgia created its Special Needs Scholarship and its tax-credit scholarship nearly two decades ago. And they resurfaced two years ago when lawmakers finally approved the Georgia Promise Scholarship.
In reality, the Promise Scholarship is enjoying a successful first year with 7,744 participating students. Each one gets $6,500 for private school, homeschooling or another non-public educational option.
It’s hard to say for sure, but the Promise Scholarship has probably had the most successful launch of any school choice program in Georgia history. The state did not report student numbers for the tax-credit scholarship program until 2011, three years after it was created. But based on the number of donations received in the first year of the tax-credit scholarship (about $25 million), and average award amounts in the early years for which there was reporting (roughly $3,500), it most likely enrolled fewer students than the Promise Scholarship in its first year.
Since then, of course, the tax-credit scholarship has proved hugely successful with more than 21,000 students in the most recently reported year — a number limited only by the $120 million limit on tax credits available to program donors. That trajectory bodes well for the Promise Scholarship, which may grow to nearly 22,000 students itself when fully subscribed.
But you wouldn’t have anticipated the Promise Scholarship’s success if you only listened to its opponents.
We debunk a few of their loudest, most dire predictions in this week’s commentary.
– Kyle Wingfield
Friday’s Freshest 🗞️
At the beginning of each year, thousands of taxpayers rush to support Georgia families by submitting a tax credit application for the Qualified Education Expense Tax Credit. Through the Tax Credit and participating scholarship organizations, Georgia is expanding K-12 educational access, increasing diversity in private school communities and saving Georgia taxpayers millions.
When it comes to the rising cost of housing in Georgia, there is a hidden driver in the lack of affordability that has nothing to do with workforce or building materials: the cost of time. While Georgia continues growing rapidly – adding over a million residents each decade dating back to 1980 – bureaucratic review has become a costly bottleneck for building homes.
Georgia continues to grapple with a complex, outdated and steadily expanding regulatory environment. Debates over the state’s regulatory burden, including proposals such as the “Red Tape Rollback Act” introduced last year, are not occurring in isolation.
The 2026 legislative session marks both an endpoint and the eventual transition to come. As with the 2018 session before it, the final year of the legislative cycle and a term-limited governor will bring the prevailing political order to a close, ultimately altering the proceedings and priorities of the legislature.
Rising property taxes in Georgia continue to dominate kitchen table conversations around the state. As such, expect proposals to rein in property taxes to be at the forefront of the 2026 legislative session.
Peach Picks 🍑
Gov. Kemp announced that the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) and Mercer University have signed new transfer agreements designed to create seamless pathways for technical college students to earn bachelor’s degrees. Known as articulation agreements, this partnership allows graduates from any of TCSG’s 22 colleges to transfer into Mercer University’s Bachelor of Business Administration programs in Accounting, Business Technology, Human Resource Management and Management.
Home Depot says it is eliminating about 800 corporate jobs tied to its Vinings headquarters. The home improvement retailer will also require corporate workers to return to the office five days a week, beginning April 6.
The City of Atlanta paid more than $250,000 to a Chicago-based Muslim organization, which at the time was raising money for another group that’s been accused of aiding Hamas. The Inner-City Muslim Action Network’s founding executive director is a Palestinian-American community activist earning a salary of $225,000, according to tax filings.
Republicans in Georgia’s state House say they want to take steps to erase homeowner property taxes this legislative session, which is getting underway ahead of an election cycle seemingly dominated by concerns about the cost of living. The proposal unveiled at the Capitol Wednesday by House leaders, would gradually chip away at the amount of property taxes homeowners pay on their primary residence, until the amount vanishes to zero in 2032.
Georgia high school sophomores are looking ever more likely to lose their phones during the school day in their senior year, as lawmakers consider expanding a ban on personal devices. New surveys suggest overwhelming support for the idea from parents and teachers.
Quotes of Note 🌟
“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
“Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.” – Ronald Reagan
“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” – Oscar Wilde
One More Fact 💡
As the 2026 Winter Olympics begin next week, attention will once again turn to the enormous cost of hosting the world’s largest sporting event. Three decades ago, Atlanta confronted this challenge firsthand.
In 1996, the city hosted the Summer Olympic Games, marking the centennial celebration of the modern Olympics and putting the Peach State in the global spotlight. The organizing committee funded the roughly $1.7–$1.8 billion operating budget entirely with private sources — ticket sales, broadcast rights (NBC paid a then-record $456 million for U.S. rights) and corporate sponsorships — covering the costs of the Games themselves and even producing a surplus, an extraordinarily rare outcome in Olympic history.
That private financing model, inspired by the Los Angeles Games in 1984, sharply reduced reliance on taxpayers for the event’s day-to-day operations. Public funds, however, were still heavily involved in the supporting infrastructure. At least $500 million in government spending went toward roads, transit, security, housing conversion and park improvements, with substantial federal, state and local contributions.
The result was one of the more commercially successful Olympics in U.S. history and a lasting physical legacy in downtown Atlanta, including Centennial Olympic Park and surrounding redevelopment.
More Commentary
Political Ambition Meets Legislative Gravity: Georgia’s 2026 Session
Georgia won’t lower cost of housing until state tackles the ‘regulatory tax’
Major Education Bills Advance in Georgia Legislature as Session Nears End