The U.S. Department of Defense recently announced a formal review of how it supports military families who choose to homeschool their children—a move that could significantly benefit Georgia’s large and growing population of service members.
The review signals a broader recognition in Washington of what military families have known for years: Homeschooling is a valuable, flexible and stabilizing education option, particularly for families whose lives are often marked by relocation and deployment.
Georgia is uniquely positioned to lead in this area. With more than 100,000 active-duty personnel, National Guard members and reservists stationed across the state—from Fort Benning near Columbus to Fort Stewart near Hinesville, and Robins, Moody and Kings Bay bases throughout Georgia—our communities are deeply connected to those who serve. And thanks to new policy developments like the Georgia Promise Scholarship, the Peach State is now poised to offer military families some of the strongest homeschool support in the country.
Nationally, homeschooling rates have risen in the past few years, particularly following the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. While about 6% of American families now homeschool, that number is twice as high—around 12%—among military families, and for good reason: Constant moves, changing school systems and irregular schedules make it difficult for military children to experience consistency and stability in their education.
Homeschooling offers a solution. It allows parents to customize learning to their child’s needs, preserve continuity across state lines and maintain a stable environment amid the unique challenges of military life. These families are not only seeking academic rigor and safety but also peace of mind.
How is the Department of Defense making it easier for military families to homeschool and what role will the Georgia Promise Scholarship play? My colleague Brett Kittredge talks about it in this week’s commentary. We also have the latest news and analysis from the last week, including:
- May tax revenues up 9.1%
- Forsyth County continues push for NHL team
- Georgia’s labor policies highly rated
- College athletes can now get paid by universities, officially
Have a great weekend,
– Kyle Wingfield
Friday’s Freshest
School choice means more than just one program
Proponents of educational freedom in Georgia often hold up Florida as a paragon of empowering families to choose the education that best fits their children’s needs. But with so much of the focus on private choice, it’s easy to forget that freedom also means the ability to move among public schools. That’s particularly worth remembering as Florida has hit a new milestone: 51% of all K-12 students there exercised educational choice last year.
Wall Street remains easy target, but tackling housing affordability begins in Georgia
Out-of-state companies, typically classified as “institutional investors,” have drawn the ire of policymakers and the public primarily by purchasing existing single-family homes and then renting them out. Some of these companies also build homes and develop entire subdivisions with the sole intention of renting, another contentious concept known as Build-to-Rent, or BTR. But to truly look at the issue of housing affordability, we must look inward at the policies that have stifled housing.
Weighing the costs and benefits of data centers in Georgia
While the data center industry has grown rapidly since a tax credit was introduced, there is debate over how influential the credit has been over that growth. In late 2022, the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government released a report that evaluated tax incentives for Georgia’s data centers. This study calculated the return on investment of the credits, or in other words, how much economic activity would have occurred if not for the subsidy.
‘Obscene Increase’: Savannah schools’ spending priorities seem lopsided
The Savannah-Chatham County Public School System is Georgia’s 10th largest, and over time its yearly budgets have increased … and so have the number of school administrators. As for the number of teachers and students, well, those numbers have actually decreased. Are you confused?
With Kemp out, Georgia’s 2026 election could be wildest yet
With Brian Kemp opting not to run for the U.S. Senate, Georgia Republicans face a wide-open and unpredictable primary season for both governor and senator in 2026, triggering a flurry of political maneuvering. As prominent Republicans have begun to step forward, many others are expected to follow, creating a domino effect of down-ballot races and reshuffling. Past election years with open gubernatorial seats have brought historic turnover — and 2026 could surpass them all in political upheaval.
The Latest
Economy
Report ranks Georgia’s labor policies third in the nation
Georgia ranks third for worker freedom in a new analysis by the American Legislative Exchange Council. The “States That Work” report released this week ranks states based on their free market labor-friendly policies. Georgia passed Senate Bill 362 in 2024. The bill banned economic development incentives from companies that conducted unionization votes with secret ballots. The companies also cannot share personal employee information with unions without obtaining consent.
Forsyth County approves plan for $3B mixed-use development with arena meant to attract NHL team
A massive mixed-use development in Forsyth County, which will include an arena meant to attract an NHL team, is one step closer to reality. County commissioners approved the final agreements for the $3 billion plan to build The Gathering at South Forsyth – which is $1 billion more than last year’s projections. Developer Vernon Krause called Wednesday’s vote “a catalytic step forward in bringing this visionary project to life.”
The State of Georgia’s net tax collections in May totaled $2.69 billion, for an increase of $224 million, or 9.1%, compared to FY 2024, when net tax collections approached $2.47 billion for the month.
Education
School choice may soon be expanded in all states as part of ‘Big Beautiful Bill’
If passed as expected, the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA) will open up school choice across the U.S., with the number of students benefiting from “private school choice programs” prospectively doubling from 1.2 million to 2.4 million. The ECCA is intended to amend the code in order “to allow a credit against tax for charitable donations to nonprofit organizations providing education scholarships to qualified elementary and secondary students,” as stated on the bill’s webpage.
Georgia school district considers property tax hike to pay for school officers
Officials in the Georgia school district where four people were killed in a September shooting at Apalachee High School are considering a property tax increase to pay for school-based police officers. Barrow County Superintendent Dallas LeDuff told school board members that the tax increase would be necessary because the county government has informed the school district that it will no longer pay for sheriff’s deputies, local news outlets reported. Barrow County schools currently have just under $90 million in reserves.
Government accountability
The total cost of federal red tape last year was…
$2.15 trillion is CEI’s latest estimate of the costs of all federal regulations. It is an intentionally conservative estimate. Unlike federal spending, regulatory costs are much harder to measure, and the bureaucracy has given little help on this front. The federal government does not issue an annual regulatory budget. Agencies often downplay or deny that their regulations impose financial burdens.
Legal barriers for starting a business selling homemade food
A nationwide survey by the Institute for Justice, Baking Bad provides the most up-to-date account of state laws that allow the sale of homemade food and will be regularly updated whenever a state changes its laws. Georgia received a D+, which is among the lowest grades in the nation.
Transportation
Musk says Tesla robotaxi launch tentatively planned for June 22
Tesla CEO Elon Musk expects the company to launch its long-anticipated robotaxi service tentatively on June 22 in Austin, though he said that the date could shift because Tesla is being “super paranoid about safety.”
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Utah railroad project on Thursday, setting a precedent that could make it easier to build things in the United States. The case at hand—Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County—involved an 88-mile-long railroad track in an oil-rich and rural area of Utah. The project would have connected this area to the national rail network, making it easier and more efficient to transport crude oil extracted in the region to refineries in Gulf Coast states.
Bonus
College athletes are getting paid. Here’s what to know.
College athletics has always been a business, but now the game has changed. Following Friday’s final approval from U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken settling a trio of antitrust cases against the NCAA and power conferences—commonly referred to as the House settlement—college athletes are set to be paid, yes paid, directly from their universities. The notion of amateurism isn’t quite dead, but it’s pretty much been put out to pasture.
U.S. home listing prices hit an all-time high, signaling a potential shift toward a buyers’ market, according to industry experts. In total, the value of homes in the U.S. rose 20.3% from a year ago, reaching a record $698 billion, according to a recent report from the real estate firm Redfin. The increase was driven by a combination of growing inventory, slowing demand and rising home-sale prices.
The United Nations Is protecting criminals — and worse
As the “international community,” journalists and activists pervert words like “genocide” and “famine” to accuse Israel of war crimes, the United Nations is quietly using its own legal privileges to protect terrorists, rapists and human-rights abusers in its employ.
Quotes of Note
“What’s going to happen, there’s probably going to be a bubble or a spike (in players’ salaries). At the end of the day, it may backfire because there’s going to be a correction in the market at some point when this cap hits.” – Kirby Smart
“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” – Zig Ziglar
“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” – William James
