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The first application period for the Georgia Promise Scholarship opened over the weekend and students at hundreds of schools across the state are considered eligible.
ATLANTA – The first application period for the Georgia Promise Scholarship opened this weekend and those leading the new initiative say thousands of families have already applied.
What we know:
"Over the weekend, over 2,000 successfully completed an application on the platform," said Lynne Riley, the president of the Georgia Student Finance Commission. Riley oversees the rollout of the Georgia Promise Scholarship program.
The application period began on Saturday and will be open until April 15.
The program allows families with students who attend a school that has been identified by the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement as "underperforming" to get $6,500 to put towards private school tuition or other alternatives to public school.
The agency released a list of around 400 schools that are eligible for the program.
Georgia Student Finance Commission President Lynne Riley (FOX 5)
Riley says with the funding that’s been allotted by the legislature so far, they can accept up to 22,000 students.
"The program will prioritize families from lower income levels. When we do a final determination of eligibility, should we have more applicants than there are places available in the program, the first priority goes to low-income families. We’re trying to help families that have been put in a situation where they have no choice for the best school for their children, to be able to utilize these funds to find that best choice," she said.
The other side:
Opponents of the program say it’s going to do more harm than good.
"It's not a scholarship. It is a voucher," said Lisa Morgan, president of the Georgia Association of Educators.
RELATED: Georgia school voucher program expanded to more students by new agency
Georgia Association of Educators President Lisa Morgan (FOX 5)
She says taking funds away from public schools for a minority of students will negatively impact the majority of students still attending the public schools.
"We are not providing our students the resources they need to be successful in our public schools. Instead, we want to take a small minority to go to a private school," Morgan said.
When asked about taking money away from these public schools, this is what Riley had to say:
"It would otherwise be spent on the students at that public school. It's merely taking the money and allowing it to follow the child," Riley said.
Dig deeper:
Morgan says she believes this may even lead to more school closures.
"Our concern is that the schools are going to be closing because there is going to be less funding and less resources available for those schools," she said.
FOX 5 asked Riley about the possibility of schools closing because of this.
"I really don't have an answer to that … we believe that the ability for a child and their family to choose their destiny is going to be the best use of the public dollars available to them," Riley said.
Riley says the dollars can also go to help families homeschool their children.
"They can invest in technology, curriculum, and materials. They can provide for tutoring services for a child that is homeschooled," she said.
But Morgan says they believe that there won’t be enough accountability for how those funds are spent.
"So it does set up some potential for fraud and abuse within the program," Morgan said.
Riley says one way they’ll try to curb that is by creating a central place where families can spend those dollars.
"That marketplace will have specific selections that have been pre-approved for uses of the Promise Scholarship," Riley said.
What’s next:
Some Democratic State Lawmakers have filed a bill to repeal the Promise Scholarship, citing concerns it will "destabilize" Georgia’s public school system.
"Over 90% of the children in our state attend our public schools. So we believe we should be focused on solutions to provide the resources, the funding necessary for all our students who are attending our public schools," Morgan said.
But she said those efforts don’t seem to be gaining enough traction.
"There have been multiple bills filed to repeal this system. We don't think that they are going to move forward," Morgan said.
Riley says regardless of any efforts to repeal it, the strong start to the application period is a good sign.
"We are fully invested in the delivery of this program, and we're excited at the initial appetite. We anticipate that it's only going to grow, and we will be optimistically enrolling just under 22,000 students in July," Riley said.
What you can do:
If you want to see if your child may be eligible for the voucher program, Riley says you can visit https://mygeorgiapromise.org and use the pre-screening tool to see if you qualify.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by the Georgia Student Finance Commission, the Georgia Association of Educators, and from previous FOX 5 reports.
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