2 education voucher bills could be headed for floor votes

By Nancy Badertscher

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Two voucher bills could be moving to the floor of the state Senate for a vote.

Senate Bill 87 and House Bill 181 passed out of the Senate Education Committee late last week and are before the Senate Rules Committee for possible placement on the full Senate's calendar. Both are opposed by the Professional Association of Georgia Educators, the state's largest teacher organization.

SB 87, the "Georgia Educational Freedom Act," sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock, is billed by PAGE as a major expansion of the state's current school voucher law. HB 181, sponsored by Rep. Rich Golick, R-Smyrna, would eliminate the requirement that students with fragile medical conditions spend a year in a public school before being allowed to attend private school on a special needs scholarship.

Both bills were introduced last year. HB 181 cleared the state House last year.