“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. …” — First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The phrase “respecting the establishment of religion” is open to interpretation, as is much of the Constitution. In my mind, and in the view of numerous constitutional scholars, this clause means there must be a wall placed between church and state. That wall was clearly breached by Georgia Senate Bill 233. which established a voucher program for public schools.
Preliminary data shows the state funds designated for the program are going to religious-affiliated schools. Of the top dozen private schools receiving funds, all but one is religiously affiliated, according to an analysis by the Georgia Recorder.
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
The remaining school is Brentwood, established in 1969 in rural Washington County, an area I know well from my work with the poverty program back then. Although technically integrated, its student body appears to be heavily white in a county where whites are a bit over 40% of the population. This is no accident. Private schools like the Washington County Independent Schools, now Brentwood, were set up across the South in the 1960s, many to avoid integration.
As I detailed in my two previous Atlanta Journal-Constitution columns, SB 233, now known as the Georgia Promise Scholarship Act, was ill conceived from the start.
Driven by right wing political concerns, Gov. Brian Kemp’s idea was that he and the GOP-controlled General Assembly should “be strong supporters of choice in education,” starting with underperforming schools. In essence, this phrase really means funneling scarce money from Georgia’s public school system to private schools, many of which are religiously affiliated and overwhelmingly white.
Once upon a time, I was a Republican county commission chairman in rural Jasper County (not far from Washington County). I was also the chair of the Association County Commissioners of Georgia’s Tax Committee. As such, I know more than a little about taxation on the local and state levels.
Local funding for Georgia school districts is largely obtained via property taxes. The state’s wealthier areas can raise money relatively easily versus the less affluent counties because of the higher value of housing. Generally, schools in these wealthier areas are better performers than elsewhere.
One way to relieve this imbalance is to send more money directly to the lower performing schools, which are usually in rural and low-income areas. These schools need to be turned around, and that objective requires additional state funding. However, SB 233 does the opposite, funneling our tax dollars to affluent families and schools set up to serve those who are better off.
At first glance, the goal of the program is admirable — school choice for children in “a school on the list of lower performing schools.” But when specifics are examined, the end result is very negative. The voucher money is clearly used by upper middle- and upper-class parents to defray the cost of tuition.
The program gives a stipend of only $6,500, which is not nearly enough for tuition to a private school. The AJC has reported the average annual private school tuition in Georgia is $11,963. In metro Atlanta, tuition at some private schools costs more than $30,000 a year. So, Georgia taxpayers are picking up about half the bill for these affluent families, while less fortunate families are left out.
Well-off parents do not need the state to supplement tuition costs. Further, per the First Amendment, our tax dollars should not be going to support religious institutions versus public education. The misnamed Georgia Promise Scholarship Act is a complete sham and should be repealed.
Jack Bernard is a retired business executive and former chair of the Jasper County Commission and Republican Party. He was the first director of health planning for Georgia.
If you have any thoughts about this item, or if you’re interested in writing an op-ed for the AJC’s education page, drop us a note at education@ajc.com.
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