Final passage for home school bill easing HOPE standard

Home school students could see lower test score requirements for receiving Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship under a bill given final passage Tuesday by the state Senate.

House Bill 810 would drop the standardized college admissions tests score requirement for these students from scoring in the 85th percentile to the 80th percentile. That would mean an SAT score of 1780 instead of 1850 (out of a possible 2400), according to the bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Joyce Chandler, R-Grayson. The ACT score requirement would drop from a 26 to a 25 (out of a possible 36).

The revision would make HOPE requirements for home school students more equitable with those for public school students, who have to graduate with a B average, Chandler has said. Senate Democrats, however, objected to how she wants to accomplish that. “Why in the world would we lower the standards?” asked Sen. David Lucas, D-Macon.