Georgia House Adds Funding to Charter School Facility Grant
The Georgia House approved an additional $3 million in facilities grant funding for public charter schools in the FY23 budget. That brings the total for the Charter School Facility Grant to $7.5 million. The FY23 budget now heads to the Georgia Senate. GCSA continues to strongly advocate for FULL FUNDING of $10 million. If lawmakers vote to fully fund the grant, every eligible charter school in Georgia would receive $100,000.
House Bill 1215
Georgia’s Senate Education and Youth Committee is expected to consider GCSA’s 2022 charter bill as early as next week. The Georgia House approved House Bill 1215 with a vote of 113 to 45 on Thursday, Feb. 24.
House Bill 1215 is sponsored by state Rep. Brad Thomas. The charter legislation does four things:
1) it refines the state’s charter school definition to better distinguish charter schools from charter systems, College and Career Academies and other school choice models in the state;
2) it prevents local districts from prohibiting students from transferring to charter schools during the school year;
3) it closes a loophole in the funding calculation for local charter schools by basing funding on collected (versus budgeted) local revenue.
4) it removes the performance audit requirement for virtual state charter schools.
