Bonnie Holliday, GCSA Chief Strategy Officer; Rep. Brad Thomas; Tony Roberts, GCSA President and CEO
For Immediate Release
March 27, 2024
ATLANTA—The Georgia Charter Schools Association (GCSA) is proud to present a 2024 GCSA Champion for Children Award to state Rep. Brad Thomas, R-Holly Springs. Representative Thomas is receiving this honor for championing legislation and policies that benefit public charter schools and the children they serve.
“We are grateful for Rep. Thomas’ unwavering dedication to Georgia’s children,” said Tony Roberts, President and CEO of the Georgia Charter Schools Association. “His leadership and support have improved funding, resources, and access to Georgia’s public charter schools and benefited more than 62,000 students across the state.”
During the 2024 legislative session, Representative Thomas demonstrated his support by backing House Bill 318, a transparency and oversight bill for public charter schools, and House Bill 1122, which provides more equitable funding to charter school administrators and superintendents. In 2022, he sponsored House Bill 1215, a key equity access bill for charter schools that refined the state’s charter school definition to better distinguish charter schools from charter systems, College and Career Academies and other school choice models. The legislation also prevented local districts from prohibiting students from transferring to charter schools during the school year and closed a loophole in the funding calculation for local charter schools by basing funding on collected local revenue. In his first year in office, Thomas voted in favor of Senate Bill 59, a significant funding and resource equity bill that was approved by the Georgia General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp. Additionally, Thomas has consistently supported increases in the Charter School Facility Grant, which assists charter schools in offsetting significant facilities and maintenance costs.
“I am absolutely thrilled to have received this award from the Georgia Charter Schools Association,” said Rep. Thomas. “Education is of utmost importance to me in all its forms. As a representative, I am fully committed to enhancing the educational opportunities available to our children. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to GCSA for all the efforts you put in to support the education of Georgia’s youth.”
Representative Thomas joins a bipartisan group of former and current state lawmakers, school leaders, and state policymakers who have received the GCSA Champion for Children Award. Among the previous award recipients recognized by the Georgia Charter Schools Association are Jason Downey, Chairman of the Georgia Board of Education; Rep. Todd Jones R-South Forsyth, Rep. Mesha Mainor, R-Atlanta; Dr. Artesius Miller, CEO of Utopian Academy for the Arts; Lauren Holcomb, former Executive Director of the State Charter Schools Commission of Georgia; former state Rep. Buzz Brockway; former state Rep. Mike Dudgeon; former state Sen. Mike Glanton, D, Jonesboro; Speaker Pro-Tem Jan Jones, R-Milton and former state Rep. Valencia Stovall, D-Forest Park, are among the previous award recipients recognized by the Georgia Charter Schools Association.
GCSA is pleased to honor top advocates like Representative Thomas, who are committed to improving the lives of Georgia students and the state’s overall public education system.
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About Georgia Charter Schools Association
The Georgia Charter Schools Association is a nonprofit membership organization for Georgia’s public charter schools and petitioners. Our mission is to support, foster and advocate for the development of high-quality public charter schools and networks that improve opportunities for Georgia students. We believe every child in Georgia should have equal access to a quality and transformative public education.
CONTACT: Michelle Wirth
Senior Director of Communications
Georgia Charter Schools Association
mwirth@gacharters.org
470-233-6682
