November 11, 2008
In this issue of the CEG Education Reform Newsletter:
Public School News and Notes -- Knowing Your Options: Virtual Education
Private School Issues -- Knowing Your Options: The Georgia Special Needs Scholarship
Homeschool Resources -- Take a Shot! Many Sports are Open to Homeschoolers
Commentary -- Towards a More Educated Georgia
Congratulations! -- Education Reform Champions Affirmed to Leadership Positions
Public School News and Notes
Knowing Your Options: Virtual Education
This is the final installment in a CEG series on public school options for students and parents. If you have questions on this or any of our previous entries, please contact us.
About Virtual Education
In a world where the capabilities of technology are always increasing, it is only natural that a student can receive a first-rate education online. Virtual education, while currently limited, is a viable option for Georgia students, including those who face some of the greatest challenges.
Currently, there are two prominent options in virtual education, the Georgia Virtual Academy and Georgia Virtual School. The Georgia Virtual Academy (GVA) is an online program operated by Odyssey Charter School in Newnan, Georgia. The Georgia Virtual Academy is open to all Georgia students in grades Kindergarten to 8th, free of charge. For more information on charter schools in Georgia, click here.
This section will focus on the Georgia Virtual School (GVS), which is operated by the Georgia Department of Education’s Office of Technology Services. GVS offers all Georgia middle and high school students the opportunity to take courses online for middle and high school credits. Courses are taught by highly qualified teachers and require similar time commitments as courses at “brick and mortar” schools.
Are There Admission Requirements?
GVS is open to all Georgia students, whether enrolled in a public, private, or home-based school. The program can also accommodate special education, hospital homebound, public alternative education, and residential students. While there are no formal admission requirements, a public school student’s virtual course load must be approved by a facilitator from their local school. For private school and homeschool students, a facilitator from the school district in which the student lives will be assigned to approve coursework and escort them through the process.
Additionally, seats in GVA courses are limited and are filled on a first-approved, first-served basis.
How Do I Enroll My Child?
As mentioned above, all course work must be approved by a local facilitator in order for a child to enroll in GVA. To find a local facilitator, contact your local school district. Once a student’s course load is approved, students simply need to log-in online, register for courses, and complete the coursework.
Does it Cost Parents to Enroll Their Child in a Georgia Virtual School Course?
For the 2008-09 school year, all courses but middle school courses are offered to Georgia public, private, and home-based school students free of charge when taken as part of their state-mandated school day. For middle school courses and supplemental courses being used by a student to “get ahead” or “catch up”, there is a charge of $300 per 0.5 Carnegie unit (a typical semester-long course is weighed at 0.5 Carnegie units).
Medically homebound, public alternative education, and residential students may take their entire publicly-funded state-mandated course load online free of charge.
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Private School Issues
Knowing Your Options: The Georgia Special Needs Scholarship
About The Georgia Special Needs Scholarship
The Georgia Special Needs Scholarship was created by the Georgia General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Sonny Perdue in May 2007. The legislation, also called SB 10 grants parents with a student with special needs a scholarship from the State of Georgia to be used at a public or private school that best suits the needs of their child.
After a successful first year in which 899 students used the scholarship at one of 117 participating private schools, the program has grown in 2008-09 to include 145 private schools statewide and will benefit nearly 1600 children with special needs.
Do Participating Schools Have Admissions Requirements?
Parents may choose to send their child to either a public or private school using a Georgia Special Needs Scholarship. There are no admission requirements when transferring to a public school, however, parents must fill out a transfer request form when they notify the Georgia Department of Education of their intent to use the scholarship. The request may be denied if the requested school does not have the capacity to serve the special need of the student or if there are not enough seats to accommodate the student.
For those seeking to send their child to a private school with a Special Needs Scholarship, all students will have to successfully complete the admissions process of the chosen school. Private schools are not required to admit all students or provide specialized services for those that do enroll using a Scholarship. Parents should carefully shop their options when planning to use a Georgia Special Needs Scholarship. Need help? Contact us and we will be glad to assist you!
How Do I Qualify My Child to Receive a Georgia Special Needs Scholarship?
All Georgia Special Needs Scholarship students must meet the following basic criteria:
- At least one parent must currently reside in Georgia and have been a resident for at least one calendar year;
- Have attended a Georgia public school during both the October and March FTE counts of the previous school year;
- Have an active Individualized Education Plan (IEP) – EIPs and AIPs do not qualify.
- Parent fills out a parental intent form by the stated deadline and the student is enrolled in a participating private school by the deadline (usually early September).
Qualifying your child to receive a Georgia Special Needs Scholarship is easy and can be done online. The first step is to find out how much your child’s scholarship will be worth. This is done through the Department of Education’s website and will require you to input your child’s name, birthday, and previous public school. Second, fill out the parental intent form. This lets the Department of Education know that you intend to transfer your child from his or her current public school. Both of these forms can be found at www.specialedoptions.com beginning around March 2009.
Next, for those transfering their child to a private school, you must choose a private school and enroll their child in that school by the state deadline, which usually falls in early September. There are no exceptions to posted deadlines. Check www.educatedgeorgia.org for deadlines as they are made public.
For those transfering their child to another public school, you must fill out a public school transfer request form and await a decision of the local school systems. Deadlines for these forms vary, so be sure to check with your local school district and the school district in which your child's prospective school is in for more information.
How are Georgia Special Needs Scholarships Funded?
Scholarships are funded by the State of Georgia based upon the amount the state would spend on the student. Public education is funded from three sources, state, local, and federal dollars. Only state dollars are used to fund the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship.
Scholarship amounts take into account:
- The student’s disability type;
- Severity of that disability as rated by the student’s IEP team;
- Number of segments of special education the student receives per day; and
- The level of service required by the student (there are five levels)
For a more in-depth discussion of Georgia Special Needs Scholarship funding, click here.
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Homeschool Resources
Take a Shot! Many Sports are Open to Homeschoolers
A frustrating thing for many homeschoolers, especially those in high school, is sitting on the sidelines while many of their friends enrolled at large private and public schools participate in school-sanctioned sports. But, as homeschooling in Georgia has grown, so has the number of options for student athletes to participate in competitive environments.
On the web, Homeschool SportsNet allows users to search by state for a homeschool sport team in their area. In Georgia, there are 33 teams or athletic organizations listed. These teams play against other homeschool teams and private schools. Additionally, the site allows you to post a “want ad” looking for a team for your child to play on. For those with considerable skill and ambition, the site also offers advice and guidance on playing sports at the college level. Explore this resource by clicking here.
Many counties have recreation departments that offer sports leagues at relatively low costs. There are also other independent recreational sports leagues in the state. While less popular sports such as hockey and lacrosse may only be offered in metropolitan areas, sports like football, baseball, and basketball are offered in nearly every community. These are great for students who would like to stay active, but are not interested in the rigor and intensity of a competitive league.
There are many sporting options for homeschoolers – have fun and keep playing!
External links are provided as a resource only and their presence does not constitute an endorsement of content by the Center for an Educated Georgia. Should you encounter objectionable content, please contact us.
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Commentary
Towards a More Educated Georgia
By Ben Scafidi
As I begin my first commentary as the new Director of the Center for an Educated Georgia (CEG), let me say how pleased I am to join capable and passionate staff members who are dedicated to making meaningful change in Georgia’s education system. All of us here share great hopes for Georgia’s education system and how CEG can help make those hopes a reality.
Although academic achievement and attainment in Georgia are very low, I believe that Georgia’s education system is poised for big improvements. There is evidence that Georgians and their elected representatives are now ready for serious education reforms. For example, large majorities of Georgians support bold changes like school choice, and state policymakers have responded to these wishes. I want CEG to be the intellectual leader of the education reform movement in Georgia in order to help citizens and their elected officials continue to boldly reform our education system. To seriously reform education in Georgia we need at least two things:
- Accurate evidence about the “health of” the current educational system and accurate evidence about the likelihood of success of potential education reforms.
- Careful thinking about the implementation of education reforms.
I believe that CEG will become an important source for both accurate evidence and careful thinking on education policy.
The vision of CEG is straightforward: Georgia will be a national leader in academic achievement and attainment. To achieve our vision, CEG will work to ensure that all Georgia children have access to an excellent education through school choice and other proven and promising education reforms.
Any parent knows that children have different needs and learn differently. To endeavor to meet the educational needs of all children, Georgia must provide more educational options to parents. Georgia has always had school choice—parents can choose their children’s school by choosing where to live or pay tuition for a private school. I have never met anyone who wishes to eliminate these school choice options. Thus, this issue is not whether parents should have school choice, but how much school choice should they have. CEG supports enhanced school choice.
And the stakes are high for us as a state. Georgians cannot compete in the global economy with a substandard education system. Businesses will not locate here if there are not good schools for their employees or an educated labor pool to be hired. Economic development leaders like to talk about bringing “high wage jobs” to Georgia. The only way this can occur is if Georgia’s schools graduate students who have high skill levels and can therefore command high wage jobs. Thus, an important way to reduce poverty and income inequality is to improve education.
Enhanced school choice has two main benefits for parents and students:
- Enhanced school choice lets parents directly and quickly hold schools accountable for the education they provide. Literally, school choice is the ultimate accountability mechanism. If parents have enhanced school choice, then they are able to move their child to a better school—immediately. Under the current system, changing schools is very expensive for parents, particularly those in low and middle income families. In addition, promises of educational improvement are often made for students years down the road—which is too late for children who are currently enrolled in school and won’t get a second shot at a good education.
- Enhanced school choice gives all schools an incentive to get better – to recruit and retain the best teachers, spend their resources wisely, and seek the best instructional models for each student. The current education system has almost no incentives for improvement. Ask yourself this question: who loses their job or receives a pay cut when your child’s school does not offer the best education they possibly can? If your answer is “no one,” then you can be sure that the incentive to improve education is practically nonexistent.
The Center for an Educated Georgia will work tirelessly to make this a reality for our state. We hope to work with you to reform our education system for the benefit of all Georgia students, parents, teachers, and other citizens. If you have any suggestions regarding education reform or any comments about CEG, please feel free to contact us.
Stay tuned for future commentaries where I will:
- Explain how enhanced school choice benefits all students—even students who do not attend a “choice” school.
- Provide evidence that enhanced school choice benefits teachers.
- Demonstrate that dramatic increases in spending on the current educational system have not led to increases in academic achievement and attainment.
Dr. Ben Scafidi is the Director of the Center for an Educated Georgia.
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Congratulations!
Education Reform Champions Affirmed to Leadership Positions
The Center for an Educated Georgia would like to congratulate Georgia Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson on his reaffirmation as Speaker by the House Republican caucus in an overwhelming majority vote. Congratulations also to Representative Jan Jones on her affirmation to the post of House Majority Whip.
Speaker Richardson has been very supportive of education reform and school choice efforts, including the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship (SB 10), Tuition Tax Credit Scholarship program (HB 1133), and Georgia Charter Schools Commission bill (HB 881). Due in large part to his staunch support, Georgia boasts one of the nation's strongest charter school laws and is well on the way to becoming a leader in public and private school choice.
Representative Jones sponsored the Georgia Charter Schools Commission bill (HB 881) in 2008 and, like Speaker Richardson, has been a strong supporter of education reform. Her work in support of charter schools and other educational choice issues has been instrumental in giving thousands of students across Georgia access to a quality public education that best suits their unique educational needs.
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