Please forward.

URGENT ALERT!  PLEASE CALL ASAP!

S. B. 10 – The Georgia Special Needs Scholarships passed the Senate and is now being heard in the House Education Committee. We need your help to get this bill out of committee!

ACTION: Please call Chairman Brooks Coleman (R-97) – 404-656-9210 - and Vice Chairman Fran Millar (R-79) – 404-487-7329 and urge them to pass this bill out of committee. For the names and contact info of other members of the committee go to www.legis.state.ga.us - go to Committees on the House side and click on Education.

Information about the bill:

The Georgia Special Needs (GSN) Scholarships proposed by SB 10 would allow parents of children with physical, emotional or developmental disabilities in public schools to apply for scholarships equal to the state funding for their child’s special education and use it for any other participating public school or private school that offers a better environment for their child. The amount of the scholarship would be based on the state’s share of the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) developed for their child’s unique needs. This would probably average about $9,000 in Georgia. In short, the GSN Scholarship allows parents to use some of the government funding for their child’s special education to send their children to another public or a private school of their choice.

At its basic level, SB 10 simply provides an option for the parent of a child with special needs when they believe the local public school is not helping their child. Most parents will still decide that their neighborhood public school is best place for their child. Nothing in this proposal forces those parents to leave or harms the program their child is in. But the parents of students with disabilities who are not satisfied should not be blocked from making the educational choices that will allow their special children to be all they can be.

SB 10 does not attempt to blame teachers, administrators, or parents. It simply says that parents of special needs children can choose the school that their children will attend. If they believe their needs are being fulfilled in public school, they are free to stay. But, if they feel that their child's needs are not being met, Georgia’s Special Needs Scholarships will give them the freedom to choose another school. As stated in the AJC endorsement editorial, “For parents struggling to find the right place for their children, this bill honors both those choices.”