A Loss of Confidence

By Andy Kober

School voucher programs are becoming increasingly popular.
Several weeks ago news reports out of Texas indicated families seeking school vouchers far exceeded funds budgeted for the program. Those same reports noted that additional funding will likely be budgeted next year.
There are a growing number of states, and Georgia is one, that is issuing school vouchers. In a nutshell, these vouchers can be used to pay for private schools or public schools in a different school district from where the student lives, and in some cases tutoring or homeschooling.
In Georgia, the program is called Georgia Promise Scholarship Program and pays $6,500 annually per student but there is a catch. To qualify, the school district in which the student resides must be in the bottom 25 percent of underperforming school zones. The application period for the 2025-26 school year closed the end of March.
The primary readership area of this newspaper group includes four counties in west central Georgia, including Harris, Meriwether, Talbot and Troup. To a lesser degree, readership extends into portions of Coweta and Muscogee.
The Governor’s Office of Student Achievement issues “report cards” on individual schools and – collectively – school districts.
In the last published report, the Harris County School District leads the four-county readership area with a collective score of 84.1, Troup County follows with a score of 76.6, then Meriwether at 67.3, and Talbot brings up the rear at 63.9. Just for comparison, the Coweta School District earned a score of 77.7 and Muscogee followed at 69.3
Parents can draw their own conclusions regarding the scores.
THERE will likely be some nasty letters to the editor because this report is being highlighted, with some school system officials crying foul, but don’t kill the piano player, instead point accusatory fingers at the leaders of your school district and in some cases at parents.
Those of you with children in failing, or near-failing, school districts should be concerned but because the school voucher system in Georgia only applies to the bottom 25 percent of school zones, your student could well be receiving a substandard education at a time when education is the single most important key to success later in life. Before parents totally blame school districts for the poor scores, remember that education starts at home. That said, the school districts do bear considerable responsibility.
There are school districts that place too much emphasis on social agendas instead of education. Many people blame the Department of Education and federal mandates for this and they are likely correct. However, Department of Education is going away and states will be responsible for their respective educational systems. This makes determining responsibility much easier.
When teachers not only allow but encourage students to skip a day of education to join a protest march, that is wrong. When teachers and administrators spend time attempting to turn girls into boys and boys into girls, that is wrong. And there are so many other examples of educational failures.
The end result is that parents have lost or are losing confidence in the public education system.
THERE are some great teachers and administrators in each of the school districts mentioned in this column, but when school districts are receiving failing grades, it is not the elected school board members that suffer. The superintendent of the school district does not suffer. The teachers do not suffer. The ones that ultimately suffer are the students, and that is not acceptable.
My final word on this is that school vouchers should be open to all families throughout the state.
That’s my opinion.
Andy Kober can be reached by email at andykober@hotmail.com