Georgia Tax Credit Program for Private Schools: A Reference List

In 2008, I wrote a blog entry entitled “Georgia Tax Credit Program for Private Schools Deserves Attention from Muslims and Other Religious Minorities.” I interviewed Ziad Minkara, the founder of a student of scholarship organization, in May 2009.

It’s time to update this with information which has surfaced since then and changes to the program. This blog entry contains the sources I’ve been able to find.

Georgia Tax Credit Program at Georgia Department of Education

Georgia Department of Revenue. Rules of Department of Revenue. Income Tax Division. TITLE 48. REVENUE AND TAXATION. CHAPTER 7. INCOME TAXES. ARTICLE 2. IMPOSITION, RATE, AND COMPUTATION; EXEMPTIONS. O.C.G.A. § 48-7-29.16 (2014) Qualified education tax credit  You can look up the legislation at LexisNexis.

HB 283 (Sections 33B – 34), latest amendment to Qualified Education Expense Credit program, imposing new requirements on student scholarship organizations

HB 325, passed in 2011

In 2013, the maximum amount a Student Scholarship Organization could give a parent for a child’s tuition at a private school was set at $9,046, which is the average state and local expenditures per student.

• Southern Education Foundation Reports
  • Complaint submitted to Georgia Dept of Revenue, Jan 28, 2013
  • Georgia’s Tax Dollars Help Finance Private Schools with Severe Anti-Gay Policies, Jan 2013
  • A Failed Experiment: Georgia’s Tax Credit Scholarships for Private Schools, 2011
    • Georgia GOAL Scholarship Program, Inc. Response, June 7, 2011
• Georgia Department of Revenue 2011 Legislative Analysis for Enacted Legislation (pdf)
• “A Better Way to Spend $50 Million” by Claire Suggs of The Georgia Budget & Policy Institute Blog
• Don’t Expand Private School Scholarship Tax Credit Program Until Effectiveness is Proven by Claire Suggs
• Transparency for Private School Scholarships Improves by Claire Suggs
• Private School Scholarships to Divert $30 Million More in Revenue by Claire Suggs
• GOAL’s priority is transparency by Tracey McManus, June 9, 2011
• Study calls Ga. scholarship law ‘failed experiment’, Associated Press, June 7, 2011
• Choice on education reform, Sept 26, 2010, Linda Tucciarone, Ph.D.
• Tax credit at issue in campaign, Oct 10, 2010 by Jason Wermers
• Public Money Finds Back Door to Private Schools, May 21, 2012 by Stephanie Saul
• With God on Their Side, Rethinking Schools, Winter 2001/2002 (analysis of textbooks used in some Christian private schools)
• Georgia improves tax credit scholarship program By DEREK MONJURE On APRIL 1, 2013
• Millions of Tax Dollars Diverted to Private Schools, Nov 8, 2012, WSB-TV
• Scholarship program faces tighter rules after abuse allegations, by Tracey McManus, April 7, 2013
• National Conference of State Legislatures, Tuition Tax Credits