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Search Results for: school choice

Illegal aliens on an oversight committee? Georgia’s pending ‘school choice’ bill needs more work SB 233

January 6, 2024 By D.A. King

Georgia House Chamber – photo, AJC.

 

“The bill defines “parents” as “a biological parent, legal guardian, custodian, or other person with legal authority to act on behalf of a student.”

It took several years of work from pro-enforcement advocates, but Georgia’s pending “school choice” bill, SB 233 (LC 49 1473S) excludes illegal alien students. See lines 82 & 83. Because it is intentionally cryptic, we posted an easy to understand explanation elsewhere for curious readers.

School choice is a solid conservative idea if done responsibly – but the current version still doesn’t fit that description. Not for the first time, we note that SB 233 contains no exclusion for illegal alien “parents.” This writer predicts this easily remedied fact will be a significant problem for bill sponsors and Gov. Kemp when trusting GOP voters are educated on the details of the legislation.

Ga. Gov. Brain Kemp.

The bill defines “parents” (on lines 37 & 38) as “a biological parent, legal guardian, custodian, or other person with legal authority to act on behalf of a student.” It makes the parent the applicant for the student to access the taxpayer funded “Promise Scholarship” benefit (see line 105).

Federal statistics reveal that over 300,000 illegal “migrants” entered the U.S last month (Dec. 2023) – more than the population of Savannah, Marietta and Warner Robins combined. Legislators ignore this reality at their political peril.

Hardworking Georgians will likely not take kindly to a GOP-pushed law that allows any illegals to apply for a discretionary taxpayer-funded benefit – including private school tuition.

  • Related: Estimates are that 400,000 illegal aliens called Georgia home in 2018

The same taxpayers may have a strong objection to a law that names any illegally present “parent” as the “recognized recipient” of state funds for private school tuition as laid out in lines 126-129: “Any account funds directed to a participating school or service provider are so directed on behalf of the participating student’s parent, the recognized recipient of such participating student’s account funds, and wholly as a result of the genuine and independent private choice of the parent.”

More, from lines 208-211: “The commission shall develop a system for parents to direct account funds to participating schools and service providers by electronic funds transfer, automated clearing-house transfer, or another system that the commission finds to be commercially viable, cost-effective, and easy for parents of participating students to use.”

S. Greg Dolezal (R- Alpharetta), lead sponsor, SB 233.

Lines 211- 214 create a scenario in which the state of Georgia could easily be in the position of sending tax dollars directly to illegal alien “parents” to reimburse them for out-of-pocket expenses and/or “certain qualified education expenses.”

It doesn’t take much imagination to realize that most conservative voters aren’t going to sit quietly while a law is put in place that would allow illegal aliens to serve on a school choice oversight committee either. But SB 233 does exactly that. “Parents” would serve on a parental review committee that would oversee eligible expenses for school choice benefits – see lines 238-240: “To assist in the determination of whether certain expenses meet the requirements to be considered a qualified education expense under this chapter, a parent review committee shall be established.”

And this from lines & 253-254: “The commission may request the (parent review) committee to determine whether an expenditure of account funds from an account qualifies as a qualified education expense under this chapter.”

Rep. Todd Jones (R- Cumming) House sponsor, SB 233.

More on parents’ participation: “(line 48) Qualified education expenses’ means any one or more of the following: … “Other expenses authorized by the State Board of Education or the commission; or Individual education expenses authorized by a majority of the parent review committee provided for in Code Section 20-2B-6 (lines 64-66).”

There are several commonsense solutions to all this. It seems that the simplest is to insert language into the bill that designates the “Promise Scholarship” school choice benefit as a “state grant.” That should require the applicant – the “parent” – to complete the “verification of lawful presence” process that is already in OCGA 50-36-1. Shorter: It would exclude illegal alien parents – if the law was enforced.

It is noteworthy that several inquiries have reportedly already been made to the Attorney General’s office asking if the school choice scholarship would be a state grant in the bill as is. I understand that the AG has informed more than one state legislator that the question would not be answered on a pending bill.

  • A version of the above oped was originally posted on the subscription outlet James Magazine Online on January 5, 2024.

D.A. King is president of the Dustin Inman Society and proprietor of ImmigrationPoliticsGA.com

Filed Under: Recent Posts Achrives

Martha Zoller and Rep Todd Jones on air, March 27, 2023 Re: SB 233 “school choice” #BrianKemp

March 28, 2023 By D.A. King

 

 

In the closing days of the 2023 push for “school choice” in Georgia, Martha Zoller had Rep Todd Jones on her show yesterday (here). He is carrying this year’s school choice bill in the House. I listened in for the first time in awhile.

Martha Zoller

We were happy (surprised) to hear Rep Jones finally mention illegal aliens as related to the “educational freedom”, “put parents in charge,” “Promise Scholarship” topic. We were disappointed that he didn’t mention that in the current version of SB 233 there is no language that excludes illegal alien parents from the state benefit process or serving on an oversight committee.

There seemed to be some confusion on Martha’s part about what informed, pro-enforcement watchers were saying about illegal aliens as related to being eligible students.

Audio and transcript on the bottom.

Martha found time later in her show to mention me and suggest that I arrange an interview on her show. We were not aware of that possibility. The usual process of radio show hosts having guests on for interviews is that the host invites the guest. But it seems that Martha has some resentment towards me for not memory-holing Gov Brian Kemp’s defiant betrayal on his 2018 campaign promises regarding “criminal illegals,” the promised  public registry of criminal illegals, the “Brian Kemp Track and Deport plan” and his pledge on ending “sanctuary cities.”

We now have sanctuary counties in Georgia.

  • Related: Under Gov Brian Kemp, Georgia is a sanctuary state for “criminal illegals”

Martha now says Kemp has done a lot on illegal immigration in Georgia, just different things than he said he would do – while continuing to try to divert listener’s attention to “the border.” During the last campaign Martha explained that Kemp had not done what he promised because things had changed at the border (even more illegal aliens crossing). We’ll get to all that and more after the legislative session is over.

Meantime, I am happy to be on Martha’s show anytime she wants me on. I wonder if I should regard  it as a hostile interview.

Audio (five-ish minutes) & partial transcript

https://immigrationpoliticsga.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Rep-Todd-Jones-Zolker-Mar-28-PARTIAL-1.m4a

Rep Todd Jones:

“… my swearing in in January of 2017.

Martha Zoller:

And then tell us about Senate Bill 233.

Rep Todd Jones:

Sure. So, Senate Bill 233, uh, effectively the- the Georgia Scholarship Promise Act, is what many are calling a voucher, but to me it’s an opportunity to provide families who are right now districted to a bottom 25% school within the state of Georgia, to provide them with an alternative, provide them with an opportunity. Frankly, to provide them hope.

Martha:

Now, you are getting some pushback from a lot of areas, okay, but one of them is in some of the anti illegal immigration groups, are, and, uh, many of them are Republicans, are- are pushing back saying that this is gonna open the door to illegal immigrants, uh, in education. Now I would argue that we already are required by the, by the Supreme Court to educate all children that are in our country regardless of their immigration status, but is there any foundation or any accuracy to some of the claims being made there?

Rep Todd Jones:

Yeah. So, when we were forming 233 with Senator Greg Dolezal, he’s the primary author of this, uh, on the Senate side. I’m honored to be carrying it on the House side. There was a series of things that we wanted to be able to do to make it clear, uh, what parents would be, uh, allowed to be able to take advantage of this voucher or the students, what a school would have to do. If it was a private school, what would have to occur for a homeschooling student, a hybrid school, et cetera. What would be accountability standards? What were the financial standards? And all the transparency that goes along with it. We wanted to make it the strongest school choice bill in the entire country in terms of, I’ll say, accountability.

Uh, in terms of this question around I’ll say illegal, uh, immigrants receiving the voucher, I can say this. To your point, the Supreme Court’s been very clear in terms of being able or having to educate students within the public school system, but we added in to 233 not only are you an existing public school student, but you also are eligible for HOPE. And HOPE, as you know, is effectively our opportunity to provide kids a pathway into the university system and be able to cover anywhere between 90% to 100% of their cost.

That does not provide for the funding of anyone who is here illegally. So ultimately, putting the guardrails around not just are they in the public school system, but also eligible for HOPE puts the guardrail in in terms of who can and who can’t. But the other thing I like to mention is, is that the voucher itself is not fungible cash. It’s not just cash that’s deposited into the parents’, um, I’ll say bank account, but rather it is a third party administered account that can only be released based on approved or pre-approved expenses that the commission has already reviewed and has indicated that those are expenses that are appropriate to be paid for by the account.

Martha:

You know, since about the 1850s or ’60s in New Hampshire and Vermont, there has been a system called Town Tuition. Uh, it is a system where basically the money follows the child. And it became about because there were a lot of small towns in New Hampshire and Vermont where maybe they didn’t have enough money to have a middle school and a high school, or whatever. So there’s been this, you can go to … It used to be you can go to parochial schools, you can go to private schools. Up until the 1980s, you could go to parochial schools. And they’ve had this in place for, you know, 150 years.

Um, hav- are you aware of that system? Had you heard about it? Has anybody looked at it if so? Because it seems like we got a model that’s worked for 150 years, and, you know, but nobody seems to know about it.

Rep Todd Jones:

So, I would, A, yes, I am aware of it. B, I also agree with you that no one is aware about it, is- is aware of those programs. But you’re starting to see maybe not exact replicas, but at least I’ll say, a- a- a good overlap, uh, in Arkansas, you’re starting to see, in Florida, in terms of what they voted last Thursday in terms of universal money follows the student. So, these are I’ll say concepts that are starting to sweep across the country, especially in those states that lean red or hard red. And we hope that our, and coming back to 233, we feel as if we have tailored this in such a way, uh, that to your exact point, if the school’s in the bottom 25% of our state, we’re not looking to do anything adverse to that school.

I want to be clear. If a student takes a voucher from one of those school systems, the per capita funding actually goes up, not goes down, and that’s a long formula and a, probably for a longer conversation. But we see this as an and, Martha, not an or. We’re gonna continue to fund public education, totally fund public education and provide those students who are districted to a bottom 25% school to be able to have an opportunity to do something else, because let’s face it, education is the great equalizer.

Martha:

Amen to that, you know. Education and economics is what separates us. Okay.

Rep Todd Jones:

That’s right.

Martha:

And that’s what we need to- to look at. Um, of course, I’ve gotten a number of question when the people heard you were gonna be on. I got some questions that I’ve k- kind of compiled because they were all on the same topic. Um, Florida made some big changes in their education system back during Governor Bush. And- and e- essentially by adding choice-…”

 

Filed Under: Recent Posts Achrives

School choice – SB 233: GOP lawmakers ignore warnings on attention to immigration status of ‘parents’ at their political peril — Repost and updated

March 23, 2023 By D.A. King

UPDATE: March 14, 2024. The House passed SB 233 today with no debate on or attention to the below. Several House embers told us they “had to vote for school choice…” despite understanding that it will reward and encourage illegal imigtrati9on into Georgia. By our math, this is exactly three weeks after the murder of Laken Riley, allegedly by an illegal alien who migrated to our state.

Heads up to House Republicans: Designating the Promise Scholarship as a “state grant” would require applicants (“parents”) to participate in the verification of lawful presence process in OCGA 50-36-1 and is an easy, two line solution to the very real problem.

Hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens have been Georgia residents for more than a year.

Update: March 31, 2023 11:00 PM: SB 233 failed in the House, a vote to reconsider passed and the has been put back on the General Calendar for next year. See the Breitbart story “Georgia blocks plan to open K-12 grants to illegals.”

Update: March 28, 2023, 10:50 AM: GOP Gov Brian Kemp has publicly endorsed the bill and is now urging the House to pass it. There is still no language excluding illegal alien “parents” from the oversight process.

Update: March 24, 6:22 AM: The House took up this bill yesterday but ended up voting 95-70 (see “House vote 293”) to table the measure – after Gov Kemp sent word through a floor leader that he supports the school choice legislation as is. *Notable that 13 members were excused from voting.

Rep Will Wade offered a plea for passage from the Well before Pro Tem Jan Jones moved to table the illegal alien -friendly measure. Two minute audio from House floor:

https://immigrationpoliticsga.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/SB233-table.m4a

__________________________

Most conservative Georgians do not want illegal aliens to be able to apply for any non-fed mandated benefit, direct the destination of state funds, be reimbursed for out-of pocket expenses, or serve on a “Parent Review” committee that determines what expenses are eligible to be considered as a “qualified education expense” under state law.

Despite more than a year of warnings to Republican lawmakers under the Gold Dome, language in the pending “school choice” bill does not require “parents” (who make the application to begin the proposed new state grant process) to be U.S. citizens or have legal immigration status.

  • Best solution: Amend the bill to require “parents” to be verified as U.S citizens or Lawful Permanent Residents (green card holders) as is the well-disguised requirement for student eligibility.
  • A weaker (partial) solution: Clearly designate the scholarship as a “state grant’ in the bill and add sentence that requires verification under OCGA 50-36-1.

(Beginners guide: We think the “Promise Scholarship” should be regarded as a “state grant” and thereby a public benefit under Georgia’s verification of lawful presence law OCGA 50-36-1. We have repeatedly urged all concerned to make that clear (or not) in the bill. If it is a state grant, the applicant (the “parent”) would be required to complete the prescribed verification process to swear to “lawful presence.”)

Below is another line-by-line write up on part of the role of “parents” in the administration of and participation in the proposed new state “Promise Scholarship.”

  • UPDATE Nov. 16, 2023, 9:05 AM The current version of SB 233 is LC 49 1473 according to the House Clerk just now.

Modified structure.

SB 233 As amended by the House Education committee

* LC 49 1450

See also LC 49 1458S and LC 1458S/hrcs (lines may not exactly match in later versions).

Line #

37  ‘Parent‘ means a biological parent, legal guardian, custodian, or other person with

38 legal authority to act on behalf of a student.

 

64  (G) Other expenses authorized by the State Board of Education or the commission; or

65  (H) Individual education expenses authorized by a majority of the parent review

66  committee provided for in Code Section 20-2B-6.

 

72  (a) A student shall qualify for a promise scholarship account under this chapter if:

73  (1) The student’s parent resides within Georgia and has been a Georgia resident for at

74  least one year; provided, however, that the one-year requirement shall not apply if the

75  student’s parent is an active duty military service member stationed in Georgia within the

76  previous year;

 

201  (3) The commission shall develop a system for parents to direct account funds to

202  participating schools and service providers by electronic funds transfer, automated

203 clearing-house transfer, or another system that the commission finds to be commercially

204 viable, cost-effective, and easy for parents of participating students to use. The

205 commission shall not adopt a system that relies solely on reimbursing parents for

206 out-of-pocket expenses, but may determine certain qualified education expenses that must

207 require reimbursement or preapproval for purchase. The commission is authorized to

208 qualify private financial management firms to manage the payment system.

 

231  (a) To assist in the determination of whether certain expenses meet the requirements to be

232  considered a qualified education expense under this chapter, a parent review committee

233  shall be established.

234  (b)(1) The committee shall comprise one person with relevant knowledge, skills, and

235  abilities and eight parents of participating students appointed by the president of the

236  commission. Four of the parents shall reside in local school systems with student

237  enrollment greater than 10,000, and four of the parents shall reside in local school

238  systems with student enrollment less than 10,000.

239  (2)(A)Members of the committee shall serve for staggered three-year terms and may

240  be reappointed; provided, however, that no individual shall be permitted to serve more

241  than three terms.

Filed Under: Recent Posts Achrives

Correction, apology and clarification: Partially inaccurate analysis of SB 233 – “school choice”

March 17, 2023 By D.A. King

 

Re; SB 233 as passed the senate (SB233/CFSA)

  • Update: I retract the below correction apology clarification and apology 

Correction: The conclusion I came to and posted here regarding eligibility of students for the proposed new state grant known as the “Promise Scholarship” in SB 233 was inaccurate. I wrote that aliens illegally paroled for admission into the United States by the Biden administration would be eligible for the proposed new benefit. That conclusion is wrong. In fact, eligibility for the benefit requires that a student be a United States citizen or a “permanent resident alien” (green card holder) who meets the definition of an eligible noncitizen under federal Title IV requirements.”

That restriction does not include recipients of Biden’s illegal parole as I wrote. I deeply regret the obvious error.

As Georgia’s only full time pro-enforcement voice on immigration, we strive for accuracy and have promised swift correction on any inaccurate information. I have proven that no matter how many times one checks his work, if the same glaring error is repeated in the analysis process the conclusion will be flawed.

One of the first things I was taught as a seventeen-year-old recruit was that “Marines do not make excuses.” That said, I wish I had paid much closer attention in grade school class on Roman numerals.

Including state Rep Will Wade, and Senator Colton Moore’s Chief of Staff Michael Gargiulo, many thanks to the various people who politely convinced me to check my work yet again. I am profoundly sorry for my mistake and grateful for the confidence so many people show for our credibility.

Clarification: As the state-funded private school tuition scholarship proposed in SB 233 would benefit entire families, we have been consistent in our opinion that students and “parents” (applicants) be U.S. citizens or green card holders (“LPRs” – Lawful Permanent Residents).

I have repeatedly pointed out that we see no provision that “parents” are required to have that status  – or have any lawful immigration status. Due to the involvement of “parents” in the application process, oversight authority and apparent ability to access payments for “certain qualified education expenses,” we believe the absence of that language is crucial in any judgment of the pro-enforcement fairness and viability of the measure. Please see more on parents here.

We are of the opinion that any new “Promise Scholarship” would be a state grant public benefit under OCGA 50-36-1 and that applicants (“parents”) would be required to complete the verification of “lawful presence” in that code section. Assuming this is the case, it would not alone limit the participation of “parents” to U.S. citizens or LPRs. It would allow “parents” with non-immigrant visas and Biden’s illegal parole to apply and participate. We respectfully recommend that legislators educate themselves on this matter.

In the interest of “a belt and suspenders” clarity, the bill should contain language on this point. We also note that similar previous legislation did not require students to be U.S. citizens or LPRs, only cited 50-36-1 as an eligibility and verification reference and was murky in it’s language and wrong in its presentation.

dak

 

Filed Under: Recent Posts Achrives

Republican Senate ‘school choice’ bill: ‘A Mackerel in the Sun’ #SB233

March 12, 2023 By D.A. King

  • Update: May 22, 2023 With the benefit of time and sleep, I retract the below correction and apology. I was right the first time.

Correction: The conclusion I came to and posted here regarding eligibility of students for the proposed new state grant known as the “Promise Scholarship” in SB 233 was inaccurate. I wrote that aliens illegally paroled for admission into the United States by the Biden administration would be eligible for the proposed new benefit. That conclusion is wrong. In fact, eligibility for the benefit requires that a student be a United States citizen or a “permanent resident alien” (green card holder) who meets the definition of an eligible noncitizen under federal Title IV requirements.”

That restriction does not include recipients of Biden’s illegal parole as I wrote. I deeply regret the obvious error.

As Georgia’s only full time pro-enforcement voice on immigration, we strive for accuracy and have promised swift correction on any inaccurate information. I have proven that no matter how many times one checks his work, if the same glaring error is repeated in the analysis process the conclusion will be flawed.

Only U.S. citizens and green card holders should benefit from or participate in any new state grant for K-12 private school tuition

___

School choice is an idea worthy of serious consideration. Including illegal aliens in any part of a new state grant isn’t.

The GOP-controlled state senate recently passed SB 233, a deeply flawed bill titled “The Georgia Promise Scholarship Act” – otherwise known as “school choice” and “educational freedom.” See also “putting parents in charge.”

Watching the rush to passage and the obfuscation of the senate Republicans to push the odiferous measure through reminded this writer of the scenario surrounding immigration legislation in Washington D.C. a decade ago.

During the successful struggle in 2013 to stop that year’s attempt at amnesty for illegal aliens, then Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions described the “immigration reform” legislation as “a mackerel in the sun.” He pointed out that the bill was meant to be passed into law before too many people had read it and before too many facts were provided to the American public.

Sessions advised inspection and comprehension of the contents of the most horrible measure. He knew that the light of day would expose the truth about the “Gang of Eight” amnesty.

“The longer it lays in the sun, the more it smells, as they say about the mackerel” is how Sessions described his reason for the roadblocks he put in front of passage to the New York Times. The amnesty bill failed in the U.S. House because of too much information. Former U.S. Attorney General Sessions is a personal hero here.

The “school choice” bill that the senate passed was dropped into the senate hopper on February 22 and passed just five legislative days later on the senate floor. That unfamiliar odor you may be smelling could well be coming from Atlanta and the stench of this Republican-concocted “school choice” legislation after only a week of being out in the open.

  • Related: We warned and informed GOP senators on the immigration-related problems in the bill well before they voted

The contents of SB 233 create a new state grant for families of K-12 students to use to pay for private school education and other expenses as an alternative to public school education.

The bill contains language that allows students attending private school at taxpayer expense to be formerly “inadmissible aliens” who have been illegally granted mass “parole” by the Biden administration. That scam was found to be unlawful last week by a federal court in Florida.

Parole, even when it is done legally, does not confer lawful border entry status. Legal immigrants do not need parole.

Related: A retired INS agent on SB 233 in the Brunswick News

Amazing, but true: the “school choice” bill (SB233) does not exclude illegal alien parents from the administration process. Processing of state benefits to eligible families begins only when “parents” file an application to begin the $6000 annual proposed new grant payments for K-12 students to attend private school.

GA state Senator Greg Dolezal, lead sponsor of SB 233 – “school choice” 2023 edition.

“Parents” includes a “legal guardian, custodian, or other person with legal authority to act on behalf of the student.” The bill authorizes “parents” to be part of an oversight committee that has authority to decide on eligible expenses in the use of state funds. “Parents” can be paid for unforeseen out-of-pocket expenses.

Again: There is nothing in the bill that says “parents” must be in the U.S. lawfully.

Lead sponsor on SB 233 is Sen. Greg Dolezal (R-Cumming). Dolezal did not mention anything regarding illegal immigration when he presented the bill. Floor debate did not include any discussion of the state’s illegal immigration crisis.

The bill was intentionally rushed through the committee process while this writer was refused an opportunity to speak during the much-abbreviated public comment period. Because I was the first person to sign up to speak on the bill, the committee chairman of the senate Education and Youth committee, Republican Sen. Clint Dixon (Buford), began selection of speakers from the bottom of the list. He ended the comment period when he worked back up the list to my name. That cheap and cowardly abuse of power is on official archived video record.

As if to prove they have forgotten that real conservatives don’t do anything that rewards or encourages illegal immigration into Georgia, every Republican senator voted in favor of final passage.

With the troubling bill now in the House, conservative Representatives should withhold action until next year so there is time to understand it and make an educated decision on their own vote. Idea: Only U.S. citizens and green card holders should be eligible for the proposed “Promise Scholarship.”

Pro-borders voters should step in and do for the Georgia senate’s “school choice” bill what Jeff Sessions did to the failed 2013 amnesty try. Contact your state Rep and tell them to ask the Speaker to wait until next year to consider “school choice.’

Let this anti-enforcement mackerel sit in the sun over the summer.

_

A version of this essay is publish in the March 12 edition of  The Islander newspaper in Glynn County. GA. and on the subscription website Insider Advantage Georgia on March 15, 2023.

Filed Under: Recent Posts Achrives

Another immigration expert on SB 233, “school choice” & illegal aliens – Robert Trent in the Brunswick News #GregDolezal

March 11, 2023 By D.A. King

Note: Letter writer Bob Trent is a retired Senior Special Agent of the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (USINS). He served on metropolitan area drug, and organized crime task forces for many years and supervised special agents assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force. In addition, he spent ten years as a uniformed border patrol agent assigned to both the northern and southern borders. Bob’s final assignment was as the Assistant Director, Enforcement Training, U.S. Immigration Officer Academy, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, Glynco, GA. Bob is an old friend here. And, as we repeatedly predicted, a federal judge has launched a blistering attack on the Biden administration’s outrageous border parole scam while finding it unlawful.
 * What is the role of “parents” in SB 223? See here.
* See the list of bill sponsors below the letter published today.
dak.
_____

 

Brunswick News

Letters to the editor

Saturday, March 11, 2023

“Pro-borders, conservative voters should watch state Sen. Mike Hodges regarding illegal immigration. Georgia is already home to more illegals than Arizona.

Hodges doesn’t seem to understand that rewarding illegals with new state benefits isn’t an effective method of deterring the illegal migration into our state. “Exhibit A” for that case is Hodges’ March 6 vote under the Gold Dome for passage of SB 233, billed as “school choice” legislation that will provide a new annual state grant of $6,000 per year to Georgia families for private school tuition.

Amazing but true: the bill does not exclude illegal alien parents from the administration process that begins only when parents file an application with the state for the payments.

“Parents” include a “legal guardian, custodian, or other person with legal authority to act on behalf of the student.” The bill also authorizes “parents” to be part of an oversight committee that has authority to decide on eligible expenses in the use of state funds.

Repeat: There is no requirement that the “parents” be in the U.S. lawfully.

The bill also includes language saying the students attending private school at taxpayer expense can be formerly “inadmissible aliens” who were illegally granted “parole” by the Biden administration.

Parole does not confer lawful immigration status. Twenty states are suing the Biden administration to overturn this violation of our immigration laws.

Hodges went along with the herd. All senate Republicans voted to pass the bill. We should watch the GOP House members.”

Robert Trent

St. Marys (here)

_

SB 233 sponsors

No.Number in list Name District
1. Dolezal, Greg 27th
2. Brass, Matt 28th
3. Still, Shawn 48th
4. Moore, Colton 53rd
5. Setzler, Ed 37th
6. Gooch, Steve 51st
7. Kennedy, John 18th
8. Watson, Ben 1st

Filed Under: Recent Posts Achrives

“School choice” and illegal immigration in Georgia: A pro-enforcement look at SB 233

February 28, 2023 By D.A. King

 

 

 

Education for state legislators 

  • Update, 8:15PM: After posting this today and sending it to the Republican members of the Senate and House, I learned there was a (surprise!) 2:30 PM hearing on the below bill. I hurried to Downtown Atlanta and made it to the hearing room before the Senate Education and Youth committee meeting began. I was the first person to sign up to speak on the bill. The chairman of the committee is Senator Clint Dixon, Republican, Buford. Knowing that I would spill the beans on the bill, Dixon began calling names to speak from the bottom of the list.

    Sen Clint Dixon
  • When he got to number two on the list, Dixon told the room “I know the audience is not going to like this. We are under extreme time constraints and we are going to end the public comment now.”
  • I was prevented from speaking and offering an experienced and educated analysis of the phony immigration part of the legislation. I was cancelled by the Chamber of Commerce Republicans.  The Republicans passed out the bill. Senator Ed Setzler made the motion “do pass.” It should be noted that Dolezal was careful to avoid any mention of illegal immigration in his presentation.

____________________________

We judge the bill to be un-American in its current iteration.

Georgia Promise Scholarship Act (2023 version) Senator Greg Dolezal, lead sponsor. See cosponsors here.

SB 233         LC 49 1349

Note: All of the obvious problems outlined below can easily be resolved by using already offered language that clearly and openly limits benefits for, access to and authority over the use of state funds for K-12 scholarships to U.S. citizens or Lawful Permanent Residents (green card holders) who have submitted documents proving that status. I was asked for this draft language in 2022 and sent it to senior House members then. I received no reply. I have since traded emails with Sen. Greg Dolezal on that draft language and know that he has read it and finds “language like this “appropriate.” He has declined to respond to two requests for a meeting. Coming soon: Sen. Dolezal and his campaign promises on “sanctuary cities.” dak

  • Related: New “school choice” bill in GA Senate would provide state benefit to Biden’s illegally paroled, inadmissible “migrants” – formerly known as “illegal aliens” SB 233

State funds are deposited into a consumer directed account on behalf of a participating student to be used for qualified expenses and distribution is ordered by “parents.”

“Parents”

Parents of the participating K-12 student submit the application (line 84) for the state to send funds to an account set up for the student and ‘promise’ (line 77) to only use the state funds for qualified services – which are basic education of the student.

“Parents” include legal guardians, custodian or “other person” (line 30) with legal authority to act on behalf of the student of the student living in Georgia.

The above definition of “parent” does not exclude illegal aliens.

Georgia media does not usually report that the Biden administration has been shipping “UACs” into the interior of the United States and puts them into the custody of illegal aliens – including in Georgia.

  • Related: Fake Families: “Overrun, How Joe Biden Unleashed the Greatest Border Crisis in U.S. History

According to the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security, only six states have a larger population of illegal aliens than Georgia (table 3, page 5). The anti-enforcement GBPI has passed on stats that show we have more illegal aliens than green card holders (pie chart).

The above fact should point out the very real likelihood that if this all becomes law, we will watch as authority to request $6000.00 per year in taxpayer dollars is turned over to illegal alien ‘parents’ who have been awarded the power to order up dispersal of those funds with the ‘promise’ it will be done within the guidelines of the Act.

This brings up another “Act.” The federal Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) that illegal aliens defy. Here we also mention a long list of state and federal laws that illegal aliens violate literally every day – including employment laws and use of false or stolen ID and Social Security numbers. There is no reason to believe the illegal aliens won’t happily take advantage of the lack of security in the current version of SB 233.

Oversight

“Parents” also make up a review committee (line 193) that would have authority to determine the validity of expenses paid for by the “parents” on behalf of the student.  Again, we see the likelihood that illegal aliens could easily be deciding what constitutes an eligible expense and how state funds are used.

“Students”

A “student” is eligible if his “parents” reside in Georgia (line 73).

Considering illegal immigration, when we drill down through the bill’s references to various code sections students  are ineligible (lines 74-76) for the new state benefit under the same guidelines created for Title IX circa 1972 when the world, the U.S. and Georgia were very different places. Title IV noncitizen eligibility here.

The fact that the Biden administration has compromised the integrity of the Title IX eligibility guidelines should not be a reason for Georgia legislators to do join in and do the same in the name of “school choice.”

  • Fact on parole: “While individuals who receive a grant of parole are allowed to enter the United States, they are not provided with an immigration status nor are they formally “admitted” into the country for purposes of immigration law.” 

These parameters make hundreds of thousands of inadmissible aliens from all over the planet who have been illegally granted blanket “parole” by the Biden administration and herded into the U.S. eligible for the proposed “Promise Scholarship” benefits provided by Georgia taxpayers in this version of “school choice” in SB 233. The Biden “parole” scam is ongoing.

As is, SB 233 creates the scenario in which illegal alien/paroled parents can be in charge of dispersing state funds and determination of the eligible use of those funds for payment of private school tuition for paroled (otherwise illegal alien students) eligible.

Statistics taken from official Border patrol reports show that in the period Oct 2021 – Sept 2022 (FY 2022) about 380,000 otherwise illegal aliens were released into the nation under Biden’s (illegal) parole program. Immigration watchdogs are asking “How Long Does Biden’s DHS Wait to Put Paroled Border Migrants into Removal Proceedings?” (see Parole `+ATD in table).

I am working on cobbling numbers together to reflect the number of “parolees” created by Biden from what were previously known as “illegal aliens” in the first five months of FY 2023, but we anticipate those numbers will be similar to FY 2022. Georgia is already a very popular state for illegal “migration.” Offering private school tuition to paroled parents and students will only increase that attractiveness.

Twenty GOP states are challenging Biden’s illegal border parole hustle in a Texas federal court – GA is not one of them.

Appropriations (?)

 Unless I have overlooked it, there is no mention of any caps, limits or “subject to appropriations” disclaimer in the bill. This was not the case in some previous measures aimed at “school choice.” It can be assumed that the intent and expectation is that the state budget will always include provisions to accommodate funding for all eligible students.

At least one previous bill included a lottery system to determine winners and losers in the event there was not sufficient funding to benefit all eligible applicants.  We hope this possibility is made clear to legislators and voters as that scenario creates a possibility of illegal alien ‘parents’ and or paroled students winning that lottery while American students and parents watch them access state benefits that are unavailable to the citizen families.

Please see also: “New “school choice” bill in GA Senate would provide state benefit to Biden’s illegally paroled, inadmissible “migrants” – formerly known as “illegal aliens” SB 233.

Updated, March 2, 2023, 5:45 PM. Removed my personal opinion of Senators Dixon and Dolezal. Added copy on top that SB 233 did not come out of Rules committee. 

 

 

Filed Under: Recent Posts Achrives

Independent black voter to Georgia lawmakers: “Exclude illegal aliens from ‘school choice’ benefit”

January 13, 2023 By D.A. King

Photo: Ga. Health News

“If somehow the Republicans running the state government decide that we have a budget big enough to encourage and reward illegal aliens who migrate here with a private school education, we should all start a “what about” list that includes detailed inquiries about the allocation for our own homeless, our veterans and the pay we give our law enforcement officers.”

The below essay was sent here by our friend Ev Robinson and also ran on the subscription outlet Insider Advantage, January 12, 2023 in response to a column there from Jake Evans.

____

 

Many thanks to InsiderAdvantage for posting Jake Evans’ recent column in support of “school choice” legislation passing in the 2023 General Assembly. Kudos to Evans for including the commonsense caveat that the state benefit should be limited in its scope of recipients.

I write to offer a few observations and suggestions on the important matter. Evans wrote that “last legislative session, the General Assembly considered a bill embodying the concepts of school choice. The Georgia Educational Freedom Act provided for a $6,000 scholarship to nearly all of Georgia’s 1.7 million public school students, from kindergarten through 12th grade.”

It is vital to a fair discussion on this matter that all concerned are careful with the accuracy of the information they present.

Lines 3 & 4 in the Georgia Educational Freedom Act make it clear that any taxpayer benefits for “school choice” would have been completely dependent on appropriations put in place by the legislature. Any appropriation – or lack thereof – would determine the number (if any) of K-12 students who would be able to access taxpayer dollars to attend private schools in Georgia.

On eligibility for any proposed school choice benefit, Evans seems to be inclined to limit eligibility to “taxpayers.” We should ask if he means federal and or state income taxes, sales taxes or property taxes. Here, it is important to note the raging illegal immigration crisis in the U.S. and in Georgia and remind everyone favoring “school choice” that Georgia is home to more illegal aliens than green card holders, with estimates of that illegal population going up to 400,000-ish foreigners here in violation of our immigration laws.

None of these “undocumented workers” can escape paying some sort of tax in Georgia even if their income level would exclude them from paying state income taxes – were they to be inclined to obey our tax laws.

I submit that paying taxes alone is not a qualification for inclusion in a state program that would provide taxpayer-funded private school tuition to any, some or all K-12 students in our state.

I am a retired, black conservative American who has raised two wonderful kids in Georgia. As an independent voter who takes an unapologetic pro-enforcement position on U.S. borders, I have watched as the plight of poor Americans is often ignored when the politics of illegal immigration and “migrants” is discussed. If somehow the Republicans running the state government decide that we have a budget big enough to encourage and reward illegal aliens who migrate here with a private school education, we should all start a “what about” list that includes detailed inquiries about the allocation for our own homeless, our veterans and the pay we give our law enforcement officers.

Any and all legislation considered under the Gold Dome should include the consideration that we should do everything possible to discourage illegal immigration in Georgia. Limiting school choice benefits to U.S. citizens and green card holders is the answer to the question that too few legislators are asking on school choice eligibility.

Whatever the percentage of students that are funded, including illegal aliens in the “educational freedom” funding concept should instantly end the discussion on school choice.

Everett Robinson of Canton is a founding member of the board of the Dustin Inman Society.

 

Filed Under: Recent Posts Achrives

Only U.S. citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents (green card holders) should be allowed to apply for state benefits on “school choice”

January 8, 2023 By D.A. King

 

Only U.S. citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents (green card holders) should be considered for state benefits on “educational freedom” and “putting the parents in charge…”

 

  • Georgia Republicans who call themselves conservatives should reconsider the goal of using tax dollars to provide private school tuition money to illegal alien students and families. Rewarding and encouraging illegal immigration into Georgia is not a conservative ideal.
  • A 1982 SCOTUS decision (Plyler v Doe) only mandates that states must provide public K-12 school education to all student regardless of immigration status.
  • We don’t allow illegal aliens to access the Hope Scholarship or the Zell Miller Scholarship or instate tuition in our taxpayer-funded public colleges. Why do some Republicans want to welcome illegal alien families with discretionary  taxpayer-funded K-12 private school benefits?
  • Georgia already has the seventh largest population of illegal aliens in the nation. We are home to more illegal aliens than Arizona. Legislators and lobbyists who are pushing unrestricted “school choice” seem determined to make our state even more attractive to illegal immigration and the additional crime it creates.
  • Using basic eligibility requirements and adjusting language already in state law, it is easy to create a measure that only allows verified U.S. citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents to even apply for any state school choice benefits. Nobody needs to ask applicants about immigration status.
  • Although unworkable, there were various versions of poorly written language purporting to exclude illegal aliens from the proposed “school choice” legislation offered in three separate bills in 2021-2022 General Assembly. So we know members of the legislature are aware of this concern. –>As requested, we have draft language to remedy the problem with “school choice” legislation that grows illegal immigration in Georgia. 
  • Related (example): OCGA 20-3-519.1  “2 (b): A student is ineligible for any scholarship or grant described in this part if the student: (1) Is not a United States citizen or a permanent resident alien who meets the definition of an eligible noncitizen…”

 

Filed Under: Recent Posts Achrives

Cole Muzio and “school choice” on the Martha Zoller Show, August, 2022 Audio link

December 29, 2022 By D.A. King

 

Filed Under: Recent Posts Achrives, Uncategorized

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