The Georgia GOAL Scholarship Program, the State’s largest K-12 tax credit scholarship program, is celebrating the ten year anniversary of the enactment of the popular Georgia Education Expense Tax Credit. Recently, GOAL distributed its annual GOAL Report to 15,000 contributors. The Report detailed GOAL’s 2017 Scholarship Family Survey results; described 2017 legislative and judicial activity; provided scholarship recipient testimonials; and detailed its contribution, scholarship, and financial results.
Under the program, taxpayers who contribute to GOAL, or to one of the other 30 qualified student scholarship organizations (SSOs), receive a dollar-for-dollar Georgia income tax credit for the amount of their contributions. GOAL uses the contributions to provide scholarships to low and middle income families who are seeking to send their children to the independent schools that best meet their learning needs.
Since the inception of the law in 2008, GOAL has received $136 million in contributions, which represents 33% of all contributions statewide. Since 2008, GOAL has awarded scholarships to 12,038 students, totaling $104.3 million.
On January 3rd of this year, with $58 million available tax credits for 2017, taxpayers applied for a record $117 million tax credits, resulting in the applicant taxpayers being approved for 49.49% of the tax credit amounts for which they applied.
“While the statistics are very impressive, the heart and soul of our annual GOAL Report is always the scholarship family testimonials,” says Lisa Kelly, GOAL’s President. “While our donors appreciate our effective, transparent, and ethical administration of this valuable program, they love being able to read about the difference their support is making in the lives of thousands of deserving Georgia children.”
Kelly emphasized that, although, in terms of scholarship award eligibility, Georgia lawmakers adopted one of the more generous tax credit scholarship programs in the nation, the average household income of GOAL scholarship recipient families has been $26,724, and 90% of the GOAL scholarships have been awarded to families with income of less than $48,000.
The GOAL Report details ongoing efforts at the State Capitol to increase the annual cap on available tax credits, including the introduction of House Bill 217 by Rep. John Carson (R-Marietta), which would raise the cap to $65 million in 2018, $75 million in 2019, and $85 million in 2020. Though the Senate did not pass HB 217 earlier this year, it remains active legislation that the General Assembly will consider in 2018.
Additionally, the GOAL Report explains that, in June 2017, in the case of Gaddy v. Georgia Department of Revenue, the Supreme Court of Georgia unanimously rejected a legal challenge to Georgia’s tax credit scholarship program. In rejecting the challenge, the Court observed that the program is funded with private contributions to non-profit scholarship organizations, not with government funds. Also, the Court observed that, because the average scholarship award is less than the per pupil amount the state spends to educate a child in public schools, the program may actually save the state money.
Presently, 132 private schools, serving students in 71 cities throughout Georgia, participate in the Georgia GOAL program. Of the 28,197 scholarships GOAL has awarded, 11.86% have been awarded in North Georgia, 38.73% awarded in Metro Atlanta, 24.67% awarded in Middle Georgia, and 24.74% awarded in South Georgia.
According to Kelly, “the participating private schools have been exceptional stewards of Georgia’s tuition tax credit program, as they have identified and nurtured thousands of quality scholarship recipients; developed thousands of compassionate and committed contributors to the cause of educational choice; and strongly supported multiple legislative reforms that have enhanced the effectiveness, transparency, and accountability of SSOs.”
To view a copy of the GOAL Annual Report, please click here.