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POWDER SPRINGS - A school voucher bill signed into law by Gov. Sonny Perdue on May 14 is garnering mixed reactions from parents across the county.

House Bill 1133 will allow citizens and corporations to make tax deductible donations to nonprofit organizations that fund scholarships for private schools across the state. Families across the state will have access to up to $50 million in scholarships, regardless of whether or not the schools they are zoned for are failing.

Some think it's an open door to a better education. Others say it is siphoning money and families away from public schools.

"As a parent, my focus and my wife's focus is right here," said André O'Brien, motioning to his daughters, Sierra and Ayana O'Brien, 9 and 7.

O'Brien favored the legislation, and advocated for it during its passage through the legislature.

He wants his daughters to receive a good education. They - not the well-being of a school system - are his focus, he said. He hopes his daughters can take advantage of money provided by the scholarships to attend a private school.

O'Brien and his wife, Cherie Hughes-O'Brien, send their girls to Still Elementary in Powder Springs. It's their first year at the school, after transferring from Compton Elementary when Compton failed to meet Adequate Yearly Progress standards. The family loves Still, they said, but they are worried about what comes next.

Tapp, the middle school the O'Brien girls are zoned for, is a school that is not on the AYP needs improvement list, their father said. But in 2007, Tapp did not meet AYP academic requirements for English/language arts and math. Transferring to another public school is not an option because Tapp is not on the needs improvement list, O'Brien said. He and his wife don't want to send their girls to the school because of Tapp's disciplinary reputation and what he believes are academically suspect standards.

They've considered moving or changing work arrangements so one of the parents can home-school their daughters.

But, "Given the option, we'd love to just put them in private school. This bill gives us some flexibility," O'Brien said.

However, some say the legislation will harm public education."I'm opposed to anything that takes money away from public schools. When you start taking money that would be allowed as a tax deduction for private schools, you're essentially taking money away from public schools. That is going to affect the quality," said Connie Jackson, a special education teacher and Griffin Middle School and a Cobb County mother.

Jackson is a mother of four-her oldest two, Cliff McNac and Kimberly Roberts, graduated high school last weekend from McEachern and Hillgrove, respectively. Her son Caleb will be in third grade at Still Elementary next year, and her son Logan will be a sixth grader at Lovinggood Middle School in the fall.

"People are afraid of public education so they're running to a private school, when if they invested in that public school, it'd be a better school," she said. "If your choice is to pull out to private schools, that's your choice. I don't think tax-deductible dollars should be used for that. Private does not mean better. It just means you pay for it."

Jeff Hubbard is state president of the Georgia Association of Educators, which has opposed school vouchers "for decades."

"We should first look at investing in public education, where 1.6 million-or 92 percent of Georgia school-age children-attend school, rather than giving tax credits for children to attend private schools," Hubbard said. "This was a classic public versus private issue. We do not feel that public funds should be going to pay for private education."Rep. David Casas (R-Lilburn), a public teacher in Cobb County, sponsored the legislation. House Bill 1133 passed the house 92-73, and passed in the senate by a 32-20 vote.

"Tax credits are a win-win-win for parents, students and taxpayers. 1133 is good education policy and good public finance policy," said Rep. Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs), who strongly supported the bill.

The Cobb school district, which reported 106,425 students in March, didn't take an official stand on the legislation, but Cobb's lobbyist, Mike Campbell, said the bill would reduce the state's ability to fund public education.

Cobb spokesman Jay Dillon said he didn't expect the scholarship legislation to significantly affect local enrollment.

Georgia is the sixth state to pass such tax-credit legislation, joining Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.

The Florida legislature recently passed a $30 million expansion of the state's corporate income tax credit program, bringing the program to $118 million, said Lori Drummer of the Alliance for School Choice in Washington, D.C.

efarnsworth@mdjonline.com

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