NEWS & OPINIONS
Expanding Medicaid is not enough to help middle class families in Georgia
Some in Georgia are pushing for a full expansion of Medicaid. As the Georgia Center for Opportunity (GCO) team has outlined before, this step would do more harm than good for low-income Georgia families. But there’s another narrative unfolding that tends to not get...
The health care crisis is debilitating for those in poverty
The high cost of quality health care is a debilitating expense
for low-income and poverty-stricken families. In order to enable as many Georgians as
possible to achieve the Success Sequence, we must enact meaningful health care
insurance reform now.
GCO releases new reports describing the best path forward for Georgia’s federal healthcare waivers
Today, the Georgia Center for Opportunity (GCO) has released two new reports detailing precisely how the Georgia governor and lawmakers should enact federal healthcare waivers that will reform a healthcare system disproportionately impacting the poor. In What Does an...
Join GCO In Sharing Your Inspirational Family Photos
The kids are on summer break and the parents are looking to make the most of the time together. What do you do? Family road trip? Go to the park for a barbecue? Head out to the local ballpark and catch a game? Family Activities Equals Family Values Whatever you do...
Best-selling author Tim Carney offers insights on America’s economic, cultural problems
America is in an economic and cultural crisis, as millions lack the tools that make a fulfilling life: A great education, stable job, and healthy relationships. The chief question, of course, is how to best connect our neighbors with opportunities that lead to a...
Successes During the 2019 Legislative Session
As the dust settles on another Georgia legislative session, we are pleased to report that the overall results for bills that GCO worked on to achieve passage were positive and encouraging. Education Opportunities Expand Once Again For starters, in the education...
Ready to work, right out of high school
Georgia’s public-school teachers should be proud of the work they’ve done to raise graduation rates in our state. Since 2011, graduation rates have increased by more than 14 percent, with 81.6 percent of the class of 2018 graduating. It’s an...
Strategies to reignite the power of work
The economy is booming: Employment is at record-breaking levels, and income and wages are finally rising again. Yet something is missing. Despite all the positive economic news, a significant percent of Georgians (and Americans broadly) have been left behind. This...
Three reasons why Medicaid expansion is bad for Georgia
By Erik Randolph, Contributing Scholar Expanding Medicaid to reduce the number of Georgians without health insurance is an idea continually being promoted. Here are three good reasons why it would be bad for Georgia. Reason Number One: Expanding Medicaid...
Welfare reform in Georgia poised to gain ground
We know that people do better in life when they experience the benefits of meaningful work and healthy relationships. But we also know that so many cultural forces are stacked against success in these two areas. One of the biggest is the American welfare system, which...
School choice is giving hope to Georgia’s kids
Georgia legislators are currently considering HB 301 which would enable families to customize their children's education to meet specific learning needs with an Education Scholarship Account (ESA). Experience and common sense tell us that no single system can meet the...
ESAs change lives of Arizona and Florida students
By Contributing Scholar: Jonathan Butcher As a teacher, Julie Young knew her grandson was going to need help outside of the classroom. He had been diagnosed with dyslexia, and he struggled to “retain anything he saw on paper,” Julie said. Julie and her family...
MEDIA MENTIONS
Study: Education savings account program in Georgia could result in nearly $16B in long-term benefits | CROSSVILLE CHRONICLE
Giving parents the ability to choose what school their children attend could save Georgia taxpayers money and generate billions of dollars in economic benefits, according to a new study. Released this week by conservative think tank the Georgia Public Policy...
Study: Education savings account program in Georgia could result in nearly $16B in long-term benefits | THE CENTER SQUARE
Giving parents the ability to choose what school their children attend could save Georgia taxpayers money and generate billions of dollars in economic benefits, according to a new study. Released this week by conservative think tank the Georgia Public Policy...
Welcoming Dr. Cayanna Good to the Georgia Center for Opportunity board of directors
Welcoming Dr. Cayanna Good to the Georgia Center for Opportunity board of directors The Georgia Center for Opportunity team is thrilled to announce that Dr. Cayanna Good, assistant commissioner of adult education for the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG), has...
Infrastructure investment essential to economic mobility | THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE
Georgians believe strong political leadership on transportation issues is a critical component of our economic success. According to polling from the Georgia Transportation Alliance, 93% of Georgians use automobiles as their primary source of transportation, 43%...
A true second chance | THE LAGRANGE DAILY NEWS
In July 2020, I wrote a column about Senate Bill 288 (SB 288). At the time, the governor ended up signing the bill that can help many Georgians remove the stigma of having a criminal conviction... More than 4 million Georgia residents had a criminal record in 2016,...
Agency puts families first in new effort to build resilience | AJC
Just before the COVID-19 pandemic would come to bear down upon us, DePriest Waddy was sitting in his office at Families First when a mother and father stopped in with their two young sons in tow. There’s no polite way to put this, but they were a mess... They won’t do...
New legislation would expand school-choice opportunities for Georgia parents | THE CENTER SQUARE
A Georgia lawmaker has proposed legislation that would provide more education choices for parents by allowing public education funds to be used for private school tuition. The Georgia Educational Scholarship Act, introduced by Rep. Wes Cantrell, R-Woodstock, would...
Private school vouchers back on the state legislative agenda | AJC
Pandemic precautions have set the stage for an unusual legislative session, but one thing hasn’t changed: the years-long feud over public funding of private education in Georgia. For several years, some lawmakers have pushed to spend more state money on private...
