NEWS & OPINIONS
Reflections of a Newlywed
Reflections of a Newlywed: Lessons Learned From One Year Of Marriage A little more than a year ago you all reached out to my husband, Harold, and me on our exciting new journey as a married couple. We are so grateful for all of the wisdom that you shared with us....
Is it time for voting rights reform for felons?
Coming off the contentious 2020 election, the issue of voting rights has been in the news lately. That is likely why, this year, there is a renewed push among some lawmakers in the Georgia legislature to reform voting-rights laws for those convicted of a felony. This...
Does the Minimum Wage Hurt or Help the Poor?
What economic research really tells us Finally, we have the definitive answer on a longstanding debate on whether empirical studies show that minimum wage laws negatively impact employment. You may have heard conflicting summaries, perhaps from economists themselves,...
School closures, a job loss, and health emergencies: How the pandemic is impacting one family of a student with special needs in Georgia
Students are missing the magic that happens in a classroom that cannot be replicated on a Zoom call When the pandemic came home to DeKalb County in March 2020, Jennifer Sheran and her husband never expected that it would touch off a year-long stint of trials. It all...
The importance of the African American family in our history
A focus on the contributions of the African American family As we head into February, we at the Georgia Center for Opportunity (GCO) are proud to celebrate Black History Month and the experience of the African American community. In particular, we plan to take this...
New Hope For ALL Georgian Students With Special Needs
New legislation is being introduced that could help expand support for parents of special needs students. For the past 14 years Georgia's Special Needs Scholarship Program (SB 10) has provided support to parents with special needs. This support allowed parents access...
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...
How to Take Away Something Positive from the COVID Crisis
When someone needs financial help or workforce training from the government, where do they go?
If we just allowed people to navigate federal programs on their own, the average person would be completely overw
Vulnerable kids have been hardest hit by COVID-19 learning losses. We need to get educational options to their families
When someone needs financial help or workforce training from the government, where do they go?
If we just allowed people to navigate federal programs on their own, the average person would be completely overw
Poverty Agenda 2021 | 5 policy prescriptions to reduce poverty in Georgia
As the Georgia Legislature reconvenes next week, the Georgia Center for Opportunity (GCO) is calling on lawmakers to make poverty-fighting measures one of their top goals. Along these lines, GCO has released the following 5 recommendations to reduce poverty in Georgia...
As Georgia heads toward a pair of runoff elections for U.S. Senate, what happened to basic civility?
When someone needs financial help or workforce training from the government, where do they go?
If we just allowed people to navigate federal programs on their own, the average person would be completely overw
Managing Stress | HEALTHY @ HOME
As if the holidays weren't enough, we're now in the midst of another surge in the Coronavirus pandemic. 2020 has been stressful. Join licensed professional counselor, Janae Combs, as she gives us some practical advice and tips for managing stress in a healthy way.To...
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...
