HB27: HB27 Investing in Every Student Act; enact

Georgia law already lets the State Board of Education give local school districts grants to help migrant students living in poverty, paid for out of whatever the General Assembly decides to fund each year. House Bill 27, called the 'Investing in Every Student Act,' rewrites that law (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-189) to broaden who counts. It creates a new category called 'student living in poverty' that includes children whose families get SNAP or TANF benefits, homeless students, foster care students, and migrant students. The State Board of Education would have to write rules for how school districts prove their schools qualify. Grant amounts would be calculated per eligible student, equal to 25 percent of the base per-student funding amount used elsewhere in Georgia's school funding formula. At least 90 percent of the money a district receives must go toward direct programs and services for those students, and any unspent portion of that 90 percent must be returned to the State Board of Education. The grants remain subject to the legislature approving funding for them each year.

• Expands the existing migrant student poverty grant program to also cover homeless students, foster care students, and children in families receiving SNAP or TANF benefits.
• Creates a new legal definition of 'student living in poverty' covering those five categories of students enrolled in Georgia public schools.
• Directs the State Board of Education to write rules for how local school districts show their schools qualify for the grants.
• Sets the grant amount per eligible student at 25 percent of the base funding amount used in Georgia's Quality Basic Education formula.
• Requires local districts to spend at least 90 percent of grant money directly on programs for the students living in poverty for whom the grant was calculated, with leftover funds returned to the state.
• Keeps the grants dependent on the General Assembly appropriating money for them each year.

Georgia public school students who are homeless, in foster care, migrant, or living in households receiving SNAP or TANF benefits; local school districts (called local units of administration) that would apply for and manage the grants; and the State Board of Education and Department of Education, which run the program.

If funded by the legislature, more Georgia schools could get extra state money aimed specifically at students in poverty, not just migrant students as under current law. The 90 percent spending rule means most of that money must go directly to services for those students rather than general district budgets.

• Section 1 gives the bill the short title 'Investing in Every Student Act.'
• Section 2 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 20-2-189 to define 'student living in poverty' as a student who is on SNAP or TANF, homeless, in foster care, or a migrant student.
• Subsection (b) requires the State Board of Education to give grants to qualifying local districts, subject to the General Assembly appropriating the money.
• Subsection (b) also requires the State Board to write regulations on how districts must show a school is eligible for a grant.
• Subsection (c) sets the grant amount per eligible student at 25 percent of the base funding amount from Georgia's school funding formula (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-161).
• Subsection (c) requires at least 90 percent of grant funds to be spent directly on programs for the eligible students, with any unspent portion of that share returned to the State Board of Education.
• Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2025-01-15House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-01-14House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-01-13House Hopper (House)

• Sandra Scott (D, HD-076)Primary sponsor
• Kim Schofield (D, HD-063)
• Viola Davis (D, HD-087)

• school funding
• poverty in schools
• homeless students
• foster care students
• Quality Basic Education Act