HB 27: Investing in Every Student Act; enact

Georgia currently gives local school districts grants tied specifically to migrant students under O.C.G.A. § 20-2-189. House Bill 27, called the Investing in Every Student Act, rewrites that section to expand eligibility. It defines a new category, 'student living in poverty,' that includes students in families receiving SNAP or TANF benefits, homeless students, foster care students, and migrant students. The State Board of Education, rather than the Department of Education, would set rules for how districts prove they qualify. Grant amounts would be calculated by multiplying the number of qualifying students by 25 percent of the base per-student funding amount used elsewhere in Georgia's school funding formula. Districts would have to spend at least 90 percent of grant money directly on programs for these students, and any unspent portion above that threshold would go back to the State Board of Education. The grants remain subject to General Assembly appropriations.

• Replaces the existing migrant-only student grant program with a broader grant covering students living in poverty, defined to include those who are homeless, in foster care, migrant, or in families receiving SNAP or TANF benefits.
• Shifts rulemaking authority for grant eligibility from the State Department of Education to the State Board of Education.
• Changes the grant calculation formula from one based on migrant student enrollment ratios to one based on 25 percent of the base per-student funding amount multiplied by the number of qualifying students.
• Requires local school districts to spend at least 90 percent of grant funds directly on programs benefiting the qualifying students, returning any unspent amount above that share to the State Board of Education.
• Keeps the grants subject to funding approval by the General Assembly each year.
• Gives the law a short title, the 'Investing in Every Student Act.'

Local school districts (called local units of administration) that apply for and receive these grants, students who are homeless, in foster care, migrant, or living in families receiving SNAP or TANF benefits, and the State Board of Education and Department of Education, which set rules and calculate grant amounts.

Districts could receive funding for a much larger and more varied group of low-income students than the current migrant-only program covers, potentially increasing the number of students served. The change also shifts who writes the eligibility rules and how much money each district gets, affecting school budgets and program spending statewide.

• Section 1 gives the bill its short title, the 'Investing in Every Student Act.'
• Section 2 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 20-2-189 to define 'foster care student,' 'homeless student,' 'migrant student,' and the new umbrella category 'student living in poverty.'
• Section 2 moves authority to set eligibility rules from the State Department of Education to the State Board of Education.
• Section 2 changes the grant formula to 25 percent of the base per-student funding amount (as calculated under O.C.G.A. § 20-2-161) multiplied by the number of qualifying students in each district.
• Section 2 requires at least 90 percent of grant funds to go to direct program expenditures for the benefit of qualifying students, with unspent funds returned to the State Board of Education.
• Section 2 keeps the grants subject to appropriation by the General Assembly.
• 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)

• education funding
• student poverty
• homeless students
• foster care
• Quality Basic Education Act