SB 128: Quality Basic Education Act; grants to eligible local units of administration for students living in poverty; provide

Georgia currently funds public schools mainly through the Quality Basic Education formula, which does not specifically account for how many students in a district are homeless, in foster care, or in families receiving SNAP or TANF benefits. This bill would add a new section to that law creating grants aimed at students living in poverty. The State Board of Education would award these grants to school districts (called local units of administration) that qualify, and the Department of Education would calculate each district's grant by counting its students living in poverty and multiplying that count by 25 percent of the base per-student funding amount used elsewhere in state law. Districts would have to spend at least 90 percent of the grant directly on programs for those students, and any unspent portion of that 90 percent would go back to the State Board of Education. The grants depend on the General Assembly actually appropriating the money.

• Creates a new grant program under the Quality Basic Education Act specifically for students living in poverty, funded separately from existing school formula funding.
• Defines 'student living in poverty' to include students in families receiving SNAP or TANF benefits, students in foster care, and students without stable housing.
• Directs the Department of Education to calculate each district's grant by multiplying its count of poverty-affected students by 25 percent of the base per-student funding amount.
• Requires school districts to spend at least 90 percent of grant funds directly on programs benefiting students living in poverty.
• Requires unspent portions of that required 90 percent to be returned to the State Board of Education.
• Makes the entire grant program contingent on the General Assembly appropriating funding for it.

Public school districts (local units of administration) across Georgia, students who are homeless, in foster care, or in families receiving SNAP or TANF benefits, the State Board of Education, and the Department of Education, which would administer eligibility rules and calculate grant amounts.

If funded, districts with more students facing poverty-related hardship could receive additional money specifically for programs serving those students, rather than relying solely on general per-student formula funding. Because the grants require a separate legislative appropriation, whether any money actually reaches districts depends on future budget decisions.

• New Code Section 20-2-192(a) defines 'student in foster care,' 'student living in poverty,' and 'student without stable housing,' the last tied to the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act definition as of January 1, 2025.
• Subsection (b) directs the State Board of Education to provide the grants 'subject to appropriations by the General Assembly' and to set eligibility procedures for districts.
• Subsection (c) sets the grant formula: number of poverty-affected students multiplied by 25 percent of the base funding amount used in O.C.G.A. § 20-2-161.
• Subsection (c) requires at least 90 percent of grant funds to go toward direct program expenditures for students living in poverty, with unspent funds returned to the State Board of Education.

1. 2025-02-11Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-02-10Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Jason Esteves (D, SD-035)Primary sponsor
• Harold Jones (D, SD-022)
• Kim Jackson (D, SD-041)
• Elena Parent (D, SD-044)
• Sonya Halpern (D, SD-039)
• Nan Orrock (D, SD-036)
• Derek Mallow (D, SD-002)
• RaShaun Kemp (D, SD-038)
• Ed Harbison (D, SD-015)
• Kenya Wicks (D, SD-034)
• Nabilah Islam Parkes (D, SD-007)
• Donzella James (D, SD-028)
• Gail Davenport (D, SD-017)
• Freddie Sims (D, SD-012)
• Tonya Anderson (D, SD-043)
• Randal Mangham (D, SD-055)
• Sally Harrell (D, SD-040)
• Nikki Merritt (D, SD-009)
• Michael Rhett (D, SD-033)

• school funding
• education grants
• child poverty
• homeless students
• foster care