Senate · Introduced · 2025-2026 Regular Session

SB 493: "Promise Scholarship Student Success and Transparency Act"; enact

Last action February 11, 2026 · Senate Read and Referred

A Georgia Senate bill would require the state agency running the Promise Scholarship private-school voucher program to set academic performance standards for participating schools and take escalating action against schools that repeatedly fall short.

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In plain language

Georgia's Promise Scholarship program lets eligible students use state education savings accounts to pay for private school. Currently the law focuses on account administration and fraud prevention but does not set academic standards for participating private schools. This bill amends Georgia's promise scholarship law (O.C.G.A. § 20-2B-26) to require the education savings authority, working with the Office of Student Achievement, to create by December 31, 2026 an academic performance standard requiring at least half of a school's participating students to be at or above grade level or showing growth. The authority must review each participating school's performance every year starting December 31, 2026. Schools that fail the standard face escalating consequences: an improvement plan after the first failure, a remedial plan with reporting and probation after the second, a cap on new enrollment after the third, and a three-year ban on enrolling new participating students after a fourth failure. The authority must also conduct annual eligibility reviews of all participating schools.

What the bill does

Requires the education savings authority to establish an academic performance standard for private schools in the Promise Scholarship program by December 31, 2026.
Sets the standard so at least half of a school's participating students must be at or above grade level or show academic growth, using specific test data and enrollment length.
Requires annual reviews, starting December 31, 2026, to check whether each participating school meets the performance standard and remains eligible overall.
Creates a four-step escalating response for schools that repeatedly fail the standard, ending in a three-year ban on enrolling new participating students.
Removes language limiting the authority's audit power to discretionary use and instead requires annual audits of participating student accounts.

Who it affects

Private schools that accept Promise Scholarship students, families and students using promise scholarship accounts, the education savings authority that runs the program, and the Office of Student Achievement, which helps set the new performance standard.

Why it matters

Families choosing a private school through the voucher program would get more information on whether that school is meeting academic benchmarks, and schools that repeatedly underperform could lose the ability to enroll new voucher students, changing which schools remain available in the program over time.

Key provisions

Section 1 names the bill the 'Promise Scholarship Student Success and Transparency Act.'
Section 2 revises O.C.G.A. § 20-2B-26(c) to require annual audits of participating student accounts rather than leaving audits discretionary.
New paragraph (c)(4)(A) requires the education savings authority, with the Office of Student Achievement, to set an academic performance standard by December 31, 2026 based on test scores and enrollment length.
New paragraph (c)(4)(B) requires annual reviews starting December 31, 2026 and lays out four escalating consequences for schools that repeatedly fail the standard, from an improvement plan to a three-year enrollment ban.
New paragraph (c)(5) requires separate annual reviews to confirm each participating school remains eligible to enroll students at all.
Section 3 repeals conflicting laws.

From the bill

“establish an academic performance standard for participating schools to ensure that not less than half of the participating students enrolled in a participating school are performing at or above grade level or are demonstrating growth in student achievement”
This sets the core academic bar participating private schools must meet under the new law.

“prohibit the participating school from enrolling new participating students for a period of three years, after which the participating school may reapply to participate in the program”
This is the toughest penalty for a school that fails the performance standard four times.

Status timeline

2026-02-11Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2026-02-10Senate Hopper (Senate)

Topics

school vouchers
Promise Scholarship program
private school accountability
education savings accounts

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