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

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.

• 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.

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.

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.

• 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.

1. 2026-02-11Senate Read and Referred (Senado)
2. 2026-02-10Senate Hopper (Senado)

• RaShaun Kemp (D, SD-038)Patrocinador principal
• Harold Jones (D, SD-022)
• Elena Parent (D, SD-044)
• Freddie Sims (D, SD-012)
• Jaha Howard (D, SD-035)
• Derek Mallow (D, SD-002)
• Nikki Merritt (D, SD-009)
• Nabilah Islam Parkes (D, SD-007)
• Gail Davenport (D, SD-017)
• Ed Harbison (D, SD-015)
• Randal Mangham (D, SD-055)
• Tonya Anderson (D, SD-043)
• Sally Harrell (D, SD-040)
• Kenya Wicks (D, SD-034)

• school vouchers
• Promise Scholarship program
• private school accountability
• education savings accounts