Parents without high school diplomas 'not qualified' to make school choices for children, Ga. lawmaker says

ATLANTA (TND) — A Georgia lawmaker is getting hammered by critics for arguing that parents are "not qualified" to direct their children's education if they didn't finish high school themselves.

The remarks came Monday from Georgia Democratic Rep. Lydia Glaize while she was questioning Senator Greg Dolezal over the Georgia Promise Scholarship Act.

The school choice bill introduced by Dolezal would provide parents whose children go to the state's worst-performing schools with $6,000 per year to help them send their kids elsewhere, or to help them obtain additional resources that make up for the poor learning standards at their current public school.

But according to Glaize, since most of the qualifying families will likely be low-income, she questioned whether they were adept enough to make decisions regarding their child's education, particularly since they probably didn't finish high school.

I do know that in private schools there is a requirement of who can get into the school. So, I see access as a problem. I see parents being able to direct their child's education and they already in the lower 25-percentile, meaning a lot of those parents did not finish high school -- could not finish their own education," Glaize said during the hearing. "I am extremely concerned that we would put money in their hands and that entire piece of life in the hands of parents who are not qualified to make those decisions."

And, they don't have the money to put in the difference that their child would need to attend a private school -- if there were one in their region," Glaize added. "So, I'm really concerned about this."

Glaize added that she supports private schools, and that her kids even went to one, but she also insisted she does not support using "public school dollars" for private schools.

I am for private schools -- all of my children graduated from private schools," Glaize added during the Monday hearing. "But I am not for them if we take public school dollars and use them for private schools. We paid for it and we were able to."

The Georgia Promise Scholarship Act already passed the Georgia Senate and is making its way toward a full House vote in order for the bill to make it to the governor's desk.

Renewed efforts to pass school choice bills come after COVID-19 lockdown measures and school closures spurred many parents to become more engaged in their children's education.

The National Desk (TND) reached out to Glaize's office for comment, but did not immediately hear back. If a response is received, this story will be updated.