(The Center Square) – A debate between the candidates for Georgia state school superintendent raised decades-old questions about the state’s school funding formula.
The Georgia General Assembly allocated $14.9 billion to fund the Quality Basic Education funding formula in the fiscal year 2027 budget. The formula, passed by the General Assembly in 1985 and signed by former Gov. Joe Frank Harris, is outdated, according to Lydia Powell, a veteran educator and Democrat challenging incumbent Republican Superintendent Richard Woods.
“Over 70% of our children in Georgia are economically disadvantaged,” Powell said Oct. 13 during a debate sponsored by the Atlanta Press Club. “We need a poverty weight added to the current QBE formula so that we are able to give those schools the things they need, especially our schools in rural Georgia.”
Woods, superintendent since 2015, also called for an update to the Quality Basic Education school funding formula to support transportation, support staff and students in poverty as part of his legislative agenda. School funding is a legislative decision, he said.
“It’s an ongoing battle,” Woods said.
State lawmakers proposed changes to local property taxes during the 2026 session that could affect school funding. Local school systems are required to levy property taxes to fund education.
Woods said he was sympathetic, as he is a homeowner, but said balance was needed when considering a major overhaul.
“At the end of the day, as we do make changes, we have to make sure that we’re fully funding public education,” Woods said. “It is our constitutional right, it is our duty as a state to do so.”
Powell questioned Woods on the state’s school choice program, which received $100 million.
“When I see $70 million is going to our literacy coaches and ensuring that our literacy coaches are trained but over $100 million is going to private school vouchers, for me, that just does not seem like our focus is in the right place, especially when we have a literacy issue,” Powell said.
The General Assembly added $70 million to the fiscal year 2027 budget for literacy coaches in every elementary school. Only 38% of Georgia’s third graders are proficient readers, according to data from the Georgia Council on Literacy.
Woods said improvements are needed in education, but schools are moving in the right direction, pointing to the state’s graduation rates. When Woods took office in 2015, the graduation rate was 79%, according to the department. The rate was 88.5% in 2026.
The term is four years. Early voting is underway in Georgia and ends on Oct. 30. Polls are open on Nov. 3 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.