Georgia's first universal school choice program was signed into law last week, which is seen by some as a tremendous relief for parents and a further degradation of public education by others.

Under House Bill 1133, public school parents will be eligible for $50 million in scholarships to send their children to private schools.

"We have to realize the public education system in Georgia is failing our children," said state Rep. David Casas, the bill's sponsor and a Cobb County public school teacher. "I truly believe the way to fix ailing public education is school choice."

The tuition tax credit program allows people and businesses to donate portions of their state taxes to nonprofit organizations offering K-12 scholarships. Individuals can donate as much as $1,000 and couples can donate as much as $2,500. Businesses will be able to contribute 75 percent of their state taxes.

Supporters argue that private schools educate children more efficiently and more effectively.

"What we're doing as a state is just investing in education in a different way," Mr. Casas said.

The state spends more per pupil for education than a private school does, so although the program pulls money out of education, it will actually save money, he said.

"The money we pump into education is exponentially more," Mr. Casas said.

But Richmond County Superintendent Dana Bedden, who opposes school choice, worries the diverted money will harm already financially strapped public schools.

What often happens with school choice programs is the number of students who leave a school system isn't large enough to reduce the size of the teaching staff and other resources, Dr. Bedden said. The school system then must perform the same functions with less money.

Teachers' organizations, such as the Professional Association of Georgia Educators, also oppose the program.

"It would be of great benefit for our state -- now and for its future -- if our lawmakers spent as much time and employed as much creativity adequately funding our K-12 public schools attended daily by 1.6 million students as they do trying their best to create an alternative system of publicly financed private school education for a few thousand students across the state," PAGE spokesman Tim Callahan wrote in an e-mail. "Yes, we find it ironic in the extreme that (Mr. Casas) makes his livelihood from an institution he apparently has little faith in and works hard to erode."

Mr. Casas dismissed the opposition of teachers's groups, saying they have their agendas.

"A teacher is only interested in one thing and that is making sure a child is learning," he said. "If you are a true teacher, who can be against this?"

There are a growing number of tax credit scholarship programs nationally, said Andrew Coulson, the director of the Center for Educational Freedom at the Cato Institute. It's too soon to determine the programs' effect academically, but research into such programs in other countries supports the idea that private schools outperform their public counterparts in an open market.

"Private schools are nine times more likely to outperform their public counterparts than vice versa, and private schools operating in genuinely free education markets enjoy an even greater margin of superiority over government-run schools," Mr. Coulson said.

Gerard Robinson, the president of the national nonprofit Black Alliance for Educational Options, spoke to the General Assembly before the legislation passed and said he supports high-quality school choice programs.

"It's not that a tax credit is anti-public school, rather it's a pro-parent program," Mr. Robinson said.

Some parents believe private schools provide better opportunities, and parents should have the option to enroll their children at these schools, whether it be because of academics, class size or religion, he said.

Georgia looked to Florida and other states for guidance in drafting its legislation, and the state made tremendous improvements over those programs, said Patrick Heffernan, the head of Floridians for School Choice.

"I think Georgia may have set a new gold standard," he said. "This is Georgia's new HOPE program for K-12."

Florida's program is limited to low-income students and caps the size of scholarships, but the Georgia program is universal, open to any student and allows nonprofit organizations to determine the size of the scholarships.

Though it's meant to be a universal program, business owner Lee Muns, a former Columbia County school board member, has concerns over who might benefit.

"I guess you have to ultimately ask the question 'Is the legislation really going to answer the problem?' " he said. "My answer is no."

Mr. Muns, who said he supports school choice, said the legislation will create bureaucracy because it allows up to 10 percent of the tax credits to be spent on administrative costs.

He is also concerned that low-income families, the ones most in need of school choice, might not hear about the program.

Dr. Heffernan said everything else in government uses a similar voucher system, citing government funding for private health care, food and housing.

"The dollars are meant to benefit individuals, not institutions," he said.

In 2002, the first year of Florida's program, 15,585 students received scholarships, and this year that number grew to 19,416, yet it only accounts for less than 2 percent of the state's low-income students.

Like Georgia, it started with a $50 million cap. In the first year, that cap was reached and was later expanded to $88 million. Earlier this month, the cap was raised to $118 million.

Reach Greg Gelpi at (706) 828-3851 or greg.gelpi@augustachronicle.com.