Arete Scholars Fund Chairman Greg Beadles and Step Up for Students President Doug Tuthill answer a recent AJC report that questions the accountability of Georgia student scholarship organizations. The letter explains how Arete has adopted the same rigorous transparency and accountability standards of Step Up for Students, an organization that currently serves 34,500 low-income students in Florida.

To the editor:

We agree with reporters James Salzer and Nancy Badertscher about the importance of transparency in Georgia’s Tuition Tax Credit Scholarship law and we likewise agree that Florida’s tax credit program is to be admired, which is why we are so proud of the partnership between our two organizations.

Arete Scholars Fund is a Georgia Student Scholarship Organization that has adopted the Florida program’s strongest features. Because Arete’s approach so closely parallels Florida’s, Arete has a formal partnership with Step Up For Students (SUFS), which is Florida’s largest tax credit scholarship organization, serving 34,500 low-income students this year.

Since Arete has adopted Florida’s rigorous accountability and transparency standards, all of the Arete and SUFS scholarship applications are subjected to the same detailed evaluation process and both organizations only grant full scholarships to students who qualify for free or reduced price lunch. Both organizations award scholarships to parents not schools, which enables parents to change schools when they are not satisfied. This parental empowerment is an essential part of our accountability system. Arete’s maximum scholarship amount is $5,800, which is low enough to insure Georgia taxpayers save money on each scholarship awarded.

Thirty percent of our families are living below the federal poverty level. The average yearly income for an Arete family of five is $30,000. Seventy percent of our students are minorities and 66% are being raised by a single guardian. These are precisely the kinds of students who face the greatest odds and who are owed our best efforts. Our mission is to help publicly-funded education fulfill the promise of equal opportunity. We’re not there yet, but our families tell us we’re on the right path.

Greg Beadles, Chairman, Arete Scholars Fund
Atlanta, Georgia

Doug Tuthill, President, Step Up For Students
Tampa, Florida