ATLANTA – State Representative Jimmy Pruett (R-Eastman) today announced that the fiscal year 2016 state budget includes Sparsity Grants for Telfair and Wheeler counties. Designed to supplement funds for educational programs and services, Telfair County will receive $42,500, and Wheeler County will receive $95,054 in Sparsity Grant funding.
“As a member of the Appropriations Committee, and having worked with my colleagues on this year’s state budget, I am pleased that we were able to fund an appropriate amount in Sparsity Grants for Telfair and Wheeler counties,” said Rep. Pruett. “As your representative, I fight tirelessly to make sure that our local school boards have the tools they need in order to be successful, and I will continue to work on your behalf, ensuring that District 149 continues to receive needed support from our state government.”
Sparsity Grants are additional funds for school systems that, due to their sparse population, do not earn enough funds through the Quality Basic Education (QBE) formula to provide standard required educational programs and services.
The Quality Basic Education funding formula accounts for the majority of education funding in Georgia. The formula considers population as one factor in its determination of how much money each county should receive for education. This created a large funding disparity between heavily populated counties and smaller counties, like Telfair and Wheeler.
For more information on the Sparsity Grants or any other information on the FY 2016 Budget, click here.
Representative Jimmy Pruett represents the citizens of District 149, which includes all of Dodge, Telfair, and Wheeler counties, and portions of Laurens, and Jeff Davis counties. He was elected into the House of Representatives in 2006, and currently serves as the Chairman on the State Planning & Community Affairs Committee, and the Secretary on the Game, Fish, & Parks committees. He also serves on the Appropriations, Economic Development & Tourism, Health & Human Services, Industry and Labor, and MARTOC committees.
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