Hundreds of Clayton County high school students protested outside Delta Headquarters Tuesday morning against a state bill school officials say threatens an estimated $18 million of their school funding over the next two years.
House bill 821 would repeal the state tax on jet fuel. It would cut costs for airlines like Delta and has the full support of Gov. Nathan Deal. The bill would also bring Georgia in line with a Federal Aviation Administration ruling from three years ago, which prohibits jet fuel tax revenue being used for anything unrelated to aviation. That means means no funds should go to local governments, or school systems.
“The removal of those funds would give us a hole in our capital improvement program of roughly $10 million a year,” Clayton County Public Schools Superintendent Morcease Beasley said. It’s his first year in the role.
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