Teachers to Begin Receiving Classroom Gift Cards

Teachers to Begin Receiving Classroom Gift Cards

ATLANTA – Georgia teachers will begin receiving $100 classroom gift cards this week, Governor Sonny Perdue announced today. The Georgia Department of Administrative Services (DOAS) mailed the first shipment of cards today to approximately 50 school districts and expects to ship cards to the remaining districts by July 18.

“As the son of a schoolteacher, I know of the extra hours, extra effort and personal resources that our teachers put forth to help students succeed in the classroom,” said Governor Sonny Perdue. “I hope that this gift card helps offset the out-of-pocket expenses of our teachers as they give 110 percent to educate Georgia’s children.”

Teachers will be able to use the $100 gift cards during the state’s tax free holiday. The 2006 tax-free holiday begins at 12:01 a.m., Thursday, August 3 and continues until midnight, Sunday, August 6. It combines last year’s two tax-free shopping periods into one four-day period.

Many Georgia retailers are partnering with the state to offer special discounts and promotions for teachers during the tax-free holiday. A list of these special promotions can be found at www.doas.georgia.gov.

The approximately 108,000 gift cards will be distributed to school districts by Tuesday, July 18. Each district is responsible for distributing the cards to individual teachers.

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