This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

HR 1162 Opens the Door for More School Choice

The idea that flexible curriculums and more parental involvement are among the crux of the charter school difference. HR1162 passed the senate.

Charter Schools In Georgia Have New Life!

The life of policy made almost a full circle Monday and schools in Georgia may be forever changed. The Georgia Senate passed House Resolution 1162 late in the day providing Georgians an upcoming opportunity to vote on a Constitutional Amendment to Establish an Alternative Authorizer for State Charter Schools. 

The house passed the Constitutional Amendment on February 22nd of this year, sending it to the senate. One of the initial supporters of the amendment was South Cobb’s State Representative Alisha Morgan (D-39) who partnered with republicans in presenting the legislation. After much tabling, debating, and caucusing for a democratic position against, the resolution passed 40 in favor and 16 against. This vote gave the two-thirds supermajority needed to create a constitutional amendment.

Find out what's happening in Mariettawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In 2009 President Obama backed funding to states to encourage educational reform by introducing The Race to the Top Initiative. With 4 billion dollars in federal funds to improve schools available, the Georgia Charter Schools Commission was formed. 

The commission was then ruled “unconstitutional” by the Georgia Supreme Court in May of 2011. Governor Nathan Deal had to establish a short term emergency fund to keep the public charter schools running. Almost a year later, and with many currently operating public charter schools on the chopping block, more permanent relief may be on the way. The voters will get a day in November to voice their demands for transformational change in the way school systems provide options for education. 

Find out what's happening in Mariettawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Some legislators felt that the Georgia Charter Schools Commission was unconstitutional because it approved and granted tax dollars to charter schools over the objection of local school boards. Yet others held the position that local school boards were making blanket rejections of public charter schools based on status quo ideology and political pacts. (See Marietta Daily Journal March 9th Article)

In the end, the stark facts related to school board mishaps such as Atlanta Public School’s cheating scandal, Clayton County’s loss of accreditation, and Cobb County School Board ‘e-mail gate,’ and achievement gap issues, led legislators to the final resolution. Schools are the largest expense in the state budget, and yet there are school districts in Georgia, like South Georgia’s Sumter County that have only one school making Annual Yearly Progress. 

The resolution suggests a belief that K-12 public education is a shared responsibility between the state and local boards of education. Fears that funds would be taken away from already struggling traditional public schools was the most often stated objection.

In a compromise, Representative Jan Jones (R-46) worked with some House Democrats to create bill that addresses charter school funding and clarifies the state's role in authorizing charter schools. HB797, would require the Charter School Commission to work "in collaboration with the Department of Education under the supervision of the State Board of Education" according to the language in the current draft. Petitions to the  Charter Commission would be limited to those with either a state-wide attendance zone or a defined attendance zone.

State funding for the public charter schools would be based on performance measures plus the average amount of local revenue raised per FTE in the bottom 3% of the traditional public systems. The added amount contributed by the state would be based on the poorest districts in the state. As currently written, there is no mention of taking money away from the local property tax allotments to school districts.  Even so, some feel that it is entirely appropriate for local tax dollars paid by a household for education be applied to the public school their child attends.

Senator Steve Thompson (D-33) of Marietta closed the debate in a fearless support of the resolution as much needed room for innovative solutions to the education crisis.  “These are public schools, and they are still public schools,” said Thompson.  He continued saying “this may be a new experiment, but it is better than doing nothing.”

Smyrna resident , a Patch blogger and board member of the Smyrna Education Foundation, was at the capitol for the vote.  “Today’s vote was a cry for systems that will allow teachers the room do what they do best, and parents more freedom to choose what they think is best for their children.  We need to figure out ways to regain the confidence citizens once had in American education.”

###

An Education Roundtable will be held at REV Coffee House, Sunday at 2:00 p.m. For more information contact: Roundtables@smyrnaward1.org.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?