Comments on: Georgia Charter School Amendment Dies in House

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:34:12 +0000

Jay Bookman’s take: http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2012/02/10/charter-school-amendment-a-dangerous-power-grab/

By: Decatur Mama

Decatur Mama — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:35:27 +0000

Ditto that At Home.

By: At Home in Decatur

At Home in Decatur — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:08:34 +0000

I am not in favor of having the State be able to compel a local school district to fund a charter school, mostly because I think the hidden agenda is to undermine public education. Imperfect as it is, public education has made this nation great and distinguished it from other parts of the world that have had more class-based systems, IMHO. I’m not as into the autonomy issue because I think that’s more about turf and control. Sometimes school systems use their autonomy to the students’ benefit, sometimes not so much. But I trust the State even less to prioritize students over political and social agendas.

Charter schools per se do not bother me. The potential for charter applications exerts a pressure on school systems to deliver high quality instruction and good customer service. Otherwise, their families may be attracted to charters. It does bother me that a lot of charter schools seem to promise more than they can deliver. On the other hand, some charter schools, like the International and Museum schools,seem like enlightened private schools minus the exclusivity.

By: Decatur Mama

Decatur Mama — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:17:17 +0000

Steve’s right, the state can currently approve charter schools that fail to gain approval from local boards of education, so this fight is really about how special state charter schools are funded. We did dodge a bullet, and I appreciate CSD’s stance on this issue.

However, the House voted to reconsider HR 1162 today, so the resolution is likely to be back on the House floor next week. Rep. Rahn Mayo, who, I understand, may after redistricting represent some parts of City of Decatur, supports HR 1162 and spoke in favor of it on the House floor. Now is a good time for Decatur-area folks who oppose HR 1162 to let him know that CSD can’t afford to lost a dime to this scheme.

The Other 5ide’s hyperbolic allegation that “supporters of the Big State Education system…didn’t want this to pass. Georgia’s school system is failing on a massive level,” probably refers to the fact that the teacher organizations, school superintendents, school boards, and the GA PTA oppose the legislation. If every major education organization in the state and CSD oppose HR 1162, maybe they’re on to something….

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:29:52 +0000

Yes the state does fund charter schools (local or state) just like they fund public schools. As to the criteria, you’d have to ask the Ga Dept of Education. Likewise the numbers.

By: Decatur Metro

Decatur Metro — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:23:10 +0000

This is true in theory, and that argument has been made here before. The read I get from CSD is that they’re SO financially strapped that this point that even the threat of an ad-hoc charter school scares them. (They weren’t allowed to participate in the original lawsuit against the state charter school commission because they couldn’t prove “harm”) Whether it is warranted or not is up for debate, but since they’re the ones living with the reality of tightened purse strings, it’s hard for me and my arm-chair to judge.

By: At Home in Decatur

At Home in Decatur — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:19:34 +0000

Interesting as this becomes clearer to me. Does the state fund state charter schools at all? What are the criteria for approving a state charter school? How many state charter schools are there and what is their reputation/track record?

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:15:02 +0000

Actually, schools that don’t have local approval can still become charter schools now by going straight to the state and become a “state charter school”. If the state approves, they can operate but they will not get local funding. The amendment would have forced the local board to provide funding whether they wanted to or not.