Voters will head to the polls on Nov. 6 to cast their votes for presidential and congressional candidates. They will also be faced with a ballot amendment referendum on charter schools, which will affect future funding for public schools in Georgia.
The referendum reads, “Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended to allow state or local approval of public charter schools upon the request of local communities?”
The state legislature approved this amendment to be placed on the ballot in the spring of 2012.
The constitutional amendment, if passed, will give the state the power to establish a new system of charter schools across the state and fund them from the same education budget that currently funds public schools in Georgia. The state system of charter schools would be approved by an appointed state commission in Atlanta, rather than the locally elected school boards.
Gov. Nathan Deal said in May that “Georgians all across this state embrace the idea that parents should have more options and that parents should be more involved in the process of the education of their children.”
State school superintendent John Barge, however, said the language of the question is misleading to voters.
“The amendment doesn’t tell voters that if the measure passes, a new state agency with its own million-dollar budget will be created to do what two existing government bodies can already do under current Georgia law,” Barge said.
Barge is also concerned the amendment will create more bureaucracy and strip local districts of control of community schools.
“It creates another layer of bureaucracy to do what local boards and the state board of education can already do,” Barge said.
Georgia law currently states local school boards and communities have the right to choose whether they want charter schools in their community.
“Although the constitutional amendment mentions ‘local approval’ and ‘the request of local communities,’ in practice it actually takes away local community control,” Barge said.
James Campbell, AP Government teacher, said the main reason he opposes the amendment is because it will reduce local taxpayers’ influence over local schools.
“School boards are comprised of the democratically elected representatives of voters living in the territory that their school district serves,” Campbell said. “As such, school boards should have the ultimate authority on how to use funds collected for the purpose of education from within that territory.”
According to the Department of Education, over the past four years, Georgia has cut state funding to public schools by more than $4.4 billion, resulting in fewer teachers, bigger classes, shorter school years and fewer resources such as textbooks.
“State funding is very limited right now, so any money should go to public school districts that desperately need it, not to create new bureaucracy,” Barge said. “If the amendment passes, it could cost the state $430 million over the next five years to open seven new commission charter schools annually.”
APS director of media relations Keith Bromery said there is already an effective system in place for approving charter schools, and a new one needn’t be created. Despite this system, charter school supporters are concerned for their well-being. Supporters of the amendment include charter school parents in the APS school district who believe the amendment is needed to ensure the survival of charter schools.
“It is an important act to pass to ensure that charter schools continue to survive and flourish, and that school reform options in general continue to be supported and explored within Georgia,” said Lisa Roberson, personnel chair on the board of directors for the Atlanta Neighborhood Charter School.
The APS school board passed a resolution opposing the constitutional amendment in September and directed Davis to send it to the governor, state legislators, the state board of education and the Georgia Department of Education. APS District 3 board member Cecily Harsch-Kinnane said she opposes the amendment because she believes it is best for the students and communities involved if charter schools go through the approval process at the local level.
“The amendment would direct money away from local districts that are already very cash-strapped,” Harsch-Kinnane said. “I believe that taxpayer money available and intended for traditional public schools will be significantly lessened and the impact will be felt most acutely in the poorer districts in the state.”
Pat Gardner, state representative from District 57, which encompasses Candler Park, Inman Park, Morningside and parts of Midtown, agreed.
“I voted against the constitutional amendment because I believe the local elected school board members should decide how local dollars are spent,” Gardner said.
State representative Margaret Kaiser, who also serves on the Georgia House of Representatives Education Committee, was the only legislator representing the Grady cluster who voted yes on the amendment when it was presented in front of the state legislature. She declined to comment on the issue.
