Georgia’s Constitution and Charter School

   

    The Georgia Constitution enacted a provision that says, “that the General Assembly is authorized to create special schools in such areas as may require them, alone or with local boards of education” (Savannah Morning News, 2012).  There is no language that defines what “special schools” are.  Last year the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that the Georgia Charter Schools Commission was unconstitutional because it violated the “special schools” rule. This year on November 6^th, if approved the Georgia Constitution will be amended and the General Assembly will be allowed to create charter schools that will function under the regulations of charter between the State Board of Education and the charter petitioner (Savannah Morning News, 2012).

    

    Those that are opposed in our state are under the idea that local control will be taken away and funds will be loss. The Charter applications must go through the local school board for approval. This gives parents more choice in a state that is surrounded by low-grading or failing schools.  The per capita that is spent on that student follows them to the school of their choice. Yes, there will be schools that would lose their funding, but only for the children they are not teaching inside of the institution. The idea of making public non-chartered schools rise to the occasion of an alarming rate of schools not passing the AYP, 48% at this point, can’t be a bad element to prescribe. There are many arguments as to why Charter schools won’t work, but most seemed aimed at Local Educational Agencies and the loss of control or the loss of jobs, when in fact if we were all performing proficiently this wouldn’t be an issue. It’s time for change in a system that continues to fail the majority of our students.

http://savannahnow.com/column/2012-09-18/carter-charter-school-amendment-about-