Georgia Charter School Decision: Educators Protest, Assess Court's Ruling

Hundreds of Georgia's parents and educators gathered across the state Tuesday to protest a court decision that leaves the fate of state-approved charter schools in question.

The decision gutted a state-level commission established to give redress to charter schools denied by local school boards. Two days later, stakeholders still scramble to figure out what it all means -- and lawmakers are prepared to retaliate.

"The fight has only just begun," Rep. Jan Jones (R), speaker pro tem of the Georgia House of Representatives, said at a rally. "One size doesn't fit everyone," she added, arguing that charter schools provide more choices.

On Monday, Georgia's Supreme Court struck down a 2008 law that established a state-level charter school authorizer as an alternate route for building charter schools, which are publicly funded but can be privately run. The law had created the Georgia Charter School Commission, a group that had the power to green-light and then fund charter schools with money that would have otherwise paid for public schools in local districts.

Monday's decision deemed the 2008 law unconstitutional, hinging on the interpretation of a statute in the Georgia constitution that restricts the term "special" schools to education specifically for the disabled.

Yesterday, stakeholders descended upon the state's capitol building in Atlanta, protesting a decision that has the potential to shake up the education of thousands of students. More than 400 of them traveled to Atlanta, joining state lawmakers to voice their concerns.

The ruling's reach could extend beyond Georgia, as other states seek to augment similar charter-school authorizers.

The decision touches upon a national debate about the viability of charter schools and the role they play in public education. Advocates say charter schools provide more choices to families with special educational needs or students who feel underserved by local schools. Critics assert that charter schools sap local districts' resources, outsource education into the hands of external organizations and represent part of a broader turn to privatize public education.

Georgia's decision doesn't affect the 65,000 students enrolled in charter schools approved by local school boards. But the status of the 16 schools whose applications were denied by school boards and allowed by the state commission is now questionable, as they, too, have been deemed unconstitutional. The fates of the thousands of students enrolled in such state-approved charter schools also remain uncertain.

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, up to half of these schools' budgets could be cut, forcing a spate of teacher layoffs and other losses.

The pain and confusion feels particularly sharp in Cherokee County, a district that had its first charter school, Charter Cherokee Academy, approved by the state commission in order to open on time for the new school year.

On Saturday, 995 students out of about 2,500 lottery entrants won spots to attend the school, according to Canton-Sixes Patch.

"Whether our kids got in or not, we are here to support," parent Kelly Marlow, who attended the protest, told Patch.

In Avondale Estates, a new charter school, the Museum School of Avondale Estates, also falls within the purview of the decision.

"Our number one priority today is to let our voices be heard," Katherine Kelbaugh, principal of The Museum School, told Decatur-Avondale Estates Patch. "Our students, staff, teachers and current and future parents and our community are here supporting us."

Georgia's schools superintendent, John Barge, has said he would do what he could to support the schools affected by the ruling.

The quickest immediate solution appears to be scrambling for authorization by local school boards.

The state's legislature will convene in a special session this summer, and might weigh the potential fix of amending the language of the state constitution to satisfy the court. But that solution is long term, as it would require a referendum on the ballot of Georgia's next statewide elections, in November 2012.

Seth Coleman, a spokesman for the Georgia Charter Schools Association, which helped organize the Tuesday protests, said state legislators, Georgia's attorney general, and the state Department of Education are examining the ruling.

"Just like everyone else, we're waiting to see how it will impact the future," he said. "We still don't know."

Comments

[blue moon]

12:51 AM on 05/20/2011

Charter schools also do not adhere to the same high quality teaching standards that public schools adhere to. They hire people with criminal backgrounds and hire teachers who are not certified. I know of one charter school where 'on the books' a certified is listed as teaching the course when in fact, someone with only a high school diploma teaches that course every single day. If this school is ever audited, the state will see that it is impossible for the teacher 'on the books' to be teaching this course and the courses this teacher actually teaches. Also, at this same school, funds are often misused--especially funds generated through grants.

[Consequence]

01:11 PM on 05/23/2011

"Charter schools also do not adhere to the same high quality teaching standards that public schools adhere to."

-- With the level of failure among public schools, let's hope not!

[grammasher]

08:06 PM on 05/19/2011

". . . up to half of these schools’ budgets could be cut, forcing a spate of teacher layoffs and other losses."

Join the crowd, charter schools. You should be able to educate your students despite these cuts. That's what public schools are expected to do.

[brw1970]

08:16 AM on 05/19/2011

Has anyone looked at why parents/students are leaving public schools for other choices (charter, private and home schooling) and address these reasons in public education?

[spriddler]

04:40 PM on 05/19/2011

They have suppossedly been trying and failing for decades.

[blue moon]

07:14 AM on 05/19/2011

I recently met someone in Atlanta who was slated to open a new charter middle school in a high poverty community this fall. This person had been a denied a request to open this school by a local school board because the Board felt this school would be detrimental to the two middle schools already in that community. She then went to the Georgia Legislature which then approved the creation of this charter school.

The authorizer of this charter school told me that she planned to recruit the absolute best and brightest minds in that community by holding interest meetings in area churches and community centers.

Parents would have to bring in their child's CRCT (Criterion Referenced Competency Tests) scores and a recent report card. Upon examination of these documents, a follow-up interview would be scheduled and an application for enrollment would be submitted. This charter school would have no special education teachers so they would not have to accept special education students. (By law charter schools have to accept anyone who applies---but charter schools have many ways - as one can see- to keep certain students from applying)

Wouldn't it be wonderful if public schools could do the same? Anyone can teach the top tier students because they need the least amount of ‘teaching’. Where charter schools could provide the greatest positive impact is with the student populations they are least likely to enroll.

[Hlynn]

08:19 AM on 05/19/2011

No, it would be terrible if public schools could do the same.

Where would the students with special needs go? This is like Brown v. Board of Ed in reverse. Charter schools are deliberately making students with special needs unwelcome and creating separate and unequal education opportunities.

Charter schools don't have to accept anyone who applies; they have lotteries. It's like gambling, except the deck is already unfairly stacked against students with disabilities.

I don't care if there are charter schools. I think there should be choice in education. However, if schools take public money, they should have to follow public laws. Charter schools that are give more autonomy to circumvent laws should not be unfairly compared to traditional public schools with more legal restrictions.

I don't think creating a school system rife with discrimination is beneficial for students or for our country. Also, IDEA has never been funded at the promised 40%. Congress breaks that promise every time it reauthorizes IDEA. Now it wants to allow other schools to take the money that is rightfully that of those with disabilities while denying them entrance to those schools. Shameful. Reprehensible. Unethical. Immoral.

[eceresa]

06:25 PM on 05/18/2011

I'll say the same thing I said when this was first reported: if education budgets were flush, it might make sense to experiment with charter schools. Since education budgets are being slashed and schools are strapped for cash, it makes most sense to limit funding to the most effective model. That's definitely the public school model.

[Justin Brown]

05:16 PM on 05/18/2011

This was the correct ruling from Georgia Supreme Court. Some of the legal experts in Georgia testified this particular law to set up this commission would likely be struck down in court.

[Gem Mayers]

02:51 PM on 05/18/2011

I don't get the hatred towards charter schools. Okay so some studies show they do no better than traditional schools but if even just one student succeeds there, who would not have elsewhere, or feels safer or what have you, isn't it worth it? And in my state yes...they don't do much better if at all but they're bound to the same standards and testing and all that as traditional schools so no wonder. I've heard it's because they're corporate owned because they're 501c3. My charter is a 501c3 so yes... but no. I only wish the Koch's or Bush's or whatever owned us. Heck then I'd still have a job, being that I just found out due to budget cuts that I'm unemployed starting tomorrow. If charters could borrow money perhaps I'd be employed but they can't, whereas traditional schools can. So I only dream that my "evil charter" was corporate owned as we'd be rolling in dough and I'd have a job.
And if you don't like charters and feel they're evil, don't send your children there. If enough people feel that way, then supply vs demand of our free market education will set in and charters will disappear. http://3rseduc.blogspot.com

[SummerSunshine21]

04:04 PM on 05/18/2011

I don't have a problem with charters AS LONG AS they are privately funded. The public should not be paying for charters because they don't have to take in every kid like a public school. If some millionaire wants to start up a charter school with his millions, fine, go for it. Just don't use taxpayer money.

[janie@atthelake]

04:46 PM on 05/18/2011

Happy to be your 1st fan summer.......all morning long--I've watched the Texas House try to slap texas teachers & public education down. I agree with you.

[Endersdragon]

05:38 PM on 05/18/2011

Many charter schools are set up to take ONLY students with special needs (Spectrum Academy in Utah and Summit Academies in Ohio are some of the most predominant here). Many schools have an extremely large preportion of special needs kids compared to regular schools, many of the virtual charters fall into this catergory. Lastly, most charter choose students through a lottery process, and therefore get about the same preportion of students that any school gets.

[tultican]

06:04 PM on 05/18/2011

The number one problem with charters is that their budgets compete with public schools for funding. The public schools following all of the state imposed rules cannot refuse students. All charters, to some degree, cream their students leaving a higher percentage of difficult students in the local public school. Thus the public schools are degraded. On the other hand, great charter schools like the Pruess school here in San Diego are true teaching laboratories whose benefit to public education far outweigh the negative impact charters have on the public school system. So, there is a place for charters. Even better, private schools like the Montessori schools are great teaching laboratories that do not drain public funds. For me, the public education system is precious institution of American Democracy that must be protected. I fear that most charter schools are really stocking horses for private entities like corporations and churches to get taxpayer funding. Since the charter school experiment started, charter schools have not outperformed public schools; therefore, I believe it is time for public dollars to be redirected back to public schools unless the charter school can show clearly how its existence will help improve public education.

[spriddler]

05:11 PM on 05/19/2011

"The number one problem with charters is that their budgets compete with public schools for funding."

I think that is one of the best things about charters. We have seen the same fron page headlines for three decades and failing schools just keep on failing. Yes schools in impoverished coomunities have tremendous problems to deal with: parents that don't care, parents that couldn't help with homeowrk if they wanted to, cultures among the students that denigrate academic achievement, severely increased incidence of dperession, severely increased incidence of behavioral problems, and on and on. But poverty and its attendent problems cannot be an excuse. The legacy schools in these disadvantaged communities have failed thoroughly for decades despite funding that is continually increased beyond inflation. All we have seen is more bloat and no results. If it takes competition for dollars to make the entrenched interests pay more than lip service to innovation and reform then so be it. We have to find something to break the cycle of poverty, and I cannot begrudge parents for running out of patience with the legacy system.