Gov. Nathan Deal will be in Cherokee on Thursday morning to sign House Bill 797, which will restore the state charter schools commission if voters approve a corresponding constitutional amendment in November.
Deal's office announced this afternoon that the signing would take place at 10 a.m. at , which has been ground zero in the county's school choice debate.
In a 4-3 decision last May, the , which nullified its authority to grant charters to schools rejected by local school boards.
The court said the state commission could not force school districts to pay for charter schools the local school board had rejected, such as Cherokee Charter Academy.
The school, located along the Sixes Road corridor, eventually its doors for the 2011-12 school year.
On a 40-16 roll-call vote in March, two votes more than the two-thirds majority required, .
H.R. 1162 allows voters to choose if the state should have full authority to approve local charter schools. The referendum will be on the November ballot. During its April 19 meeting, the approved a .
If voters approve that measure, the corresponding H.B. 797 will re-establish the charter schools commission and make clear how charter schools will be authorized and funded by the state going forward.
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FAST FACTS
- The Bill: Click here to read it in its entirety.
- Other Perspectives: Cherokee Charter: The Perfect Place to Sign House Bill 797 (The Forum Blog, the Georgia Public Policy Foundation)
It is a crying shame that he will sign this bill but will push to spend $1 Billion to build a retractable roof stadium for Atlanta but still allow our Public schools to spiral downward with the underfunding of QBE and legislative obstruction!
1. Will support a $1 billion stadium for the benefit of a privately owned football team. 2. Will support the demolition of a perfectly good arena well before the end of it's useful life. 3. Will extend the hotel/motel tax to support the proposed stadium. 4. Is sending over a $1 billion (over the next 20 years) to private schools (via SSOs) while underfunding public schools. 5. Wants to build a $1 billion toll lane along I-75/I-575 when it could simply fund it via bonds and income taxes. 6. Wants implement a new, regressive 1% T-Splost sales tax in Metro-Atlanta to build needed infra-structure while building excess lane capacity in mid- to south-Georgia using gas tax revenue generated by Metro-Atlanta. (Have you traveled I-75 south of town lately?) 7. Is cutting sales taxes for large multi-national companies (Delta) while increasing sales taxes on citizens (via "Amazon" tax, T-splost, Host, Vehicle Title Fee). 8. Wants to fund a out-of-state charter school companies with public tax dollars when charter schools: 1) don't perform better than traditional schools, 2) aren't accountable to the local community, 3) are for-profit companies that are focused on the bottom-line, and 4) charge excessive management fees and rents. The Gold Dome and Georgia Republicans have sold out to corporate interests and we the people are paying for it.
As from the beginning of this Republican crusade, public schools are being ignored. The U.S. Constitution may be the next goal. How many states besides Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia will have an amendment to affect education on their ballots in November? I wonder if enough states have committed to eradicating public education from the United States? When asked about the timing of these states' ballots, Senator Rogers simply indicated that "the Republicans are in charge"! Lastly, isn't it pathetic that the Governor signs this divisive bill in a county with excellent schools? IF it truly is for the entire state of Georgia, why not sign it in another county where the need for charter schools is greater? (Because it's all about thumbing noses at the CCSB, who had the brains to see through the "need" for this school. Governor Deal, where did you get the $10 Million to fund Charter schools in Georgia? "Go ahead and open your doors, we'll find the money somewhere.", isn't that what you said, Governor?
Also, In review, I wasn't as clear as I could have been on my post above. What I should have said is: (Because it's all about rubbing the noses of the four Republican school board members that didn't tow the party line AND then refused to quit the Republican party when ordered to.) I'd still like to know where Nathan found $10 Million to fund these schools. Maybe he could do the same for the public schools. Oh wait, Atlanta needs a new stadium. Never mind. We have to get our priorities straight, don't we. CT
Fact: School choice helps public schools. School districts retain a portion of the funding for each child who leaves the public system. In effect, districts still retain a portion of a child's per-pupil funding, even though they don't have to educate the student. Fiction: Students don’t learn more because of school choice. Fact: When you look at the credible research available on several school choice programs in places like Milwaukee, Washington, D.C.. and Florida- you will see that in many cases. students who participate in these programs work hard and produce higher academic achievement than them peers in traditional public schools. Parent satisfaction Is extremely high, and students love their new schools. Fiction: There is no accountability in school choice programs. Fact: The vast majority of public and charter schools have rigorous evaluation criteria, and most school choice programs have strong accountability provisions, such as testing and reporting. The ultimate accountability for charter schools is that if they don't meet the performance guarantees in their charters, they go away. Yet traditional public schools can continue to languish forever because they don't have these guarantees. Fiction: The problem with Charter school choice is that schools won't be required to accept children.
Fiction: School choice means abandoning traditional public schools. Fact: Public schools are an integral part of American society and, in many cases, they offer quality education. But when public schools don't work —on don't work for your child you deserve a choice. The school choice movement seeks access to better schools for children whether traditional public schools charter schools of private schools. Fiction: School choice allows the best students to abandon the traditional public schools. Fact: Students who are doing poorly in public schools are most likely to take advantage of the school choice programs. Generally students who succeed in school see no need to switch schools. Students also demonstrate that parents – regardless of their income – make good choices when provided with school options. Fiction: The Charter School Amendment is not about charter schools because It, gives up local control and expands the reach of government in education by allowing political appointees to override the decisions of local school boards.
Fiction: The Charter School Amendment makes taxation without representation constitutional by enabling the General Assembly to re-direct tax funds to any type of special school aver the objections of local boards and local taxpayers.
Fiction: The ballot measure misleads voters by mischaracterizing the current state of Georgia law where it Implies that a state role is needed because locally approved charter schools are not currently constitutional. Fact : The Charter School Amendment creates shared responsibility and educational accountability - The ballot measure does not say that locally approved charter schools are not constitutional, only that the approval process be shared by the state and the local board no as to avoid a monopoly and the consequent historical limits of choice in education that have reduced Georgia to a 65% high school graduation rate and a 47th worst ranking nationwide in k-12 public education.
http://youtu.be/yMnzjkMZyOs
Here is where the money came from...
Fiction-charter school perform better than traditional schools. Fact-charter schools often perform the same or worse than traditional schools. Fiction-there is accountability in charter school programs. Fact-there is limited to no oversight as to charter school spending and self-dealing with charter schools. Fact-there is limited accountability as to charter school performance goals as the benchmark is low. Fiction-Charter schools accept all children. Fact-Charter schools can deny attendance of children if they cannot adequately provide the needed services. And if they accept the student the state wants the local school district to contract services to the charter school. Fact-Traditional schools are required to accept all students. Fiction-traditional schools are taxation without representation. Fact-traditional schools have always been taxation with representation, it's called the local school board. A state level, appointed board less representative than a local board. Fiction-the ballot measure isn't misleading Fact-that ballot measure does mislead as it states "state or local approval" and "upon request of local communities". Local school districts can already approve charter schools. "Local communities" implies a majority of citizens be really means a small minority. I'd keep going you're full of hyperbole and mis-information.
Do you have any thoughts of your own or do you just plan on posting talking points from all your Internet friends all the time. Your fact/fiction comments are all over the Internet. Seriously.