Charter school bill stalls in Senate, but is still percolating
Regular folks who meet with their legislators over the charter school amendment get a Starbucks gift card. (Starbucks photo.)
No bill this legislative session will be discussed as much as the charter school amendment, which was the subject of a fiery two-hour debate today in the state Senate.
A vote was never held, probably over concerns that there was not a guarantee of the two-thirds support needed to approve a public referendum on a constitutional amendment to empower the state to authorize charter schools. The Senate vote will occur when GOP leaders in the Senate are assured they have corralled the needed yeses. (The amendment already passed the House after hours of debate, a defeat one week and then a resurrection the next.)
A small example of how important this issue has become is the incentive of a Starbucks gift card to people who lobby their legislator about school choice. The offer is being made by the pro school choice Center for an Educated Georgia.
According to the center website: Take part in the Center for an Educated Georgia’s Coffee Challenge by meeting with your legislator to tell your school choice story. Tell us about your meeting, you will receive a $10 Starbucks gift card and be entered to win a $100 gift card!
Here is the AJC account of today’s charter school debate and the tabling of the vote:
Wednesday’s action shows the bill faces an uncertain fate in the Senate after having won two-thirds support in the House.Delaying the vote does not mean it won’t be passed during this session. But two-thirds of senators would have to support it for it to pass, something that is out of reach for the moment.
Republicans hold a majority in the 56-member Senate, but they would need to get the support of all 36 Republican members and at least two Democrats.
But Democrats on Wednesday showed no willingness to drop their opposition to the legislation, which Republicans have pushed in response the Georgia Supreme Court’s decision last May which determined the state could not force local school districts to pay for charter schools they did not authorize.
The Georgia Charter Schools Commission had approved the applications of charter school backers who had failed to get the support of their local school districts. The commission’s approval allowed the charter schools to get local funding even if the local school board had rejected the charter school application.
Separate legislation spelling out how those schools would be funded makes clear that local districts would not have to pay for charter schools they did not approve. The state would fund the schools it approves.
Democrats, however, attacked the charter schools legislation on multiple fronts, arguing that the state has struggled to fund traditional public schools and would struggle even more if charter schools got more local funding. And Democrats attempted to turn what is usually a Republican mantra– local control is best — against them, arguing that having the state authorize charter schools instead of local districts was a violation of that principle.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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81 comments Add your comment
Reinvent_ED
March 1st, 2012
8:12 pm
@Larry Major, I will not inundate @Maureen’s blog with reams of empirical research that lays out what this debate is about. What it’s not about is charter schools. What it is about is how you innovate in education. Competition drives innovation, and organizational behavior 101 gives clear evidence why you would NEVER let the local school boards control charter schools.
I am not bashing public schools, but sometimes we need to let new school models and other innovative approaches to education have their own culture, their own rules. HR 1162 is a bi-partison compromise that refutes the argument that there will be taxation without representation.
Change is hard, people. If you’re willing to let new approaches into the system, then Georgia may have a chance to improve its education system. If you want the local monopolies to continue to get more entrenched, then Georgia will NEVER do right by its children.
Rick in ATL
March 1st, 2012
8:24 pm
Wow, this thread shows less EKG activity than I saw in last week’s “The Walking Dead.”
And speaking of zombies, traditional public education is the very definition of the walking dead. It’s still waiting for someone to deliver the coup de grace, and until that day it’ll stumble around aimlessly, mouth agape. When we finally do kill it off, we’ll reinvent public education, and this time we’ll make it less daycare for the entitlement set and more opportunity for the aspirational set. As it should have been all along.
3schoolkids
March 1st, 2012
8:28 pm
Special needs students have not really been a part of the debate in Georgia because we have the Special Needs Scholarship (supposedly our option to local public school). I can’t imagine any Charter having a secret formula for special needs success, but if I’m wrong someone please point me in their direction. I do believe Georgia requires a special needs certification even in Charters which is more than some states require, but I’m guessing most have only 1 sn teacher so only have one class with all sn students together which is not always the best model. In Fulton County if the Charter is unable to provide the services the child needs, the parent is directed back to their child’s appropriate program which may or may not be at their districted local school. Federal law mandates a “free and appropriate education in the least restrictive environment” for that child, but it doesn’t say WHERE that education has to be.
Public HS Teacher
March 1st, 2012
9:00 pm
@ReinventED – Because you simply cannot answer my question, that is enough reason for suspect. Asking me to go to some web site and do research is ridiculous. YOU are the one asking for money. YOU are the one that should justify why.
All I ask is that you explain what is the real difference that a charter school provides over a public school!
Both are run with public money. Both must pass GA standardized stuff like EOCT and CRCT. Both must accept any student to capacity with fairness and without discrimination. Neither can really “kick out” the “bad” or “failing” kid (like a private school can).
I just really don’t understand why charter schools are needed at all. Not even a little. If there is anyone that can even vaguely mention a real and tangible difference, then let’s have it PLEASE!!!
IF (as someone mentioned) that a charter school can ignore some State rule or law and so THAT makes them better – then shouldn’t the question be – why is that horrible rule or law there to begin with???
Big Bill
March 1st, 2012
9:01 pm
Two points: (1)North Carolina approved three new charter schools today under new law removing cap on charter schools. Many folks are not happy with how this is playing out and (2) another wacko, Republican right-wing billionaire “education reformer,” Art Pope, has his story told by the great New Yorker magazine investigative reporter Jane Mayer. Google: “A Reporter at Large – State for Sale – a conservative multimillionaire has taken control in North Carolina, one of 2012’s top battlegrounds.” His role in working to dismantle the highly regarded and successful Wake County school system student diversity program and the attempted re-segregation of the school system is covered on Page Nine. It is an article that reveals a Republican’s strategy that does not augure well for our children’s futures.
Reinvent_ED
March 1st, 2012
9:42 pm
@ Public HS Teacher, I am sorry I have to give you a lesson on how innovation happens. The bottom line is that charter schools may be able to try new ways of learning – look at Carpe Diem Schools in Arizona for example, which uses blended learning. Public schools have too many policies, red tape and other hurdles which do not let teachers have the freedom to teach to the child. Not every charter school has a model I support, but we have to let them try things differently.
I strongly suggest you read my friend Michael Horn’s book, “Disrupting Class.” Maybe then you will believe. I am a friend of teachers, and you should not be afraid of charter schools, or any new school designs for that matter.
And don’t get me started on tests, because I not only despise them, but they tell us NOTHING about whether a child will succeed or not. I know this FIRSTHAND. Tests mean nothing. It just means you know how to take a test.
Larry Major
March 1st, 2012
10:03 pm
@Reinvent_ED
I didn’t ask you for any research; I asked you to mention the specific parts of HR 1162 that you support.
There is only ONE sentence and THREE clauses this amendment would add to our constitution, so fully quoting the exact part you support isn’t a blog jammer.
Lots of folks who don’t post comments read this blog for information. If you can’t do something as simple as explaining exactly which of only four changes to our constitution is such a good idea, people who read this blog to be informed can’t take you seriously.
teacher&mom
March 1st, 2012
10:31 pm
“Public schools have too many policies, red tape and other hurdles which do not let teachers have the freedom to teach to the child. Not every charter school has a model I support, but we have to let them try things differently.”
@Reinvent_ED: Who creates the many policies and red tape? The legislature has certainly created miles of red tape and more than their fair share of foolish policies.
I’m not afraid of charters and I believe they play an important role. However, taking away local control is a dangerous and calculated move.
Rockstar
March 2nd, 2012
7:44 am
I have asked the same question on three different blogs and no one has answered. If charter schools have a better model to educate all students, why is there not legislation that gives ALL public schools in Georgia charter status? Why should we limit this reform to just a few?
Reinvent_ED
March 2nd, 2012
8:13 am
@Larry Major, what I support from HR 1162 is simple. The GA Supreme Court gave the local school boards EXCLUSIVE control over charter schools. Nowhere in the GA Constitution do they get this right. Monopolies do NOT innovate and they will drag down our education quality. So I am for competition which drives innovation. I am NOT for any one particular school model. That is what HR 1162 is about. It’s about innovation, not charter schools.
Big Bill
March 2nd, 2012
11:01 am
Recent charter school developments in North Carolina afford Georgians a preview of how things will play out if the HR 1162 proponents are allowed to prevail. Yesterday the North Carolina State Board of Education gave approval for nine new charter schools to open this fall, the first schools that will open after a 100 – charter school cap was lifted by the GOP controlled N.C. General Assembly last spring.
For an informative report on these developments google: “Charter Schools Sail Through Approval Process” by Sarah Ovaska, The Progressive Pulse. (The Progressive Pulse is a blog affiliated with North Carolina Policy Watch.)
And so, unfortunately for the vast majority of students who would benefit from a public school education, North Carolina now provides us, the opponents of HR 1162, a laboratory for observing the devastating effects of the right-wing Republican onslaught against public schools. It will provide us with a ringside seat to watch the unfolding of the Republican’s ultimate plan which is to shut down the public school system in North Carolina, not that the GOP would ever admit this. Amazingly, as Mary Elizabeth revealed in one of her earlier posts on the HR 1162 issue, in a rare burst of transparency, the Republican majority leader in the North Carolina House of Representatives recently admitted espousing the complete elimination of all public schools in North Carolina!
NFparent
March 2nd, 2012
4:10 pm
@Big Bill
Thank you for three well informed posts on this topic!
People interested in this topic should be aware that the lobbying groups most interested in “EdReform” pay people to comment on blogs such as this one, casting their movement in a positive light. Starbucks cards are just the tip of the iceberg. Also, the big money interest behind all of these families are the very same people who brought us the banking and insurance scandals of 2008. They bankrupted this country and are just looking for their next tax-payer funded hand out.
Here is a link to an article describing the relationships between big business interests. I believe they plan to “Enron” our education system.
http://www.communityknowledge.net/PIPEdReform.pdf
The money quote, as far as I’m concerned:
“Proposals such as these are a business-like approaches that reduce true public oversight and accountability and instead offers a much weaker substitute: individual consumer choice. The deregulation being prescribed is one that ultimately gives freedom to investors in the guise tearing down barriers to achievement and creating “a culture of learning.” And if it fails with what will we be left? Most investors will bail out before they incur great losses but the rest of society will be left with another social disaster and taxpayers will struggle with the costly burden of putting the pieces back together.”
Public HS Teacher
March 2nd, 2012
6:39 pm
@Reinvent_ED
Why do you make so many assumptions about me? I am not “afraid” of charter schools. I do not hate them.
Honestly, I just don’t understand their need to justify the cost of passing laws, etc.
As someone else pointed out to counter your point…. if there are restrictions to prevent regular public schools from trying things to improve, shouldn’t we be working to lift those restrictions? Why is a whole new category of schools needed?
You have yet to mention even one valid reason.
Notice that I have not insulted you, called you any name, nor described you in any negative way. Please return the courtesy.
Larry Major
March 2nd, 2012
7:21 pm
@ReinventEd, The Supreme Court did no such thing. For example:
“State chartered special schools” established under the Charter Schools Act of
1998, OCGA § 20-2-2060 et seq., are not in issue in this appeal and we intimate no opinion as to their status under the 1983 Georgia Constitution.
Several statements in the decision noted that local boards have long had exclusive control over GENERAL education, which is why municipalities (or in this case, the state) cannot start an independent general school system. Article VIII. Section V. Paragraph I of the Georgia Constitution starts with, “Authority is granted to county and area boards of education to establish and maintain public schools within their limits.” The last sentence, “No independent school system shall hereafter be established” makes this authority exclusive since it cannot be granted to any other entity.
HR 1162 does not address this issue in any way.
Have you a backup reason for supporting it?
CharterStarter, Too
March 2nd, 2012
8:11 pm
@ Rockstar- I think you ask a very fair question on the differences between traditional schools and start up charters. The largest difference is in the governance structure and how this structure makes all decisions aligned with a singular school mission focused on The school’s population. Startups are governed by stakeholders, usually parents and community members vested in the school. This very localized decision making structure, coupled with charters’ ability to innovate and make their own decisions on hiring and firing, instructional programming, budget, and organizational structure, makes a huge difference. In short, a district level board will never be able to effectively meet the needs of every school, as they generally make system wide decisions on personnel, budget, instruction, etc. Many of the innovations charters may use (instructional focus, scheduling, uniforms, organizational structure, school culture types of processes, programs, and systems, etc.) could be used in traditional schools, but will have less impact if the school is unable to align the school mission with these changes comprehensively, which is nearly impossible given constraints of district policy and practice. Districts have had the ability to convert schools to charters, become a charter system, or request waivers, but with these we still don’t see school level governance like with the start ups – they only have advisory boards that still report to the district board.
@ Larry Major – 3 Supreme Court Justices, the state Attorney General, and legislative counsel disagree with you, which is why there is a resolution. Aside from charters, this decision leaves a huge question in the state’s authority to make decisions related to K-12 education including establish salary schedules, promulgate laws and rules, etc. so even if the charters were not included in the resolution. The state would still need to reaffirm its shared authority with districts, as the Constitution clearly states that it is a primary obligation of the STATE to provide an adequate education to Georgia students. This requires more than just being a checkbook. In its current state, legal challenge is imminent. It needs to be clarified.
Why would anyone fight a checks and balances….unless you wanted unfettered control and the ability to act unfairly? The districts basically want the state to funnel it funds without any sort of accountability to STATE taxpayers.
Public HS Teacher
March 2nd, 2012
10:39 pm
@CharterStarter,Too
Then what are the public schools called Theme schools? What you describe as starters sound a lot like Theme schools…. Riverwood HS for example.
If you advocate charter schools for school uniforms, then that would be just too funny.
Finally, regardless of where ever the “authority” lies (as if that truely matters), the schools must still adhere to the State requirements for graduation – EOCT, CRCT, standards, etc. They may have a “twist” such as offering more classes in music as electives for example (thus born a music theme school), but that’s about it.
So then, all of this hoopla over public Theme schools that have been re-named “charter”????
CharterStarter, Too
March 2nd, 2012
10:53 pm
@ HS Teacher – it appears you missed the point entirely.
Kindergarten CCSD Mom
March 2nd, 2012
11:11 pm
Bahaha! Starbucks gift cards as incentives to contact legislators!? Since I have already had a conversation with Chip Rogers, on the phone, about my distrust in our Delegation, and my all-consuming aggravation with the way our public schools have been treated, I guess I should get my gift card! A real all time low. Let’s turn parents into lobbyists for coffee!
Larry Major
March 3rd, 2012
11:29 am
CS2, the dissenting opinion argued that “special” schools are any schools created by the General Assembly separate from existing county school systems. As the majority noted, this is circular reasoning – the state can create only special schools and any schools the state creates are special because the state created them.
More to the point, HR 1162 does nothing to address this. (The part about the Legislature defining “special” is identical to what the majority opinion said.)
This notion that the state’s authority to legislate education has been questioned is pure bunk and I doubt that even the original authors of this position believe it. The actions of the Supreme Court have the full effect of law, in this case negating the Charter Schools Commission Act. It hardly includes paraphrasing or explanation of logic behind the decision. That this decision leaves the state open to future litigation is particularly absurd because there is no such thing as a decision that precludes future litigation. You may have noticed the DOE and Legislature haven’t shut down operations. Now you know why.
>Why would anyone fight a checks and balances….unless you wanted unfettered control and the ability to act unfairly?
Yeah, that’s what I always thought about state charter schools going after legislative changes when none have ever bothered to ask local voters for funding.
Public HS Teacher
March 3rd, 2012
8:51 pm
@CharterStarter, Too
Then please enlighten me. Don’t ask me to go to a web site. Don’t write a million words of double talk. Simply, just write a couple of bullet points to describe the “wonders” of a charter school. And, please be sure that they are DIFFERENT from public school options.
I am sure that I’m not the only one that honestly doesn’t understand the need for charter schools. Because the only REAL difference I see is that they provide an opportunity for a private corporation to profit off of my taxes intended for education.
Reinvent_ED
March 4th, 2012
5:42 pm
Because, everyone – competition drives innovation. And by the time you tried to unravel the rules and regulations of the establishment, we would fail, and fail miserably. Let new models have a chance to grow and then it will allow some new approaches to find their way into the public school system.
And @Larry Major – your interpretation of the constitution is dead wrong, I’m afraid. Feel free to support the status quo. Georgia’s children will continue to suffer.
I am not calling anyone by name, @Public HS Teacher. You think I don’t support teachers – I am not a threat to you. What do you fear? Remember the old saying by FDR – “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Let new approaches to public education have a chance. Because by the time you try to unravel the current system, it will be too late for our children.
Reinvent_ED
March 4th, 2012
5:45 pm
And by the way, the bill is going to pass the Senate very soon. So change is happening.
Reinvent_ED
March 4th, 2012
5:58 pm
@Larry Major, you did ask what I supported in HR 1162. I support everything. The fact that charter schools will succeed if they are not managed by local school boards, and that local school boards can not delay a vote on a charter school application. Also, that local school funding will not be cut as a result of this new bill. If we allowed the state more involvement in public education, we actually might start to run our system more efficiently.
People – the problem with our schools is not the amount of funding they receive. They receive PLENTY. The problem is that we have not invested wisely. We do not give teachers sufficient professional development, we do not allow them flexibility in teaching, we do too much “teaching to the test,” we have a vastly redundant and inefficient infrastructure, administrators do not have the proper business training to run large organizations, etc. Shall I go on???
I suggest you watch my video, “A Vision for 21st Century Learning.” I have a pure vision, and if we were to reinvent public education, then teachers would be happy, parents would be happy, because our students would be LEARNING.
Public HS Teacher
March 4th, 2012
6:37 pm
@Reinvent_ED
Again, you think that I have any fear? Why would you think that? What have I ever said to give you that thought? Why do you insist on writing that LIE over and over again?
So the ONLY reason you provide is that you think that charter schools are “against the establishment”? Is that it? Please clarify it if isn’t.
Then, you state that you want to provide chances for a “new model” to grow? Am I stating this correctly?
If I am, then I have news for you. You don’t understand charter schools at all.
1. They ARE public schools. They ARE the establishement.
2. They must adhere to the crazy rules and regulations with few exceptions. Those students must still take the State CRCT. Those students must still take the State EOCT.
3. They must still admit students that apply just like regular public schools.
4. They cannot expel the trouble makers and they cannot expel the kids that are failing – just like regular public schools.
5. The teachers there must still teach the State standards academically.
So then…. this “new” and “revolutionary” approach to education that you THINK will provide an avenue for innovation will not!!!!
Believe me – I would love if there were such a thing. But CHARTER SCHOOLS ARE NOT IT!!!!
All that charter schools allow for is for a private corporation to set up shop and profit off of our tax dollars. That’s it. That’s all.
Why cannot you see that? Are YOU the one that is afraid?
Public HS Teacher
March 4th, 2012
6:39 pm
Reinvent_ED….
As solid PROOF of what I speak, look to the State of Florida. They have already done what Georgia is proposing (they did it a few years ago). Now, Florida education is in a wholly mess.
If you don’t believe me, YOU do the research and prove it to yourself!
Reinvent_ED
March 4th, 2012
6:40 pm
Take a look at Carpe Diem Schools and Quest to Learn. Then get back to me.
Public HS Teacher
March 4th, 2012
8:22 pm
@Reinvent_ED
Again, you want me to run around to look at whatever. Yet, you cannot come up with even one single viable real thing a charter can provide beyond what public schools already offer.
I really hope that either you are a horrible spokes-person for charter schools or that charter schools really do offer SOMETHING, otherwise they are doomed – and rightfully so!
Reinvent_ED
March 4th, 2012
9:08 pm
I am not a spokesperson for charter schools. I am a proponent of innovation in education and charter schools are one option, not the only option. I am not going to do all the research for you. And I am done debating with you.
You don’t know me, or my values, so I suggest you cease with the personal attacks. your characterization and generalization of charter schools is completely wrong, and I am done debating with ignorant people.
86% of Florida Charter schools do NOT serve students with disabilities
March 4th, 2012
9:54 pm
http://stateimpact.npr.org/florida/2011/12/14/no-choice-florida-charter-schools-failing-to-serve-students-with-disabilities/
Ronin
March 5th, 2012
11:23 am
While I enjoyed reading most of the posts here, the most entertaining was:
Kudos to Rick in ATL 3-1 @ 8:24 p.m.
“And speaking of zombies, traditional public education is the very definition of the walking dead. It’s still waiting for someone to deliver the coup de grace, and until that day it’ll stumble around aimlessly, mouth agape. When we finally do kill it off, we’ll reinvent public education, and this time we’ll make it less daycare for the entitlement set and more opportunity for the aspirational set. As it should have been all along.”
Hmm… maybe the State of Georgia Department of Education should hire Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead) to do the clean up work. He’s got an impressive record in Zombie containment.
Reinvent_ED: interesting points to consider. thx
NFparent
March 5th, 2012
3:57 pm
.Ahh, yes….Rick’s “entitlement set” vs. the “aspirational set”
Dog whistle much?