State Sen. Jason Carter on charter schools amendment: Shifts power from local elected officials to state bureaucrats
State Sen. Jason Carter opposes the charter schools amendment and says language is meant to deceive.
Earlier today, we heard from a Republican state senator from DeKalb on the charter schools amendment on the Nov. 6 ballot. State Sen. Fran Millar of Dunwoody wrote a column on why he supports it.
Now, here is the other side from state Sen. Jason Carter, D-Atlanta. Carter is from the 42nd District, representing DeKalb.
By Jason Carter
This year, Georgia voters will be confronted with two proposed amendments to the state constitution. Regardless of their substance, the system for approving amendments is broken, and this threatens the principle that our Constitution draws its power directly from the people.
Proposed constitutional amendments appear on the ballot in the form of a question, drafted by the legislature. The ballot question is also “introduced” with a statement drafted by a committee of three: the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, and the Speaker of the House. Rather than honestly frame this year’s most controversial constitutional question, Georgia’s current leadership decided to play politics on the ballot itself.
This year’s Amendment One would amend the Constitution to take away local school board control of charter schools and give the state government sweeping new powers. This transfer of ultimate control over certain schools from elected local boards to state bureaucrats is the fundamental change requiring a constitutional amendment and is the amendment’s purpose. Unfortunately, your ballot will not even mention this issue.
Instead, politicians drafted the ballot question to ask: “Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended to allow state or local approval of public charter schools upon the request of local communities?” This question is intentionally misleading on the fundamental issue of whether local control should be preserved or subverted. In fact, local approval of charter schools already exists, and local school boards have approved more than 200 charter schools in Georgia. The state’s new powers would primarily be meaningful only if a local elected school board had already rejected a charter school’s application. Finally, requests under the proposed system need not, and likely would not, arise organically from “local communities”—they could originate from anywhere, including from groups seeking public money for schools to be run by private, for-profit companies.
The politicians’ “introduction” on the ballot is even more misleading. It says that the amendment: “Provides for improving student achievement and parental involvement through more public charter school options.” Who could be against that? Well, in reality, there is little evidence that the amendment would “improve student achievement.” In fact, a nonpartisan Stanford University study showed that about 20 percent of charter schools performed better than comparable local schools, almost half performed the same, and 37 percent were “significantly worse.”
This manipulation demonstrates that our constitutional amendment process is broken because it allows politicians to put whatever they want on the ballot—with no oversight to prevent abuse. And this has become a habit, no matter who is in power.
In 1988, voters were faced with an amendment that would allow the state government to limit its exposure to lawsuits. When the ballot presented the amendment plainly, the voters rejected it 70 percent to 30 percent. Two years later, an identical amendment appeared on the ballot. But this time, state leaders used a confusing ballot question that made it seem that the amendment would make the state more accountable, not less. The amendment passed. Same amendment. Different ballot language. Opposite result.
In that case, based on legal fictions with no basis in reality, the Georgia Supreme Court failed to intervene. Since then, courts have refused to review ballot language even to ensure basic honesty or an accurate reflection of the proposed amendment’s substance.
Our Constitution is too important to be amended through trickery. To preserve the Constitution’s integrity, we have to demand that our leaders stop designing ballot language to mislead. And when those leaders attempt to bias the vote with false ballot wording, Georgia courts must protect the Constitution by forcing the politicians to rewrite the ballot to reflect the truth.
I personally support charter schools, and I encourage local boards to expand them. But no matter what we think about the state government creating charter schools, or local control of education, we cannot tolerate the ballot being used to mislead voters. The bottom line is this: if an amendment were truly necessary, and if the state’s leadership truly respected Georgia citizens and their right to self-government, then the leaders would tell the truth on the ballot and let Georgia’s voters decide for themselves.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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122 comments Add your comment
Mountain Man
October 23rd, 2012
3:21 pm
“I’m not willing to vote to change our state constitution based on the threat of a lawsuit that may or may not happen.”
Neither am I. I am voting YES because of a lawsuit that has ALREADY happened. The county BOEs took the State to the Supreme Court of Georgia and won. We need the amendment to be sure that the State can continue to approve charters that the counties turn down.
Private Citizen
October 23rd, 2012
3:26 pm
Eddie Now I remember what I was going to tell you. Somebody posted they had done Advanced Placement a long time or somesuch, knew what they were talking about it, were good at it, etc. and they said the key thing was flexible grouping or something. Nobody is trapped or made to do something, can transition about as they see fit. Seems like as Americans we should be combining and re-shsaping the best methods and making our own rules based on what is most productive, not confining.
Which reminds me. This place absolutely kills me. Just anybody you ask now thinks Americans invented the motor car, Henry Ford, etc. Well, Karl Benz in Germany invented the motor car and then 20- years later Henry Ford invented the assembly line. We’re also taught that Edison invented moving pictures but at about the same time, the Lumiere brothers from Lyon, France Lumiere invented a portable motion-picture camera, film processing unit and projector called the Cinematographe, three functions covered in one invention. The real whopper is that US students that the US defeated Germany is WW2, but the truth is the Russians are the ones who did the heavy lifting and defeated the Germans. Who beat the Germans? The US? no. The Russians are the ones who defeated the Germans, even if some of the US army showed up and walked about and made films like they took credit for it.
DeKalb Inside Out
October 23rd, 2012
3:29 pm
Eddie
Good question. I can see where this is all confusing. Here is a link to HR 1162 – the amendment on which we will be voting. It just clarifies the states authority to establish K-12 schools. It doesn’t say anything about new state agencies or anything else you mentioned
http://www.nancyjester.com/hr1162.aspx
1 Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Georgia so as to clarify the authority of the
2 state to establish state-wide education policy; to restate the authority of the General
3 Assembly to establish special schools; to provide that special schools include state charter
4 schools;
Private Citizen
October 23rd, 2012
3:32 pm
Being raised and schooled in the US, I didn’t know anything about the Lumiere brothers until I visited Lyon and saw work commemorating them. I was, like, Who’s this? what? In the US they tell you Edison invented moving pictures, end of story. Being raised and schooled in America, I thought the US defeated Germany in WW2 but now with the internet, in online discussion threads like this one here, anybody from Europe will tell you that the Russians defeated Germany, not the US.
DeKalb Inside Out
October 23rd, 2012
3:39 pm
Just A Teacher
Why do you say that the voters will have to pay for the Charter School Commission?
http://www.nancyjester.com/hb797.aspx
House Bill 797 (lines 312 – 316) discusses how the Georgia Charter Schools Commission is funded. Up to 3% of that charter’s funds are withheld to fund the Georgia Charter Schools Commission. The charter commission operated on 2% historically.
Essentially, the charters fund the commission.
MAY
October 23rd, 2012
3:48 pm
I can’t wait to see charter schools in the rural areas of Georgia. They can’t get one without proof of local support. With the awareness this amendment is raising, I foresee teachers meeting at the kitchen table to discuss ways they can help their community through charter schools. I also see those districts turning them away without even reviewing the petitions if this amendment doesn’t pass. If it passes…..I think they’ll at least look at it. Can’t wait!
Just A Teacher
October 23rd, 2012
3:50 pm
“So lets just let them rely on local property taxes alone and do without the State funding of their schools.”
As long as I don’t have to pay any state income tax, that sounds like a plan to me. But, if I am required to pay state income tax, I want some of it back to run our schools out here.
Just A Teacher
October 23rd, 2012
3:56 pm
@ Dekalb . . . Start-up funds necessary to establish and operate the commission may
48 be received by the State Board of Education in addition to such other funds as may be
49 appropriated by the General Assembly.
From the same house bill you sent a link to.
DeKalb Inside Out
October 23rd, 2012
4:14 pm
Just A Teacher
“Start-up funds” …. oh … I see.
It’s a little vague on what that means. You’re a lot more familiar with this part than I am. Do you know from where in the state budget “Start-up funds” come or how much money we are talking about?
Thanks.
FairLady
October 23rd, 2012
5:54 pm
As a parent, I am so GLAD to finally see something on the ballot to give me hope about education in GA. I will vote YES because parents deserve options when their children are forced into failing schools based upon their zip codes. Not all of us can afford private schools or can afford to move. I don’t really care if there is an additional commission or an educational company involved. We parents need help now!! If this amendment just helps me, it’s worth it. Aren’t we tired of always being in the bottom three in the nation in drop-outs? Georgia and Mississippi are always fighting it out for the worst education in the nation. If these state charter schools can just help a few of us, it’s worth our vote!! Thank goodness, someone cares about the children!! Govenor Deal and 2/3 of the House and Senate thought this Amendment was a good idea, so I think they deserve my support.
Eddie Hall
October 23rd, 2012
7:52 pm
@ fair lady You may want to poll your Rep and Sen if that is what you base a “yes” vote on. Many thought it was a bad idea, but found their arms being twisted off by party leadership. They got a pass because they we going to let the “people” decide. Politics at it’s worst.
Pride and Joy
October 24th, 2012
10:10 am
Ed Advocate says something important “many of us opposing the amendment want effective education reform and we know this amendment ain’t it.”
What I want to know is how long Ed Advocaet would allow his or her own children to languish in a failing school? “education reform” has been going on in Atlanta for decades with miserable results. I couldn’t wait another year. I broke into my 401k and got my kids out pronto. A child, a human, my own flesh and blood, I will never waste.
John Konop
October 24th, 2012
3:29 pm
From a tax payer prospective we are moving in the wrong direction by creating more overhead not less. I have made this point for years, we should be consolidating overhead not creating more. The best way to achieve this is by having high schools consolidate with colleges, JC………to increase options, quality and lower overhead. We should be coordinating facilities, administrators, staff…… We should be waving No Child Left Behind college prep requirements for vocational based. Students.
If done right we could open this option up to home school, public school, private and charter school. Finally school systems should be rated on graduation rates with job skills and or entrance into 4 year college not some mean level score that creates this crazy teach to the test………
The following are important taxpayer protections that should be added to the charter school amendment:
• School board members are forbidden from being a consultant, owner, or employee of the charter school management company or its vendors within the past two years. They must provide full disclosure of any such prior affiliations.
• Officeholders that vote on public or charter school legislation and/or funding must fully disclosure any affiliations with any charter school and/or vendors providing services to charter schools. They must also disclose any relatives that are affiliated with charter schools and/or vendors.
• No charter or public school board member and/or officeholder may have any interest in the real estate underlying any charter or public school.
• Charter school board meetings must be publically listed 30 days in advance and must be held after 7 pm (note: short-term notice, unannounced date changes, and inconvenient meeting times have been used to reduce public participation and oversight).
• Every privately managed charter school with over 750 students must secure a bond that compensates the school district if the charter school closes before the end of a school year.
• If a charter school’s private owners/management company owns an interest in the real estate underlying the school, that property must be put up as security to repay any free taxpayer money the school received (e.g. grants or loans) in the event the school fails.
• The contract between the private management company and the charter school must be fully disclosed.
Taxpayers have too often been left holding the bag for failed publically funded private businesses. The above are, for the most part, common requirements in the private sector. We taxpayers deserve these minimal protections.
Mary James
October 25th, 2012
7:52 pm
Thanks Jason, I had already decided to vote no on this one but the wording really did confuse me. I had to do some research to figure it out. thanks for the good explanation. I agree completely.
Mr. Snarky
October 26th, 2012
10:20 pm
Sounds like another Shady Deal to me. If you have to load it up with slanted language, there’s probably a reason for that.
Vote No
October 27th, 2012
11:20 pm
Vote no. This is an unnecessary piece of legislation meant to give the good folks in Atlanta more control over local schools. In no way does this increase the options given to parents. The lobbying dollars coming from outside the state to pass this amendment tell the story. It’s not about the children, it’s about making money and doling out favors to friends if this thing passes.
Vote no! It isn’t necessary and it will do the exact reverse of what its supporters are claiming. I don’t want a goofball bunch of legislators in Atlanta exerting control over our local schools. Our leaders in the statehouse haven’t proven to be real effective on the other tasks on their plates…
Anna Hilde
October 28th, 2012
11:17 pm
I must agree with Beverly Fraud. It would be a valid argument – if it were a valid argument. Sounding the alarms over the shift of power would have been commendable assuming these local boards were indeed representing their local citizens; however, the days of local bureaucrats being any different from state bureaucrats have long since passed and suggesting otherwise is quite frankly, insulting. Kudos to highlighting the very politicized language on the ballot itself. Though it’s worded in a way that bends closer to my own position; it’s quite disheartening to see. I expect facts alone and have enough faith in people to make their own decisions regardless as to whether it’s opposite of mine or even if it’s chosen thru an any-minni-mine-e-mo style. This is after all what a free election is about. I find the wording on the ballot particularly disgusting. It shows no faith in the public. Yet I wouldn’t expect anything less.
R
October 30th, 2012
3:52 pm
Like his grandfather before him Mr. Carter cares little for the truth and has little respect for the knowledge of the Georgia parent who sees every day that the system he so desperately tries to protect has failed and continues to fail millions of children each day.
Concerned Parent
October 30th, 2012
9:06 pm
This amendment is a joke. There is nothing wrong with the way Charter Schools and Charter Systems are managed right now (seriously… what is the problem with Charter Schools the way they are currently structured and managed?). This is just a wolf in sheeps’ clothing to get around the student voucher debate. Politicians know that a referendum on vouchers would never pass. So they conjure up a ballot that any unknowing citizen would vote yes. And the net result will be a state board that caters to all of their private school cronies.
Concerned Parent
October 30th, 2012
9:07 pm
If you ask a Charter System about the amendment, they will privately tell you that they are against it. I promise you.
DeKalb Inside Out
October 31st, 2012
10:23 am
Concerned Parent
What is the problem with Charter Schools the way they are currently structured and managed? – There is nothing wrong with the way charter schools are structured and managed. The amendment is about who can approve the petition to create a charter school. 85% of the state chartered schools operate in counties that refuse to approve charters locally. This amendment is in no small part about giving those parents and children choices.
the net result will be a state board that caters to all of their private school cronies. – I think the parents and children attending Ivy Preps state chartered schools that service 95% minorities would disagree with that statement. Fortunate communities as well as the less fortunate communities are welcome to petition for charters.
Charter System people are against this amendment – Superintendents, administrators, traditional school employees and the organizations that support said groups are generally against this amendment. Charter Systems, LEA Startups and Conversion Charters are all dependent Charter Schools that are part of the traditional school structure, but with some flexibility.
State Chartered Special Schools are independent charter schools and are thus independent of the traditional school structure. I’m guessing most of them support this amendment.
Rock the Vote…Georgia Edition « Klein & Co.
November 5th, 2012
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