Most pro charter amendment money coming from outside Georgia. Most against from state educators. Does either worry you?
The AJC has been following the money in the high-powered, high-profile campaign for the charter school amendment, which would give the state the power to overrule local school boards and approve and fund charter schools. Presumably, that would lead to more charter schools in Georgia. Voters will decide the question on Nov. 6.
The AJC reports:
Groups backing the charter schools constitutional amendment have again pulled in far more money than amendment opponents, the most recent campaign filing statements show. Families for Better Public Schools, which supports the amendment, raised $1.28 million during the filing period that ends 15 days before the election. Families’ haul was 70 times more than the $18,164 the main opposition group, Vote Smart! No to State-Controlled Schools, raised during the same period.
A second amendment supporter, Georgia Public School Families for Amendment One, raised $55,000. Despite the group’s name, all of its money came from a single donation made by PublicSchoolOptions.org of Arlington, Va.
Indeed, most of the money that has gone to amendment supporters came from outside Georgia. Families for Better Public Schools’ filing, for example, shows that 71 percent of the money raised during this filing period came from outside sources.
As she did earlier in the campaign, Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton of Arkansas contributed another $350,000. J.C. Huizenga of Grand Rapids, Mich., gave $250,000. Students First of Sacramento, Calif., also gave $250,000.
“Wow, ” said Jane Langley, campaign manager for the Vote Smart opposition group. “This gives new meaning to ‘families.’ Those out-of-state corporations, more than two out of every three contributions, must badly want to change permanently our constitution.”
Many traditional public school officials — superintendents, board members and teachers — have opposed the amendment, arguing that it would lead to the creation of more charter schools that would sap money from traditional public schools. Supporters argue that passing the amendment would protect from legal challenge the state’s ability to authorize charter schools, which are public schools that are granted flexibility as they pursue specific education goals spelled out in their charter.
Traditional education officials and those tied to school systems dotted the Vote Smart contribution list. Jeanne “Sis” Henry, executive director of the Georgia School Boards Association, gave $3,000. Victoria Sweeney, an attorney who represents the Gwinnett County Public School District, donated $1,000.
Families for Better Public Schools collected $250,000 from Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus and $100,000 from Richard Gaby, chief executive officer of Peter Island Resort and Spa. Real estate developer Tom Cousins gave $20,000.
My AJC colleagues Jay Bookman and Kyle Wingfield each followed the money pouring into the charter school amendment and ended up in a different place.
Bookman wrote:
Reading the list of out-of-state contributors to the campaign to pass Amendment 1, the state charter-schools amendment, you get the sense that an old-fashioned gold rush would begin in Georgia the moment the amendment is approved.
J.C. Huizenga, founder of Michigan-based National Heritage Academies, a for-profit charter school operator, has contributed $25,000; his company contributed a matching $25,000. Charter Schools USA, based in Florida, contributed $50,000 as well. D.A. Davidson, a financial services firm based in Great Falls, Mont., that touts itself as “a recognized leader in charter school financing, ” has so far given $5,000. And K12 Inc., a for-profit provider of online classes and “full-time online public schools, ” has kicked in $100,000.
Those account only for contributions made through Sept. 21; the final campaign-disclosure reports may include additional big-dollar donations from companies eager to enter Georgia’s public-school marketplace. Now, there’s nothing inherently wrong about for-profit companies operating in the education sector. However, despite the fervor of those who preach that competition solves all problems, there’s nothing inherently good about it, either. No countries that outperform the United States in education, for example, do so through the for-profit model.
In addition, the overall shoddy performance of for-profit colleges and universities here in the U.S. provides stark evidence that when the profit motive conflicts with academic standards, profit takes precedence…There’s every reason to worry that similar dynamics will play out in k-12 education. Take K12 Inc., the company that has so far contributed $100,000 to opening up the Georgia market. In Florida, where the company operates in 43 school districts, a typical K12 high school teacher may have as many as 275 online students per class, which enhances profitability if not education. Last month, Florida officials launched an investigation into charges that K12 also uses teachers uncertified for the classes they teach and that company officials asked employees to cover up that fact.
Looking at the same list of donors, Wingfield had a far different response:
After its latest report, filed Tuesday, the anti-amendment group Vote SMART! had a donor base comprising 146 people and eight companies that had given a combined $104,263 (along with almost $19,000 in gifts not itemized). Who are they?
Thirty-four of them are current or former superintendents. That group gave more than $16,000. Another 30 are other types of school-system administrators: area superintendents, assistant superintendents, directors of some kind or another. These folks contributed an additional $14,000.
Eleven members of various school boards around Georgia gave almost $4,000. Ten principals shelled out $2,576. In all, almost 60 percent of the Vote SMART! donors and more than a third of its donations came from people who run our traditional public schools. That’s one bit of turf. Then there are the professional organizations: the Professional Association of Georgia Educators, Georgia School Boards Association and Georgia School Superintendents Association. Fifteen employees of these groups donated more than $15,000.
Now let’s look at companies that do business with school systems… In fact, 35 people or firms who do business with traditional public schools, from attorneys and consultants to architects and contractors, have given more than $32,000 to the anti-amendment campaign. Now, am I missing any job description in the education field? Hmmm, let’s see …
From what we can see, though, almost 90 percent of the donors and $4 of every $5 donated come from the people running our schools and the firms they do business with. It’s a campaign of the educational establishment, by the educational establishment, for the educational establishment.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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226 comments Add your comment
Mary Elizabeth
October 28th, 2012
10:18 pm
“Bookman wrote:
Reading the list of out-of-state contributors to the campaign to pass Amendment 1, the state charter-schools amendment, you get the sense that an old-fashioned gold rush would begin in Georgia the moment the amendment is approved.”
========================================
I agree with Jay Bookman’s thinking on this. Can we, please, not leave just one arena of American life – public education – relatively free of the greed of profit-making?!
Time to pull out my old link showing how many times that charter schools, and other “choice” areas of education, devolve into profit-making. Please read the entire link.
Below, excerpted from the link, is information about the WalMart Foundation and its interest in the charter school movement. (Btw, a member of the Wal-Mart family has contributed $250,000. toward the passing of Georgia’s Amendment 1.)
————————————————————–
“The Walton Family Foundation of Wal-Mart is the single biggest investor in charter schools in the United States, giving $50 million a year to support them. The Waltons specialize in giving money to opponents of public education. ‘Empowering parents to choose among competing schools,’ said John Walton, son of Wal-Mart’s founder, ‘will catalyze improvement across the entire K–12 education system.’ According to a National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) report, ‘Some critics argue that it is the beginning of the ‘Wal-Martization’ of education, and a move to for-profit schooling, from which the family could potentially financially benefit. John Walton owned 240,000 shares of Tesseract Group Inc. (formerly known as Education Alternatives Inc.), which is a for-profit company that develops/manages charter and private schools as well as public schools.’ Wal-Mart is a notorious union-busting firm, famous for keeping its health-care costs down by discouraging unhealthy people from working at its stores, paying extremely low wages with poor benefits, and violating child labor laws. The company has reportedly looted more than $1 billion in economic development subsidies from state and local governments. Its so-called philanthropy seems also to be geared to the looting of public treasuries.” (Assertions are footnoted in the article, in link below.)
—————————————————————————–
http://www.isreview.org/issues/62/feat-charterschools.shtml
Vote NO to Amendment 1.
ChartersStarter, Too
October 28th, 2012
10:35 pm
VOTE YES – give families a choice.
Mandella1099
October 28th, 2012
10:37 pm
@DeKalbParent
I will make you a promise. I will vote for the charter amendment if you will never appear on another blog commenting on your school system, “educrats,” or any other paraphrased lines from Nancy Jester’s website. Deal?
sneak peak into education
October 28th, 2012
10:51 pm
Thanks Mary Elizabeth and to all the other voicing real and understandable concerns over the passing of Amendment One- there is much to be afraid of if we give our governor this power. Please consider that the ALEC, the right-wing policy writing group, is behind this amendment. They have stated that they wish to privatize public education and put it in the hands of the profiteers and big corporations. Look at the travesty that has happened to education in other states where ALEC has been successful in implementing their policies, Louisiana and Florida to name a couple. It is fair to say that we CAN AND MUST look at these states to see what will happen if we allow this amendment to pass and it isn’t pretty. Also, please remember that a vote no doesn’t mean you are against charters; it just means you are against giving up your democratic vote to a non-elected board that is controlled by the governor. We just need to look at our leader in the golden dome to see how little he regards public education and how corrupt his actions are; he isn’t called shady deal for nothing.
See the link below to find out what will happen when the floodgates open if the amendment passes; green cards for the Chinese and a promise of a fool-proof way for them to get their hands on government money.
http://dianeravitch.net/2012/10/28/invest-in-charter-schools-get-a-green-card/
Please don’t be fooled into thinking this is about the children; it’s about big business getting their hands on government money.
Vote NO in NOvember
Lee
October 28th, 2012
10:52 pm
Sorta ironic that someone from the AJC would question the influence of money on an election while that same AJC (a for profit company) posts their “picks” in an attempt to influence the election.
Of course, the AJC picks do have some utility. If I’m undecided on a candidate or issue, I’ll read the AJC and vote the opposite of their selection.
another angle
October 28th, 2012
10:57 pm
Sorry, but need to call nonsense on Mary Elizabeth’s 10:18 bashing of John Walton and the Walton Family Foundation.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that John Walton is deceased. Moreover, I believe that Tesseract filed for bankruptcy. Let’s assume for a moment that the preceding is not true and that Tesseract is worth $10,000 a share. Guess what? It would be worth $240 million. While this is not chump change to you and I, that does amount to noise for a guy/family worth billions upon billions. In other words, it is rubbish. It is a straw man argument.
Mary Elizabeth quotes John Walton re his motivation for giving money to opponents to public education: “Empowering parents to choose among competing schools will catalyze improvement across the entire K-!2 education system.” We can argue about whether or not the introduction of charter schools will actually achieve that goal, but it seems the intention, as stated, is an admirable goal.
As to the linkage to all the “bad things” that Wal-mart has done. You are wandering down the straw horse avenue again. Not only because you are quoting critics of the Walton plan but also because you are linking the business to the amendment rather than the actual proponent (Walton Family Foundation).
One last thing to consider about Wal-mart itself: keep an open-mind. You seem to have latched on to the Wal-mart is evil story. While it is convenient to do so, at least consider both sides of coin. There is much I don’t like about the way Wal-mart manages its business, but I also know I am not being honest with myself if I don’t give Walmart credit for helping keep inflation in check and for employing huge numbers of folks across the country, both directly and indirectly.
Janet
October 28th, 2012
11:05 pm
I need a Charter school clarification….
On the 1st page, Lady GaGa says she supports charters to get away from her “subpar” local school. I don’t understand something about that philosophy. If a charter is built, then wouldn’t same the students who occupy your “subpar” school in the same “subpar” location be the same quality of students who would occupy the charter?
I guess that is what I’m missing here… If charters are open to anyone, and one is built in the middle of the ghetto to “compete” local failing traditional schools, then wouldn’t the charter then be filled with the same quality of students who made the traditional school a bad school in the first place?
another angle
October 28th, 2012
11:05 pm
Andrew Carnegie donated $ to build many public libraries in the United States. I don’t know the full tale, but I suspect that this created some controversy. I wonder if the teacher’s union opposed it.
ChartersStarter, Too
October 28th, 2012
11:05 pm
@ Mandella and Lee – gotta admit, you both gave me a chuckle tonight.
@ Another Angle – thanks for addressing that so perfectly. I agree with each of your points.
Mandella1099
October 28th, 2012
11:15 pm
I have an Open Records request that I would like for DeKalb Schools Watch II to support – please examine all spreadsheets and forensic audits of Nancy Jester’s and Fran Millar’s campaign donations to see if any of these organizations from outside of Georgia gave where it counts when it counted….
Mary Elizabeth
October 28th, 2012
11:33 pm
another angle, 10:57 pm
Wal-Mart and the Wal-Mart Foundation are not the issue. That was only one example, selected from many, within the 20 page article of the link I provided, which I hope many have read, in full.
The issue is whether the public is going to vote for turning traditional public education, that has served ALL of the students in this state through public taxes, into a money-making enterprise that may very well leave the state’s children segregated in schools by those whose parents have resources and those whose parents do not.
I saw the ugliness of segregation as a teenager and I do not want to see that inequality ever happen again in Georgia. And I am not speaking of race, but of class status and of the varied resources of different parents. We must neither use our schools for profit purposes for private personal gain, nor must we use our schools to resegregate society into those who “have” vs. those who “have not.” That is not how I see America. That is not the America I wanted to see lived out during my Jim Crow teenage years in Georgia, and that is still not the America I want to see lived out in Georgia during my senior citizen years.
We must improve traditional public education, starting at the ground level, to be able to serve ALL of Georgia’s children equally well, educationally. We can do that through involvement – at the ground level up – starting with involvment by groups of interested parents in their local school board’s activities. Instead of creating separation, create excellence from within by committed involvement. And, if your local school board does not listen to your needs, then organize and vote THEM out of office. YOU stay and make your traditional school systems better. Don’t run away and create a newfound “panacea” of charter schools that will only serve the few at the expense of the many, while rewarding the profiteers.
crankee-yankee
October 28th, 2012
11:44 pm
another angle
October 28th, 2012
10:14 pm
The fact I am a teacher does not preclude me of my right to vote. You see, I am also a parent and a taxpayer.
ChartersStarter, Too
October 28th, 2012
10:18 pm
If I were to punish my entire class because of the misdeeds of a handful of students, I suspect I would be hearing from quite a few parents who would, quite rightly, be questioning my class management abilities. Yet, that is exactly what you are proposing with this amendment, place the entire state under an onerous amendment because your elected reps are unwilling to deal with a handful of systems needing a wake-up call.
Dr Monica Henson
October 28th, 2012
11:48 pm
Support Public Education posted, “Do charter schools have buses?” Some do. Others provide bus passes. I have worked with a charter school in Florida whose authorizing district provided school bus transportation for its students.
“They will only serve chosen students.” Wrong. Charter schools are not allowed to select students. If there are more students than there are seats available, then a lottery must be held and the names drawn publicly at random.
“Why don’t public schools have the flexibility of charter schools?” They can, if their districts request waivers of the provisions of Title 20. All school districts have this ability. Most districts simply choose not to seek waivers, except in very limited circumstances, such as the class size waiver when the district wants to have a larger class size average.
ChartersStarter, Too
October 28th, 2012
11:51 pm
@ Mary Elizabeth – I truly, truly want to understand why you have it in your head that charter schools are “money making” enterprises. First of all, the vast majority of charters don’t even have management companies, and the ones that do STILL operate on less that the traditional schools.
Do you not see that K-12 education in general is a MARKET for for-profit businesses? Our school districts…and charters…and private schools…and even home schools purchase all sorts of goods and services: text books, computers, furniture, land, buildings, legal advice, janitorial services, payroll, etc., etc., etc. What we must focus on in public education is training boards thoroughly to ensure they know how to negotiate contracts to benefit the system/school they serve. We also need to make sure these same board members know how to monitor their system/school’s financials – so many do not.
I think you miss the boat entirely with continuing in this vein.
And good grief, are you really going to try to make a case for charters SEGREGATING? We have historically served a higher population of students who were minority and/or economically disadvantaged. Our state charters are higher than the traditional schools in these categories. We desire to serve ALL children whose parents choose to enroll them…and not just serve them, but educate them well.
As an educator, it is surprising to me that you buy so heavily into the bureaucratic structure. Try as I might, I cannot get you to understand that charters are modeling how school level governance WORKS. Districts, particularly large ones, will never be able to meet the specific needs of each school – communities and children in them and their needs vary widely. You KNOW this. Districts will never, ever yield control and give it to parents and community members.
You continue to say that we should “organize and vote.” Think about how much power you REALLY have… you get 1 vote for 1 person every 4 years – and as a parent, that means you get 3 votes through the academic career of your child. Even if parents in Clayton, DeKalb, APS, etc. organized, how long will it take to unseat the members who continue to provide poor leadership and get these districts on the right path? That’s not local control – its an illusion. Contrast the charter model: parents can organize ANYTIME, and if the charter is not meeting its objectives, a majority of parents can CLOSE it. Charters generally have elected boards, too, and parents have a voice in their board elections process as well, AND they may serve as members.
Charters have never been a panacea – what they are is a catalyst. They are putting a spotlight on waste, dysfunction, and poor achievement – things that remain hidden under the rug in many communities. Charters are raising the bar and putting control back into the hands of their communities.
I’ve asked you this before and I can’t recall if you answered…. if you believe an appeals process is appropriate (and I believe you have said you did and we had one) – then why not support affirming that on the ballot? If you hate the idea of a Commission, and you believe in local control (i.e., your House of Rep member who is locally elected) – why don’t you just organize to make some changes to 797?
ChartersStarter, Too
October 28th, 2012
11:53 pm
@ Crankee-Yankee – Onerous? What do you mean onerous? IF the districts fairly authorize, then the Commission won’t authorize more schools. This is an appeals process – and the districts continue to claim we “have one already.” Why fight affirming this?
ChartersStarter, Too
October 28th, 2012
11:55 pm
@ Crankee-yankee. Over 10 years, we have 70 independent schools in around 10 districts. It’s more than a “handful” of districts – it’s about 170 of them.
ChartersStarter, Too
October 29th, 2012
12:01 am
@ Janet – and THAT is part of the issue…. traditional districts keep worrying about who they serve and the parents who won’t help, etc., etc.
Charters use the privilege of their flexibility to employ innovative and research based instructional strategies to engage the kids, discipline plans to enforce appropriate behavior to maximize learning time, yearly and daily schedules to extend learning time, teachers with content area expertise – sometimes from the fields specifically (i.e., a biologist to teach biology), different organizational models to provide efficiency and put more money into the classrooms, and a variety of other methods.
Charter founders believe that under the right conditions, children – regardless of race, economic status, or even family situation, CAN and WILL learn. And the main focus/mission becomes how to create those conditions.
crankee-yankee
October 29th, 2012
12:13 am
ChartersStarter, Too
October 28th, 2012
11:53 pm
Onerous, yes. It is an “appeals” process coming out of a loaded deck. It takes the state’s responsibility to fund any charter school they approve over local dissent and places it in the laps of the district that does not want the charter. THAT is my problem, the state, through an unelected commision, appointed by a gentleman who quit the US Congress under an ethics cloud and is currently populating state agency leadership with political cronies, would get to override local control. Is this not counter to the mantra of conservatives everywhere?
teaching taxpayer
October 29th, 2012
12:16 am
Put forward an amendment that will let taxpayers elect or defeat the people spending tax dollars on charter schools, and I will vote for it. Put forward an amendment that allows Nathan Deal to appoint unaccountable crony bureaucrats who redistribute our tax dollars with no consequences, and I’ll vote against it. No spending of taxation without representation!
ChartersStarter, Too
October 29th, 2012
12:23 am
@ Crankee-Yankee and Teaching Taxpayer – and yet, this same gentleman populates the state board of education. Should we dissolve that? Then there would be NO oversight over districts….no rules on salary schedules, retirement, health and safety, standard for education, etc.
If the Commission is appointed and you dislike their work, then, as one of the posters said, organize and vote out the individual who appointed them. I really don’t see the difference at all.
And again, the districts don’t lose money. Aside from that, at what point do children and their right to a solid education come into the conversation? Are you saying you’d rather continue to throw good money after bad with many districts who continue to fail kids AND who mismanagement what they get?
crankee-yankee
October 29th, 2012
12:25 am
ChartersStarter, Too
October 28th, 2012
11:55 pm
I do not understand your comment, unless you misunderstood mine. I was referring to the handful of poorly functioning districts in the state, i.e. Dekalb, Clayton, APS, Randolf Co, etc.
ChartersStarter, Too
October 29th, 2012
12:25 am
And by the way, “taxation without representation” is kind of an ignorant argument. We have standards in this state for WHAT can be taxed. You elect our General Assembly (the representation) who has (under the state’s Constitution) the authority to disburse the money as needed across varying programs. The fact that you don’t like how they choose to do that does not make it taxation without representation. You have the power to organize and elect other representatives who may do it better (isn’t that what the opposition keeps telling the charter sector?)
ChartersStarter, Too
October 29th, 2012
12:29 am
I was referring to the need for an appeals process because of the poor and unfair authorizing practices across our state AND because we have SO MANY FAILING DISTRICTS and need options in these.
Frankly, APS, although their board has been rather dysfunctional and their executive administration questionable, they have actually done a pretty good job on the authorization of charter schools. DeKalb – totally dysfunctional, but has made some decent strides with chartering.
Remember, our state’s graduation rate is 67.4% – that’s the AVERAGE. Abysmal.
teaching taxpayer
October 29th, 2012
12:40 am
That’s really the best you can do, ChartersStarter, Too? “Shady” Deal appoints some of the people who spend taxpayer dollars, and so we should vote to let him make even more such appointments? And his appointment history (See: Lottery, Georgia) is so wonderful! You and I both know there’s one reason Amendment 1 is written the way it is: If it’s passed, “Shady” will have been elected to his second and final term in 2014, and his cronies will have redistributed our tax dollars right into the wallets of yet other cronies LOOONG before we see the actual results, or lack thereof. Remember that for them, it’s all about the kids’ ….. trust funds. Good night, Gracie.
crankee-yankee
October 29th, 2012
12:41 am
ChartersStarter, Too
October 29th, 2012
12:23 am
Yes the districts will lose funding. The governor’s own budget office confirms it, as well as citing language that allows for increased per pupil funding in charters. This when the state still does not fully fund school districts via their own QBE formula. Districts are already scraping bottom. My class sizes have ballooned to 34 students from a few short years ago when they averaged 24. The state is uninterested in funding the education of its populace. There is a belief throwing education to “for profit” entities will improve education in spite of, at best, mixed results. This whole thing would be laughable if it weren’t so critical to our future.
crankee-yankee
October 29th, 2012
12:49 am
ChartersStarter, Too
October 29th, 2012
12:29 am
Please identify the “…MANY FAILING DISTRICTS” you cite. Give us the data to back up your claim. But again, why punish the districts that are excelling?
I love teaching. I hate what it is becoming...
October 29th, 2012
6:20 am
@another angle “In the corporate world and the legal world, it would be normal course to abstain from voting. ”
Really? Those with corporate interests and legal interests abstain from voting in state elections when the issues that are up for a vote address those interests? Since when?
In that case, every pro-amendment voter who has some connection to Charter schools – parents, teachers, staff or corporate/business interests should abstain from voting as well… right?
Bobby
October 29th, 2012
6:46 am
Clayton County Schools – reason enough for me to have voted yes on Amendment 1.
Does anyone think they would allow a charter in the county in order for kids to escape their grasp? No difference between a county charter and a state charter in how a charter school would run, the only difference is that people in the bad counties will now have an option.
cobbmom
October 29th, 2012
6:49 am
In the past decade the state of Georgia has cut nearly 2 billion, yes billion with a “b”, dollars from the state education budget, but teachers and local school district are blamed when there are problems. Overcrowded classrooms, old textbooks, crumbling structures and out of control children are more to blame than classroom teachers. Instead of looking for more ways to cut funding to public schools the state should be looking at giving more disciplinary control to the classroom teacher and holding parents responsible for their children. Why don’t public schools have the mandatory parental volunteer hours that charter schools have? Perhaps if the parents of problem children had to spend time in the school we would see a difference in the performance of their children and the schools in general.
catlady
October 29th, 2012
6:57 am
SSP and others: Did you notice Chris Christy (gov of NJ) detailing last night that OVER 300 school districts in NJ had decided to be closed today, and OVER 200 had not yet decided?! Your point about our mega-districts is well made. My little system, a county one, has about 4200 students, and seems to me to be the perfect size (although it was more responsive when there were 3200.
catlady
October 29th, 2012
6:59 am
This amendment opens yet another avenue of rip-off, greed, influence-peddling, political rewarding, etc. We sure don’t need another level of this! Georgia’s “leadership” are past masters at it already!
Eddie Hall
October 29th, 2012
7:03 am
As Charter2 stated, those are AVERAGES, and an old tactic to use numbers as a method to scare votes to their side. As I said earlier, the average in my district, and the adjoining district are BOTH in the high 80’s, and until a different method was used to calculate that tracks students that left our school as early as ninth grade to go somewhere else, and penalizes for students who take an extra semester, the average was in the high 90’s.
This MIGHT be a good thing for some, but not most. Don’t forget, while the state peels dollars away from the local system, they will be forced to make up the short fall with increased property taxes. The state uses OUR money to finance a second system, and we pay more taxes. NOT FOR ME! VOTE NO!
crankee-yankee
October 29th, 2012
7:06 am
Bobby
October 29th, 2012
6:46 am
I ask again, you would punish all the effective systems because of Clayton County alone? Somewhat draconian, no?
And the argument is not over how the charters would be run, but who pays for the charter. If the state creates a charter, let the state pay for it out of the general fund.
a reader
October 29th, 2012
7:07 am
Yes to charters, but NO, a world of NO to an amendment to the state constitution. It’s excessive, it’s not the way to do this, and it cedes control from the voters in the state (not just at the local / county level but at the state level as well) to the deep pocketed corporations, lobbyists and for-profit centers.
Please, people, think about the control you are ceding as a voter at both the local and state level. Changes to the constitution should be rare and for extreme cases only that cannot be dealt with in any other way. Changes should not be made to funnel tax money to corporations who aren’t accountable to voters.
Makes Senses huh?
October 29th, 2012
7:24 am
JC. Huizenga who gave $250,000 OWNS (For Profit) Atlanta Heights Charter School, one of the schools which would likely close if this bill fails. It makes sense he is giving to support his own school.
ChartersStarter, Too
October 29th, 2012
8:24 am
@ Teaching Taxpayer – Governor Deal was ELECTED. You can sling mud at the man all you want, but he was fairly elected by the state. He has the Constitutional authority to appoint as commissions and agencies. We have all sorts of them. This is a 7 person volunteer Commission. The real control is at the school level with the charter boards.
@ Crankee-Yankee:
33 systems on the Priority list
http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/Curriculum-Instruction-and-Assessment/Accountability/Documents/FINAL%20-%20Priority%20Schools%20-%2008.08.12.pdf
http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/Curriculum-Instruction-and-Assessment/Accountability/Documents/FINAL%20-%20Focus%20Schools%2003.20.12.pdf
http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/Curriculum-Instruction-and-Assessment/Accountability/Documents/FINAL%20-%20Alert%20Schools%2005.15.12.pdf
….These are only Title 1 schools on 2 of the 3 of these lists. Failure is rampant in our state. We MUST do something! Those systems doing great things and using funds efficiently should be absolutely furious with those who aren’t and should be pushing to get them to improve – NOT fighting against raising the bar for all.
And again, I am not sure how an appeals process is “punishment.”
Districts will NOT lose local funding – go look at the Amendment legislation (HR 1162) and the enabling legislation (HB 797). Language explicit in both does not allow districts to have funds taken from them – that was the crux of the last lawsuit, so to protect against another lawsuit, this had to be addressed. And your class size is a DISTRICT DECISION. Go to http://www.open.georgai.gov and check out your district’s salaries, number of non-essential staff, and expenditures. You might be surprised how very “NOT” rock bottom most of the districts are. It is amazing to me that people believe that districts, who have the benefit of economy of scale, are hurting so bad. We have had charter schools limping along at below $4000 per pupil… if charters can be efficient and do it, then why can’t districts? $4000 is not adequate, but frankly, charter averages are in the $7000 range, so any district above that should have some explaining to do on why they’re hurting so badly!
@ Cobb Mom – I am not in disagreement with you. What you must realize, however, is that discipline enforcement, expenditure controls, and establishing school culture (i.e., parental involvement models) are within the control of every single district and always have been. The problem is, to make it actually WORK, you have to push the decision making down to the school level…and central administration will never do that to any substantive degree.
@ Catlady – I have been fussing about tiny districts for months. Look, we have 77 districts under 3000 kids. 77! Every one of them has a superintendent, secretaries, and other central office personnel. Districts could and should combine for efficiency and savings so more money gets to instruction.
IMHO, central offices should do a few very, very limited things: HR (administrative/labor relations only), finance (higher level, audits), legal, accountability/instruction (limited to legal and regulatory, Title 1), food service administration, facilities administration, and oversight. That’s most of what they do now, BUT the scope of this work is way, way, way too broad. Their scope should be narrowed and decision making about each of these areas should be pushed down to the school level. Then “responsiveness” would be a moot point, as the response would be at the school level.
ChartersStarter, Too
October 29th, 2012
8:28 am
@ Reader – let’s think about what you are saying here. First of all, we had a Commission operational for 2 and a half years. Did you feel, as a taxpayer, as a community member, any loss of your control? Did you even know the Commission was there?
The Commission’s role would be to approve/deny and oversee. All control is vested in the individual boards of each charter, which are filled with parents, educators, and community members.
Let me issue you a challenge – go to http://www.open.georgia.gov and do a search on expenditures in your local school district. Count how many expenditures go to for-profit enterprises. Moreover, go to the campaign contribution site and view the for-profit vendors contributing to the vote no campaign. For-profits exist in public education. That is not simply with charter schools.
indigo
October 29th, 2012
8:45 am
ChartersStarters Too – 7:29
1. Since you keep charging me with being paranoid, please funish proof of that. (Hint – just calling me that doesn’t make it so)
2. It’s HOW they teach the state’s curriculum, especially science, which, to the fundamentalists, is the work of the devil.
3. I said NOTHING about either “local control”, or the election process. What are you smoking?
4. This ammendment is for the fouding of FUTURE charter schools. As of now, the fundamentalist must call their schools “Christian Acadamys”.
5. I wouldn’t dream of calling you a “meanie head”. However, due to the level of education and maturity you show here, I think “peewee” is the appropriate name.
Me
October 29th, 2012
8:57 am
I think it’s hilarious that people think that the charter schools aren’t going to hire the SAME, that’s right SAME teachers that are teaching in the public school systems. Just like private schools hire the teachers from public schools. You guys are gonna be in for a rude awakening. The Charter schools are a great idea, but parents are gonna do exactly what they did to the public system. Sue and protest to get the schools to change things according to whatever agenda they want, then whine when there are horrible outcomes. Most of you have only your fellow parents to blame for the current system. I mean where do you think things like “social promotion” came from? It came from parents who continuously refusing to have their “little darlings ” retained because it would hurt their self-esteem.
Phil from Athens
October 29th, 2012
8:57 am
“Does either worry you?’
Billions of dollars of taxpayer money is spent on our horrible public education system every year. Now tell me again WHY non-tax payer dollars going to charter schools should worry me?
Phil from Athens
October 29th, 2012
8:58 am
“This amendment opens yet another avenue of rip-off, greed, influence-peddling, political rewarding, etc. ”
So basically the exact same thing that has been going on in public education for decades. Got it.
Me
October 29th, 2012
8:58 am
sorry I mean “continuously refused” not continuously refusing
Phil from Athens
October 29th, 2012
8:59 am
Mary Elizabeth
I know you’re pro-union, pro-socialism etc but please give it a rest. You can not defend public education because public education is garbage and the numbers prove it.
Phil from Athens
October 29th, 2012
9:00 am
“Bookman wrote”
Bookman also claimed that the attack in Libya was not a terrorist attack, Obama is awesome and Republicans are evil.
No one takes that hack seriously.
Maureen Downey
October 29th, 2012
9:05 am
@Phil, If you read that piece, Jay — who grew up on bases all over the world as the son of a military officer — was explaining that the attack did not meet the definition of terror. Nor did Jay excuse the failure to protect the embassy
Here is an excerpt of what Jay wrote:
bootney farnsworth
October 29th, 2012
9:09 am
@ another angle
I’ll be glad to abstain from voting on this issue when you can enforce the same rules on everyone else.
or for that matter, if you can prove to me Fran Millar doesn’t vote on it.
we are public servants, not public policy makers
ChartersStarter, Too
October 29th, 2012
9:09 am
@ Indigo (CAPS ARE FOR PURPOSES OF SEPARATING YOUR COMMENTS FROM MINE – I AM NOT YELLING.)
ChartersStarters Too – 7:29
1. Since you keep charging me with being paranoid, please funish proof of that. (Hint – just calling me that doesn’t make it so)
SEE YOUR COMMENTS BELOW IN #2.
2. It’s HOW they teach the state’s curriculum, especially science, which, to the fundamentalists, is the work of the devil.
OK, SO WHAT PROOF DO YOU HAVE THAT THEY ARE DOING THE “DEVIL’S WORK?” AS YOU SAID, SAYING IT’S TRUE DOESN’T MAKE IT SO.
3. I said NOTHING about either “local control”, or the election process. What are you smoking?
I DON’T SMOKE. MY BODY IS A TEMPLE.
I SAID THE OPPOSITION, WHICH YOU ARE PART OF, KEEPS MAKING THE ARGUMENT OF “LOCAL CONTROL.” SOUNDS LIKE YOU (NOT SURPRISINGLY) GO OFF ON YOUR OWN LIMB AND DON’T BELIEVE IN OUR LEGISLATIVE PROCESS AT ALL. HOW, PRAY TELL, DO YOU SUGGEST ANYTHING GET DONE IN THIS STATE IF YOU DON’T GO THROUGH THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS AND JUST ASSUME THAT EVER DECISION MADE BY THE LEGISLATURE IS A BOUGHT ONE? I KNOW LOBBYING IS A BIG THING, BUT HONESTLY, IT DOESN’T DRIVE EVERY PERSON SITTING UP AT THE STATE HOUSE. THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE WITH INTEGRITY, AND I LIKE TO THINK THAT THE ONES I HAVE VOTED FOR FROM MY COMMUNITY ARE THOSE PEOPLE (OTHERWISE, I’D GET THEM VOTED OUT).
4. This ammendment is for the fouding of FUTURE charter schools. As of now, the fundamentalist must call their schools “Christian Acadamys”.
CHARTERS ARE CAREFULLY VETTED WITH THE LOCALS AND THE STATE – IF THEY EVEN HAVE A WHIFF OF BEING AFFILIATED WITH A RELIGIOUS BODY, THEY ARE DENIED (AND SHOULD BE, AS IT IS AGAINST THE LAW). HAVING “CHRISTIAN” IN THE NAME WOULD BE A RED FLAG.
5. I wouldn’t dream of calling you a “meanie head”. However, due to the level of education and maturity you show here, I think “peewee” is the appropriate name.
LOL. THAT’S MS. PEEWEE TO YOU!
I REALLY DO THINK YOU ARE JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS ON THINGS THAT ARE NOT BASED IN FACT – ONLY CONJECTURE. I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THIS HAS EVEN COME FROM – IT’S OUT OF THE BLUE, AND I’VE BEEN AROUND THE CHARTER SECTOR FOR MANY YEARS. THE COMMISSION APPROVED 16 SCHOOLS WHEN THEY WERE OPERATIONAL, AND NOT ONE OF THEM HAS “CHRISTIAN ACADEMY” IN THEIR NAME, AND NOT ONE OF THEM HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH FUNDAMENTALISM OR ITS PRINCIPLES. THE PRIVATE SCHOOLS DO A MARVELOUS JOB OF PROVIDING RELIGIOUS AFFILIATED OPTIONS – THAT IS NOT THE ROLE OF PUBLIC EDUCATION.
bootney farnsworth
October 29th, 2012
9:11 am
@ phil,
like you, I think Bookman is full of poo on this and most every other matter.
however, Bookman’s opinion on Libya has nothing to do with this particular issue.
Phil from Athens
October 29th, 2012
9:12 am
“If you read that piece, Jay — who grew up on bases all over the world as the son of a military officer — was explaining that the attack did not meet the definition of terror. Nor did Jay excuse the failure to protect the embassy”
So “growing up on bases all over the world” gives him military experience now? Hilarious. If the attack was not a terrorist attack then why is Obama calling it a terrorist attack now? I also never said anything about Jay “excusing” the failure to protect the embassy but it is interesting that you bring that up.
“That confusion allows us to place this attack safely within our preferred War on Terror narrative and casts America as the innocent victim of nefarious, brutal men rather than as a major player contending for some share of power and influence in Libya, which is what we are.
So what Jay is basically saying is that America is to blame.
Phil from Athens
October 29th, 2012
9:13 am
“however, Bookman’s opinion on Libya has nothing to do with this particular issue.”
All I did was point out examples of how Bookman is wrong on most everything. Libya was one of three examples.