Pass charter schools amendment, get back to fixing education in Georgia
Ask Georgians about education, and you’ll likely hear two things: It’s important to our future prosperity, and we’re lagging behind. They’re right about its importance. There is one area, however, in which Georgia doesn’t trail most other states when it comes to education:
Spending.
Not what you expected? Join the club. But Georgia ranked 23rd in spending per pupil according to the latest data available for all states, the 2007-08 school year. Further analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities suggests budget cuts since then have yet to push Georgia out of the top 30. We remain right around the middle.
Where we do lag behind is in the results we get for our money. Georgia ranks in the bottom third of states when it comes to proficiency in reading and math among fourth- and eighth-graders taking the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP.
The disparities show up all too plainly when one compares Georgia to the states with which we sometimes compete for jobs — states like Colorado, Florida, North Carolina and Texas. It isn’t even close: We’re above average among that group for educational spending but last or next-to-last in each NAEP category.
In particular, we spend about 25 percent more per pupil than North Carolina. Yet, students there perform slightly better on the NAEP across the board.
Other measures tell a similarly sad tale. Of every 100 Georgia children who begin the ninth grade, just 54 will graduate high school. Just 40 will enroll in a college or technical school, and almost half of them won’t make it to a second year. Only nine — nine! — will graduate.
“Too many [high school graduates] are coming and they’re not prepared,” Dean Alford, a member of the Board of Regents, said at an event this week sponsored by the Georgia Public Policy Foundation. The state, he said, spends $254 million a year on college and technical students who don’t last until their sophomore year. (Alford also presented the statistics about ninth-graders, citing research by an organization called Complete College America.)
Rising revenues may mean the end of cuts to Georgia’s education budget. But Georgians ought to question whether it really makes sense to add more money to the same old educational model that’s produced those lackluster results.
A key to improving the system, rather than merely pouring more money into it, is restoring the state’s ability to approve charter schools. Charters are public schools, but they give parents and students options while allowing for more innovation — and accountability — than traditional public schools.
The experiences of charters like Fulton Science Academy and Ivy Preparatory Academy, denied contracts or extensions by local school boards despite their track records of academic success, suggests local boards like control too much to give them sole control over charter approvals.
Yet, because of an egregious ruling last spring by the Georgia Supreme Court, the state’s ability to approve charter schools on its own has been severely limited.
This week, Rep. Jan Jones, a Republican from Milton and the No. 2-ranking member of the state House, officially proposed an amendment to the state Constitution restoring the state’s power to approve charters. The House could vote on it as soon as next week, and it deserves to pass the Legislature this year and be put to a voter referendum in November.
It’s good policy and good politics: A new opinion poll commissioned by Americans for Prosperity, which supports charters, found Georgians overwhelmingly believe parents know what’s best for their children and should be able to use the state funds allocated for their children at the school of their choice.
Respondents also said overwhelmingly, to the tune of 71 percent support, that they’d be more likely to vote for a candidate who supports school choice. A two-thirds vote is required in both the House and Senate to put the amendment on the ballot. You do the math.
We can’t afford for them not to take action, because we can’t afford more years of pouring more and more money into an educational system that produces diminishing returns. Again, you do the math.
– By Kyle Wingfield
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
201 comments Add your comment
Somewhere over there
January 26th, 2012
10:30 am
Charter School Dad
BINGO!
Chuck Doberman
January 26th, 2012
10:32 am
Somewhere – great job epitomizing my original post. Well done
UGA 1999
January 26th, 2012
10:33 am
Vouchers, Vouchers, Vouchers
HDB
January 26th, 2012
10:45 am
Somewhere over there
January 26th, 2012
10:04 am
Are you aware that the word discriminate means “pick and choose”?? The private schools DO discriminate as to whom they desire to educate!!
UGA 1999
January 26th, 2012
10:52 am
HDB…..Discriminate? NO? Selective process for admissions….YES.
Amazed
January 26th, 2012
10:57 am
Hello Wingnut! The issue is allowing a faceless Charter Commission to circumvent the local boards constitutional governing authority. Local boards are elected officials! They do represent their community through an election process. This amendment would set-up a scenerio of taxation without representation. Does this far away (ATL) Charter Commission represent the will of local taxpayers? I think not.
carlosgvv
January 26th, 2012
11:00 am
“but they give parents options”
Yes, they certainly give fundamentalist Christian parents the options they so much want but can’t get in public schools:
1. The Earth is 6,000 years old.
2. The Earth is the center of the Universe
3. Humans are God’s crowning achivement
4. The Bible is the proven word of God
5. All non Christians are going to Hell
6. Evolution is a plot of the Devil designed to lead Christians astray
7. Falling behind other students in other countries in learning doesn’t matter because we are not of this world and heaven is our home. Praise the Lord!!!!!!!!
UGA 1999
January 26th, 2012
11:04 am
carlosgvv…..AMEN!
Somewhere over there
January 26th, 2012
11:05 am
“Are you aware that the word discriminate means “pick and choose”??”
I understand that you’re a race baiting human being.
TC
January 26th, 2012
11:13 am
A few replies are necessary to the comments by Mary Elizabeth, Gee Mac, and Atlanta Mom, because your comments show the ignorance of the typical misinformed public school views on charter schools:
1.) “Syphons taxpayer money” – Charter schools are given taxpayer money based on the number of students that enroll there, and the parents of those students pay taxes too, therefore money isn’t being syphoned away from the public schools, it’s following the student, as it should be. Why should the money go to your schools when the students aren’t even attending there? Makes no sense at all. If these students went to private schools (and many would choose to do so based on the horrible learning environments in some of these public schools – oh, the stories I could tell!), you still wouldn’t get the funding because they don’t attend your school – do you also condemn private schools because they syphon your taxpayer money?
2.) “No accountability or oversight” – completely false, and something FCS is only saying now because they are upset about not getting their way in shutting down a school that is outperforming their schools. Yes, charter schools don’t have to abide by all of the red-tape, beaurocratic, micro-managing efforts of the County, but they are just as accountable to the County for their performance as any other school is. It is part of their charter that they reach specific levels of performance, levels I might add that are higher than the other traditional schools achieve.
3.) “Without academic standards” – Now that’s just flat out lying to the public to influence them to lean toward your point of view. As someone who is a school educational leader for 35 years, you surely know that every school in the state follows the Georgia Performance Standards (GPS), including charter schools, don’t you? That’s common knowedge to anyone who knows anything about education in the State. Shame on you for misleading others.
4.) “Without educator criteria” – All charter school teachers are now required to be State Certified, so how can you say there is no criteria? They meet the same criteria as every other school? Admittedly, it wasn’t always that way – they just had to be “highly qualified” – typically meaning that they have a degree in the field they are teaching – but that was previously the case, not any longer. Now, every teacher in the school the County was trying to close down is already certified or has a provisional certification (meaning they are in the process of being certified). Even other public schools use the provisional teachers.
5.) “Run by the private sector” – Again, not exactly accurate, at least not in regards to the school the County was trying to close down. It is run by a governing board that is made up of founding members and elected parents (ones that do have good qualifications on how to run a school). These elected parents are the majority on their school board – they have a say on how the school is run that THEIR child attends. The school’s day-to-day operations are run by the principal (and quite well I would say based on their success) and not some private business who knows nothing about education. Every decision made is by administrators who are educators and qualified to do what is in the best interests of the students who attend there.
6.) “Ability to pick and choose students” – Charter schools by law cannot only pick and choose the best students in order to increase their test scores or create segregation. Students get in via a lottery (siblings do have a priority and by-pass the lottery), and test scores are not looked at to determine who gets in. If these schools have more TAG students, it is because more TAG students applied to their school (and that would be because the parents of those children are more involved and are unhappy with the educational environment in the other public schools).
7.) “Doesn’t accept Special Ed students to their school” – Again, that is false. By law, they must accept anyone who gets in via the lottery. The school the County was trying to close actually has about 10% of it’s population as either Special Education or has accommodations through a 504 Plan. That number doesn’t even include the students with disabilities that do not require significant accommodations.
Although this issue affects all charter schools, the main one this debate is centered around is Fulton Science Academy MS in Alpharetta. This school is one of only 300 in the NATION to be given the Blue Ribbon Award by the US Dept. of Education this year, it is the first GA charter school to recieve it, and the only middle school in the state to receive it. FCS downplays this because they don’t want the competition anymore – it’s making them look bad, because “their” schools aren’t doing quite as well. FSAMS has had the top ITBS scores in the County IN ALL 5 SUBJECTS FOR 4 YEARS STRAIGHT. They downplay it because they know that FSAMS is sucessful because they don’t have to be micro-managed by the County and because they don’t have TOTAL control.
I also think it’s horrible that FCS would take issue with FSAMS wanting a better facility for their students – one that’s not in an old wharehouse with an undersized gym, doesn’t have grass fields, has leaky ceilings, and windowless classrooms. In spite of the terrible facilities, they still find a way to be sucessful! FSAMS should be applauded for getting a bond instead of making the taxpayer foot the bill directly, unlike they had to do for the $36 million plantation-like HS Milton got a few years ago. FSAMS itself is responsible for repaying the bond – isn’t that better than throwing it away renting the bad facility they’ve had to live with for 10 years? The FCSS is the one mismanaging taxpayer money here – they spend $36 million for one high school (and yet they are still opening new ones in the area because that one wasn’t big enough), and yet FSAMS is spending HALF that for both a middle and high school together? It just goes to show you that FCS employees and management are trying to deflect from their own problems by blaming someone else….
Charter School Dad
January 26th, 2012
11:14 am
Amazed,
Even the Local BOE’s don’t represent the taxpayers. Dr. Robert Avossa (Superintendent FCBOE) told a group of parents at Spaulding School that “he has never negotiated with individual parents and he never will”. He isn’t even elected, he was picked by the Fulton County BOE, but he runs the show.
Where is my voice, where is my representation.
Parent
January 26th, 2012
11:15 am
To quote another blog, Allowing local school boards to decide on a charter school’s renewal is akin to allowing Red Lobster to decide if an Applebee’s can open next door. They are competitors. Period.
HDB
January 26th, 2012
11:15 am
UGA 1999
January 26th, 2012
10:52 am
I’m using the word discriminate as meaning SELECTION….as in “pick and choose”; the problem is that those choices, most times, are based on non-academic criteria….such as race.
Somewhere over there
January 26th, 2012
11:05 am
It’s not race-baiting if one has an expanded vocabulary!! It’s evident of one’s lack of a vocabulary if one can’t translate the context……….
What
January 26th, 2012
11:21 am
If your kids can’t make it in public school either the student or the parents are not involved or stupid.
TC
January 26th, 2012
11:21 am
To answer the comment by Amazed, ever hear of “conflict of interest”? That’s the reason for going around these elected officials – because it is obvious they are corrupt based on the way they are denying the charter of FSAMS. FSAMS is treated like competition and since they feel threatened by it, they’re trying to shut it down. The whole point of charter schools is to develop competition – free market system – competition forces the other schools to improve or parents will take their children out and send them to a school that can educate better. Parents are NOT happy with the school enviroments in the other public schools – gangs are prevelent in a number of them, there is no sense of discipline (at least not supported enough by administration to make a difference), drug use is not uncommon, and these are just the stories I hear about the MIDDLE SCHOOLS in N. Fulton County. Parents want a better education, and they are entitled to it since their tax dollars pay for it…
UGA 1999
January 26th, 2012
11:21 am
HDB….Is any college institution discriminatory in admissions? YEP….they discriminate against white Americans every day. They must have a certain percentage of black and minority students.
NOW YOU TELL ME WHO IS GETTING DISCRIMINATED AGAINST???
Ragnar Danneskjöld
January 26th, 2012
11:24 am
Political control over schools always leads to institutions with under-performing students. Parental control over schools always leads to institutions with top performing students. Until the apologists for public schools appreciate that core truth, they will continue to lobby for ineffective changes. Whether a school is “public” or “private” or “charter” matters less than who controls it, and the leftists always campaign for control by the wrong people.
James
January 26th, 2012
11:25 am
I live in Fulton County where everybody is somebody! Who needs Scholl……Please close all the charter scholls down! I am fine with the Puplick scholl
)))
TC
January 26th, 2012
11:25 am
To Amazed’s comment earlier, the officials won’t be in office too much longer because they are NOT representing what the community wants. If the community had known what they were planning to do in regards to FSAMS, they would not have voted them into office. It’s not just the parents of the students in that school either – companies in the area support the school too – Verizon and Coke, just to name a couple. And also the 500 or so parents of students on the school’s very long waiting list…
Don't Tread
January 26th, 2012
11:28 am
“we can’t afford more years of pouring more and more money into an educational system that produces diminishing returns.”
And yet the liberals keep crying that we’re just not pouring in enough money (and as a corollary, not taking more money away from the people that earned it). Seeing as how liberals are essentially in charge of the school systems now (as opposed to when I went to school), is it surprising they want more money poured into the schools?
The ability of the (so-called) “graduates” to function as adults diminishes every year. (Coincidence? I think not.) Most of these clods can’t even balance a checkbook, much less understand a cause-and-effect relationship. But hey, they’re Facebook experts!
Somewhere over there
January 26th, 2012
11:28 am
“It’s not race-baiting if one has an expanded vocabulary!! It’s evident of one’s lack of a vocabulary if one can’t translate the context”
No, it’s pretty clear you’re a racist.
James
January 26th, 2012
11:29 am
Georgiais # 50 in Education If we had more states I am very sure that we would find a way to be at the bottom…Can you see that Georgia’s educational system does not work! Why be afraid of something that works Such as FULTON SCIENCE ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL why our local board is afraid of competition? It is time to try something else …I am sick and tired of Public education as it is.
Confused
January 26th, 2012
11:32 am
I wanted to correct some misstatements in the comments:
Charter schools cannot chose their students; the students are chosen through a lottery system.
Charter schools have a HIGHER average minority population than public schools in Georgia.
Charter schools receive LESS funding than public schools in Fulton County in part because the school boards chose not to provide them with SPLOST funds (despite their repeated statements that they support charter schools)
Fulton Science Academy has the highest test scores in all ITBS standardized test subjects each of the last four years in Fulton County. It is a fantastic school providing focused educational opportunities in math and science, fields where there is a critical shortage of US graduates. FSA has a 40% minority population, and the scores of its black students trounce the scores over Fulton County as a whole.
Why would the Fulton County School Board vote to shut down an exceptional school, rather than try to learn from it, unless the Board is driven by political considerations that undermine the wellbeing of their students?
HDB
January 26th, 2012
11:45 am
UGA 1999
January 26th, 2012
11:21 am
“HDB….Is any college institution discriminatory in admissions? YEP….they discriminate against white Americans every day. They must have a certain percentage of black and minority students.
NOW YOU TELL ME WHO IS GETTING DISCRIMINATED AGAINST???”
If you honestly think white students are being discriminated against, then please explain the DECLINING enrollment of minority students in college………with all of the anti-Affirnmative Action laws being passed…such as the Bakke case in California…..the decline in minority adminssions is evident. Are there factors other than race in play here……admittely yes. You can’t say the white people are being discriminated AGAINST…for they are the ones IN POWER!! One must have POWER in order to discriminate…….and they are setting the rules!! Don’t hate me because you changed the rules!!!
To expound further: as a graduate of UGA, hopefully, you are aware that UGA did NOT allow its first black student to ENTER until the 60s……but it’s the oldest land grant university in the nation. Please inform me as to whom has been discriminated AGAINST more……..
In math…a negative times a negative is a POSITIVE!! If ALL schools had OPEN ENROLLMENT, then your issue would be germain….but since not……………….
Somewhere over there
January 26th, 2012
11:28 am
From the THESAURUS:
discriminate:
Main Entry: cull
Part of Speech: verb
Definition: pick out for reason
Synonyms:
choose, discriminate , elect, extract, glean, mark, opt for, optate, pluck, prefer, select, sift, single out, take, thin, thin out, winnow
Please elaborate where the racial overtone is here………………….
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
January 26th, 2012
11:48 am
Schools were much better when there was less government control.
More government intrusion = Lower performance
And that goes for more than just schools. Government has the reverse Midas touch.
yuzeyurbrane
January 26th, 2012
11:48 am
Kyle is for local control of education except when Big Brother is the more available path for taking the first step towards a voucher program. The case for charters has not been made yet. They are experiments with pro’s and con’s. But siphoning scarce funds from public education to provide more welfare for the wealthy seems to always be Kyle’s preferred option. That is the only consistency in his positions.
TC
January 26th, 2012
11:49 am
Confused? You don’t sound confused at all – everything you said is accurate. FSAMS has a very diverse student body, and succeeds despite their current (inadequate) facility operating expenses (that other schools do not have) and about 2/3 per student funding compared to what the other schools get. They manage their money MUCH better and get better results.
@@
January 26th, 2012
11:51 am
I’ve always wondered why private business doesn’t take control to educate their future employees.
If you want your child working for government, send them to a government school. If you want them to work for a successful business, put them in a business run school.
Having said that, there are two charter schools here in Clayton County…both made up of minority students…one all black…the other black and hispanic. That tells me that minorities are looking for something better than what the government offers. Both schools not only meet, but exceed statewide requirements. We’ve had other charters than were dismal failures.
Just this week my daughter began her fellowship at a low-income, predominantly black school. While navigating with her little charges, she was approached by one of the teachers (black). He addressed her as Mom and asked which child was hers. Puzzled, she said “None of them are mine…I’m taking over for (insert name here)”. To which he responded “Are you sure? ‘Cause ‘that one’ looks like you”.
His point? I have yet to figure it out. An odd way to welcome a newcomer.
Kelly
January 26th, 2012
11:54 am
Charter Schools ARE public schools and there doors are open to EVERY child in the county they are in. Should there be more children applying than there openings, they will be chosen through the lottery system.
You state if I want a better education for my children pay for it. I do pay for it; I pay taxes.
There is a difference between bad teachers and teachers we just don’t like. I have personally experienced several instances where a teacher has failed one of my children, and those teachers are still teaching. I will only mention 3.
*1st grade teacher punished child because she read more than the rest of the class
*High School typing teacher had migraine headaches. The lights would be turned off and all the
kids would place their heads on their desk in the dark. No typing!
*High School teacher told child that there were “no ethics” in her class”
I have also experienced teachers that have made incredible differences to benefit my children.
So many are opposed to Charter Schools and seem to believe their schools are great. If that is the case why is Georgia rated 48th in Education.
I have chosen a Charter School for my child because it meets her needs better than the other options given to me. If your school meets your needs then send your child there, that is your choice. Why are you taking away my choice?
TC
January 26th, 2012
12:04 pm
yuzeyurbrane,
You’re repeating the same inaccurate arguments that I countered earlier – read my long post from earlier. Charters don’t syphon funds and they don’t just choose whatever kids they want to get in (your wealthy inference). Quit misleading the public. In regards to “control of education”, that actually is the problem here. FCS is trying to control a school that has been successful in spite of their beaurocratic red-tape mentality. When you allow a school the freedom to do whatever is necessary, WHEN it is necessary, in order to help students achieve – you can get positive results. That’s what FSAMS has proved and it’s what the FCSS is trying to stop because they want control. The State is trying to ensure that FSAMS can operate they way they need to to be successful and FCSS, which has a conflict of interest, does not…
getalife
January 26th, 2012
12:13 pm
Kyle,
Why didn’t you join Jay in court with that birther crap?
How much did that joke cost Georgia taxpayers?
Somewhere over there
January 26th, 2012
12:24 pm
“Why didn’t you join Jay in court with that birther crap?”
Jay is trying to find anything he can to take away the focus from how horrible Obozo is.
Somewhere over there
January 26th, 2012
12:25 pm
getalife
How much does your welfare cost the taxpayers?
Bob
January 26th, 2012
12:39 pm
Kyle, interesting topic and interesting comments. I’m thinking that Charter schools are just treating the symptom when we really should be addressing the root cause of the problem. Ending tenure, requiring teachers to have some pratical experience rather than “book theory”, and end this “no child can succeed” program we call no child left behind. Also, shut down the Dept of Education which has been dumbing down education since Jimmy made it official, and use that money at the state and local levels for education enhancement. I remember the old adage that says those closest to the problem are most capable of solving it. As a retired business owner and an adjunct college professor for the past 11 years, I don’t think we’re teaching our grammar/high school students how to do anything except take classes. Just my opinion. Thanks for your article.
James
January 26th, 2012
12:43 pm
Hey guyz look at the positive side of this mass… What if we had a 60 states instead of 50 than we would be the 60th in Education
Public Schools do not work! Try something else for the education! May be charter system? I think Fulton County is trying to become a charter system hmmm.. They do not mind to shot down a great charter school but They turn around and apply to become a charter system 
I thought I was confuse 
@@
January 26th, 2012
12:56 pm
Getalife:
Why didn’t you join Jay in court with that birther crap?
I dropped in at jay’s to review some of the comments. I agree with Ragnar…the only people interested in “crap”, selective or overALL, are jay and his left-wingers.
schnirt
Cassie
January 26th, 2012
1:05 pm
Actually, UGA 1999, college admissions actively discriminate against Asians and white women – there are so few males applying for college that they get preference points – not as many as Black and Latino applicants, mind you, but white men are in a neutral to endangered category for college admissions. They don’t get discriminated against because they are not applying in overwhelmingly disproportionate numbers like white women and Asian students are.
the red herring
January 26th, 2012
1:07 pm
Georgia public education for a long long time has been a black hole for tax payer dollars. Charter schools and other options (e.g. computer/on line education programs) should be allowed. Public Schools administrative staffs should be modeled after successful private schools (this means drastically cutting them and returning some of that money to taxpayers while rewarding successful teachers with the rest. Our colleges need to lower tuition/etc by getting lean and mean with their administrations as well. Ga. high school and college administrators recieve outrageous salaries, benefits, etc (some even are provided housing stipends). It’s time for Georgia’s governor and the legislature to stop running from their responsibility to the taxpayer and cut back on the number of administrators and also on the salaries and benefits. After all these people are supposed to be working for the taxpayer since that’s who pays these salaries/etc. A recent article in the AJC stated dekalb co. had a study done by an independent organization and that particular county had an excess 300 adminstrators—that’s not 300 but an excess of 300. why doesn’t the legislature and the governor demand such a study be done on all georgia counties and then reorganize our schools to be staffed appropriately??
Sarah Coulter
January 26th, 2012
1:19 pm
UGA1999, you are insane. They don’t do that any more race selection at universities. There were too many lawsuits, so you need to find another tune to sing.
As for Charter Schools being behind in STEM and hiring outside of the US, that is because it is cheaper to “contract” from outside of the US. You don’t have to give benefits, they will work overtime (they are salaried so no paying overtime), and when their Visa expires, you can just hire “contract” a new one for cheaper.
Business = profit
Acadian
January 26th, 2012
1:24 pm
Amazing how hard liberals advocate for failing programs. Pathetic.
SouthGaDawg
January 26th, 2012
1:25 pm
Man, Aquagirl is in a mood today. I bet she’s a Clayton County School Board Member…you know, one of those “local elected officials” who did such a great job running the school system that it had its accreditation revoked. Then again, from the people who live in Clayton County, that’s only to be expected…
MrLiberty
January 26th, 2012
1:27 pm
Want to fix education in GA ? Get the government completely out of the business of education, starting with the socialist theft mechanism that funds government/charter schools.
Until parents start having to be financially responsible for their kid’s education, have to do the leg work to secure charitable aid to assist them, and can also be empowered to move their child and their money/scholarship to another school when their current one fails their kids, there will be NO change whatsoever of any significance.
It is high time for conservatives to call the socialist funding mechanism what it is – theft.
It is high time for conservatives to stop looking for government to solve their problems (as they always seem to do, despite their hollow rhetoric).
It is high time to abandon the government school system and homeschool or send their kids to private schools.
It is high time to start walking the walk instead of just talking the talk.
James
January 26th, 2012
1:31 pm
Mr. Liberty,
Charter = Choice + I am not stuck with government school
Obozonomics
January 26th, 2012
1:35 pm
Why liberals are so scared of charter schools, what a little competition top much for you?
Aquagirl, seems like when a conservative does an “end run” you complain, what about Obozo making recess appointment when they are NOT in recess? Gee could that be a double standard???
TC
January 26th, 2012
1:42 pm
In response to Sarah Coulter, I can say that FSAMS isn’t behind in STEM – they’re leading the way in Fulton County. As far as hiring from outside the US goes, only the principal, 1 of the two APs, and only 7 of the 37 teachers are from “outside the US” and 2 of those 7 are Foreign Langauge teachers. They aren’t paid less – everyone is on the same pay scale – and ALL of the teachers there work much more than the 40 hour work week. They attend school related events on the weekends, they hold CRCT Prep classes on the weekends, and most stay later than 5 to complete whatever needs to be done. Tutoring and clubs that they offer are also free at this school (unlike what I’ve heard of other schools). Part of the school’s success is the hard work and dedication of ALL teachers to the students. This is common when teachers are held accountable for their results – you don’t find it as much with tenured teachers…it’s why charter schools work.
Sarah Coulter
January 26th, 2012
1:46 pm
No, TC this was in regard to CharterDad’s comment about businesses hiring outside of the US because US schools lag behind in STEM.
Sarah Coulter
January 26th, 2012
1:49 pm
Why are you bringing up Obama in this? For the past decade, we have had a Republican governor in GA. The problems with education in GA are GA’s problems.
Are you freaks that obsessed with Obama that you have to turn the problems in GA (Say it with me “Georgia”)into an Obama bashing session? Jesus Christ the Superstar!
Somewhere over there
January 26th, 2012
1:51 pm
Sarah Coulter
You give a whole new meaning to the word insane.
Somewhere over there
January 26th, 2012
1:52 pm
“Are you freaks that obsessed with Obama that you have to turn the problems in GA (Say it with me “Georgia”)into an Obama bashing session?”
Speaking of freaks, when do you get out of prison?
Somewhere over there
January 26th, 2012
1:53 pm
“Why liberals are so scared of charter schools, what a little competition top much for you?”
Because they want everyone to be as stupid and incompetent as they are.