Public School News and Notes

Two Schools Approved By Charter Commission

Beginning in 2009-10, students in two of Georgia’s state chartered special schools will begin to be funded at a more equitable level. On June 18, the Georgia Charter Schools Commission approved Ivy Preparatory Academy (Ivy Prep) of Norcross and the Charter Conservatory for Liberal Arts and Technology (CCAT) of Statesboro to become the state’s first Commission charter schools. With this approval comes a higher level of funding. In the past, both school received only the state portion of education funding, about 40-60% of what a traditional public school would receive. Ivy Prep was approved unanimously and CCAT was approved after an extensive debate by a 4 to 2 vote. To learn more, check out this month’s commentary on the Charter Commission votes by CEG Director Ben Scafidi.

In other public school choice news, school systems across the state are working to meet the July 1 deadline for releasing the names of schools that will be able to accept transfer students under HB 251, a new law that allows students to transfer to another school in their assigned school system. In order to accept transfer students, a school must have “permanent space” available and be at least four years old. The new law serves as a minimum level of public school choice available to all students in each of the state’s 180 school systems.  Parents will be able to find more information about schools eligible to accept transfer students on their local school system’s website. 

Unfortunately, the state has interpreted the law in a way that serves to limit the amount of school choice available to families.  The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a piece on the law’s implementation on June 24, 2009, available here.

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Private School Choice Issues

Students Need Your Help!

As the 2009-10 school year approaches, thousands of parents are looking for affordable private school options for their children. For many, a Tuition Tax Credit Scholarship from a student scholarship organization (SSO) will make a private education accessible. 

But Georgia’s SSOs need your help. In order to help deserving students get the education they deserve, contributions for individuals, families, and corporations are needed. Each donation to a SSO is rewarded with a state income tax credit.  The credit is dollar for dollar up to $1,000 for individuals, $2,500 for joint filers, and 75% of a corporation’s state income tax liability.

Put your money to work to help deserving kids today.  Get started by selecting a SSO to make a contribution to.  It’s the first step to making a deserving child’s dreams become reality. Learn more about donating to SSOs on our website by clicking here.

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For Homeschools

Did You Know…

…that Georgia homeschool students are now eligible to participate in a joint enrollment program at a Georgia college or university? Beginning in the fall of 2009, homeschooled high school juniors and seniors will be permitted to take college courses for post-secondary credit while still enrolled in high school.

Learn more by visiting the Home School Legal Defense Association’s (HSLDA) website on the issue.

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Commentary

Charter Commission Will Create More Options for Parents
By Ben Scafidi

Last week, Georgia's new Charter School Commission took a historic vote regarding whether three public charter schools would be eligible to receive “more equitable” funding per student relative to traditional public schools. 

The Commission voted to approve two of the three schools, which led the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to write, “Two cash-strapped campuses showing success at educating diverse and low-income students were approved as Georgia’s first charter commission schools ….”

The two schools that were approved have great stories to tell.  Ivy Preparatory Academy in Gwinnett County is a school with an all female, largely African-American student population that just finished its first year of operation. Its math test scores are far above the state average.  In fact, its achievement was above the state average in all content areas.  If more schools were as successful as Ivy Prep, then we would soon be debating how the rest of Georgia’s students can catch up with African-American females.  Reasons for its success may be strong leadership, a single sex environment, and a strong base of community support. 

Charter Conservatory in Bulloch County, meanwhile, has been open for many years and has a large percentage of special needs students.  In a given year, it reports that about 12 percent of its students are children who that would have been forced to attend an alternative school if they remained in any other school system. Instead, some parents chose Charter Conservatory.  Last year, 65 percent of its graduates went on to college. Almost every student at the school completes high school.  The school achieved this success while only receiving about 60 percent of the operating funds per student as other students in Bulloch County.   

The new Charter Commission's decision will give these two schools nearly as much funding per student for operations as those attending traditional public schools.  Since these charter schools will not have access to the same capital funding as other public schools, their overall spending will still remain well below that of a traditional public school.   

The Charter Commission also demonstrated that it sets high standards for approval.  Charter Conservatory, a school that graduates almost all of its students, a school that has made AYP several years in a row, a school that sends lots of kids to college, and a school that performs extremely well on a national exam, barely gained approval.  Another charter school that has only been open for one year in a community that desperately needs better educational opportunities was not approved. This denial was unanimous.

The Commission’s votes illustrate that it is not motivated by ideology. Instead, it suggests that each school will be judged on its own merits.   

My view is that whether it is charter schools, traditional public schools, private schools, home schools, or virtual schools, each family should be empowered to make an educational decision that is best for their child.  Parents should be allowed to use the taxpayer money devoted to their child and place him or her in the school or environment best for that child.  Put differently, we should not sacrifice children on the altar of one size fits all.     

The Charter Commission’s recent vote was historic for Georgia parents and students. It will empower parents and other grassroots individuals to take it upon themselves to improve the education offered to the children in their community. 

Now the Charter Commission will turn its attention to proposals for new charter schools.  If you wish to start a charter school in your community make sure you have excellent academic, financial, and organizational plans—and the capacity to make your excellent plans come true.  You can get more information about starting a charter school from our friends at the Georgia Department of Education and the Georgia Charter Schools Association.   

Ben Scafidi is chair of the state’s Charter Commission and Director of the Economics of Education Policy Center at Georgia College & State University.  These views are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Commission or Georgia College.

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