Charter School Amendment - The Preamble - Double Deception
Just when you think our "it's for the kids" legislature and Governor couldn't pull any more fast ones - they do! Honestly, the "whack a lie" mallet is going to disintegrate long before Nov. 6th at this rate.
Here's what happened today. My friend and committed advocate for public education vs. privatizing education, Jeanette Knazek, started asking questions about the preamble for the Constitutional Amendment - HR 1162 - which will be on the Nov. 6th ballot. There were odd clues showing up on Google searches. She couldn't get a response from the Secretary of State's office so she called 11 Alive News. They thought it was worth a call. Turns out a preamble or short title was written and signed by Nathan Deal on August 15th. Here's what it says:
1. Provides for improving student achievement and parental involvement through more public charter school options (House Resolution 1162.)
Who could argue with that - right? Makes you want to vote "yes" right? Here's the problem. The words "improve," "improving," or "achievement" aren't mentioned once in HR 1162 or the enacting legislation, HB 797. In addition, here's what Dr. Barge states in his statement on this amendment, "Charter schools in Georgia do not consistently outperform traditional public schools." See page 3 of 8 http://bit.ly/Or1Bwb .
"Parental involvement" cannot be found either and is certainly not encouraged. In fact parents are not required to be included on the non-profits governing board at a state charter school. Lines 205 - 209, HB 797, the members of the governing board for the state charter school shall meet the following qualifications:
A. Must be a United States citizen;
B. Must be resident of Georgia; and
C. Must not be an employee of the state charter school.
So where's the improved parental involvement? Perhaps parental involvement on the governing board would just be an inconvenience for a "for profit" operator? They can ask a lot of pesky questions about money and perhaps slow down decision-making.
Finally, parents under current Georgia law can start a charter school by petitioning their local board. If denied, they can appeal to the State BOE. HR 1162 establishes an appointed commission, which can approve state charter schools with a "state-wide" attendance zone. The petitioners do not have to apply to a local board first (information only to the board where the school will be located). They could apply directly to the state commission, thereby removing any elected officials or local taxpayers from the decision. We have charter school options. HR1162 is taxation without representation.
This preamble has been hidden from folks that think this amendment is a rotten deal for all taxpayers. Now the rotten elected officials who hid it have lost any shred of integrity they may have been clinging to.
Stick up for the kids not our lying leaders. The ballot and the preamble are deceptive. Vote "NO" on HR 1162 - it's rotten to the peach core!
Jack McClure
9:25 am on Thursday, September 13, 2012
Thanks for the extensive work on this charter schools issue - I think it's the biggest issue, next to BOE, this election cycle.
I don't really understand your "taxation without representation" remark - it seems to me that locally approved charter schools would get local tax revenue + QBE state revenues. However, state approved charter schools would get more state revenue to offset the lack of property tax revenue.
How is that taxation without representation? To me, they're both tax revenues, but the BOE gets off easier here because they would have a lower enrollment in their system, but not have an impact to their property tax revenues.
Holly J
4:56 pm on Thursday, September 13, 2012
It's "taxation without representation" because the commission will be appointed, not elected, but they will be spending locally collected taxes, not just state taxes. There will be no way to remove a member of the commission if you don't like their decisions- unilke your locally elected school board who are accountable to the voters. What I foresee if the amendment passes is a commission of folks who will be beholden to the Governor,- or whoever else under the Gold Dome appoints or even just puts their name forth- and will do what they are told without knowing or caring about the locality they are impacting.
Elizabeth Hooper
5:58 pm on Thursday, September 13, 2012
Thanks Jack, Holly answered my concern. It boils down to who is making the decision - are they appointed or elected and what recourse a taxpayer would have with an appointed commission if they felt their rights were infringed upon by a decision the commission made using tax dollars. The big difference which you will not hear many charter supporters talking about is the ability of a charter "community"/non-profit formed with much encouragement by someone like Charter Schools USA to declare a "state-wide" attendance zone. They can do that and bypass local boards and the majority of taxpayers in them, and go straight to the commission if this passes. If this happens and the schools are not performing or handling funds appropriately read what the monitoring procedure is. If you can find one. If the commissioners fail to monitor state schools it is written in HB 797 that this failure "shall not constitute the basis for a private cause of action." Maybe that language is routine but with no clear termination procedure for a school which is not performing in the legislation and no ramifications for appointed commissioners - we might just as well write a blank check! What is very sad about the legislation is that it makes no attempt to address any problems that currently exist. It just adds schools - we won't know where, how they will really be paid for, what the specific criterea will be to start them - our input will not be legally allowed. Thanks for reading.
Thomas Hart
10:56 pm on Thursday, September 13, 2012
Elizabeth,
We have written a blank check. We have many TPS systems that are not performing. What is your "termination procedure" for those schools?
Step up and tell the taxpayer what $$/child will get us top 5 performance in the US and a 90% graduation rate? Stop the excuses. Stop aspiring to average. Get a vision and tell us what it will cost.
Jack McClure
11:37 pm on Friday, September 14, 2012
So with this amendment, charter schools will get county tax revenue in addition to state revenues? I read the bill and didn't see that in there.
Susan L.
12:40 pm on Thursday, September 13, 2012
Yet again, we find our Legislators looking out for the private, for-profit charter companies and not for the children in the state of Georgia. Georgia DOE studies have shown that Georgia's charter schools DO NOT perform at a higher level, even though they end up with a more selective student base than traditional public schools. This will surely solidify our position once again as the state with the worst ethics rankings in the nation!!
Elizabeth Hooper
5:31 pm on Thursday, September 13, 2012
I agree. Just like the "black hole" award for the SSO program. I honestly think most voters and taxpayers would hold legislators accountable if they understood the issues and had the time to dig in. Please encourage all your friends to attend any meetings they can to ask questions and provide facts when this amendment is discussed. Lets hope parents start to sort thru the sound bites. Thanks for reading!
Thomas Hart
10:42 pm on Thursday, September 13, 2012
Elizabeth,
Just the other day you were dinging the Georgia Public Charter Amendment for being inferior to the Charter legislation passed in Maine. The direct petition feature brings the Public Charter Amendment more inline with the superior Maine legislation. I would have thought this would please you.
Holly,
Thank you for pointing out that they will be “spending locally collected taxes”. While your statement is completely wrong, inaccurate, and stubbornly repeated, it does offer the opportunity to point out once again that the funding bill supporting the Public Charter Amendment was explicitly written to exclude locally collected property taxes. These taxes will remain with the TSP and will not follow the student to the Charter School they choose to attend.
Also, I believe the Governor will appoint only 3 of the 7 members of the board. The current State BOE is also appointed. Why do you not direct vitriol at the State BOE? Doesn’t your same principled argument apply?
Holly J
9:56 am on Friday, September 14, 2012
Thomas, I did misspeak (mistype?) in saying that the county taxes would be spent under the legislation as it is currently written. While I apologize for that, I will say that the rest of my statement in accurate AND that I believe if the amendment passes, before we can blink there will be legislation that allows the commission to spend property taxes as well. One the management companies get a taste of the money, they will want more.
Elizabeth Hooper
12:20 am on Friday, September 14, 2012
Thomas,
Did you read the Maine legislation? They get a full paragraph of a thoughtfully written mission statement - Georgia gets "ENHANCED". I imagine it actually took hquite a long time to find just the right word that was, hmmmm, not measurable. So slimy Thomas and a complete abdication of any responsibility on the legislatures part. Don't you agree? How do you explain it? In addition, Maine by law authorizes a maximum of 10 state charters in 10 years. Georgia - to infinity and beyond. So reckless don't you think. Not to jump in on your questions for Holly, why don't you quote the language in HB797 on funding. Again, the sponsors know exactly where the moneys coming from
But the language is very vaque. How much will be diverted from state funds currently going to tps? No one is saying. With regard to the state BOE, they are appointed except for DR. Barge. What sense is there in throwing in another fully appointed commission to do the same thing? Are you in favor of expanding government for no reason? Please let us know what the benefit would be. Thank you.
Thomas Hart
9:17 am on Friday, September 14, 2012
Elizabeth,
I would like to turn to a more positive discussion about education. I would like to understand better your vision for the potential of TPSs and the cost to get there. What state wide graduation percentage is achievable in your vision? What US ranking is possible for Georgia? What will it cost per student?
Holly J
10:00 am on Friday, September 14, 2012
Thomas, this is exactly what those of us who support TPSs want- a discussion about improving ALL schools, not just creating small, special schools for small, special populations. But so much time and effort (and money- see the AJC front page today) is being spent pushing charters that no one is talking about the schools that the majority of the kids in this state attend and how to make them better. Money is being drained from TPSs, yet the Gov. found $15 million or so to give charters recently. Really???
Thomas Hart
11:48 am on Friday, September 14, 2012
Holly,
The still unanswered questions are what is achievable in the vision of the TPS’s in Georgia and what will it cost? What is an achievable graduation rate in Georgia? What national rank is achievable? What will it cost per student?
It would greatly enhance the position of the TPS’s if someone would stand up and aspire to some level of performance and commit to some level of cost.
Elizabeth Hooper
1:05 pm on Friday, September 14, 2012
Thomas,
I do understand your concerns. Again, everyone shares the same concerns. Those in leadership positions should be asking those questions constantly and I believe they do - not all school boards perhaps but many. Here's the problem as I see it looking from the outside in. The questions you ask assume that one entity, like the State superintendent of schools or a local school board control all the variables that determine the outcomes you want to monetize. Do they control state mandates, federal mandates, parental involvement, poverty, natural intelligence, inflation? the answer is no. Education is a shared obligation by law makers on the state and federal levels, administrators at the state and local level, students, parents, the community they live in. Your question is not a valid one because you're asking a TPS spokesperson to answer a question that 1) is subject to variables they cannot control, 2) and variables that are constantly being modified - common core, RTTP, NCLB, funding. And why are you so fixated on coming up this phantom "cost per student?" Are you speaking of an average cost for all ages, all abilites, all disabilities? To ask such a complex question and expect a simple answer is also not productive. Oh - and - HR1162 doesn't even mention achievement, graduation rates - it does mention enhance though.
Thomas Hart
1:38 pm on Friday, September 14, 2012
Elizabeth,
I'll accept a min-max range if that helps.
Your answer reflects the bureaucratic malaise driving the loss of trust from the taxpayer and the parent. Yes, it is hard. Maybe I am expecting too much from the education establishment. Maybe they are expecting too little from themselves.
Elizabeth Hooper
1:07 pm on Friday, September 14, 2012
Thomas,
I did forget to include one of the most important elements in this shared obligation - teachers.
Steve Youngblood
4:23 pm on Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Taxation without representation? Boo, funny when democrat libs try that one.
The numbers tell the story. When the commission was in place, for 2 years, 56 six schools, who were denied by districts, asked for help. Only 16 were approved, 14 opened. They operated at a funding rate equal to the average of the 5 lowest funding per student districts in the state. The districts themselves approved only 4 during that period. In the prior year, they approved NONE. Time for the state to help us parents/taxpayers to take the money from the fat cat, union-like, underperforming districts (and their superintendents) and hand it to the parents for the kids. Are the underperformers worries about competition? I bet they are!
There's been too much "status quo" in our state for too long. All I hear from the democrat liberals against this amendment and on this post ask is for the proponents to define "what is is". Charter schools, their adoption and successes are well known. The school boards and their supporters know that and will do anything to keep their power and leave the kids in the lurch.
We don't have 10 years to fix it. We need a turnaround now.