Another pitch for charter schools
In educating the voter on the charter school amendment, we need to be clear that the voter knows some critical points:1. The General Assembly passed a law in 2012 (HB 797) that ensures funding for state approved charter schools shall not reduce local district funds either directly or indirectly.
2. If the charter amendment passes, local funding for traditional public school students will not follow the child to a public charter school. Local school districts will have the same amount of money to educate less students, meaning they will have higher per pupil funding.
3. State law requires that charter schools are managed by non-profit boards based in Georgia made up of parents, teachers and community members. Contrary to what others have written, this is the ultimate example in local control.
5. History has shown that only deserving and quality applications are approved. This is reflected in the 16 out of 83 applications approved in three years of the commission’s existence.
If a family is not happy with the school they are attending, why would that school want to keep them? Let families be free to make their own choices on how to educate their own children. Our current system in Georgia has been failing our children. Do we really want to continue to be ranked 48th in the nation?
Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Georgia results have not changed in a very long time. Our families, our children deserve a better future than Georgia is providing them. Make a change, Georgia, and vote yes on amendment 1.
Shannon Curtin, Newnan
Mother of three children at Coweta Charter Academy in Senoia.
