One campaign has received much more financial support for its stance than the campaign on the other side of the issue.
Families for Better Public Schools has received almost $1.67 million more than its anti-amendment counterpart, Vote SMART.
The amendment, if approved by voters in November, will guarantee the state's power to authorize charter schools and establish a commission to consider applications for them.
The yes-or-no question that will be posed to voters on Nov. 6 will be: "Shall the constitution of Georgia be amended to allow state or local approval of public charter schools upon the request of local communities?"
Currently, charter school applications denied by their local school board can appeal to the state board of education. If the amendment passes, a panel of seven appointees will have the final say.
The difference between the two opposing campaign's contributions is vast: Vote SMART, the committee against the amendment, has received less than 7 percent of the funds received by Families for Better Public Schools, the pro-amendment committee.
Tom Upchurch, the former Carrollton City Schools superintendent and chairman of the Vote SMART campaign, said going against the pro-amendment side was like "David and Goliath."
"These for-profit charter school management companies from all over the country can just pour the money in," Upchurch said. "We don't have that. Grass roots is all we have. But the word is getting out."
As of Oct. 26, Families for Better Public Schools had received almost $1.8 million in contributions, according to the committee's donation disclosure report. That's compared to Vote SMART's $123,243, as reported on Oct. 23.
Rich Thompson, the committee's treasurer, said he thinks the reason so much more financial support has come to the pro-amendment side is that parents are "desperate for a change."
"I think we've got right on our side," the treasurer, who spoke at a Carroll County Tea Party Association meeting in August, said. "The return on investment has been minimal in our traditional schools. Parents are wondering why Georgia is ranked 47th in high school graduation rates."
A third of the pro-amendment committee's contributions have come from a single source — Alice Walton, the heiress to the Walmart company. Local superintendents, school board members and other voters on the opposing side, have called the campaign's funding into question, since Walton lives outside of Georgia.
Thompson said it's "hypocritical" to question Walton's intentions for donating, saying she's been a philanthropist for many years.
"I think it's ironic that so many people call that donation into question," Thompson said. "If Ms. Walton had given that much money to Atlanta Public Schools or Carroll County Schools, no one would ever ask any questions about it."
Walton is not the only out-of-state donor on the committee's report. Seventy-seven percent of the campaign's funding comes from outside Georgia's borders — more than $1.38 million, compared to the $408,470 collected inside the state.
That's contrasted with Vote SMART, where only 2.84 percent of contributions have come outside state lines — a percentage amounting to $3,500. Contributions of almost $120,000, or 97.16 percent, have come from Georgia donors.
Contributions to Families for Better Public Schools has come from 19 states other than Georgia, as well as Washington, D.C. Contributions to Vote SMART have come from Georgia, Alabama and Texas, with only one each coming from the non-Georgia states.
The pro-amendment contributions come from states all over the nation, including California, Virginia, Wyoming and Michigan.
"As more and more people are looking into it, they're discovering how bad an idea it is," Upchurch said. "It's just bad, bad policy."
According to the latest Landmark Rosetta Stone poll of likely voters, 47 percent of Georgians say they will vote for Amendment I, with 37 percent saying they will not vote in favor of the amendment and 16 percent undecided.
I will vote yes. The groups opposing this amendment don't want to see reform. They've had fifty years to do the right thing. Instead, they've increased administration to a point that every tax payer should be outraged. Should a public servant (superintendent) really make more than the President of the United States?
Vote yes for all of Georgia's families.
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. Yes, traditional public schools already outsource some work to for-profit firms; the educational management firms that do administrative work for some charter schools would hardly introduce the profit motive into our education system.
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.
Looks like only 3 management companies contributed, and all of them work here in Georgia with schools and have Georgia employees. Their home office may be out of state, but the business is here in Georgia.
Nobody questioned Gwinnettt County's big Broad Foundation award. Nobody questioned APS's giant Gate Foundation award. Why the sudden focus on an elderly lady with who cares about education and has enough money to give to make a difference across the nation?
The school districts serve about 95% of the population and 1.6 million children. Their measly $120,000 accounts for .06 per child-age family (not counting non-child age families, etc.) Is anyone else astounded at how pitiful this is of an investment by Georgians?
The investors in the vote no campaign include nearly every superintendent in the state, a few school board members, about 30 people from Gwinnett County, and school district associations and vendors - both which make money off the districts.
Vote no campaign has no true public support and are only funded by those protecting the established status quo.
Bring on the charter amendment! I'm voting yes for positive change in Georgia!
FACT 1: Every single one of our school boards are paid for their “public service.” This accounts for $4.1 MILLION dollars in salary. With the austerity cuts, are board members donating their salaries back to put into classrooms? Nope. Just as an aside, charter board members receive $0 in compensation. Ever.
FACT 2: Nearly one third of the superintendents in this state make in excess of $150,000 yearly. Superintendent Alvin Wilbanks, of Gwinnett County, makes $410,000 annually, followed closely by superintendents from Clayton, Atlanta Public Schools, Savannah-Chatham, Fulton, and Cobb (3 of which are in danger of loss of accreditation, by the way). 47 superintendents took a raise last year while furloughing educators.
FACT 3: Our state spent $686 MILLION dollars on central office. 77 out of our 180 districts serve less than 3000 students and have FULL central offices and account for $67 MILLION dollars of the total spent. In these tough economic times, are districts in rural areas combining central offices to reduce duplicative costs? Are large districts cutting central offices to keep money in classrooms? No, and in fact, according to a recent study by Dr. Benjamin Scafidi of Georgia College and State University, central office growth has nearly doubled the growth of students.