"This is not about charter schools, and this is not about choice," said Carroll County Schools Superintendent Scott Cowart. "This is about who approves them and who funds them."
A crowd of almost 50 potential voters heard from Cowart, Carrollton City Schools Superintendent Dr. Kent Edwards, Bremen City Schools Superintendent Dr. David Hicks and former Carrollton City superintendent and president emeritus of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education Tom Upchurch. Dr. Bruce Lyon, a league member, facilitated the forum, held at the Carrollton Cultural Arts Center Thursday night.
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 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?"
Each speaker stressed that the "new bureaucracy" the amendment would create in the form of a state commission would be unnecessary.
Currently, charter school applicants denied by their local school board can appeal to the state board of education.
"There's already that appeal process for those who are not accepted," Cowart said. "So why do we need a new layer that's appointed — not elected? Why take away the authority of the local board?"
Upchurch expressed concerns about who would compose the commission, saying they would not be accountable locally.
"We don't know who this unknown entity would be," the former superintendent said. "Right now, I have the opportunity to talk to the person on my local school board who's levying my taxes. I know his name. I have his phone number. I know where he lives. I can talk to him if I have a problem. The reason people are opposed to this is because of trust and accountability."
Hicks said the amendment is asking local taxpayers to "put more skin in the game, but lose local control."
"You have a recourse now if you're not happy," he said. "Where's the recourse for charter schools? Who will you call? They don't know our or your needs."
LWV of Carrollton-Carroll County President Robin Collins addressed concerns that proponents were not invited to the forum, saying that she had invited the four representatives with constituents in Carroll County, but each had "other plans," Collins said.
"We originally invited those four representatives and our local superintendents because we felt they would be the most professional and knowledgeable on the subject," Collins said. "And they were invited before we knew where they stood on the issue."
Collins went on to say she and the league didn't feel the need to reach out to other non-official opponents because the state league has published an official stance against the amendment, and that it was "within league practices" to not invite supporters of something the league is opposed to.
Edwards was adamant that the amendment's passing would be detrimental to the school systems and overall quality of life in Carrollton and Carroll County.
"Programs will be cut, period," he said. "People will lose their jobs, period. Schools will cut days, period."
Cowart warned that the amendment, if passed, could lead to a dual school system in Georgia — one for the economically advantaged and one for the economically disadvantaged.
"It could lead us to economic resegregation," Cowart said. "Do we want to take a chance that this could create a dual system and create an issue that Georgia corrected many years ago?"
The superintendent was referring to separate-but-equal racial segregation that was instated in the South prior to the civil rights movement.
"We support innovation, creativity, choice and charter schools," Cowart said. "But this isn't about any of those."
Edwards said the issue was not a partisan one, though some groups might wish to make it about politics.
"It's not partisan," he said. "The state superintendent, John Barge, a Republican, has plainly opposed this because of his conservative beliefs. He thinks it is counterintuitive to fiscal responsibility, local control and limited government."
Despite all their evidence presented, the superintendents said their intention for the forum was to invite voters to inspect the amendment and what will come about if it's passed.
"Our goal is that you will do your own research and consider the issue and how it will affect you," Cowart said.
Edwards echoed his county counterpart, urging voters to discuss the referendum with their families.
"It would be wise to ask your family and friends what they think about this amendment," Edwards said. "We want that debate to start."
LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF GEORGIA ANNOUNCES OPPOSITION TO CHARTER SCHOOL AMENDMENT
Elizabeth Poythress, President of the League of Women Voters of Georgia, announced today that the state organization has voted to oppose the proposed constitutional amendment on charter schools that will appear on the ballot this November, and is urging all its members to vote NO on the issue.
Poythress said, "We believe this proposal is not in the best interest of the children of Georgia or the taxpayers of Georgia. It is unwise, wasteful, and not in the best long term interests of the State of Georgia. We believe it is bad public policy to create a duplicate school system that will, in the words of the Georgia Supreme Court, 'compete with locally controlled schools for the same pool of students educated with the same limited pool of tax funds.'"
The League of Women Voters of Georgia is firmly committed to public education, and equal access to quality education for all the children of Georgia. We also believe that locally elected officials are best suited to decide matters of local policy that so directly affect their constituents and their communities.
This proposal is unwise and wasteful, and we urge the voters of Georgia to vote NO in November on this proposal to amend the state constitution.
We began planning this event in early September. We particularly wanted local speakers. We invited the four House of Rep legislators who have constituents in Carroll County. We invited our local superintendents.
We chose to invite the local legislators and superintendents without regard to political party ties because they are believed to be the most professional and knowledgeable speakers available.
The League places particular emphasis on citizen engagement with elected or appointed officials.
The League does not ask people their opinions before we ask them to speak. We invited these speakers before we knew their position on the amendment, except for Mr. Upchurch who, besides being a former superintendent, is a League member.
We invited these speakers because, other than being voted into office or officially appointed to their positions, we hoped they would present a variety of opinions. Again the League does not ask people their opinions before we ask them to speak.
All four of the legislators replied that they had other plans. Mr. Cowart and Dr. Edwards replied immediately that they would be able to speak. Dr. Hicks was added later after the legislators had declined. He was asked to round out the panel.
We did not feel the need to search out speakers other than those who are local legislators or appointed officials. The League generally asks those in official capacity to speak on important issues like this.
After we found out the position of the superintendents, the League did not feel the need to search out others who support the amendment because our League has a position on public education as I have said. We were well within League 'best practices' to only have speakers who are against the amendment, especially after the state League issued a press release statement against the amendment.
However in the spirit of a full education for the voters the League respectfully asked the speakers not to directly instruct the audience on how to vote. Panelists were asked to present facts which will enable the audience to reach their own conclusions.
If you have any other questions, you are welcome to email me, Robin Collins, president of the League of Women Voters Carrollton - Carroll County, at Carrollton@lwvga.org.
http://times-georgian.com/view/full_story/19213680/article-Student-migration-a-concern-for-BOE-candidates?
And then, the districts proceed to sit on forum panels that are one sided. If you choose not to allow the public to see the full side of the issue, then you are not allowing local control - the voice and will of the people - because you are manipulating them.
I have invited the Douglas County School System officials 3 separate times (twice in writing, once in a board meeting during public comment) to participate with me in a balanced forum where both sides can represent. They have not accepted this invitation. In fact, the opposition regularly plans anti-charter forums and shuts down amendment supporters in their "town hall" meetings.
Here's a recent example: Dr. Pritz and DT Jackson, Supt. and Board Member for Douglas County, recently attended a forum that was represented by all anti-amendment individuals at an elderly community center in Fulton County hosted by Rep. Roger Bruce. Dr. Pritz stated publicly that he "took the day off" in response to the recent allegations that districts were using tax dollars to electioneer against the amendment. I'd like to point out that Dr. Pritz is an exempt employee, so "taking the day off" does little if he is using his title to provide legitimacy to his opposition rather than acting as a private citizen. DT Jackson is a board member that is paid in tax dollars for his service. He, too, opposed and sat on that panel as a board member and spoke against the amendment.
Much of what was communicated by members of that panel were outright misrepresentation of fact and blatant omission of information. Information that could be checked by anyone...they just happened to know that the room of folks would listen and had no reason to disbelieve the officials sitting in front of them. Sadly, the paper program for those elderly folks said on its cover, "Empowering the Elderly." How in the world do you empower them by providing only one side of an issue - and one side that was rooted in misstatements and omissions of key facts? I stood up (unwelcomed) in that forum and asked the panel 2 questions:
1. Can every member of this panel state absolutely that you have been 100% truthful and have not omitted anything? Not one member of the panel said a word - other than Sen. Donazalla James who tried to distract by saying I was calling her a "liar." I asked a pretty simple question that she chose not to answer.
2. The panel said that the amendment would take money from the district. I held up and read the law that stated the contrary and asked for them to reconcile what they were saying to the audience and what the law actually said. I was shut down and no one from the panel - including Dr. Pritz, who I addressed directly, would answer me.
The public has EVERY RIGHT to have a balanced view of this and to be provided accurate information from sources they can check for themselves to make an informed decision. THAT is local control - not vesting total blind faith in elected officials that have a dog in the fight.
I would like to invite anyone interested - proponents, opponents, and those on the fence, to join me for an open forum on TUESDAY, OCT. 16 @ 7 pm at the Douglasville Conference and Convention Center. I will be there...and I welcome a representative from the opposing side to join me. I am not afraid of public scrutiny over this issue, which is why I am more than happy to invite ANYONE on the opposition to sit beside me. One might wonder why those opposed would be afraid of doing the same.
However, to respond to your allegations of misinformation and untruthfulness, if a reasonable person analyzes the wording on the ballot, it is difficult to conclude that the legislature and governor have been honest and truthful. From the twisted language on the ballot to the bullying efforts against school leaders, the political powers do not want true facts on the table.
This amendment, in its current form, is bad for Georgia, its public schools, and its children.
Local boards and superintendents are fighting charter schools because they don't want to lose power. If they had been good stewards and created quality schools instead of wasting money on high dollar athletic complexes, parents wouldn't be trying to find alternative ways to educate their children.
I'm not a politician and I'm not a rocket scientist but this argument that local schools will not lose money IS SIMPLY WRONG!!!!!!
There is a place for charter schools to provide choices for parents and families for children's education. Unfortunately, our state leaders have corrupted that purpose by creating this alternate funding stream that gives preferential treatment to charter schools.
Adequate funding of our public schools is a serious issue in our state and our leaders have thumbed their noses at the children by creating this resolution and referendum. It is my hope that everyone will look past the talking points from the pro-charter side and dig into the details of this amendment and accompanying legislation.
They are hiding behind the warm-fuzzy catch phrase, "It's about the children." But if it was truly about the children, our leaders would be finding ways to get the resources to the classrooms of our public schools. They would not be forcing deep cuts that increase class sizes and eliminate days from school calendars.
National Results
2011 Education Week “Quality Counts” Report
Georgia ranks 7th in the nation on the 2011 Education Week “Quality Counts” Report Advanced Placement Results (Georgia ranks 13th
in the nation)
Georgia ranks 13th in the nation in the percentage of students scoring a 3, 4, or 5 on Advanced Placement(AP) exams.
African-American students rank 2nd in the nation in the percentage of students scoring a 3, 4, or 5 on Advanced Placement (AP) exams.
Georgia received a 100% score for Hispanic students on Access and Equity SAT Scores
Georgia’s SAT score for its top 10% percent of students is 1,820 compared to the national average of 1,500.
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Scores
The results of the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in science show Georgia’s 8th graders had a four-point scale score increase, compared to just two points for the nation. This increase brings Georgia’s average scale score to that of the nation’s scale score average (151).
There's more good news about how well Georgia's students are performing. I know these facts are omitted from most of the talking point sheets that are passed out, so just let me know if you want more details.