Change to charter school bill could bring it more support

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By Wayne Washington

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A change in the hotly debated charter schools legislation could improve its prospects in the state House of Representatives, where last week it fell 10 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed for passage.

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Jason Getz, jgetz@ajc.com House Speaker Pro-Tempore Jan Jones, R-Milton, has proposed changes to charter schools legislation.

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Speaker Pro Tempore Jan Jones, R-Milton, has proposed changes to the legislation to make clear that the state would cover the costs of a state-approved charter school if its original charter application was not approved by a local school district.

She said she expects to bring the revised bill up for a vote next week.

Opponents of the original legislation, both Republicans and Democrats, had argued that the language of the bill would divert money from local school districts to pay for charter schools whose charters the districts had rejected.

Jones' change closely resembles substitute legislation put together by state Rep. Scott Holcomb, D-Atlanta, who had opposed the charter schools bill when it first reached the floor. He said Thursday he would back the legislation if it includes the changes he and Jones have crafted.

The General Assembly took up the issue of charter schools after the Georgia Supreme Court ruled last May that the Georgia Charter Schools Commission, created by lawmakers in 2008, did not have the authority to create or fund charter schools over the objections of local school districts.

Charter school backers have sought a legislative fix through a bill that would allow Georgia voters to pass a constitutional amendment that would specifically grant the General Assembly the power to authorize charter schools.

Such a fix, however, has a high bar to clear -- two-thirds of the House and two-thirds of the Senate -- before an amendment could be put before voters.

Jones said the changes she has worked on are likely to push the bill over the two-thirds threshold. She said Republican lawmakers who opposed the measure have told her their chief concern was the question of funding.

"It definitely addresses some of their concerns," said Jones, who wrote the original charter schools legislation.

Holcomb was the author of the Democratic alternative to that bill, and, while he said he is prepared to back a revised version, the same can't be said for some of his fellow Democrats in the House.

"For me, the heart of the matter is whether the state should be the ultimate authorizers," said Rep. Rashad Taylor of Atlanta, who is vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. "I still have major problems with it."