Georgia House passes charter school bill

By Wayne Washington

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The charter schools battle moved to the state Senate on Wednesday after the House passed legislation that would allow the state to create the schools.

"It was a good day, a good day for Georgia," said Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones, R-Milton, who wrote the legislation that still faces challenges in the Senate.

Two weeks ago, the measure fell 10 votes short of a two-thirds majority in the House required for constitutional amendments, as opponents said that state-approved charter schools would strip funding from already-underfunded traditional public schools. Wednesday, the legislation, House Resolution 1162, cleared that bar by three votes -- 123 in favor, 48 opposed -- after a 90-minute floor debate.

Rep. Brian Thomas, D-Lilburn, was among those who voted in favor of the charter schools legislation Wednesday after opposing it two weeks ago.

"A number of us worked with the author of the bill to make some changes," Thomas said.

Those changes included defining charter schools in a way that would not allow the state to come up with myriad definitions to charter large numbers of schools. And Jones put forward substitute legislation spelling out that traditional public schools could not be deprived of funding if students in their areas chose to attend a charter school.

While those changes were enough to sway Thomas and a few of his colleagues, other early opponents held firm.

"My chief complaint has been ‘fully fund public education,' " said state Rep. Sharon Beasley-Teague, D-Red Oak. "I can understand if, after fully funding it, you want to do something else."

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

Charter schools are public schools that are free from some state regulations but must still meet performance standards.

Jones' legislation, if approved by a two-thirds majority in the Senate, would have voters determine in a referendum whether the state has the authority to create and fund charter schools.

Generally, Republicans have backed charter schools as important alternatives for parents whose children attend a struggling traditional public school. Democrats have often opposed charter schools, saying that fully funding traditional public schools would solve many of the problems they face.

Republicans do not have a two-thirds majority in the Senate, and getting Jones' legislation through that body is not assured. Democrats voting as a bloc can effectively stop it.

The Senate Democratic Caucus voted Wednesday to oppose the charter amendment, regardless of the changes Jones made.

State Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta, called the changes "window dressing."

The use of state funds to pay for newly authorized charter schools would still mean fewer dollars for traditional  public schools, Fort said.

There is Republican support for the legislation.

When Jones' proposal stalled two weeks ago, Sen. Fran Millar, a Dunwoody Republican and chairman of the Senate Education Committee, proposed his own charter school amendment.

Even as the Senate geared up for the debate, charter school backers in the House celebrated Wednesday's vote.

Tony Roberts, president and chief executive officer of the Georgia Charter Schools Association, gave Jones a hug and a kiss after the vote.

"It's just the first battle won in the war," Roberts said, "but it's significant because we can move forward to solve the problem caused by the Supreme Court."

Jaredd Simons, a health care analyst from Kennesaw, lobbied for passage of the amendment with emails, phone calls and social media posts.

“I see this as a civil rights issue," said Simons, a 34-year-old father of a 4-year-old. "Specifically, parents have the right to decide how best to raise their children. Unfortunately, our current system infringes upon this right, and we need to change it.”

The Georgia Federation of Teachers lobbied against the legislation, and the federation's president, Verdaillia Turner, said Wednesday's vote was "sad" and "shortsighted."

"If we want to talk about achievement for children," Turner said, "charters aren't the way to go."

Staff writers Christopher Quinn, Kristina Torres and Nancy Badertscher contributed to this article.