Gwinnett Schools sues state over local control

By D. Aileen Dodd


The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A law firm representing Gwinnett County public schools filed suit against the state Friday for taking money away from its students.

The lawsuit alleges that the Georgia Charter Schools Commission is illegally funding and authorizing new schools outside the mandates of the state constitution.

Gwinnett schools is being represented by former Georgia attorney general Michael Bowers of Balch & Bingham in Atlanta.

State Department of Education officials defend the commission’s authority and its right to reallocate money to the charter schools it approves. Commission chartered-schools receive a matching share of local funds for the education of students carved from the home districts of the children it serves.

Ivy Preparatory Academy of Norcross will receive allotments totaling more than $1 million from the districts of the students it serves - about $850,000 of that money will come from Gwinnett Schools. The first payment was made last month.

The Gwinnett lawsuit was filed in Fulton County Superior Court. It names state Schools Superintendent Kathy Cox; the state Department of Education; Ben Scafadi, chairman of the Georgia Charter Schools Commission; charter commission board members; and Ivy Preparatory Academy as defendants.