State's charter schools law gets praise, challenges

By D. Aileen Dodd

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

On a day Georgia won high praise for its progressive charter school law, which allows for an independent authorizing commission, the state also faced three new challenges to the process.

The Coweta County school district and two education entrepreneurs protested decisions by the Georgia Charter Schools Commission, which authorized seven new schools last month.

A Coweta official and the heads of two hopeful charter schools brought their concerns to the charter school committee of the state Board of Education Wednesday. The state board has the final say on which commission charter schools will open and receive funding. They can overturn a decision of the commission with a two-thirds majority vote.

Coweta officials submitted a letter asking the board to appeal the commisson’s approval of Coweta Charter Academy at Senoia.

Officials with Alpha Academy of Science, Art and Technology and Lewis Academy of Excellence also asked for an appeal reconsidering their denial.

“This is our first time down this road,” said Linda Zechmann, chairman of the charter schools committee. “The statute gives us the right to overrule. We want to be (conscientious) about how we exercise that right. We want to make . . . an informed decision.”

Patricia Lewis, founder and CEO of Lewis Academy in Clayton County, said her charter school has more 600 students and a waiting list of about 250 others. It sought commission status -- and the state, federal and matching local funding that comes with it -- but Lewis said the school was denied based on inaccurate information.

“At Lewis Acacemy of Excellence, we are very proud of our success,” Lewis said. “We made AYP [Adequate Yearly Progress goals for students] each and every year. We would like to be reconsidered for approval.”

The state’s charter school committee is expected to update the rest of the state school board about the appeals and the status of charter schools in Georgia today at the state board meeting. The board is scheduled to vote in February on whether to uphold the commission’s approval of the seven new schools.

Meanwhile Wednesday, Georgia’s charter school law was named fourth-best in the nation by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

In a report, the organization ranked charter school laws based on quality, measures for accountability, funding equity, facilities support, autonomy and choice, among other factors.

“Georgia has long been committed to high quality charter schools and I am pleased to see that our efforts have been recognized by the Alliance,” State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox said in a statement. “We will continue to implement our charter program in a way that provides quality options for parents while holding charter schools accountable for strong academic results.”

Georgia’s charter school law is open to a variety of education entrepreneurs and districts that want to convert public schools to charters.

Mattie Duncan, of Alpha Academy, said her school did not receive a fair interview with a commission member. The longtime eduator also said she was told in a rejection letter she could not be a part-time consultant for her school as her petition suggested because it would be a conflict of interest.

“How can you hire someone who doesn’t know your program to interpet your program without you being there to train them?” Duncan said. “You have got to be invovled.”

Ben Scafidi, chairman of the Georgia Charter Schools Commission, said he stands behind the decisions of his board, but he welcomes the state to consider the appeals because the law provides “checks and balances.”