Parent choice is wave of future

A new day has dawned for Georgia parents and their children. As a result of law enacted earlier this month, the state has a uniform system allowing parents more power to choose the public school within their district that best fits their children’s needs.

If there is space available and parents provide transportation, a student can transfer. (Districts may provide transportation.) Parents may choose a different school because it is closer to a job. It could be for more academic rigor or to get better services for their special needs child.

As the sponsor of this law, it was not my job to dictate “good” reasons for families seeking transfers. My job, along with a bipartisan coalition that worked with me, was to provide options for parents seeking a quality education for their kids. But our best intentions are already encountering roadblocks from the education establishment.

House Bill 251 was signed by Gov. Sonny Perdue just a few weeks ago, yet some of Georgia’s 180 school districts are crafting ways to deny parents the choice to transfer their children to other public schools. We’re not talking about private schools. We’re talking about kids wanting choice within public education. Yet some in the education bureaucracy block the schoolhouse door.

They are actively preventing parents the opportunity to transfer their students to a school that might be smaller, where siblings can attend together or out of a school that is underperforming.

Among the myths being perpetuated about this plan:

? HB 251 would encourage a stampede of children from “underperforming” schools. Fact: Transfers are already permitted for “failing” schools under the federal No Child Left Behind law and only about 2 percent of students choose this option. We don’t expect significantly different numbers.

? Transferring will overcrowd schools and create additional problems. Fact: The receiving school must have space to accommodate any HB 251 transfers.

? Districts can cherry-pick the students with the highest grades or attendance records. Fact: Space is the only criteria that can be used to allow transfers. Transfers must be open to all students.

? Sports shopping would become rampant as kids use the transfer option to move to schools with the best athletics teams. Fact: The Georgia High School Association already has rules regarding transfers and prohibits them for the purpose of sports.

Local school boards need to remember this is an era of change. They are supposed to be responsive to one customer: parents and their children. Change can be difficult, but the children we invest our tax dollars and time in are well worth it.

I look forward to working with school districts to empower parents and comply with this new law. When it comes to educating our children, there are no “do-overs” and “no try again next times.” We have to do this right the first time and with a sense of urgency.

Georgia needs to become a leader in education. It’s time to abandon what we know is not working and embrace change. Providing parents with more options is one way to do that. At the same time, we have to work feverishly to bring all Georgia schools to a level of quality that every child deserves.

HB 251 is just the start of what I think will be an awakening of parents who are tired of business as usual. Parents are beginning to demand to know more about how tax dollars are spent and the services they get in return. We in education are in the business of transforming lives. It’s time to begin that important work and leave the status quo, not our children, behind.

Alisha Thomas Morgan, a Democrat state representative from Austell, is a member of the House Education Committee.