Charter school proponents told a panel of school reformers that Georgia has inequitable funding and a lack of accountability for school districts with power over the fate of charter applicants.
A “school choice” subcommittee of Gov. Nathan Deal’s Education Reform Commission met Monday to hear from state and national charter school advocates as it prepares a recommendation ahead of a Dec. 1 deadline.
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools gave Georgia a middling rank for the quality of its charter school laws as compared with those in more than 40 other states and the District of Columbia, saying charter schools receive less taxpayer money per pupil than traditional public schools and are too subject to the whims of local districts with authority to approve or deny their charters.
Ehab Jaleel, who runs the Amana Academy in Alpharetta, said he must pay his teachers less than nearby Fulton County schools. “We have come to the conclusion that we are just playing on an uneven field,” he said.
The subcommittee will discuss educational savings accounts and student scholarship organizations when it meets next, at 10 a.m. on May 29, in room 406 of the Coverdell Legislative Office Building, across Mitchell Street from the Capitol.
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