More than half of Atlanta schools are at high risk of potential state takeover if Gov. Nathan Deal's Opportunity School District amendment passes.
The 42 Atlanta schools at high risk of state takeover include more than half of the district's elementary schools.
The risk varies by cluster: Most schools in the Carver, Douglass, Jackson, Therrell and Washington clusters are at high risk. No schools in the Grady and North Atlanta clusters are at high risk.
Source: Atlanta Public Schools. Risk criteria explanation.
About the Opportunity School district:
In November 2016, voters will weigh in on a constitutional amendment that would allow control of low-performing schools to be shifted to the appointed superintendent of a new "Opportunity School District." That would mean decisions about how students are taught and how local tax dollars are spent would no longer be solely up to locally elected officials.
Schools would be a selected from a pool of those that score below 60 on Georgia’s College and Career-Ready Performance Index, a 100-point school performance grade, for three years in a row.
The Opportunity School District superintendent, who would be selected by the governor, could choose to close the the schools, run them or convert them to independent charter schools.
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