A proposal to create a new state-run school district for failing schools cleared its first hurdle Monday, gaining approval in the Senate education committee.
Senate Bill 133 and its companion piece, Senate Resolution 287, lay out Gov. Nathan Deal’s vision of a statewide “Opportunity School District” with authority to seize control of schools deemed to be perennially failing. The state would have total authority over the schools put into the special district, and it could remove principals, transfer teachers, change what students are learning and control the schools’ budgets.
After some discussion about what will happen to teachers displaced by the state takeover of failing schools, the proposed legislation passed and now heads to the Senate floor for a vote. Only minor revisions were made to the legislation, including one which would give Senate lawmakers the right to confirm the governor’s choice for superintendent. Another would require public hearings at risk of intervention and proposed interventions before a school is taken over.
Deal’s office estimates 141 schools would be eligible, including more than 60 in metro Atlanta. The plan would allow the state to run schools, close them, partner with local school districts to run them or convert them into charter schools. The special district would be overseen by a new superintendent who would report directly to the governor.
Opponents to the legislation say it’s an over reach of state power and doesn’t address the larger issues of poverty, which challenges students at many failing schools.
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