Gov. Nathan Deal’s proposed Opportunity School District is modeled after Tennessee’s Achievement School District.
Is the ASD working in Tennessee? Two school board members from Nashville argue it is not.
“Operationally, the ASD is a mess. In August, an audit found a lack of adequate controls over processes in human resources and payroll, including reimbursement of excessive travel claims and even payments for alcohol. Missteps and mounting controversies are spurring bipartisan calls for the ASD’s closure,” says Nashville school board members Christiane Buggs and Will Pinkston. “If the ASD actually was working, some of it might be defensible. But research by Vanderbilt University shows the ASD is failing.”
Tennessee created the ASD to turn around chronically low-performing schools by taking control away from the local districts and putting most of the schools under the aegis of high quality charter management organizations. The school’s new overseers were given an ambitious target: Boost their schools into the top 25 percent of performance within five years.
Georgia voters will be asked on Nov. 8 to approve a constitutional change — Amendment 1 on the ballot — to enable the state to assume control of local schools as was done in Tennessee.
To read more, go to the AJC Get Schooled blog.
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