The state of Georgia and three charter schools on Thursday asked the Georgia Supreme Court to reconsider its recent decision striking down the state charter school law.
The motions, in separate court filings, contend the court's ruling could profoundly impact the state's role in public education.
"It will turn the regulation of public education upside down and render unconstitutional any number of state laws and thwart desperately needed state-led educational reforms," said the motion filed by charter schools Ivy Preparatory Academy, Charter Conservatory for Liberal Arts & Technology and Heron Bay Academy.
"The majority's opinion will also impose upon local districts an awesome -- but unfunded -- obligation to provide an adequate public education to all of their citizens, a multi-billion-dollar undertaking."
On May 16, the court, by a 4-3 vote, found the 2008 law creating the Georgia Charter Schools Commission unconstitutional because it granted the state the authority to approve charter schools over the objection of local school boards. The ruling left unclear the fate of 16 state charter schools and their 5,000 students.
Motions asking the state Supreme Court to reconsider a decision are not uncommon, but are rarely granted. To succeed, the parties must get at least one member of the court's majority to change his or her mind.
Justice Carol Hunstein wrote the opinion for the majority and was joined by Justices Robert Benham, Hugh Thompson and Harris Hines.
Hunstein wrote that the court record clearly shows the 2008 act was created by "well-intentioned people, motivated by their genuine concern of the current condition of this state's general K-12 public education, to provide the children of this state with an alternative and, in some cases, a superior educational opportunity."
The goals were laudable, she wrote, but the legislative method to obtain them was "clearly and palpably unconstitutional."
The state constitution grants local school boards the right to establish and maintain public schools within their limits, and there is no other constitutional provision that allows another governmental entity to compete with or duplicate the efforts of local school boards, Hunstein wrote.
Justice David Nahmias wrote a lengthy dissent and said the majority "wiped away a small but important effort to improve public education in Georgia," an unnecessary result for Georgia children who are "already enrolled and thriving in state charter schools." He was joined by George Carley and Harold Melton, the latter writing his own dissent.
The charter schools' motion also accused the court of misreading 134 years of Georgia history.
"Local districts have never been granted exclusive control over public education," said the motion. "The 1877 constitution, which anchors the majority's analysis, mandated separate schools ‘for the white and colored races.'"
After the local districts failed to provide adequate education for generations of African-American children, the state exercised its control, the motion said. "The real Georgia history shows that power over public education has always been a shared obligation between the local districts and the state."
The state Attorney General's Office, on behalf of the state Department of Education and the Georgia Charter Schools Commission, said the court's ruling "fundamentally undermines the longstanding role of the state in education."
By holding there is exclusive local control of K-12 education in the state, "The court calls into question the billions of state dollars spent every year on education and the significant role the state has in policy and supervision over systems and teachers," the motion said. "The state has never claimed it has the exclusive authority in education; rather, education law has always been a partnership between the state and local governments."
About the Author
