A lawyer for Atlanta Public Schools told the Georgia Supreme Court today that the school district probably wouldn’t approve new charter schools unless they help pay off old an old pension debt.
Creating new charters would cause the pension debt burden to increasingly fall on traditional schools, said attorney Thomas Cox.
“I don’t see how in good faith any Atlanta board member could vote to approve a new charter school,” Cox said. “It’s going to decrease the amount available to other schools.”
But Rocco Testani, an attorney for the Atlanta charter schools, said he doubts that the money issue would prevent the school board from approving charter schools.
“Quality charter programs that are good for children get approved by boards, and that’s the basis I would hope the board would use to make its decisions,” Testani said after making his argument.
Atlanta Pubic Schools last year sought to make its 10 startup charter schools contribute to an unfunded pension liability that exceeds $550 million. Initial payments in the 2012-2013 school year cost charter schools, which enroll about one-tenth of the school district’s students, about $2.8 million, with another $35.8 million paid by traditional schools.
The charter schools sued, claiming that state law set their funding formula, and it can’t be altered to pay down a 30-year-old debt burden that was created long before charter schools came into existence.
Supreme Court Justice David Nahmias was skeptical of Atlanta Public Schools’ claim that it has the power to take money from charter schools for purposes besides those spelled out in state law.
Cox responded that the Legislature didn’t envision this kind of pension funding problem when it passed the Charter Schools Act in 1998.
“That doesn’t help you,” Nahmias told Cox. “The fact that the statute doesn’t mention these costs doesn’t mean you’re in the clear.”
Nahmias said the law outlines purposes for which school systems can withhold money from charter schools, such as for administration costs, but it doesn’t mention pension costs. He suggested that Atlanta Public Schools could go to the Legislature if the school system wants the law changed.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Wendy Shoob ruled in favor of the charter schools in December, and Atlanta Public Schools appealed her decision.
A ruling by the Georgia Supreme Court will likely be made in the coming months.
Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Erroll Davis said in a May letter to charter schools that the school system would release $3 million in the 2013-2014 school year that would otherwise go toward the pension debt. If the Atlanta school district wins its appeal, the charters would have to repay that money.
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