Parents have power to pick their kids' schools

Some parents are eager to exercise their new transfer rights.

"It's a good idea -- we pay tax dollars," said Sherry McNeill of Lawrenceville who is considering moving her rising fourth-grader from private school to public school at Parsons Elementary in Suwanee. "I hear the teachers are more caring there than the school we are zoned for."

State Department of Education administrators will be meeting with superintendents from across the state to seek advice in crafting a new rule upholding the choice transfer law. That rule is not likely to be approved by the legislation's July 1 target date, but guidance should be available in time for parents seeking transfers for the 2009-10 school year.

"We are going to develop a board rule that complies with the intent of the law, but still addresses some of the gray areas the law does not address. We just have a very short timeline, " said Dana Tofig, state DOE spokesman.

Morgan and some metro Atlanta civil rights groups see the new law as an important victory for parents. It opens doors to better educational options as the 55th anniversary of the landmark school desegregation case Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka nears. Families living in poverty near aging schools will be able to send their kids to newer campuses in affluent communities. Transportation will not be provided to the new schools, however.

Morgan and members of Georgia's legislative black caucus will host an education summit "Closing the Achievement Gap" from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday at the state capitol to discuss choice and other strategies to improve the quality of public education.

Some lawmakers, however, have voiced concern that choice transfers could unravel years of progress made to improve student performance at desirable, hard-working schools. The law does not limit which students can transfer. Some worry it could change the socio-economic make-up of some campuses.

"You could have parents bringing their kids who have behavior problems, low grades -- there is no standard," said State Rep. Don Parsons (R-Marietta). "It really creates a disincentive for people in communities to improve their own schools."

Cobb County teacher Carol Stephens said choice transfers are necessary because school boundary lines don't always allow parents to send their kids to the closest or highest-ranked schools.

"Our schools end up being segregated because of housing patters," Stephens said. "This would help bring that down a bit."

The DOE will consider how choice transfers will mesh with those already granted under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which gives parents the right to move their kids out of low-performing schools to better ones. In addition, some large Georgia districts already allow limited hardship transfers providing parents don't use the switch as a way to ditch a school or a teacher they don't like. At Gwinnett Schools this year for example, 537 students were given one-year "permissive" transfers. Parents must re-apply annually.

Under the new law, however, students seeking choice transfers could stay put at a school until they complete their education. "That way you are not seeing the constant-reapplying," Morgan explained.

The likelihood of parents getting into top high schools could be slim due to overcrowding.

"Our cluster tends to be pretty full," said John Crooks, Cobb County school board member. "Walton High has not taken transfers in many, many years."

Still, parents like Susan Hollenkamp want the opportunity to try for better schools. She was turned down earlier this year when she tried to move her daughter to a more challenging Cobb high school. "We withdrew Loren," Hollenkamp said. "She is being home-schooled."