School 'choice' likely to be spotty

Some schools are not required to participate, including charter schools, those with only space in trailers and those open four years or less.

Two school systems —- Gwinnett, the state's largest, and Forsyth County —- will ask the state Board of Education to exempt them from compliance, a move some argue is intended to circumvent the intent of the law.

Other school districts have to learn to juggle. Before "choice schools" with room to spare can accept new students, seats must first be filled by students transferring from low-performing or dangerous schools, as federally mandated. The remaining spaces would be assigned according to state laws and local policies, including:

Siblings of children who are already attending the school;

Students whose disabilities may be best served at the school;

Students whose families have hardship, medical, legal or employment needs to be there.

All that leaves some parents feeling pessimistic.

"This whole law is window dressing. There is no freedom of choice,'' said home school mom Michelle Kassorla, who believes the chances of getting her rising eighth- and ninth-graders into top DeKalb public schools are slim. "DeKalb County is closing schools. If they have so few spaces ... how are we ever going to have the right to transfer?''

State Rep. Alisha Thomas Morgan (D-Austell), sponsor of HB 251, is also frustrated. She said the state Department of Education's interpretation of the new law is "disappointing" and not very "parent friendly." "Districts that don't want to comply with the law and provide options for parents, these guidelines allow them a lot more flexibility than we intended," she said.

Dana Tofig, state DOE spokesman, said the guidelines follow the spirit of the law, address space concerns and help districts set priorities for transfers.

While Fulton, Cobb and other metro Atlanta school systems are tweaking their policies to comply with state law, Gwinnett and Forsyth counties are asking to opt out. Those two districts each have contracts with the state that allow them to bow out of Georgia education mandates in exchange for greater student achievement at their schools.

State DOE staff recommended approval of those waivers, but a Georgia Branch NAACP official argues that those systems just want to control their school populations.

"It appears to us as though Gwinnett and Forsyth want to retain the right to deny student enrollment based on race and special education status to manage subgroup sizes for reporting in their contracts," said Jennifer Falk, education chair for the Georgia NAACP. She sent her objection to the state DOE and to Morgan in an e-mail.

Forsyth Schools spokeswoman Jennifer Caracciolo said that her system requested the waiver because the district's current transfer policy is more flexible than the state's. "We currently have approved over 1,600 ... requests for 2009-'10, but under the new state law, only 700 of those students would be eligible due to restrictions," she said.

For example, without a waiver, the district would no longer be able to give preference to teachers to choose the schools their own children attend, Forsyth County School Board member Nancy Roche said.

For similar reasons, Gwinnett Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks first asked for a waiver on June 5, about two weeks before the county School Board formally voted to seek one. "The intent of HB 251 is currently imbedded in local board policy," Wilbanks wrote in his request.

Gwinnett Schools spokeswoman Sloan Roach said the district's own policy allows transfers twice a year, including moves to newly constructed campuses, options not offered by the law. "If our waiver is denied, it would actually take some of our schools off of our permissive transfer list," she said.

Still, Falk maintains that parents' choices would sometimes be limited with the waiver. For example, HB 251 allows students to stay at their choice school until they move to the next level of education, but Gwinnett policy requires them to re-apply each year. Gwinnett policy also allows transfers to be denied based on discipline, attendance and factors other than space available.

"The guidance was very clear that the only criteria for this is space so schools do not use test scores, addresses, behavior or any other factor to cherry-pick students," Morgan said.

Though Morgan said she's optimistic administrators will follow state law, she's launching an e-mail campaign urging parents seeking choice statewide to attend school board meetings and demand it.

"At the end of the day, the law is the law," she said.

How transfers work

Since the passage of HB 251, parents are allowed to transfer their children to another school in their district for any reason, as long as there is space to accommodate them.

Parents will be notified in early July about which campuses are open to transfer students. Notification will be by letter, e-mail or a listing on a district's Web site.

Parents may rank their top picks and will have at least 14 days to apply for transfers.