TELLING OUR STORY
With voters certain to hear more about a proposed amendment on charter schools, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution decided to look into who is offering financial support for the campaigns both sides are waging.
Relying on campaign financial disclosures, the AJC found that proponents of the amendment have raised far more money than opponents have raised. Almost all of the money raised by amendment backers has come from out-of-state donors.
Out-of-state money is fueling the campaign of a group trying to convince Georgia voters to change the state constitution so more charter schools can be approved.
Families for Better Public Schools has raised $486,750, campaign disclosure forms show. About 96 percent of that money has come from donors outside of Georgia.
Donors include Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton, politically well-connected law firms and for-profit companies that are operating charter schools in Georgia.
A coalition of groups opposing the amendment, Vote Smart, has raised $80,951, mostly from traditional school officials like teachers, principals and superintendents who say more charter schools and more state money for them would threaten the funding of already cash-strapped traditional public schools.
While Families for Better Public Schools reported having $414,373 on hand at the end of August, Vote Smart had spent nearly all of its money and had $4,758 on hand.
In Friday's newspaper, the AJC looks at how this Georgia issue is drawing national interest. It's a story you'll only get by picking up a copy of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution or logging on to the paper's iPad app. Subscribe today.
Already a subscriber? You can read the complete article on our e-edition here .
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