A proposed substitute to the charter schools constitutional amendment legislation changes some of its funding language and could put backers over the top in their quest to get the two-thirds majority needed to pass.
State Rep. Scott Holcomb, D-Atlanta, has helped craft a substitute that would make it clear that, if a charter school is approved by the state but not by a local district, the state would bear the financial costs of that charter school.
The legislation, a hot topic of debate in the General Assembly after the state Supreme Court ruled that the Georgia Charter Schools Commission did not have the authority to create or fund charter schools over the objection of local school boards, needs the support of two-thirds of both the House of Representatives and the Senate before it could be put before voters.
Last week, House supporters of the legislation fell 10 votes short of that two-thirds threshold. Many joined Holcomb in expressing concern that the charter schools legislation would give the state the power to force local school districts to pay for charter schools they had refused to authorize.
The proposed substitute, to be discussed at a House Education Committee at 3 p.m., could give charter school backers the votes they need. Holcomb, who has opposed the charter school legislation when it came up last week, said he will support the substitute, which could reach the House floor as soon as Friday.
"I had significant questions," Holcomb said, adding that the substitute addresses those questions.
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