by Georgia Center for Opportunity | Aug 26, 2013
The Supreme Court has established that well-designed school choice programs are constitutional at the federal level. However, this has not stopped school choice opponents in Alabama from asking a federal court to block the state’s new law that gives tax breaks to families who transfer from a failing public school to a non-failing public or private school to help offset tuition and transportation costs.
The challenge is based on the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. The plaintiffs argue that poor and rural students are unable to benefit from the law and are thus trapped in failing schools.
The claim that it will be difficult for poor and rural students to benefit from the program has merit. Many rural families live too far from a good public or private school, and the $3,500 tax credit may not be enough to help some poor families afford private school tuition.
However, this is not a valid reason to strike down the law. With so many challenges to ensuring that all students are attending a quality school, it is impossible for one solution to help all students. That should not mean that students who can benefit from this law should remain stuck in failing schools.
What it does mean is that policy makers need to find additional ways to help poor and rural students who may not be able to benefit from the current law. To help poor students, school choice programs should ensure that scholarship amounts are high enough to help the poorest students afford school options, such as including a sliding scale to provide the greatest help to those with the greatest need.
One way to help rural students is to provide high quality virtual learning. This would help students access classes they otherwise might not have access to, such as physics or foreign languages. Policy makers could also create charter schools that serve multiple counties. Pataula Charter Academy in southwest Georgia is a great example of this type of school.
Students and schools face different challenges that require a variety of solutions. While Alabama’s new school choice program might not help all students escape failing schools, it’s a good start.
by Georgia Center for Opportunity | Aug 22, 2013
Last week the parents, teachers, and administrators of the Druid Hills High School cluster overwhelmingly voted to become a charter school cluster. The 92 percent vote for approval was well above the 60 percent threshold required by the untested state law.
Supporters expressed dissatisfaction with bloated administrative budgets, the DeKalb school board’s troubled history, and threats to accreditation.
If the petition is approved by the DeKalb school board and the state, the cluster of seven schools serving 5,000 diverse students would have its own governing board with authority over staffing, pay, and curriculum.
Neighborhoods around the state are watching to see how the process plays out. If the Druid Hills High cluster successfully implements the changes, expect to see other neighborhoods – especially those with troubled school boards – pursue this new tool to expand parental power and school autonomy.
by Georgia Center for Opportunity | Aug 13, 2013
On Monday the Atlanta school board unanimously approved the Atlanta Classical Academy, a K-8 charter school scheduled to open for the 2014-15 school year. With about 10 percent of APS students attending locally approved charter schools, the district continues to be a leader in offering public school options.
The board approved the new charter school despite objections from Superintendent Erroll Davis, who argued that the board should reject all charter applications until the Georgia Supreme Court rules on whether charter schools should have to contribute toward payment of the district’s pension liability of more than $500 million. Atlanta charter school teachers do not receive benefits from the district’s pension system, but the district is withholding $2.8 million from the district’s charter schools in an effort to force them to pay part of last year’s unfunded pension.
While Davis recommended denial, the district’s review committee found that the petition was worthy of approval based on the quality of the application. Davis’s opinion is another example of public schools placing the needs of adults over students.
Commendably, the board prioritized providing students with high quality options and approved the school.
by Georgia Center for Opportunity | Jun 26, 2013
Inspired by the School Choice Advocacy Training, Rae Harkness submitted the following for our blog contest:
DeKalb parent of two charter school students
We are living in our own little spheres of influence – we interact with teachers, administrators, parents, coworkers, neighbors and our children. Through social media, school choice advocates have the potential to connect these spheres of influence and our message will reverberate throughout the state of Georgia and become amplified in the ears of our legislators. The message is this: “Each child in the state of Georgia is unique and is destined to succeed when options are available to meet their educational needs. We will not rest until each child has available a great school of choice!”
by Georgia Center for Opportunity | May 17, 2013
Upon arriving at Margaret St. in Atlanta, I wasn’t sure what to expect of the old brick buildings in front of me. Words like Altruismo and Amistad were written above the sturdy gate leading into the school, and the faces of a few smiling children could be seen inside the facilities. I thought that I could hear music from the outskirts of the building, but I dismissed the thought as a song that was stuck in my head from the car ride. Immediately after opening the doors, I found myself joyfully proved wrong.
Music was playing, and the tour guides I expected to shake hands with were actually some of the students themselves. Looking around, I couldn’t help but notice the big blue slide leading from the top floor to my feet, or the colorfully painted walls decorated with pictures of smiling students and teachers. I was surprised as a 4’8’’ middle schooler proceeded to lead me through the history of her school while engaging each of the adults in the room. This girl is not an anomaly at this place, and after touring this oasis in education; it’s obvious that something is different.
Ron spoke to the kids as if he were training executives, but taught them with a passion beyond comparison. One of the students actually got up and taught the class, finishing the algebraic inequality while clapping along with the mathematical victories of his fellow classmates. This boy was not simply completing the problem, but like Mr. Clark, he was ardently engaging the students as he brought them into the close of the class hour. As the boy asked mathematical trivia, the students responded within seconds at the same time. I had forgotten that I was in one of the most prestigious schools in the nation, as I dived into the passion filled academy of Ron Clark.
I had forgotten that I was in one of the most prestigious schools in the nation, as I dived into the passion filled academy of Ron Clark.
These students, these kids, and the teachers themselves are authentically passionate and it pours out into the classroom. Ron Clark has not simply done it right, he has done it phenomenally well. Education has certainly been a battlefield for unenthused students and discouraged educators, since many gifted students soar through classes and the rest get lost in the crowd. At Ron Clark, the gifted students set the pace in each class, and the rest of the class is pushed to hit that academic mark. This feat would be considered a fool’s endeavor in most academic environments, but there it is the norm. That’s right, students from across the intellectual field not only hit the bar set by the gifted students, but they raise it. The classrooms are teeming with students who struggled in the classroom and students who excelled in their schools, yet it was near impossible to tell who was who.
The students clap and cheer as each question is answered successfully, while engaging joyfully with their teacher. It was a rare time when a question was answered incorrectly, but when it happened, the student body turned to encourage their fellow classmate. The class atmosphere was filled with laughter and enthusiasm as drums were beat to the tune of success. There wasn’t a single student who could be found disengaged from the teacher, as they were all decoding and solving the problems in unison. The classroom sounded more and more like a chorus as the students symphonically engaged the subject. I was lost in wonderland, but Mr. Clark has proved that wonderland is real, and he has invited everyone to come be a part of his revolution in academics.
It was a rare time when a question was answered incorrectly, but when it happened, the student body turned to encourage their fellow classmate.
