Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Parents now have a choice - but does more choices translate to better choices?
- OPINION
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Tuesday, November 27, 2012
The heated debate over Charter Schools ended on Nov. 6 when the majority of voters cast their ballots in favor of allowing the state to grant charter schools. In 2013 the General Assembly will be setting up a new Charter School Commission, similar to the one that was struck down in 2011 when the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional. The new commission will have the authority to approve - and fund - schools without the approval of local school boards. In the future as more charter schools open parents will have more choices on where to send their children - their neighborhood public school - or a publicly funded charter school. But are Charter Schools the answer to Georgia's dilemma as one of the lowest-ranked states in the nation in …
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Charter school amendment appears headed for win.
UPATE 5:50 pm If you are in line to vote at 7 pm, you will get to vote even though the polls close then. Tens of thousands of Fulton County voters have already cast ballots today. Turnout is especially high for today’s General Election, as it is in most Presidential election years. It's too early to know how this year compares to 2008. In the evening after traditional work hours, peak turnout is anticipated, and tens of thousands of additional voters could exercise their right to vote. Fulton County elections officials released a statement advising that voters who are in line at 7 pm will be allowed to vote under Georgia law. As provided by Georgia law, voters who are over age 75 or who have a disability are eligible to ask to move ahead …
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
The lawsuit alleges that the preamble and the question on the Nov. 6 ballot is biased in favor of approval of the measure.
A public school teacher and Atlanta minister have filed a lawsuit in Fulton Superior Court against members of the state of Georgia government over the language of the Nov. 6 ballot as it pertains to charter schools. The lawsuit, filed by Dalton teacher Beverly Hedges and Rev. Timothy McDonald, senior pastor at First Iconium Baptist Church in Atlanta, names Gov. Nathan Deal, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Secretary of State Brian Kemp as co-defendants. The complaint alleges that Gov. Deal used language in the preamble to the ballot question and the ballot question itself that is misleading and that was not passed by the General Assembly. This is how the ballot language currently appears: Provides for improving student achievement and parental …
A Letter to the Editor in favor of the Nov. 6 ballot issue claims the education establishment "is not fighting for your children."
- OPINION
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Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Editor's Note: Last weekend East Cobb Patch published a blog post from a parent who supports charter schools but opposes HR 1162, which is on the Nov. 6 ballot. The following commentary is written by Kelly Cadman, Vice President of School Services at the Georgia Charter Schools Association. She is a former founder of a charter school, and a charter school mother and public education supporter. By Kelly Cadman There has been an awful lot of energy expended by opponents of the Charter School Amendment. The opposition to the Amendment claim that the state can “already” act as an appeals body for charter schools. Those supporting the Amendment wonder, if the state can already approve charters, why is the Education Establishment fighting THIS …
Monday, October 29, 2012
Monday night's forum at Lassiter High School features the Cobb legislative delegation chairman and the Cobb school superintendent.
Charter schools haven't been a hot-button issue in the East Cobb area in recent years. But the area's role as an incubator of the concept in the county is being recalled as Cobb school officials speak out against a proposed Georgia constitutional amendment that would supersede local control of charter school applications. The matter of HR 1162 that's on the Nov. 6 ballot is the subject of a forum Monday night at Lassiter High School. With just eight days before the election, and as early voting expands this week in Cobb, the issue could galvanize local voters, especially with a presidential race at the top of the ballot. State Rep. Ed Setzler, a North Cobb Republican and chairman of the Cobb legislative delegation, and Cobb School …
Monday, October 15, 2012
Why voters statewide should vote for House Resolution 1162 — a constitutional amendment to allow a state-commissioned board the ability to approve charter schools when local boards refuse.
- OPINION
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Monday, October 15, 2012
Dear Editor: I am writing as both a parent of students who attend a charter school and a teacher who works at one. The school I speak of is Pataula Charter Academy (PCA) located in Edison, Ga. This is one of the controversial schools that was created by approval of a state-commissioned board rather than the local school boards. Now we are in danger of having our doors closed unless an amendment to the constitution is approved in the November election stating that it is legal for a state commissioned board to approve charter schools when local boards refuse. I am urging everyone reading this to please vote yes to this amendment. PCA serves students in five counties. All five of the local school boards of the counties that we serve denied …
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
It "has major concerns with the ... impact it will have on Georgia’s 1.67 million public school students," according to a statement from the group.
Under pressure from its national organization to rescind its opposition to a controversial amendment that could restore the state's authority to approve and fund charter schools, the Georgia Parent Teacher Association reaffirmed its stance. "We cannot support this constitutional amendment which will create an inequity in funding, siphon funds from local public schools where the great majority of the students in Georgia receive their education and deny parents meaningful engagement," the group said in a statement released late Friday. "Georgia PTA strongly opposes this constitutional amendment." In July, the state chapter made its position clear: Vote no when you go to the polls in November. While the Georgia PTA supports charter schools …
don Gabacho
3:48 pm on Thursday, November 8, 2012
"don Gabacho, thank you for your observation. I agree that dealing with abusers of law is important. But dealing with abusers is often not very effective when the abusers are the ones in power and control."----E Pluribus Unum That's the eternal price of liberty. All it should tell anyone is to be that much more diligent in recognizing and protecting that which indeed constitutes us and not what … more ›