Charter Schools in Georgia

Law:   Passed in 1993

Rank:   16th weakest of the nation's 40 charter laws

CER Grade:   C

Schools:   35

Students:   15,117

CELEBRATE: Representative Johnny Isakson of Georgia is one of eight U.S. Congressional leaders serving as honorary co-chairs of the Congressional Salute to Charter Schools in conjunction with the fourth annual National Charter Schools Week, April 28-May 2, 2003. The co-chairs will participate in various events designed to showcase the importance of charter schools in improving all schools.
JUST AVERAGE: Georgia gets a "C" because despite having 36 charter schools, the law still limits authorization to school boards, and with recent legislation that removed the automatic waiver from state rules, charter schools in Georgia will now have to contend with more bureaucracy. Charter School Laws Across the States: Ranking Scorecard and Legislative Profiles, January 2003.
HOOP-LA: Georgia's law took a bit of a hit last week when the legislature passed a bill that will result in additional bureaucracy in charters, and will allow the politically-appointed state board of education to dictate charter school changes without legislative intervention. There is minor good news: The new law makes it more difficult for school boards to say no to applicants, and to negotiate lower funding. But obviously, if charters have to jump through traditional regulatory hoops, they might as well not be charters. (Which of course, was likely the intent of the bill's authors!) From CER Newswire, April 16, 2002.

MEASURING UP: A new report by the state's Department of Education on the status of charter schools in 2001-2002 is full of good news. In several measures, Georgia's charter schools are doing appreciably better than their public school peers. On the state test, charters exceeded state standards by an average of 4 points on Grade 4, 6 and 8 reading and math exams. And the percentage of charter students passing each of the five subjects on the Georgia High School Graduation Test outpaced the state, 93% to 85%. In addition, the study shows that charters have a lower dropout rate and fewer students repeating grades than their district counterparts. Even more impressively, all this occurred with charters serving a higher percentage of ESOL and special education students than other Peach State publics. Georgia charters also serve a 41 percent minority population and the percentage of students eligible for free and reduced lunch increased to 32 percent this year. To view the full report go to: http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/charterschools/about.html.
EXCELLENCE: Cartersville Primary School, in the Cartersville district which converted to charter status in 1996, has been recognized as a 1997 Georgia Pay for Performance School, a 1996-1997 Georgia School of Excellence, and a 1996-1997 National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. Charter Schools Today: A Sampling of Their Successes

Links to Georgia Charter School Websites .

Center for Education Policy 6100 Lake Forest Dr., Suite 110 Atlanta, GA 30328	Contact: Chris Carr Telephone: (404) 256-4050 Fax: (404) 256-9909 Website: www.gppf.org Email: ccarr@gppf.org
Charter School Resource Center of Georgia P.O. Box 2054 Alpharetta, GA 30023	Contact: James P. Kelly, III , Executive Director Phone: (770) 521-0523 Fax: (770) 521-0467 Email: jpkiii@msn.com

Georgia Department of Education 2054 Twin Towers East Atlanta, GA 30334	Contact: Melanie Stockwell , Director, Charter School Compliance Tel: 404-656-4689 Fax: 404-657-8376 Email: charter.schools@doe.k12.ga.us
Website: http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/charterschools/charterschools.html