Morgan Files Constitutional Amendment for State Charter School Commission

On Wednesday morning, Rep. Alisha Morgan (D-Austell) and Sen. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) joined hundreds of school choice advocates, legislators and parents for the Rally for School Choice on the state Capitol, as part of National School Choice Week. A day earlier, Morgan was one of the legislators who filed a constitutional amendment to give the state the authority to create charter schools and to shift funds from public schools to charter schools.

Morgan was quoted in a report from the Associated Press as saying, “I have great respect for local control but some matters have to be taken up by the state.”

In May 2010, a state Supreme Court ruling dissolved the state’s charter school commission, which was created in 2008 by the legislature. The Court ruled the commission unconstitutional because it approved local tax dollars for charter schools, despite objection from local school boards.

The amendment, which has bipartisan support, is likely to go before voters in November if it passes by two-thirds majority in both the House and in the Senate, according to the AP report.

The same groups, like school superintendents, teacher organizations and school boards, which supported the Supreme Court ruling are speaking out against the amendment.

"This isn't about choice. It's about who pays for other people's choices. With local taxpayer dollars, the local board should make the decision where those are spent,” said Tim Callahan, spokesman for the Professional Association of Georgia Educators, which represents 82,000 educators across the state, in the AP report.

Should the state be able to create charter schools and shift local school district dollars to charter schools? Tell us below in the comments.