Politics & Government

Charter School Legislation Killed in Committee

A bill that would have required charter schools to follow the same discipline and firing procedures as public schools was killed Thursday morning

An effort to require charter schools to follow the same discipline and firing procedures as public schools was killed in a Senate subcommittee Thursday morning.

If approved, the measure would have affectedand the International Community School, with campuses in Avondale Estates and Stone Mountain.

Despite bipartisan support – as well as the endorsement from a key Republican committee chairman – Senate Bill 207 was voted was voted down 3-2 by the Senate subcommittee on academic support.

Find out what's happening in Decatur-Avondale Estateswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The bill was sponsored by state Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta). The subcommittee is part of the Senate Education & Youth Committee, whose chairman, state Sen. Fran Millar (R-Atlanta), also supported the bill. Subcommittee chairman state Sen. Jesse Stone (R-Waynesboro) cast the decisive vote.

 Fort’s measure would have required charter schools to comply with the same state law and personnel procedures as public school administrators. Instead, charter school principals will keep their authority to remove or suspend staff based on their own evaluations. 

Find out what's happening in Decatur-Avondale Estateswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The bill was supported by the Georgia Association of Educators. “We want to ensure there is some consistency in terms of personnel review in all schools,” said Marcus Downs, the association’s governmental relations director. “We do support this bill.”

But Andrew Lewis, executive vice president of the Georgia Charter Schools Association, said the bill would have crippled charter schools’ ability to make staff decisions they deem appropriate.

“Three words summarize what charter schools are all about: autonomy for results,” Lewis told the committee. “Not autonomy for autonomy’s sake, but for the fact that results are apt to be better if charter school administrators are free to take the actions they think are best for the school.”

Fort drafted the legislation in response to an incident in which a “highly regarded and respected” mathematics teacher was removed from her charter school post in a cost-cutting measure.

“The school determined that her salary alone could pay for two positions, and thus she was terminated,” Fort said. “I am concerned these kinds of situations will continue.”


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Decatur-Avondale Estates