Georgia Supreme Court strikes down Charter School Commission

The Georgia Supreme Court ruled today that only local boards of education have the power to fund and open public charter schools. The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled 4-to-3 to strike down as unconstitutional a 2008 Act that authorized creation of a new kind of state charter school called “commission charter schools.”

The 2008 Georgia Charter Schools Commission Act allows for three types of charter schools in Georgia: the “startup” charter, which is locally approved, “state chartered special schools” and “commission approved charter schools.” It is the last type of school that is affected by the Court’s ruling.

There are between 14 and 17 commission-approved charter schools in Georgia, with thousands of students whose education may be derailed.

The State Supreme Court ruled that, “The Act is unconstitutional because it violates the ‘special schools’ provision in the Georgia Constitution of 1983.” The ruling stated the Act went against a fundamental principle of public education — exclusive local control.

The ruling went on to say: “The constitutional history of Georgia could not be more clear that, as to general K-12 public education, local boards of education have the exclusive authority to fulfill one of the ‘primary obligation[s] of the State of Georgia.’”

Griffin-Spalding County School System Superintendent Dr. Curtis Jones said, “I am pleased with the state Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the Charter Schools Commission. This is a truly a victory for taxpayers and public school systems in Georgia who serve over 92 percent of students in our state.”

Dr. Jones continued, “The opinion of the Court is lengthy.  We will read and absorb the information especially the dissenting opinion to learn all we can. The ruling only affects the 14 schools approved by the Charter Schools Commission. The state Board of Education can still approve charter schools that were rejected by local boards and grant them state funds but not local funds. These public funds belong to local taxpayers who give authority to their locally elected school board members to spend them wisely. When the state Charter Schools Commission approved start-up charter schools around Georgia, the Commission indirectly funded them with local tax dollars, taking away the control taxpayers have when they vote.”

The Griffin-Spalding County School System has been waiting for the court decision for several months. Griffin-Spalding along with Gwinnett, Bulloch, Candler, DeKalb, Atlanta and Henry County school systems filed a lawsuit in Fulton County Superior Court challenging the constitutionality of the law that allows the state to divert funds from local school systems to charter schools.