SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND YOUTH AMENDMENTS:

SUBSTITUTE AS PASSED BY HOUSE:

            This bill would amend Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the O.C.G.A. to provide for parent or teacher petitions to convert existing schools to charter schools or to impose turnaround models, beginning in 2014-2015. It adds a “petitioning group” to the definition of a “charter petitioner,” if the original petition’s signatures are verified by the LBOE. The petitioning group would have to be parents or guardians or faculty and instructional staff members of a school.

It would add a definition of “low-achieving school” to include:

1.      A public school with an unacceptable rating on student achievement, achievement gap closure, or student progress (or combination) under the state accountability system;

2.      A public school in the lowest 20% of all public schools in the state based on school performance;

3.      A public elementary or middle school in which less than 65% of its students across all grades meet or exceed performance standards on the CRCT in reading or math; or

4.      A public high school that has a graduation rate of less than 65% for the preceding school year.

A petition could be submitted by:

1.      A majority (more than 50%) of parents or guardians of students eligible to enroll the following year in either one school, or a school within a high school cluster of schools. Only one parent could sign the petition, and he/she would have to indicate the student or students in the household;

2.      A majority of the faculty and instructional staff members of the local school, or of all those in a high school cluster. This could be either by petition signatures or by a secret ballot taken at a meeting with two weeks’ advance notice; or

3.      A vote greater than 50% of parents at a public meeting or a majority vote of teachers and instructional staff called with two weeks’ advanced notice by secret ballot;

Petitioners would be free from harassment, threats or intimidation related to circulating or signing a petition or from discouraging others from signing, revoking a signature or voting for or against. The SBOE would be responsible for a standard petition form; the person initiating the petition would have to verify by sworn affidavit that all signatures are valid and correct, and that no for-profit entity participated in initiation of the petition or collection of signatures. All signers or voters for conversion of the school or schools within a high school cluster would be free from retribution. No parent, guardian, faculty or instructional staff member could get paid from proponents or opponents to sign or refrain from signing or voting for or against such petition by secret ballot. No parent, guardian, faculty or instructional staff member could get paid from proponents or opponents to sign or refrain from signing or voting for or against such petition by secret ballot.

      The petition would have to be submitted to a LBOE specifying either to convert to a charter, or to impose one of the following turnaround models on the specified school(s):

1.      Remove school personnel, including the principal and personnel whose performance has continued not to produce student achievement gains;

2.      Remove the entire staff and start all over with existing staff having the opportunity to reapply if their performance regarding student performance has not been negative for the previous three years;

3.      Transfer students as requested by parents to other public schools in the system from a list of available options provided by the LBOE with transportation provided for students in Title I schools as required by federal law, or for all students at LBOE discretion if the General Assembly provides funds;

4.      Mandate a monitor, master, or management team in the school, paid by the LBOE;

5.      Prepare and implement an extensive school improvement plan; or

6.      Mandate a complete restructuring of the schools governance arrangement and internal organization of the school.

The LBOE would have to notify the SBOE upon receipt of a petition and upon its final decision. It would have 30 days to review and verify signatures or ballots; after 30 days the petition would be deemed verified if there has been no LBOE action. Within 10 days of verification, the petitioners would have to be notified of verification, and the LBOE would subsequently have to accept a charter petition from the petitioning group if it is submitted within 90 days of confirmation of signatures on the petition. Once the confirmation of names is complete, the LBOE would have 10 days to notify the petitioners of the confirmation, and they would have 90 days to submit a charter petition. 

Within 60 days following verification the LBOE would have to accept or deny the charter petition, unless the petitioners request additional time.  If the petition requests a turnaround model, the LBOE could deny it by majority vote only if:

1.      The model is logistically impossible;

2.      The model is illegal under employment or other applicable law; 

3.      The model fails to comply with Title 20 law;

4.      The model does not promote school governance; or

5.   The model violates the local charter school’s charter; or

6.    The model is not in the public interest.

The LBOE could deny the petition by majority vote. However, the LBOE could deny the petition only with a 2/3 majority vote if the petitioning group represents more than 60% of the parents/guardians or faculty and instructional staff members. If the LBOE denies the petition, it must specifically state the reasons and provide a written statement to the petitioning group and the SBOE. The petitioning group would still have the right to submit an alternate petition that addresses the reasons given by the LBOE.

            The LBOE could vote to implement one or more of the turnaround models specified in the bill that are different from what is specified in the petition, but they must give specific reasons in writing to the petitioning group and the SBOE.

            If a petition is confirmed by the local board by this procedure, the public charter management organization selected to operate the local charter school would be prohibited from having any school that such organization has operated for at least five years that are in the bottom 50 percent of schools in this state in performance on CRCT’s in reading and math.

If a petition is confirmed by the local board by this procedure, the public charter management organization selected to operate the local charter school would be prohibited from having any school that such organization has operated for at least five years that are in the bottom 50 percent of schools in this state in performance on CRCT’s in reading and math.

            The LBOE would have 180 days to implement the turnaround model(s) unless the petition is received after March 1. Then the implementation would have to come with the beginning of the school year in the next calendar year (approximately 17 months). All turnaround models would have to begin with the start of a new school year.

            The SBOE could mediate between the LBOE and the petitioning group to resolve issues that led to petition denial.

            Once the charter or turnaround model is in place, the school would have to continue to serve the attendance boundary and all the students who attended prior to the conversion or turnaround, unless the child’s parent prefers the child to attend another local school within the system. Also, once one of these measures is in place, no new petition would be eligible for submission to the local board for at least two years following implementation.

            Should this bill become law, it would not apply to:

1.      A local school currently in intervention by the SBOE;

2.      A charter school; or

2. A local school slated for closure within three years by the LBOE. 

[It appears that the charter would be a local charter, though that is not stated; and it is not clear if an appeal would be allowed if the petitioning group was denied its request and if mediation failed. The Georgia Constitution, though, would seem to block any such appeal, and that fact is acknowledged by the bill’s sponsor.]