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The Savannah Tribune • Wednesday, October 17, 2012 - 9
Dr. Otis S. Johnson
Letter to the Editor
Citizens of Geor
gia are being asked to vote
on Nov. 6 for or against an
amendment to the Constitu
tion of Georgia that would
expand the power of state
government over local educa
tion and lead to a dual school
system. The wording of the
amendment is misleading.
The ballot question asks you:
“Shall the Constitu
tion of Georgia be amended to
allow state and local approval
of public charter schools upon
the request of local communi
ties?”
The ordinary citizen
of our state would ask, what
is wrong with giving state and
local governments the power
to approve charter schools?
The answer is state and local
governments already have the
power to grant charters to lo
cal communities. If that is the
truth, why are we being asked
to vote on an amendment to
the Constitution of Georgia?
Know the facts be
fore you vote. This amend
ment is not about charter
schools or choice. It is
about who chooses and ap
proves applications for char
ter schools. Parents already
have choices - magnet, pub
lic, private, home and char
ter. This amendment is not
needed. There is already an
appeals process to the State
Board of Education for local
groups whose charter appli
cations are denied at the local
level. Georgia has more than
200 charter schools. More
are in the pipeline. So, what
is wrong with the current sys
tem? The overriding issues
are about accountability, your
tax dollars, and expansion of
state government.
Simply put, this is
an unprecedented power grab
to take more control away
from locally elected school
boards. Local elected school
boards have been rigorous in
their evaluation of proposals
for charters in their school
districts and diligent in their
evaluation of the performance
of charter schools that are ap
proved. There is already a
process in place where the
backers of a proposed charter
school can appeal to the State
Board of Education if a lo
cal board of education denies
their application.
This amendment
would undo a process that
is already working and re
place it with a state appointed
“commission” that will have
the power to create a dual
system of schools. Although
they will use your tax dollars
for funding of schools they
approve, they are not elected;
if you don’t like what they do,
you can’t vote them out. Un
checked power will be in the
hands of this politically ap
pointed “commission” to de
cide how and where schools
Dr. Otis S. Johnson
operate all over the state of
Georgia. This is a huge in
trusion of state government
into local decision making.
This power grab is being pro
posed by a state legislature
that champions state’s rights
and local control. Why is this
happening?
There are strong
forces in the state supporting
this amendment. They are
working to siphon off your
tax dollars from local public
schools to for-profit private
companies that would man
age all these new schools ap
proved by this unelected com
mission. This is a disguised
move to help build a dual
school system in our state:
one controlled by locally
elected board members held
accountable by local voters
and the other a private system
funded with your tax dollars
and controlled by a politically
appointed commission in At
lanta.
Voters recently said
no to a penny sales tax to
fund transportation because
of distrust of government. If
you distrusted elected offi
cials to do the right thing to
build and improve roads, why
would you trust a non-elected
commission with unchecked
authority over schools?
As the old adage
goes, follow the money. The
supporters of this amendment
are spending millions of dol
lars to convince you to vote
yes. They call themselves
Families for Better Schools
or Parents for School Choice.
Don’t be deceived. Several
out-of Georgia political action
committees are behind this
push. Who is going to ben
efit if this amendment passes?
Will it be our children or just
private corporations who op
erate charter schools? Visit
www.votesmartgeorgia.com
to understand who’s funding
this push, who the real “fami
lies are and the real issues.
Please do your homework be
fore you vote on Amendment
1 on November 6.
Sincerely,
Otis S. Johnson
9nd Psijstorfll
kWMWmtsMMM
November 2012
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