Charter Schools: Clearing Up the Confusion

Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, June 24, 2011
By Sue Ella Deadwyler

Good morning, Jim. When the U.S. Constitution was ratified, states knew federal power was limited and that powers not directly given to the federal government reside in the states. That means, states control education. Here in Georgia our constitution put communities in charge of schools through locally elected school boards. But, decades ago someone decided local school boards were dysfunctional and needed outside control.

In the late 1970s after President Carter created the Department of Education, federal control soared and was further expanded in 1991 under a plan by the first President Bush for a charter school in each congressional district. In six years there were 1,000 charter schools in the United States. That grew to 2,000 under Clinton and even more under the 1998 $500-million federal plan.

In 1998 a total of 24 charter schools were in Georgia. Today, we have 177 charter schools with a total enrollment of 70,000 students and, until the May 16th Supreme Court decision, Georgia had an unconstitutional Charter Schools Commission. This week the National Charter Schools Conference met at the World Congress Center. Former President Clinton spoke Tuesday morning and the plan for the grand finale on Wednesday included a rally on the steps of the Capitol to support charter schools here and throughout the country.

States with Race to the Top grants are obligated to create more charter schools and Georgia is one of those states. That will forever end the power of state and local school boards to control education. That loss of power is easily explained. Charter schools can pick and choose state and local rules, regulations and laws they want to follow and waive the rest, but they cannot function outside federal rules, regulations and laws, meaning they’re under federal control in total contradiction of the U.S. Constitution. So, states that adopt Race to the Top kiss state and local control of education goodbye. It’s a thing of the past.

This week the governor, legislators and business leaders were scheduled to ask the Gates Foundation to fund the charter schools that were affected by the Supreme Court decision. If the money comes from the Gates Foundation, who will control those schools? It, certainly, won’t be Georgians. For Georgia Insight I’m Sue Ella Deadwyler, your Capitol correspondent.