Critical Facts About Charter Schools

Radio Commentary, WMVV 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, July 1, 2011
By Sue Ella Deadwyler

Good morning, Jim. You might be interested to know that the charter school lawsuit was brought by five school districts where education money was diverted to schools chartered by the Charter Schools Commission. One plaintiff is the Gwinnett County Board of Education.

Gwinnett County’s complaint challenged the funding of Ivy Preparatory Academy, an all girls’ school the Gwinnett board of education refused to charter, but it was chartered by the state for the 2008-2009 school year. Soon after the Charter School Commission was created, Ivy Prep submitted an identical petition and was chartered by the Commission June 18, 2009. When the Supreme Court struck the Commission as unconstitutional, it also struck 16 commission-chartered schools, including Ivy Prep. Now, those schools must close or operate on less money or get charters and funding elsewhere.

A plan to introduce a proposed constitutional amendment to legitimize the Charter School Commission may be in the works. If so and if an amendment passes to make the Commission constitutional, local control of education in Georgia would be gone forever, schools would be governed by appointees rather than elected officials and communities could not influence which schools are chartered and which are not. That means we have a big problem.

In this country charters for 122 schools have been granted to the Gulen Movement, known as one of the most important Muslim movements in the world today. Gulen schools that describe themselves as “faith-based” are being established throughout the world to bring about universal Islamic law. Gulen connections reported in Georgia include the Oconee School of Math and Science, plus three charter schools in Alpharetta – the Fulton Sunshine Academy Elementary School (advertised often on TV), Fulton Science Academy Middle School and Fulton Science Academy High School.

Charters to faith-based schools violate the Constitution of the State of Georgia, which states, “No money shall ever be taken from the public treasury, directly or indirectly, in aid of any church, sect, cult, or religious denomination or of any sectarian institution,” Article I, Section II, Paragraph VII.

I’ll have more about charter schools next week. In the meantime, share this information with your senators and representatives. They MUST pass a law to assure (a) accurate screening of charter school applicants, as well as (b) adherence to the Constitution of the State of Georgia. For Georgia Insight I’m Sue Ella Deadwyler, your Capitol correspondent.