Early & Randolph Counties Will Appeal for Charter Schools

At least two school systems, including the Early County School System, have filed appeals asking the State School Board to overturn the Dec. 14 approval of Pataula Charter Academy.

The application for the charter school proposed to serve students from Baker, Calhoun, Clay, Early and Randolph counties was one of seven applications approved by the Georgia Charter Schools Commission.

Pataula Charter Academy would eventually be located in the old Bluffton school building. It plans to begin its initial school year in August 2010 in a former automobile dealership building in Edison.

Commission-chartered schools are fully funded like any other public school. They receive state and federal dollars plus a matching share of local funds carved from the state allocations of the districts students leave behind. Two pending lawsuits, however, are challenging the commission’s authority to authorize and fund charter schools.

Transportation concerns, tax dollars, quality education and violation of the federal court-ordered desegration plan are among the issues raised.

Letters from ECSS can be viewed here and the appeal from Randolph, here. To learn more about the Pataula Charter Academy visit www.pataula.org.

What's wrong with letting these counties convert to charter schools?